Disneyland from Vancouver by Car or Plane?

[Beatle_johnny]

Hi, I want to surprise my family and take them this spring back the land of the mouse. We usually go every three years but I feel the need for it now.

As we are going 2 years early, I need to do this as cheaply as possible.

So.. here are a few questions....

1. Anyone ever Drive from Vancouver BC to Disneyland? I hear about 18 - 20 hours. Now I could do that in 1 sitting, with gas/washroom breaks and let the family watch dvds and suduko themselves. But then I worry my entire first day there will be spent sleeping.

2. Anyone ever compare airline prices for 2 adults and 2 kids with gas prices or perhaps someone knows of a website that can calculate this?

3. Having a car mean we can stay a little further away from the park at a less expensive hotel and drive and park each day. How much is parking? Can anyone suggest a hotel a little off the beaten path that is godo quality but less expensive? OR.... is this even worth it if the price of parking is high each day.

Thanks all.

[disneyfann121]

I haven't done that kind of trip, but I would think your best bet is to rent a room along the way so you don't reach DL exhausted. As for cheap hotels in the Anaheim area, do a search for a program called Travelaxe. You can download it for free, and it will do hotel comparison shopping for you. Have a great trip.

[Radiobarry]

Can't help you with a lot of specifics here, just a gut feel, so to speak.

Are you looking for the "beautiful drive" aspect either going or coming? If not, I'd look long and hard at flying. Don't forget you'd save at least some on food I'd presume from driving, and who knows where the price of gasoline will be by then. Higher to be sure, even if not as high as last year. And you'll pay 30-40 cents more at least in California for our summer formulation(which I believe will be in our gas pumps very soon if not already). And again with flying (I'd recommend into OC/John Wayne) you'll be much more rested on arrival.

And as of right now at least, parking for a car is 12 bucks a day...that adds up.

Hope this helps at least a little.

PS...You live in what I'm told is a beautiful city. Right now I'm an out of work radio sports reporter. I'd love a gig that would send me up there for the Olympics at least. (Dream big, right?)

[BFJen]

We drove from Vancouver to Idaho Falls - 14 hours - in one sitting and it was brutal. We have a 10 year old and a 7 year old. We usually break it up into 2 days. It just makes everybody happier on that long of a drive. But, I don't know your family - maybe you guys like to drive.

I bet you could find cheap tickets out of Seattle - have you considered taking the shuttle across the border?

As far as cheap hotels, try the Annabella or the Carousel with the Micechat rate. I hate to be far away from the park.

[cdnmousefan]

I vote for the plane. I always want to maximize my time in the park and limit the time I need to take off from work. Also, the food costs add up the longer you are away (I have teenagers, so this is a significant consideration for me). And there are many hotels around the park that are not too expensive and within walking distance (or shuttle).

I was checking out the travel section of the newspaper this morning and there are a lot of great package deals right now. Worth looking into. I live in Victoria, so have the ferry to deal with as well.

Good luck! I would love to hear what you find out about the car versus plane costs.

[MissPlaced]

My husband and I drove from Santa Barbara to Vancouver last year. It took us two days, and we don't have kids. We were so worn out by the time we got there! Even though I absolutely HATE flying, I'd at least consider it.

[whitealexander]

plane makes the kids more excited and less exhausted..

[chiefyouth]

I live in Portland and thought about making the drive when we went down last May. The deciding point for me was the amount of time I could gain in the park. After all, that is what the vacation was all about. If I drove, I would be spending 2 days of my vacation sitting in a car. That is two days that I could be driving an Autopia car or helping Indy get out of the temple.

I have a Subaru that gets great gas mileage, so I think I figured out that flying cost me about $200 more that driving. (Of course, that was in May when the gas prices were $4. Now it might be more like $400 more.) The time was still the deciding factor. You only get so much vacation time. How would you rather spend it?

[disneybanks]

It's been 20 years since I've been to Vancouver, so my drive time is pretty rusty, but I can tell you that from Seattle to Disneyland you're looking at a solid 18 hours.

I myself have made the drive from the Eugene area several times and do tend to be fairly groggy that first day in the park. We always make the trip south without stopping to sleep and take 2 days to get home. We usually end up staying in Santa Nella, Stockton, or Sacramento.

Hope that helps!

[penguinsoda]

Here's a website that will calculate how much driving from point A to point B would cost. Remember, its just an estimate, as gas prices can and will vary along the way.

http://drivepricing.com

I say IF you could get a killer deal on airline tickets that would be the way to go unless you have the time to take two days down and two days back. Just because the estimated driving time is less than a day, the reality is you can hit traffic, estimates are off, kids get bored... I know when my daughter and I would travel we'd take an ice chest filled with drinks, fruit, sandwich stuff and we'd picnic along the way and didn't by food to save some money.

As for motels, you can get some good deals on those to depending on the time of year. If you go during peak season, prices will be a bit higher even at the less expensive places, you can use things like Travelaxe like disneyfann121 suggested, or do a search through things like Expedia, Orbitz etc. I recently got a rate of $42 a night on the Quality Inn on Manchester, just down from HoJo's through a website called easyclicktravel... but its the first time I've used that so I don't have any feedback for you on them yet...

Also if you don't have your own car, and you stay somewhere that isn't within walking distance, many of the surrounding motels are on the ART bus system. I've used it before, and it takes a bit more time as the busses only run about every 30 minutes on average, and the tickets are $4 a day now (there is a slight discount on multiday passes).

[landj]

I have only flown because I want to get there quickly( but I always try to get a good price) but friends have driven and they always stop at a motel along the way for a sleep & then everyone is fine when you get there. Price going out of maybe Abbotsford or Bellingham(you can either drive down & parking or take Quick Shuttle bus down) too just to compare prices.

[princessbrittany]

Oh my gosh definitely fly if you can. In fact, I just drove 5.5 hrs from Norcal to Socal and it was pretty brutal. Maybe I'm just a weakling and used to flying, but I have driven for 13 hours before (Norcal to Tucson, AZ!) and it was pretty hard to do. When we arrived we all definitely needed to just chill for a day. Then again, we were in a place that was very far from being the Happiest Place on Earth, so that could have a lot to do with it. I think you would get the most out of your money if you fly, because everybody would be happy and rested and ready to enjoy DL!

[ScottG]

About 19 hours from Seattle and it's not pretty. Just I-5 at 70 MPH.
I flew for the first time last year and I'll probably never drive again.
Think of it this way, you get on a plane in the morning and walk into the park by lunch. What could be better?

[Dusty88]

Hey there, it's nice to see someone on here from around here. My family and I drove from Squamish (just north of Van City) to Disney back in December of 07' but we had three different drivers to switch out. We also stopped off in San Francisco for a night (which actually isn't directly on the way.) I would say that the drive from Van is about 24 hours, factoring in traffic and who knows what else.

So while you might be able to do it, I would recommend either: A) stopping off somewhere for the night or B) Driving down to Seattle and flying down from there (tickets start at around $126 CDN round trip for adult tickets). Flying from inside Canada always seems to rack up the price by a lot. When I flew down over last summer I left from Seattle. Either way, best of luck and be sure to have fun!

[Nautilus]

For us, to get from here (Fullerton, city north of Anaheim) to Vancouver, it takes about two days, 12-13 hrs. each day with a pit-stop on the border of CA and OR. Have done the 5 straight up and straight back down numerous times; enough the circle the globe twice.

I'd go with driving, you may be tired the day after a little, but you're going to Disneyland, which is quite refreshing after being in the car for nearly 24 hours. Plus its way cheaper (if the price of gas stays low.) Plus, you can take a look at other "attractions" along the way before Disney, so that could be fun.