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Old 01-13-2020, 03:23 PM   #1
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2016 30' Classic
Glenwood Springs , Colorado
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Disney Land with Grand Kids

Our daughter wants us to meet them at Disney Land in Anaheim in July of this year.We thought we would take our Airstream and stay at one the parks that is in close proximity. I'm more than a little nervous about towing anywhere near LA.Has anyone ever done this. What is it like to tow in the Los Angeles area. Any concerns or advice would be truly appreciated. We have a 31 ft Classic pulled by a Ram 2500. Traveling from Western Colorado to Los Angeles CA.
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Old 01-13-2020, 03:27 PM   #2
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I can’t say what towing a 31’ would be like, but towing my 22’ is not that bad. Yes traffic. Yes city streets. Not something beyond manageable. I would time it to not arrive or leave +/- 3 hours from when you expect “rush hour” to be. Arriving on a Sunday and leaving on a Sunday would be ideal.
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Old 01-13-2020, 03:36 PM   #3
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The freeways are good but crowded. The HOV lanes are limited as to when you can exit them so make sure you know the 3 exits before yours. So you can get out and cross over. The off and on-ramps are typically quite short and can be tight. I find the drivers in LA to actually be pretty good drivers although they are quick distracted and like drivers everywhere. They do know their freeways and their exits and their ramps.

I would actually time it to arrive somewhere before BV 10 am Sunday morning. That's probably the least travelef time on a freeway there. Being that it will be July it will also be quite light early in the morning and you can navigate with less traffic

The streets around Disneyland are wide and easy to navigate. You would likely not be staying close to the park but driving in or Ober or commuting in with your family.

I think if you are navigating with display assistance, writing all of your turns and freeway merges down or you have a good copilot you certainly could do it.

It would not be much different than navigating through any other Metropolitan City on the freeway except this time you're actually going to that City and exiting on a particular ramp.

You can also expect it could be quite hot in July at Disneyland. The grandparents tend to be the ones waiting at the bottom of the rides, watching the strollers, watching the kids and babysitting in the evenings. There are quite a few shaded areas and seating areas but that must be peak season and it's going to be crowded regardless.
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Old 01-13-2020, 03:49 PM   #4
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Disney Land with Grand Kids

I tow in the LA area all the time. I run with headlights and running lights on, pick drive time to miss commuting traffic if at all possible, and drive defensively. A narrow-body 22 footer is not that bad. There is a lot of construction in the area so you need to stay centered in the narrowed lanes in some areas.

Since you have a 31 footer, I would absolutely find an RV park outside the area, unhook, and drive to Disneyland. Parks close in are really just crowded parking lots. Note that all the parking there at the theme parks and Downtown Disney areas is now in huge parking structures, so overly tall vehicles may be an issue. Parking is $25 a day, so using a rideshare may make more sense to you.

Note that three day tickets bought in advance from AAA or military, or whatever, are a lot cheaper than buying them in the park. Park hopper let’s you freely visit both parks. PhotoPass is a great way to have the Disney photographers take some neat pictures of your group. Make dining reservations online or through the Disneyland app EARLY. The nice restaurants fill up days in advance in peak times.

We have an annual pass, and go there often. Plan to have lots of fun. It’s not that hot in July if you stay in the shade and drink lots of water. The humidity is usually very low and the sun is warm. A good sun hat with a wide brim and a chin strap or lanyard is good so it won’t get blown off in a ride.

Have fun!!
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Old 01-13-2020, 06:33 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl View Post
. . .
You can also expect it could be quite hot in July at Disneyland. The grandparents tend to be the ones waiting at the bottom of the rides, watching the strollers, watching the kids and babysitting in the evenings. There are quite a few shaded areas and seating areas but that must be peak season and it's going to be crowded regardless.
Campgrounds will be crowded and advance reservations needed. Avoid the Fourth if possible IMO.

Have fun,

Peter
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Old 01-14-2020, 09:32 AM   #6
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We live in Orange County and know Anaheim very well. My advice would be to stay at the Canyon RV Park in Yorba Linda and just drive your tow vehicle to Disneyland. It is about a 15-20 minute drive. Canyon RV Park is right off the 91 freeway and very easy to navigate. It is a beautiful park! We stayed there in our 30’ Classic when our home was under construction.
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Old 01-14-2020, 09:55 AM   #7
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In Anaheim, try the Anaheim RV park. It is about 1 mile from Disneyland and they have a shuttle running between the RV park and Disneyland every 20-30 minutes. The RV park is due East of the east side entrance to Disneyland, so use the shuttle and avoid the traffic. Traffic in LA is always busy, but just go slow and easy and you will be fine.
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Old 01-14-2020, 10:08 AM   #8
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We were just down at disneyland with our 30' trailer. Driving was way better than I anticipated. We tried to drive in and out of L.A. area on the weekends and avoided rush hour traffic. People actually were very nice and would let us in when needed until the bay area.
Someone said know your exit way in advance is good advice and lots of the right lanes are exit only so dont get caught in one of them.
We stayed at orangeland rv park. We very nice, clean and you can pick all the oranges, lemons, limes amd grapefruit you can.
Safe travels!
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Old 01-14-2020, 11:52 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by CarrieAnn View Post
We live in Orange County and know Anaheim very well. My advice would be to stay at the Canyon RV Park in Yorba Linda and just drive your tow vehicle to Disneyland. It is about a 15-20 minute drive. Canyon RV Park is right off the 91 freeway and very easy to navigate. It is a beautiful park! We stayed there in our 30’ Classic when our home was under construction.
I'll second this suggestion. The park is subject to traffic noise from the 91 Freeway, which is almost always busy. But the park is clean, nicely maintained, and you have just that short drive into Disneyland in your tow vehicle.

There's another bonus of staying at Canyon RV; if you are coming across I-70 to I-15 you will come through San Bernardino and Riverside on your way into Orange County, but you will never enter LA County. Same if you are taking I-25 to I-40, which terminates at I-15. You will completely avoid driving in LA.

The RV parks around D-land, as others have said, are "RV Resorts" where you basically are slotted into narrow sites with little to no space between you and your neighbors.
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Old 01-14-2020, 12:20 PM   #10
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Born and raised in Orange County. Lived their 50+ years. Last 20 years we lived within 2 miles of the park. So a couple of observations:

HOV Lanes: California Vehicle Code prohibits towing in the #1 lane. This is the lane closest to the center divider that is not restricted to HOVs. HOV lanes in California are typically between the #1 lane and the center divider. So although you have the required number of people in your vehicle to enter the HOV lane, if you are towing your trailer, don't do it.

If you are staying at Canyon RV as I and others have suggested, the HOV lane along this stretch of the 91 Freeway is pay-to-use; you have to have an account with them. And they are limited access and you can't enter or exit them for Canyon RV.

Freeways in OC can be crowded anytime of the day. The 91 is a mess from about 6am until 9 or 10am. (My dad lives on the hills overlooking this freeway and sees the traffic every morning from his rear patio.) The other freeways you might use to get to the park are also very busy during the morning and afternoon commutes. If you stay at Canyon RV and you need to be at D-land when it opens, plan a different route on surface streets and avoid all the freeways.

On/Off ramps on most Orange County freeways are long enough to allow you plenty of time to merge at the speed of traffic and safely slow down when exiting. In LA some of the ramps are extremely short. Like a fish hook. Some of those freeways were designed and built when traffic was less and people drove slower. But hopefully you can avoid driving in LA.

You will find that many drivers don't use their turn signals. And some will dart into your lane right in front of to make their exit. Leave plenty of room between you and the vehicle in front of you. Use your signals. We have found if you signal you will find more people willing to let you into a lane. Maybe this is a function of having out-of-state plates now as before we moved out of SoCal we found we were regularly cut off, ignored and "saluted" when we signaled a lane change.

Above all allow plenty of extra time wherever you are going. Driving in SoCal can be nerve racking, even for those of us that live/lived there.
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Old 01-14-2020, 01:32 PM   #11
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Hoagie,

Thx for the tip.

I was not aware of no towing in HOV lanes, having done so many times.

I'm sure I have never seen the sign prohibiting this. Not sure how I would have known otherwise.
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Old 01-14-2020, 03:52 PM   #12
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Ignorance of the law no excuse! (Sarcasm). Why is it the only way to find out is the hard way?!? I agree how to know this ???????
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Old 01-14-2020, 05:04 PM   #13
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Prado state park 30 minutes drive to Disneyland Anaheim. Featherly park 25 minutes drive to Disneyland Anaheim, and so many beautiful coastline areas to stay . San Onofre Beach state park on the beach 35 -45 minutes drive to Disneyland Anaheim, also the other direction wild animal Park -San Diego zoo. I wouldn’t stay at any near the parks that are closest to Disneyland. I don’t think you’ll have any problem driving from Colorado. Will be coming to your beautiful state for the international rally this year in loveland Colorado. Safe travels and have fun with your grandchildren.
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Old 01-14-2020, 05:28 PM   #14
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Problem with towing in the carpool lanes in California is that the towing speed limit is 55 mph statewide. You would be cited for either speeding in the carpool lane with the rest of the speeders, or you would be really blocking traffic. Add the knuckleheads that jump into the carpool lanes with a single driver just to pick up a couple car lengths and it’s no place to be with any trailer...

The locals like to go 70+ in the carpool lanes, it seems.
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Old 01-15-2020, 11:55 AM   #15
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Ignorance of the law no excuse! (Sarcasm). Why is it the only way to find out is the hard way?!? I agree how to know this ???????
To say the California Vehicle Code is gargantuan and difficult to decipher at times would be a severe understatement. Here's a LINK to the current code from the California Legislature's site.

For those coming from out-of-state, there are no signs prohibiting towing in the carpool/HOV lanes that I can ever remember seeing. But every state I've checked does prohibit towing in the left-most lane open to regular traffic unless there are signs specifically allowing it. Or they have a law stating you are required to tow in the right-most lane except to overtake another vehicle, make a left turn, give way to emergency or roadwork vehicles, etc.

You will sometimes see signs in California over the left-most lane saying "Trucks OK" when you are approaching an interchange or exit where the only way to make that interchange/exit is from the left lane. You can tow in these lanes to make that exit only.

If you originally got your drivers license in California, you may or may not have been taught and tested on towing. I don't recall being taught this or tested on it. I found out when accompanying a friend towing his ski boat and he ducked into the left lane. A CHP car pulled up with his lights flashing and luckily only gave us a sign to move right. If you peruse the CVC on the link I provided above, who could possibly know every part of the law governing any aspect of driving in California.

In regards to HOV lanes, the California Highway Patrol addresses like this:

"Any vehicle towing a trailer, large trucks, and other vehicles subject to a 55 MPH speed limit cannot use an HOV lane regardless of the number of occupants."

Seeing as California prohibits towing ANY vehicle at greater than 55MPH, that pretty much prohibits towing in the HOV lanes.
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Old 01-16-2020, 09:08 AM   #16
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I was taught to tow in the right two lanes only. You will notice the truckers do this as well. It works out fine with the 55 mph speed limit while towing. We only get into a left lane if our freeway change requires it. In this case it is allowed.
This may be a California thing, but seems the safe thing to do in all states.
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Old 01-22-2020, 09:42 PM   #17
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My son and I took our 25’ Flying Cloud to Disneyland and Vidcon last summer and took a friend. We stayed at the Anaheim RV resort and used Uber to go to and from the park. It was cheaper and easier than the shuttle. We had a great trip. Most of the time the boys were too tired to stay in the park for fireworks but we could see them from the RV park.
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Old 01-22-2020, 11:07 PM   #18
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My son and I took our 25’ Flying Cloud to Disneyland and Vidcon last summer and took a friend. We stayed at the Anaheim RV resort and used Uber to go to and from the park. It was cheaper and easier than the shuttle. We had a great trip. Most of the time the boys were too tired to stay in the park for fireworks but we could see them from the RV park.
I too put in a third vote for the Anaheim RV resort. It is very close to the park, there is the shuttle, and you can see the fireworks.
When we were there we spent so little time in the trailer it really did not matter how close we were. It was nice also in that we saved money by popping out and eating lunch in the trailer plus we got in a quick nap. (Sidebar- the food has gotten so bad and expensive there, it really is bad. Only meal where I feel like I got my monies worth was at the car cafe next to the Cars ride)

Access from the freeway to the RV park was easy. I was surprised how easy it was to tow in LA, was really anxious about it. I just stayed in the second lane from the left all the way in except during freeway changes where I used Google maps to plan my move several miles ahead to get into the correct lane.

Thanks,
Matti
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Old 01-22-2020, 11:13 PM   #19
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Found a nice camp ground to overnight at just before the grapevine, will lookup the name for you.

It got you into through LA after the rush hour and into the RV park right at check in time.

Thanks
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