LA rush hour traffic after Christmas About This Page:

[chezp]

I'm trying to work out one of the final aspects to our December trip - a visit to the Warner Bros Studios. We're looking at doing this on Thursday 27 December, but I can't work out what time to book. We'll be staying at Disneyland and I know it takes around 45 minutes to drive there, but I keep wondering how bad the rush hour will be and what would be the best time to travel.

I have no idea whether rush hour is the same between Christmas and New Year in LA as the rest of the year? I know, over here for example, at that time of the year, traditional rush hour (7:00-9:00am) would be quieter for us, as the schools are out and lots of places shut down over Christmas, but it would be busier later in the morning on the roads, as everyone goes to the sales.

Any advice anyone can give me would be much appreciated, as I just can't make up my mind what time to go for with the tour - and obviously we don't want to get stuck in traffic and miss it.

[shazza]

It's been a while since we lived in Southern California, but if I were looking at this, I'd still avoid the 7-9am time frame. Commuter traffic should be lighter during the Holiday week, but many people will still be working. As for shoppers, I would imagine the big rush will be the 26th. If there are still specials going on later in the week, stores will probably have early morning opening hours. The biggest shopping day is probably still Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving.

My best guess would be to try to leave after 9am, but you'll also want to be back on the road before 3pm. Not sure how long the tour lasts.

Hopefully, some more "locals" will chime in.

[Shari2137]

Sadly, you will still hit traffic. Many places except for schools will be back to work after Christmas. It won't be as heavy, but you may still encounter some. Shazza gave good advice. Good Luck on your decision. No matter what time you choose, I would still build in extra time as one fender bender or car breakdown can really mess up the traffic.

[chezp]

Thanks guys! I'm thinking we'll probably head out at maybe 9:30am and perhaps go for something like the 11:15am tour, as that should give us an extra hour, so hopefully that will be Ok...

[Dlandmom2]

Cheryl, it's so hard to predict, but I think it would be safe if you left Anaheim around 9 and give it about 1.25 hours to get to Warner. That would be my best guess for the 27th.