Surfliner train from Santa Barbara to Anaheim?

[mdmost]

Hello. We booked our airfare for our June trip to Santa Barbara so we can go there and then check out the Channel Islands. We are flying into Santa Barbara and renting a car. We are then going to Disneyland for 5 days. We won't need a car so either I need to return the car in Anaheim or return it at the Santa Barbara airport and then take the Surfliner to Anaheim.

Who has done that before and how easy is it? There will be 2 adults and two teens. Driving isn't that big a deal I just thought it might be interesting and scenic to take the Surfliner down to Anaheim. I realize we'll need to Uber to the hotel from the Anaheim terminal unless there's a ART bus that will take us to the Disneyland area.

I know we're looking at 4.5 hours with the train versus about 2.5 hours driving.

 

[Lumpy1106]

We've taken the train from LA to Seattle going through Santa Barbara and loved it. That said, I have not ridden the Surfrider and I am sure the experience is similar...but...
The real view is from Santa Barabara up to Paso Robles. Santa Barbara to Anaheim is inland and goes through a lot of developed areas - most not all that scenic. Still more enjoyable than driving, but, like you said, it's longer and will result in additional difficulties getting around.
Also, I believe you would catch a boat to the Channel Islands (is that what you are doing?) in Ventura, not Santa Barbara (could be both, have not done it). The Channel Islands NP visitor center is in Ventura and we have done that. It's about 45 minutes South from the Santa Barbara airport and you'll probably want the car to get there - it's not near the train.
DS goes to UCSB and we have long talked about taking the train up there and never have...FWIW.

 

[mdmost]

Yes, the car is to get us in and around the area. We could stay in Ventura but Santa Barbara is so much nicer. Plus, we'd like to show DD17 UCSB just for fun. She might not be inclined to go west for college like her cousin who went to Cal Poly but we also may take a drive up that way too.

Good info on the train not being a scenic option. I honestly don't mind driving and probably will head on the PCH instead of the 101 for just another chance to drive that way in my lifetime.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I'm a Cal Poly alum - it's about 2 hours to SLO and, IMHO, a lot nicer. SB is pricey. We thought we'd be spending weekends there visiting DS but we have mostly just done day trips - just too expensive. Both UCSB and CPSLO are really hard to get in to. If you can, go to SLO on a Thursday and check out the Farmers Market on Higuera.

The train hugs the coastline from Santa Barbara up to Vandenberg AFB, then heads inland to SLO. From SLO it wraps around the CPSLO limits out to the California Men's Colony (prison), then up and over the Questa Pass to Paso Robles (wine country). It's stunning, and about the only way to really see it. If you can swing it and really want to do the train trip, I'd take a day trip, Santa Barbara to Paso Robles, have lunch, then come back. I have no idea of the train schedule allows that but that would be a really great ride if it does.

 

[ngl]

We just did Channel Islands NP along with DL in August prior to D23. We live in FL and were not familiar with how great Amtrak is in CA (almost non-existent in FL!) We stayed in Ventura 1 night - got in late afternoon, figured out the plan for the ferry for the next day, got up early and had hotel hold our luggage while we went to Channel Islands for the day. Got back around 5pm, ate dinner at a restaurant at the harbor, walked back to hotel and got bags and Uber to Ventura Amtrak station (just outside area). Took it down to Anaheim and then took an Uber to DL hotel- so super easy! We are also a family of 4 with 2 teens and when we got on my son said, this is like 3.5 hrs??! and then when we got out off he remarked how it did not even feel like 3 hrs (wifi, nice seats, etc). We would definitely do it again - not a fan of worrying about traffic, etc.

 

[DisneyTexan]

I'm a Cal Poly alum

Me too!

 

[bcla]

I've taken the Pacific Surfliner southbound from Santa Barbara to Anaheim or LA maybe 3 times. Once was actually San Luis Obispo to LA after the 2022 Southwest Airlines Christmas meltdown, so it wasn't exactly from Santa Barbara. I think I've taken the Pacific Surfliner northbound to Santa Barbara maybe 4 times. I think once from Anaheim. A lot of these were connected trips from/to Northern Califonria with buses, but you probably don't have to worry about those other than the possibility that a train might be held up waiting from a late arriving bus.

It's actually quite easy. For coach travel the Pacific Surfliner is considered an "unreserved" train, which is kind of a misnomer. If you buy a ticket you have a reservation and you'll be on the conductor's manifest for that particular train. But you theoretically have the flexibility to take any train going between the same endpoints (or even within the endpoints) within one year of the date of the reservation. There are some exceptions if there are discounts. I've boarded an earlier train on the same day or a later train on the same day. Examples would be that I had a ticket from Anaheim to Santa Barbara for the evening, but I boarded a different train about 4 hours earlier and spent more time in Santa Barbara before catching the bus home. I've also gotten the same price (in Amtrak loyalty points) for Anaheim to Santa Barbara than LA to Santa Barbara, but we boarded in LA. I figure that would give me some flexibility if we just stayed in the Anaheim area.

There is no reserved seating on the Pacific Surfliner and there is a nonzero possibility that seating will be difficult to come by. Business class is reserved, and there's no chance of being overbooked. That being said, I wouldn't worry about it. There's room in the cafe car, where they'll ask people to sit if there's a lack of seating in the coach sections.

The other thing is getting discounts. Children are theoretically free under the age of 2. I've talked to some conductors who mentioned the "oldest looking 1 year olds I've ever seen". There's also a 50% discount for children 2-12, but if they're teens they won't be eligible. But they should be eligible for other discounts. They eliminated the 10% advanced purchase AAA member discount. But if you're going to Anaheim, there should be a 20% Disneyland discount, although it's theoretically just a discount if Anaheim is the origin or destination and the promo code is entered. You'll also be able to use your train ticket for a complimetary ride on ART, although I'm thinking if you're already going to be spending a few days in the area you're going to already be getting an ART pass. Also - ignore the info on there being any ART "line". They no longer exist for any route to the Anaheim train station. Any trip to/from the station will be what they call an "on-demand" ride using the A-Way-WeGo app.

https://www.pacificsurfliner.com/offers/promotions/save-on-disneyland/​

SAVE 20% ON TRAIN TRAVEL TO ANAHEIM​

Use promo code V712 to save 20% on your trip to Anaheim. Simply use our booking tool to explore options and prices. Make sure “Adult” is selected as the passenger type.​

​

FREE BUS CONNECTION (Anaheim Regional Transportation)​

Present your train ticket for a free shuttle ride from the Anaheim Station to the Disneyland® Resort.​

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rideart.awaywego&hl=en_US&pli=1
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/a-way-wego/id1589114302

The app takes a little bit of practice to use. It was really weird at first. I suppose it's similar to requesting an Uber ride, although they'll try to link as many passengers together as possible. It's not quite as flexible though, as there are designated points where drivers can pick up or drop off, but you don't really know where these stops are. I've ended up playing around with locations to get it to work, and there are a lot of tricks needed to get it to work. But once you figure it out, it becomes easy. But initially it's bizarre. Also - as far as I can tell they've discountinued ART service in Buena Park, which was really cool. There might have been three stops (Knott's Berry Farm, Wax Museum/Medieval Times, and Fairfield Inn) in Buena Park.

I can answer any questions on ART or Amtrak. However, I may just know enough to be dangerous.

 

[bcla]

Who has done that before and how easy is it? There will be 2 adults and two teens. Driving isn't that big a deal I just thought it might be interesting and scenic to take the Surfliner down to Anaheim. I realize we'll need to Uber to the hotel from the Anaheim terminal unless there's a ART bus that will take us to the Disneyland area.

Just wanted to follow up. I highly recommend using ART. The drivers are very good and the coverage area is quite good. But as I noted, there are places they no longer service, and for a lot of their service you need to learn how to use their app to request on-demand rides. But most hotels in Anaheim that aren't within walking distance of Disneyland will probably be close to an ART stop. There are several scheduled routes that operate throughout the day. And with the app one can see real-time updates on where the buses are for that route. You can pull up a map of the route and it will show where the buses are. This is my photo that I posted previously showing the Clementine Line. It's just five stops (white circles) plus a stop at the Disneyland Transportation Center. The bus is surrounded by the green circle, and that loop is a countdown of the estimated time that it's going to be waiting at the stop. I literally did this from home over 400 miles away, so it's easy enough to just play around with the app to see how it works. I've even played around with on-demand requests where I specified the pickup and dropoff points and even accidentally requested a ride, which I quickly cancelled. When I've mentioned this to drivers, they said don't worry about it as they get a lot of cancelled rides.

But again, for the train station, service will only be via a requested ride. Once you've requested a ride, you'll be supplied the name of the driver and the bus model (most are BYD electric but there may still be some Eldorado diesel buses).

Here are some old topics on how to use ART. I think the video I linked is now private. Not sure why.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/on-demand-public-shared-ride-transportation.3919377/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/art-how-does-it-really-work.3894912/

As for the Pacific Surfliner, I've really enjoyed it. The best views are actually between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, but you're not riding that and there are limited trains that go there. The only issues I've ever had were that some fellow passengers might be drunk. Santa Barbara has a lot of wineries with tasting rooms and bars within walking distance of the train station. The only time I thought that a conductor might boot a passenger was actually arriving there from LA. There was a group that was going bar hopping, but one woman in the group was already wasted and extremely loud.

 

[CLKnCA]

Me too!

I am Cal Poly alum, as well! Small world, but don't want to hijack the original intent of the OP's question.

Like others have said, I'll echo that the Surfliner will take longer, but will be more relaxing than driving from Santa Barbara area down to Anaheim. If you're not on a time crunch, and are willing to just enjoy the journey, take the train.

 

[bcla]

I am Cal Poly alum, as well! Small world, but don't want to hijack the original intent of the OP's question.

Like others have said, I'll echo that the Surfliner will take longer, but will be more relaxing than driving from Santa Barbara area down to Anaheim. If you're not on a time crunch, and are willing to just enjoy the journey, take the train.

One of the nice things that one can do on the Surfliner is bring your own food although obviously they're not going to reheat anything. It is possible to buy hot water for something like instant noodles, although I seem to recall one time I just wanted hot water to mix with instant coffee or hot cocoa mix and I got it for free. I was a frequent rider of Capitol Corridor in a previous life and I was always charged 25 cents. The cafe car attendants said that they had to do it as part of their inventory system on the cups.

I don't think there's table seating like on the bilevel California Cars used for Capitol Corridor or the San Joaquins, but one time I did see one of these cars operating on the Surfliner once. Those seats don't recline though like on the Surfliner.

A Surfliner coach car has no tables on the upper level, but at least the seats recline. I think there are tables on the lower level, but I thought those are reserved for mobility impaired passengers and those accompanying them. However, I think there are sets of four seats where it's a pair facing the other pair, although that means there's no trays available. Unless maybe I missed something and they have trays that pop out of the armrest like with some airline seats. I think business class cars have tables on the upper level.

 

[AlohaNow]

We went to D23 Expo this year and some of the evening events were at the Honda Center, right next to the ARTIC station where Amtrak comes in. We didn’t trust that the Disney buses would be great on the first night, so we took OC Bus route 50 from Harbor & Katella to the ARTIC. If you don’t want to mess with the ART app, which I agree is very weird, you can just pay $2 cash per person for a ride from ARTIC to the DLR area. It’s easy, fast, and cheap. Have a great trip!

 

[bcla]

We went to D23 Expo this year and some of the evening events were at the Honda Center, right next to the ARTIC station where Amtrak comes in. We didn’t trust that the Disney buses would be great on the first night, so we took OC Bus route 50 from Harbor & Katella to the ARTIC. If you don’t want to mess with the ART app, which I agree is very weird, you can just pay $2 cash per person for a ride from ARTIC to the DLR area. It’s easy, fast, and cheap. Have a great trip!

They sell physical tickets for ART at the train station. It's at the information window where they also sell bus tickets. I will say be careful with them as they're thermal paper. I forgot they were in my shirt pocket when I ironed my shirt in the hotel room and they turned brown. But the last time I bought them an employee wrote down (using a ballpoint pen) the first day I bought them and that was still somewhat visible. The first time I bought physical tickets (circa 2022) no driver asked to do anything to it and theoretically I could have tried reusing them on a later day. Here's a photo I found of one online (and mine were also advertising Universal Studios):

I think they were supposed to be "validated" in fare boxes on the buses, where the equipment would print a time that they're activated and will expire. By the time I first rode on ART, they removed all of them since I believe they went to mostly app based tickets. And yeah the app can be kind of wonky where they have to be reactivated.

A ride on ART to/from the train station is supposed to be included with a Metrolink or Surfliner fare. I never tested it out, but I believe the requirement is to just show the physical or virtual ticket. Not sure how it works with Amtrak since there are at least five different ways to have a virtual or physical ticket. And then there's that one can ride any time on a ticket (Amtrak calls it "unreserved") where it doesn't have to be the scheduled date on the ticket (along with multi-ride tickets). I think in practice they don't look too carefully at the ticket.