Wife and I did the trip last summer (2022). It was our 4th time driving down. We live in Surrey and leave around 4:30am. The three other times we made it to Red Bluff, Stockton, and Corning, but this time we hit the coast and arrived in Crescent City around dinner time. Next day we drove through the Avenue of the Giants (The Redwoods) and saw the sunset along the coast before arriving in San Francisco. We stayed there for 2 nights before heading back to the coast to visit Carmel, Big Sur and stopping in Morrow Bay for the night. Visited Pirates Cove beach the next day before driving to Anaheim. The coast takes more time, but it really should be done at least once. After our Disney stay, we headed up the I5 as that is fastest. Within 2 nights we were back home. We always stop at the outlets in Woodburn Oregon.
This was the first time that the wife and I did the trip on our own. The previous 3 times we had our kids and that was why we took the I5 (fastest). The kids flew down this time and met us in Anaheim.