Best way to get Santa Monica Pier without a car

[LisaT91403]

I'd be happy to calculate out the transit travel time. Taking the Amtrak Surfliner from Anaheim's new ARTIC station and hopping on the #10 Big Blue Bus at Union Station can get you to Santa Monica in about two hours, door-to-door. The Surfliner takes 45 minutes. The bus takes 45 minutes. Both run frequently. You can walk between your train and bus connection at Union Station, and you can even take ART from the DLR resort area to ARTIC. It's easy, very doable, and in no way unreasonable.

Everyone has his/her own opinion as to what's reasonable. While the actual transit time might be 2 hours, you also have to factor in that the OP is likely not staying at the Anaheim station. So first, she must get to the station...and would probably want to arrive a few minutes early so as not to miss the train. Let's add a half hour for her travel time and waiting at the station. Now you are at 2.5 hours to get to Santa Monica vs. a 45-minute drive.

Let's also discuss traffic. If the OP should be leaving during heavy traffic times, the bus no longer takes 45 minutes. Instead, it takes over 100 minutes. Now I understand that driving a rental car during traffic will also increase the commute time, but you can take a much more direct (and less heavily traveled) route to Anaheim than going through Downtown LA.

Anyway, like I said, it's up to the individual as to what's reasonable. Even in the best-case scenario (no traffic), I don't think it's reasonable to spend 2.5 hours getting from Anaheim to Santa Monica. To each his/her own