From Amtrak station to DL

[babydinosaur03]

Hi all,

Thinking about a one-day trip to DL while I'm in CA for a conference. (East Coaster here!)

I think I'd be more comfortable riding Amtrak from San Diego to Anaheim than trying to rent a car; slightly cheaper and also a bit faster, plus I'm less comfortable driving where I'm unfamiliar. Also, I read that thread about parking lot time loss. :O

Would the best way to get from the Amtrak station to DL be to take the ART 15 line that I've read about? Do you have advice/suggestions for me other than that? And that ticket would be $5 all day, right?

TIA!
babydinosaur03

 

[SMD]

Amtrak is not faster than driving. Plus you'd have to add in the time to transfer from the station to the park. It will be close to 15 minutes by taxi, whereas ART will take 20-30 minutes with stops. Are you taking the train up the same day you're going to the park and are you taking the train back? You should check the Amtrak and ART schedules to see how early you can get to the park or when you'll have to leave to go back.

 

[babydinosaur03]

You're right; driving the trip would be about 25 minutes faster. I had remembered it backwards.
But I was concerned with the parking time to factor in. I suppose that would be eaten up by the 20-30 min. ART time, though?
I have checked the Amtrak times and they would work. I'll be on East Coast time, so taking a train at 6am won't be a problem. but getting back late might be.
Is driving and parking easy, in your experience?

 

[MommyJKM]

I used to do both way and loved Amtrak. If there's traffic or an accident on the freeway you won't be affected. And it's nice to get a glass of wine, plug in your phone to charge and relax in your seat and watch the gorgeous scenery. You go past some great beaches.

The SD station is downtown and easy to get to, and the Anaheim station is at the ballpark. I used to cab it - there's cabs waiting out front. You could also look into Uber. It's a really fast cab from Anaheim Stadium to the parks, less than 10 minutes. I would pay that $10 instead of waiting on ART.

I would take the train and miss the hassle of having to drive home tired, being stressed about traffic, paying the $20 parking, and renting a car.

Enjoy!

 

[SMD]

I come from the north, so it may be different, but I don't have any issues parking. Now, I'm also used to stop and go traffic, so if I end up behind 8-10 cars in line and crawling along, it doesn't bother me. I do know some people who would get stressed out and say they'll never drive again because that was so awful. There can be accidents when driving, but if you're going for an 8am opening it's not very likely. There can also be issues on the track ahead where the train either has to slow down or stop altogether. I've had it happen to me twice going to SD, and in that case you just sit there. At least with traffic there's the possibility of another route. So long as you know what any tradeoffs might be with travel time and park time, either way will get you there.

 

[babydinosaur03]

Thank you both for your replies. This gives me some things to think about.

I will be there (if I do this) on a weekday, so that will probably help my parking situation a little bit. But I do get stressed out in stop-and-go traffic.

I haven't been to DL since I was 5, so this is an exciting thought for me!

 

[bcla]

OCTA Route 50:

http://www.octa.net/ebusbook/RoutePDF/route050.pdf

Takes 10 minutes from ARCTIC to Harbor and Katella, and service is 2-3 times an hour.

The one-way fare is $2 and an all day pass is $5. A prepaid day pass is $4.50, but I'm not quite sure where you might get one. It would be great if Amtrak had a free transfer (I hear they're working on it and have the funding in place) but so far only Metrolink passengers get free transfers.

http://www.octa.net/Bus-Transit/Fares-and-Passes/Overview/