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Bay Area to Disney and LEGOland. Any tips?

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Looks like the most recent thread on a trip like this was a year or so ago, and there's been a bunch of new Supercharger openings in the LA area in the time since. This will be our longest trip in the Model S yet. Any tips?

In particular, I think, we're worried about our transition day between Anaheim and Carlsbad on a weekday (Thursday). Trying to minimize time in the car for our 2 year old, I'm not sure what the best time to depart may be. Is there a lull around lunch anytime, or bad pretty much all day and REALLY bad at rush hour? :)

I'd also kind of like to check out Hawthorne and the design center, but I hear charging there can be hard with long waits. Has it eased up at all with the new LA-area Superchargers?
 
The disneyland hotel has charging (chargepoint I believe). You can top off there while enjoying the park, and should be able to do the R/T to carlsbad without a supercharge at all.
Thanks. It sounds like the Disney & Friends lot has about 60 Chargepoint spots, and the Grand Californian, where we're staying, claims to do charging if you valet. Might not be necessary, though, given the proximity to Buena Park and the newly-opened Fountain Valley. Hitting those on the way in and/or out might be more attractive than letting a valet have my car. Not sure.
 
Looks like the most recent thread on a trip like this was a year or so ago, and there's been a bunch of new Supercharger openings in the LA area in the time since. This will be our longest trip in the Model S yet. Any tips?

In particular, I think, we're worried about our transition day between Anaheim and Carlsbad on a weekday (Thursday). Trying to minimize time in the car for our 2 year old, I'm not sure what the best time to depart may be. Is there a lull around lunch anytime, or bad pretty much all day and REALLY bad at rush hour? :)

I'd also kind of like to check out Hawthorne and the design center, but I hear charging there can be hard with long waits. Has it eased up at all with the new LA-area Superchargers?

The new Buena Park Superchargers collocated at the Sales, Service, and Delivery Center should make it convenient to SC within a few miles of Disneyland.

Additionally, if our OC Tesla Club is doing any activities during your visit, feel free to join us.
 
The new Buena Park Superchargers collocated at the Sales, Service, and Delivery Center should make it convenient to SC within a few miles of Disneyland.

Additionally, if our OC Tesla Club is doing any activities during your visit, feel free to join us.
Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about hitting Buena Park on the way in, which should be enough to sustain 5 days of vampire draw plus the round trip to Carlsbad, then Buena Park again on the way back north. At least, it looks that way. Sounds like Fountain Valley and San Juan Capistrano can get pretty bad.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about hitting Buena Park on the way in, which should be enough to sustain 5 days of vampire draw plus the round trip to Carlsbad, then Buena Park again on the way back north. At least, it looks that way. Sounds like Fountain Valley and San Juan Capistrano can get pretty bad.

To answer your question on Hawthorne... The few times I've been by, it's been very empty. However, the last time I was there it seemed to charge slower.

Don't forget to check out the SpaceX rocket on the way in.
 
Depending on how much time you have you might consider going through Monterey and down Hwy 1. With Superchargers in Monterey and Atascadero charging is a piece of cake.

I just did this a month ago in the opposite direction and driving the S along Hwy 1 through Big Sur is amazing. Aquarium in Monterey and hikes in Big Sur could be fun depending on your 2 yo.
 
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Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking about hitting Buena Park on the way in, which should be enough to sustain 5 days of vampire draw plus the round trip to Carlsbad, then Buena Park again on the way back north. At least, it looks that way. Sounds like Fountain Valley and San Juan Capistrano can get pretty bad.

Disney Chargepoints cost $.35/kWh.

Tons of them in Mickey and Friends structure on ground level. Ask for EV parking.

Now, for the a-holes that park in the EV spots and don't bother to plug in, there's a special place in Hell for them.
 
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We went down to Disney over the summer in our 70D. We followed the cars charging and routing suggestions (I-5 all the way down). We topped off as much as we could at Tejon Ranch (our last charge stop very late at night) to make sure we had spare to drive around when we got there. We didn't use any local destination chargers at all.

Buena Park hadn't opened yet, and the plan was to run down to Fountain Valley (10 miles away) on our last night to try and avoid having to stop at Burbank the next day, but we had to cut the charge short, and the car still routed us via Burbank anyway on the way back.

With the new superchargers coming online it looks like an even easier trip. We'd probably just stop at Buena Park (on the way down and back) instead, or even run over to Santa Ana if/when it's online. With the addition of Santa Nella soon, it looks like you could also bypass Harris Ranch entirely!

What was interesting, on our return trip after we left Harris Ranch, the navigation kept on alternating/re-routing for our next charge stop. It would jump from Gilroy to Dublin and then back again repeatedly. Both were within easy reach of our range. We decided on Gilroy but should have stuck with Dublin as I really dislike the winding Hwy 152.
 
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i'm also about to do the same trip with my 3 year old from east bay to anaheim in december, but i am staying in a hotel near the park (ayres) that has destination charging so that i can leave on a full charge without having to stop by a supercharger first.
 
i'm also about to do the same trip with my 3 year old from east bay to anaheim in december, but i am staying in a hotel near the park (ayres) that has destination charging so that i can leave on a full charge without having to stop by a supercharger first.

The Ayres Hotels all over SoCal have some great Destination Chargers. Watch out in some they have a mix of 40A and 80A DCs and the J1772 is at 30A.
 
The Disney hotels just use a 110v plug, so your charging will be limited, but last time we were there I spoke to the valet at the convention center Marriott (they have Tesla destination chargers) and they will allow non-guests to charge for the cost of overnight parking. We didn't end up needing the charge, but my plan was to park the car there on our last night and be full for the trip home to the Bay Area.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. We've been down Hwy 1 a number of times (including for the aquarium and a TMC Connect!). It's a blast. Probably going to opt for the boring/fast route this time, though. It's already quite a long car ride for a little one.

Even 110V at the hotel would have me full by the time we need to leave, so maybe that's an option after all. Not too worried about charging once I get to Disney: Buena Park is close, Disney & Friends lot has 60 chargers, and the 110V at the hotel is even good enough. Seems like my options there are all fine.

Still not entirely sure if it's better to go the traditional Harris/Tejon ranch route, or to maybe swap out Tejon for Buttonwillow or Bakersfield.

Will probably roundtrip from Disney to LEGOland and back to Buena Park without charging, I think.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. We've been down Hwy 1 a number of times (including for the aquarium and a TMC Connect!). It's a blast. Probably going to opt for the boring/fast route this time, though. It's already quite a long car ride for a little one.

Even 110V at the hotel would have me full by the time we need to leave, so maybe that's an option after all. Not too worried about charging once I get to Disney: Buena Park is close, Disney & Friends lot has 60 chargers, and the 110V at the hotel is even good enough. Seems like my options there are all fine.

Still not entirely sure if it's better to go the traditional Harris/Tejon ranch route, or to maybe swap out Tejon for Buttonwillow or Bakersfield.

Will probably roundtrip from Disney to LEGOland and back to Buena Park without charging, I think.
I've done Buttonwillow instead of Tejon the last few trips. When open, the Starbucks at Buttonwillow there has a shorter line than the one at Tejon (right now.)
 
We went down to Disney over the summer in our 70D. We followed the cars charging and routing suggestions (I-5 all the way down). We topped off as much as we could at Tejon Ranch (our last charge stop very late at night) to make sure we had spare to drive around when we got there. We didn't use any local destination chargers at all.

Buena Park hadn't opened yet, and the plan was to run down to Fountain Valley (10 miles away) on our last night to try and avoid having to stop at Burbank the next day, but we had to cut the charge short, and the car still routed us via Burbank anyway on the way back.

With the new superchargers coming online it looks like an even easier trip. We'd probably just stop at Buena Park (on the way down and back) instead, or even run over to Santa Ana if/when it's online. With the addition of Santa Nella soon, it looks like you could also bypass Harris Ranch entirely!

What was interesting, on our return trip after we left Harris Ranch, the navigation kept on alternating/re-routing for our next charge stop. It would jump from Gilroy to Dublin and then back again repeatedly. Both were within easy reach of our range. We decided on Gilroy but should have stuck with Dublin as I really dislike the winding Hwy 152.

Yeah I just did this trip to Anaheim last month. Pretty straightforward, though I took care to avoid Burbank SuperChargers. I left SF Bay around 4, hit Gilroy, Harris Ranch, Tejon Ranch, then charged at Anaheim Marriott. Same chargers on the way back. Eating at Harris Ranch is a kind of tradition, even if the food hasn't been that good.

I don't like the 152 Pacheco Pass, especially at night. Is 580 between Livermore and the Bay less windy and less truck-ful? With the new Santa Nella SpC that makes it more plausible with my S60.
 
I'm planning an East Bay to Disney (Newport Beach) trip next week. My plan is Harris Ranch, ButtonWillow or Bakersfield (to skip Tejon), then Culver City to give me enough charge to get around Orange County the next day without needing to stop at Fountain Valley. Then my trip from Newport to Disney I'm figuring I'll hit Buena Park a few times, or maybe Fountain Valley post Disney when it's super late and hopefully less busy.

Does anyone know if Fountain Valley is still ugly at 10 or 11pm?
 
Once you're at Legoland, park at the chargers. Yes they're ChargePoint but it's worth it, no matter what the cost may be. They are some of the closest parking spots to the main entrance. First row below the Legoland Hotel's entrance.

Since you can spend the whole day there, you should be able to get a full charge and avoid the crowded San Juan Capistrano and Fountain Valley superchargers - have fun!