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hannah
02-23-2005, 06:25 AM
Our family of 5 will be going to Disneyland on May Sat. 14 through Thur. May 19. We will also spend 1 day at Universal Studios. Our problem is... What day is best to travel to Universal. We were thinking of going on Sunday in order to miss some of the traffic, but we are not sure this would be the best bet. :confused: Any help would be appreciated.

sdfilmcritic
02-23-2005, 06:29 AM
I don't think any day of the week is best to be traveling to L.A. During the week you have rush hour traffic and on the weekends you have tourists. However I have been able to hit traffic just right and make a usual three hour drive down to a two hour drive. I would recommend going on the weekend because you won't hit the usual rush hour traffic of the work week.

JeffG
02-23-2005, 06:58 AM
Sunday is definitely your best bet for driving from Anaheim to Universal City, although there is still the chance that you could hit some heavy traffic, particularly if the weather is bad or if there is an accident somewhere along the way. If you try to leave fairly early (before 9 or so) on a Sunday, the odds are pretty good that the traffic will be close to full speed the whole way. You are likely to run into somewhat heavier traffic on the way back in the evening.

With light traffic, it should take about 45 minutes to get there. In weekday traffic, it could easily take 90 minutes or longer. Saturday traffic on that route isn't usually quite as bad as weekdays, but it still can be pretty heavy and is generally much busier than on Sundays.

One bit of advice is to listen to traffic reports on the radio and be prepared with an alternate route. There are really two reasonable ways to get to Universal from Disneyland and if you hear reports of problems on either route, it isn't a bad idea to be ready to switch. Keep in mind that the traffic reporters might use either the name or number for the freeways, so make sure you are familiar with both. Here are the two best options:

Option 1 (preferred):

Take I-5 North (Golden State Freeway) to 101-N (Hollywood Freeway). Get off at the Universal City exit and follow the signs to the park entrance.

Option 2 (only slightly further):

Take I-5 North (Golden State Freeway) to 134-W (Ventura Freeway). Get off at the Lankershim Blvd. exit and take a left. The Universal Studios entrance is a few blocks up on your left.


-Jeff

Stupid_American
02-23-2005, 07:19 AM
Sunday would be best.

Personally, I would try to leave Anaheim around 7:30~8 am.
You will be okay going I-5, to 101.
You should be looking at less than 45 minutes.

Weekdays, I would leave about 5:30 am!

If you're heading back to Anaheim, just sit back and go with the flow.
Although you can beat the traffic early, during the evening hours, any day, everyone's heading home!
After 8:30~9pm it will start to ease off a bit.

AM 980 will give you traffic.
1070 is good weekdays, but its weekend traffic takes a backseat to food news.

Mukta
02-23-2005, 07:21 AM
Sunday is your best option. If you leave aroung 8 am you shouldn't hit too much traffic. If you stay until the park closes and maybe hang out at Universal Citywalk for a while, you can lose some traffic for the return trip. I would plan to eat dinner at Citywalk and leave after 9 pm. I know that is a long day, but it might be better than sitting in the car.

bluepearl
02-23-2005, 08:06 AM
I don't think you'll need an entire day to wander around Universal Studios. On Sundays, the park usually closes around 7PM. If you were to get there around 12PM, you'd have more than enough time to experience all the attractions, even Revenge of the Mummy and the Studio Tram Tour (my friends and I usually go on Sundays and the wait for Mummy is usually no longer than 30 minutes, if that; plus, the line usually gets shorter as the park nears closing time).

Another route can be the 5 North to the 605 North to 10 West to 101 North. Of course, I don't know how many extra miles that might be. I live about 5-10 minutes away from Universal Studios so I've explored many options to get to DLR from home!

hannah
02-23-2005, 02:53 PM
Thank you so much for the help. Sunday it is! We will keep an ear out for traffic problems and use alternate routes if need be. Thanks again :)

HTHgal12
02-25-2005, 10:35 AM
I have a pass both places. Sunday is the best day both traffic wise and crowd wise. I only go on sundays cuz that is my only day off.