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OregonBoy1963
05-25-2005, 07:43 PM
Heading to Disneyland a week from Friday! Looking for recommendations on the route to take. Coming in mid-day Friday, is South-bound I-5 a reasonable route to take? Or any construction going on to avoid, or normal traffic tie-ups that make an alternate route a better bet? Staying at Candy Cane Inn.

Heading to Knott's on Saturday... And finally, (if we're not too exhausted) to Universal Studios on Monday. Same question.

Any help from the L.A. natives would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

SCUBAbe
05-25-2005, 07:59 PM
traffic on the 5 is always bad. Times to avoid the freeways....5am-11am and 3pm-8pm.....you will still run into traffic on the 5 no matter what time, but it will be moving and not stopped..:)...just don't stress and go with the flow..:)

one of my trips to DL was on a friday...we left the antelope valley at 2:30pm and got to anaheim around 6:00pm. this involves taking the 14 freewayto the 5 freeway......this trip usually takes 1 1/2 hours....good luck to you...oh, one more thing...as soon as you set foot in DL all the hassels of getting there disapear..:)

sediment
05-25-2005, 08:02 PM
"THE 5." It's "THE 5."
Check the traffic reports "On the ones" on 980. They're not much help if you don't know what they're talking about, though. Even I can't figure it out sometimes, and I've lived here for 25 years.
If you hear, "The 5 south at: Olive/Burbank/Los Feliz/The 134" before The 170 South exit, that The 170 South to The 101 South. That will take you back to The 5.
I know a few other ways, but they're way too complicated to explain. Try to get to The 5/405 South split (at the top of The Valley) by about Noon, and you should have no major problem (outside of an accident). I'd be wary of hitting that after 2PM on a Friday.

Another possibility is to call someone near the Internet just after passing SFMM and have him or her look up the traffic report. You should do a dry run on this call first, showing the person what your planned route is and to check the various options.
Options:
1. The 405 all the way to The 22.
2. The 405/105/605/405
3. The 210/streets of Pasadena/710/405.
4. The 210/605/5.
5. The 58/395/15 (?)

TrekkieDad
05-25-2005, 08:25 PM
I just come down I-5 (sorry, NORTHERN Californian here). It's the most direct, even when it's slow. I've tried alternate routes (rhymes with "shouts"), but they've never worked out to any advantage.

SCUBAbe
05-25-2005, 08:36 PM
I just come down I-5 (sorry, NORTHERN Californian here). It's the most direct, even when it's slow. I've tried alternate routes (rhymes with "shouts"), but they've never worked out to any advantage.

yeah, I usually just stick witht he main freeway. My father knows the freeway system like the back of his hand and his alternate routes are great, but when I try them I get lost and end up in undesirable areas...LOL

TP2000
05-25-2005, 08:38 PM
If you really want to use I-5 (lived in the Northwest for a few years), you simply have to get through Los Angeles proper by at least 2:00pm. If you aren't passing Six Flags Magic Mountain by 1:00pm, you are in big trouble.

It will still be busy and congested, but at least it will move a bit. The worst part is south of downtown Los Angeles for 20 miles to the Orange County line. Once you hit the Orange County line I-5 widens from six lanes to about 12 lanes and it improves immensely. Disneyland is about 8 miles south of the Orange County line.

I prefer KNX 1070 which offers traffic reports every 7 minutes. 980 is good too though. Timing is going to be everything for you.

jon80flt
05-25-2005, 08:40 PM
Hitting the 5 mid-day is your best bet... take the 5 all the way to Disneyland... it's too easy to get lost if you get off the 5.

Personally, I would avoid EVER getting on the 405, as well as the 170/101 (Hollywood)... they both have horrible bottlenecks that cannot be routed around.

I would check CalTrans at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/ before you leave home.

If you have wireless web access, try TANN at http://traffic.tann.net/lartraffic/ ... it has realtime (5 min delay) maps with little indicators... green, yellow, red, "!" for accident info, etc.

As was mentioned before... 980AM is your friend... traffic every ten minutes, on the "ones."

If possible, get yourself one of those laminated "LA Freeway" maps, they are at many bookstores... usually they are 3-fold and easy to hold while driving.

Point of Protocol: please note that all the freeways around LA are living, breathing entities, hense "The" preceeding their numbers... we don't ever say "... we are taking highway 5" or "...go south on the Interstate" ... treat them with respect and they'll get you where you need to go!!! :D

Have a great trip!
Jon

biolabetty
05-25-2005, 09:06 PM
And don't forget that the 5 also has a name down here on freeway signs. My mother-in-law got lost one time because she didn't realize that the Golden State Freeway and the 5 were one and the same.

Osky
05-25-2005, 09:36 PM
My family has had many debates over "I-5" vs. "The 5". Many of us have lived in both northern and southern california, so we kinda get the whole picture. I do think we pick up "the" because of the freeway names. Since you have the golden state and the santa monica and the glendale etc. it is natural to say the 5, and the 2, etc. It is funny now that I am in Davis I say " take 880 to 580 to THE 5. Every freeway that exists in L.A. I say THE, otherwise I don't. :)

Disney Village
05-25-2005, 10:26 PM
Unless you're driving at 3am, its all a crap shoot no matter what. I can give you a dozen alternate routes, but nothing is a guarantee. Stick with the 5 and you'll eventually get there. Its the most direct route and easiest to remember.

The freeways in L.A. suck regardless. Scarce money for improvements, crackpot activists preventing lane widening and useless carpool lanes, it’s hard to believe anyone can make it anywhere in less then an hour or more.

Space Mountain Mike
05-25-2005, 11:21 PM
The five is named the Golden State freeway but I was joking with a friend today how I think it should be named the Amusement Park Freeway since it's the freeway that goes to Magic Mountain, Disneyland and Sea World.

Forbin
05-26-2005, 09:08 AM
If you have time the best way is when you stop at a place with a WiFi connection and you brought a laptop, hook up and check www.sigalert.com and check orangecounty. Thatwill show you how long it takes to get to disneyland.

But short of a major accident (Like an earthquake) do NOT get off the 5. You will lose more time in the transition than trying to find a better route.

millionairegirl
05-26-2005, 11:00 AM
You shouldn't have problems getting to Knott's on Saturday. Take the 5 to the 91 East and then get off on whatever Knott's exit is (I'm blanking).

For Universal, if you want to get there at opening it will be a bear. I'd leave Anaheim after 9:30 or before 7:00. Even then it will take a while.

experiment626
05-26-2005, 11:04 AM
Everytime I have taken a "short cut" around 5 (sorry now "the" for me) it has taken just as long if not longer. Hit 5 and keep going until your exit. So much easier then trying to remember what freeway change to I go on next.

Karen256
05-26-2005, 12:17 PM
I'm going to go find a huge piece of wood to knock on but we've never hit bad traffic on I-5. the five. whatever. like others said, just hit it at the right time and you'll likely be fine. Depending on where you're coming from it is really really worth it to leave early enough to get into LA before 1 or 2 pm at the latest.

outlaw8
05-26-2005, 01:08 PM
ok..i HAVE A QUESTION ...
When going on the 5..where is the "curve"(split) located? When going on the 5 If you look right and see Downtown and the RCA building the 5 kinda curves LEFT(splits) and you start heading towards Anahiem....If you don't get over EARLY to the left lanes then you will continue straight to ?...
That's the only part of the trip I ALWAYS miss !! SO stay to the left lanes once you get in LA and you shouldn't have a problem
oh and take a "POTTY BREAK" Before getting into LA on the 5 or you'll have a hard time trying to get off and back on....

Drince88
05-26-2005, 01:36 PM
I grew up near I-5 South of Portland. Where does I-5 become "The 5"? (and yes, I know it's just a semantics thing, but I've been wondering this for a while)

Phydeaou
05-26-2005, 02:03 PM
The best way that I've found to keep moving when coming from that direction is to take the 5 South to the 210 East then the 57 South to the Disneyland offramp. It looks out of the way on a map, but the 210 has a carpool lane that we keep moving on, and the 57 is generally less congested. Even if it took the same amount of time, moving forward always makes me feel like I am getting there faster. There's nothing worse than travelling at an average of 1 mile per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Phydeaou
05-26-2005, 02:16 PM
I grew up near I-5 South of Portland. Where does I-5 become "The 5"? (and yes, I know it's just a semantics thing, but I've been wondering this for a while)

My friend and I grew up in southern California and we always just used the number of the freeways. Then one of my friends moved up to Troutdale, OR and he explained that if he tells someone to go north on the 5, they will ask him, "do you mean the I-5?" It's just a regional term. Somewhere between the California-Oregon border and Santa Clarita is where the answer to your question lies.

etixnostalgia
05-26-2005, 02:24 PM
My friend and I grew up in southern California and we always just used the number of the freeways. Then one of my friends moved up to Troutdale, OR and he explained that if he tells someone to go north on the 5, they will ask him, "do you mean the I-5?" It's just a regional term. Somewhere between the California-Oregon border and Santa Clarita is where the answer to your question lies.


I think it's even more complicated than that. It doesn't become "THE 5" until somewhere south of the Central Valley. A native Southern Californian, I've met ridicule in NorCal for using the dreaded "THE" prefix.

Karen256
05-26-2005, 02:43 PM
I grew up near I-5 South of Portland. Where does I-5 become "The 5"? (and yes, I know it's just a semantics thing, but I've been wondering this for a while)
The border between Northern and Southern California seems to be a bit disputed. Some used to call anything north of the In-n-Out burger furthest north NorCal, but now that In-n-Outs are all over up here, that's no longer valid. I consider anything north of San Luis Obispo NorCal.

But wherever you define the Northern/Southern California border, that's about where the "I-5" vs "the five" border is.

SCUBAbe
05-26-2005, 05:10 PM
ok..i HAVE A QUESTION ...
When going on the 5..where is the "curve"(split) located? When going on the 5 If you look right and see Downtown and the RCA building the 5 kinda curves LEFT(splits) and you start heading towards Anahiem....If you don't get over EARLY to the left lanes then you will continue straight to ?...
That's the only part of the trip I ALWAYS miss !! SO stay to the left lanes once you get in LA and you shouldn't have a problem
oh and take a "POTTY BREAK" Before getting into LA on the 5 or you'll have a hard time trying to get off and back on....

I'm tring to picture this, but I think it's the san fernando freeway. when I go I take the 14 (antelope valley freeway) to the 5 (san fernando) to the 5 (golden gate)...anyone confused yet...LOL

sediment
05-26-2005, 06:09 PM
ok..i HAVE A QUESTION ...
When going on the 5..where is the "curve"(split) located? When going on the 5 If you look right and see Downtown and the RCA building the 5 kinda curves LEFT(splits) and you start heading towards Anahiem....If you don't get over EARLY to the left lanes then you will continue straight to ?...
Santa Monica, on The 10 westbound.



oh and take a "POTTY BREAK" Before getting into LA on the 5 or you'll have a hard time trying to get off and back on....
Lyons Ave in Santa Clarita (south of SFMM) is an easy off-and-on potty break.

sediment
05-26-2005, 06:11 PM
I grew up near I-5 South of Portland. Where does I-5 become "The 5"? (and yes, I know it's just a semantics thing, but I've been wondering this for a while)
The In-N-Out in Kettleman City. So Cal Must go up that far, else there wouldn't be an In-N-Out.
(Those rebel outposts in NoCal are secret spy bases and brainwashing facilities. Or, oases for vagabond SoCal's.)

MrsG
05-26-2005, 06:17 PM
I always thought it became The 5 at The Grapevine.