\u201cLabor Day is kind of our last big hurrah for summer as far as summertime operations,\u201d Kanton said. \u201cDefinitely, a lot of people are going to be in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it\u2019s not shoveling snow in winter, the resort company offers summertime activities like mountain biking, golfing at night<\/a> with glow-in-the-dark decorations at its Snow Summit and Snow Valley parks. And this year, it\u2019s also holding an inaugural rodeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n But some travelers may find it tough to head to the San Bernardino Mountains, about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to borrow $10 to fill up my tank today,\u201d said Justin Wonacott of Anaheim, who works as a counselor at Set Free Anaheim,<\/a> a church that supports recovering drug addicts.<\/p>\n \u201cGas prices are keeping me local,\u201d said Wonacott, who was filling up his Toyota Sienna at the World Oil Express station in Anaheim along North Harbor Boulevard this past week. \u201cGod will provide but the high prices are definitely a hindrance for some people.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the American Automobile Association says Anaheim and Los Angeles will rank as a top destination spot in the U.S. for travelers over the busy three-day holiday \u2014 the seventh hottest spot in the nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lodging statistics from CoStar, a real estate data firm, expect above-average charges for hotel rooms and higher occupancy \u2014 especially near Disneyland.<\/p>\n The average daily rates for hotels near the Anaheim theme park are up 6.2%, according to CoStar.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is due to very strong domestic leisure demand, booming convention demand and aggressive marketing programs by (Walt Disney Co.) and Disneyland resorts,\u201d according to Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group in Newport Beach.<\/p>\n Mike Waterman, Visit Anaheim president and chief executive officer, said visitors to Disneyland over Labor Day are coming from all over Southern California.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data we\u2019ve been seeing shows Americans delaying their international visitations. They\u2019re choosing to stay local, and with 25 million people within a two-hour or less drive to Anaheim and the fact that weather across the country has been crazy hot, plus Disneyland is a just a major draw \u2014 all those things really benefit our location. Families are choosing travel and experiences over personal goods.\u201d<\/p>\n The only laggard locally has been spending on food and beverages, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI talk with a lot of the (general managers) on a regular basis, and the food and beverage component has been waning,\u201d Waterman said. \u201cI think that is a combination of GLP-1 (weight loss medications) and people just aren\u2019t eating as much anymore, and consumers foregoing an expensive meal in a hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n Lighter wallets<\/p>\n But while lodging shows healthy signs headed into long weekend, travelers are facing hurdles with high gas prices and overall inflation.<\/p>\n Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis with GasBuddy, a price-tracking service, sees a slight decline in driving over the holiday due to higher prices.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say Americans are immune to the high prices, but against the backdrop of people who lost their summer just a few short years ago because of the (pandemic) requirements, I think Americans don\u2019t want to lose another year, so they\u2019re going to push through where they can to pay for the gas,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will gripe about it, but there are a subset of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, and are cutting back on demand. But most Americans are just begrudgingly paying the higher price.\u201d<\/p>\n The average price for a gallon of unleaded gas in California hovered at $5.73 a gallon Sept. 2<\/a> \u2014 more than a dollar higher than a year ago.<\/p>\n The price spike comes amid a prolonged U.S. war with Iran, which disrupted global oil supplies over the past six months. The fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a key supply waterway, stopped the movement of 20% of the world\u2019s crude oil.<\/p>\n The effects are being felt thousands of miles from the Middle East.<\/p>\n Michael Hegarty was taking care of his son\u2019s dog in Anaheim over the Aug. 29-30 weekend when he pulled into the World Oil Express station to fill up his tank before heading back home to Phoenix.<\/p>\n Hegarty, a former press associate with the Obama-Biden White House in 2009 and 2010, paid $56.66 for just under 11 gallons of gas for his 360-mile trip in his Honda CRV.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, I can get across the (Arizona-California) border to buy cheaper gas with what I put in the tank today.\u201d<\/p>\n The price of a gallon of unleaded gas sells for about 70 cents less in Arizona.<\/p>\n California sells the highest priced gas in the nation because its fuel is heavily taxed at the pump<\/a> to pay for highway maintenance, local road repairs and other infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n Besides Hegarty, others throughout Southern California also are grumbling about gas prices heading into the Labor Day driving weekend, with some cutting back on plans for long trips to Las Vegas or travel across town to be with relatives.<\/p>\n Martinez Savannah of Perris said that she\u2019s not traveling to Arizona for the holiday weekend to visit family because of the high cost of gas. \u201cI understand why gas prices are keeping people from going far,\u201d says Savannah, as she filled her tank at a 76 station along Main Street in Riverside.<\/p>\n Marissa Garcia of San Bernardino also has felt the sting of high gas prices. She travels hundreds of miles a week over traffic-congested freeways for her nonprofit work.<\/p>\n Each week, she drives to La Mirada in southeastern Los Angeles County, then to Barstow and Fontana for work. \u201cI usually don\u2019t fill the tank all the way. It\u2019s too expensive. Rent is too expensive. Car maintenance is expensive and food is expensive,\u201d said Garcia while filling her car\u2019s tank at a Shell station along Second Street in San Bernardino.<\/p>\n This weekend, she plans to put her feet up and rest on Labor Day.<\/p>\n Customers fill up their gas tanks at a World Oil Express Station in Anaheim, August 31, 2026, before the start of the Labor Day weekend. (Photo by Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n Adrian Lucero of Bloomington fills up his Ford Mustang at a Shell gas station in Fullerton, August 31, 2026, before the the start of the upcoming Labor Day weekend. (Photo by Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n Vanessa Perez of Fullerton fills up her Honda Civic at a Shell gas station in Fullerton, August 31, 2026, while talking about the high price of gas before the upcoming Labor Day weekend. Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 3<\/p>\n Customers fill up their gas tanks at a World Oil Express Station in Anaheim, August 31, 2026, before the start of the Labor Day weekend. (Photo by Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a> High gas prices aren\u2019t the only deterrent to travel this weekend. Southern California airports are seeing flat domestic travel with some losses in international travelers \u2014 but not all \u2014 as Labor Day approaches.<\/p>\n In fact, Canadians are staying away from Southern California because they are upset with the U.S. over unfavorable trade policies and taunting by President Donald Trump who renamed Lake Ontario as Lake America.<\/p>\n Visit Anaheim\u2019s Waterman noted that travel from Canadians was down significantly in 2025 from prior years. The northern neighbor had held the No. 1 spot for visitors to Anaheim until last year when it fell to the No. 2 spot behind Mexico. He\u2019s cautiously optimistic that a rebound for Canadians is in the works in the second half of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cFor 2025, they were resistant to come,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think over time, especially if you\u2019re a die-hard Disney family, you can walk away for a year, but my personal prediction is that being two years away from Disneyland is asking a little much. They are starting to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n According to new data released by Statistics Canada<\/a>, Canadian travelers pulled hundreds of millions of dollars out of the United States in the first part of 2026 \u2014 the latest available figures.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s National Travel Survey released Tuesday, Aug. 25, showed Canadians cut back on trips, average visit length and spending on trips into the U.S.\u00a0 during the first three months of 2026, when compared to the same period a year prior.<\/p>\n Canadians made nearly 500,000 fewer trips into America and spent about $800 million less on those trips year over year, according to preliminary numbers gathered by Statistics Canada.<\/p>\n Feeling the squeeze<\/p>\n Los Angeles International Airport and John Wayne Airport have felt these traveler pullbacks.<\/p>\n While domestic travel is down in the low single digits at John Wayne, the total number of international passengers boarding and deplaning fell 29% in June, and 26% in the first six months of the year.<\/p>\n Air Canada, which offers one daily departure to Vancouver, carried about 10% fewer travelers in 2025, with no rebound anticipated in 2026. The airline is hauling about 34,100 fewer passengers through mid-August compared with 92,900 travelers reported in all of last year.<\/p>\n WestJet, which offers nonstop flights to Calgary, carried about 33% fewer passengers last year and is on pace to haul even fewer this year.\u00a0The weekly passenger totals are down 3-5% since May compared with the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this is any indication, we expect the Labor Day traffic to be down compared to last year,\u201d\u00a0 said John Wayne spokeswoman AnnaSophia Servin, who blamed the lower passenger totals on the abrupt exit of Spirit Airlines on May 1, which shut down and stopped all operations.<\/p>\n The story is much the same at LAX.<\/p>\n The airport counted 23.6 million international passengers in 2025, down 1.6% from 2024\u2019s 23.9 million. Traffic has continued to fall from overseas in the first seven months, off 2.7% to 13.5 million passengers versus the 13.8 million seen a year ago.<\/p>\n A noticeable highlight is an 8.6% drop in Canadian travelers headed to Los Angeles in the first six months, while daily flights with Air Canada fell 2.3%.<\/p>\n For all of September, LAX is forecasting a 1.9% drop in passenger travel from a year ago, according to a statement provided by LAX to the Southern California News Group.<\/p>\n Bright spot<\/p>\n With new airlines and flights into Asian and Mexican markets, Ontario International Airport has experienced modest growth in international passenger traffic \u2014 a slight 0.4% uptick in July versus the same year-ago month. Domestic passenger traffic fell 1.4% over the same timeframe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see travel over Labor Day weekend, from our perspective, flat compared to last year,\u201d said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. \u201cThat is really due to unintended consequences of what\u2019s happening in the world. We\u2019re just kind of monitoring it and keeping tabs on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the factors for the \u201cflat\u201d air travel this year? \u201cI think there\u2019s the economy. I also think there\u2019s the cost of fuel,\u201d said Elkadi.<\/p>\n Air travel also is stagnating as more students return to classes ahead of Labor Day \u2014 including the California State University system at the end of August, he observed. About 70% of students in the nation\u2019s K-12 schools return to school before September, according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this plays a role into it,\u201d Elkadi said.<\/p>\n Pedro Canales of El Monte says he\u2019s spending an estimated $500 a week on gas for traveling around in the region as a painting and remodeling contractor. He\u2019s not going to Las Vegas this year over the Labor Day weekend with his family because gas prices are too high. (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n Marissa Garcia of San Bernardino is impacted by the gas prices as she\u2019s traveling hundreds of miles a week over traffic congested freeways. She has no plans to do anything on Labor Day but put her feet up on the footstool. Every week, she drives to La Mirada in southeastern Los Angeles County, Barstow and Fontana as part of her nonprofit work. \u201cI usually don\u2019t fill the tank all the way. It\u2019s too expensive. Rent is too expensive. Car maintenance is expensive and food is expensive.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Lee Wright of Rialto, says he rarely fills his tank up with gas because he\u2019s running low on cash to help his wife and daughter with their gas bills as well. \u201cI usually put in $15 to get me to work in Fontana,\u201d says Wright as he fills his tank at a Chevron along 2nd Street in San Bernardino. (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n Vivian Navarrete of Riverside says that she\u2019s taking a pass on driving to San Diego to visit friends and family this year because it\u2019s too expensive. \u201cI\u2019m not traveling anywhere. I have to pay for gas to work,\u201d says Navarrete, as she fills her tank at a 76 station along Main Street in Riverside (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n Arsenio Madison of Chino says Labor Day is just \u201canother day.\u201d The 36-year-old says that he\u2019s never seen gas prices as high as they are now. \u201cIt\u2019s highway robbery.\u201d (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n Martinez Savannah of Perris, says she\u2019s not traveling to Arizona this Labor Day to visit family because of the high cost of gas. \u201cI understand why gas prices are keeping people from going far,\u201d says Savannah, as she fills her tank at a 76 station along Main Street in Riverside. (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 6<\/p>\n Pedro Canales of El Monte says he\u2019s spending an estimated $500 a week on gas for traveling around in the region as a painting and remodeling contractor. He\u2019s not going to Las Vegas this year over the Labor Day weekend with his family because gas prices are too high. (Photo by Pat Maio)\n<\/p>\n![\"Customers](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVEL-09xx_06.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVEL-09xx_04.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Vanessa](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVEL-09xx_01.jpg?w=620\")
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\n(Photo by Steven Georges, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n
\nFewer Canadians<\/p>\n![\"Pedro](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELpedro-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Marissa](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELmarissa-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELwright-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Vivian](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELvivian-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Arsenio](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELarsenio-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Martinez](\"https:\/\/www.sbsun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/OCR-L-LABOR-TRAVELmartinez-09xx-01.jpeg?w=620\")
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