How to get to South California Amusement parks/theme parks without a car

 
Socal has a lot of Entertainment and that definitely include amusement rides and roller coasters. There are a number of places of entertainment such as theme parks in the area. I cannot possibly list all the parks however I am just going to focus on the ones that people would definitly worth a visit for those coming to South California such as Disneyland Resort,  Knotts Berry Farm, Santa Monica Pier, Six Flags Magic mountain, and SeaWorld and Universal Studios.

As I mentioned on an earlier article about the horrible girdlock that plagues the area almost constantly. This is definitely an issue that might put a damper to the enjoyment of the visit. Places of amusement and theme parks are definitely a concern as getting to them often involves long drives on overcrowded roads and freeways in Southern California. Parking is also an issue, while these parks often offer vast parking areas most of them are expensive for instance it costs $15 to park for the day at Disneyland Resort. Also theme parks today such as Disney resorts are moving parking areas much farther away from the park entrance it may take a fifteen minute walk or additional shuttle ride to get to the entrance. Its a new fad in this industry as this is so they can maximize the use of their park for larger attractions or rides. If you look closely in some theme parks you would see former parking lot stripping might be faintly visitable on which is now the base of new mega coasters. As for Disneyland, Disney's California adventure was built right over Disneyland's original 100 acre parking lot. The drawback of this is that the land for new satellite parking costs a premium and adding shuttle buses or trains and drivers also costs money therefore resulting in higher parking fees atop the already high ones back when the parking was right next to the park. Worst of all you would pay the same high fees even if there was no shuttle available at that time forcing you to walk miles. All this trouble for traffic and particularly parking pretty much negates all the convenience having a car at the amusement park. What is good if one has no access to the car at will to get or leave items in during the visit?

So for those tired of driving in thick traffic that would nearly double the time to get to the park taking up valuable park time as well as paying a premium to park out in the boonies just to subsidize the parks extra land fees and shuttle drivers pay there is a good alternative. Most people are unaware that even in car centric Socal there are alternatives to car travel that are not too insane or ridiculous. While this idea might not fit those who live or stay in lodging in the outskirt towns it would work easily for those staying in the inner city or near one of the Metrolink or Metro rail lines.

Lets say we use Los Angeles Union station as a starting point. Many hotels in Los Angeles downtown or Chinatown is close enough  to union station which is a great starting point for all trips outbound as nearly all trains, metro rail, and buses start at this point.

Getting to amusement parks:

Disneyland park/Disney's California Adventure:  One can take Metrolink Orange county line or Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to the Anaheim station to transfer to Anaheim Resort Shuttle. It is best to plan to ride trains that would arrive the Anaheim station at the :00 beginning of each hour starting from 9:00 to noon as the Anaheim resort transit bus is scheduled to arrive at :10 of each hour. For train schedules one can go online at Amtrakcalifornia.com and/or Metrolinktrains.com or one can visit the Union station and obtain it from customer service desks. The website for Anaheim resort transit is rideart.org The price for a day pass is $4 per adult $1 a child, the pass can be purchased at Kiosks at multiple locations including the Anaheim Amtrak/metro link station as well as online. There are discounts for buying multi day passes. The Anaheim Resort Transit buses are specially marked and oftentimes has a fancy Disneyland livery on it and travels to the entrance bus depot in between the two parks. As an alternative ones can also ride a taxi from the ranks in front of the station allowing one to reach the park entrance in less than ten minutes if lucky.

Knotts Berry Farm-From Union station take Orange County Metrolink train(note: Do not take Amtrak Pacific Surfliner as it would bypass the nearest stop) and get off at Buena Park station. Take OCTA 29 bus would take one directly from the Buena Park metro-link station bus stop to the park. You will see roller coasters when you will know you need to stop request get off. After getting off walk through the opening between the fences and walk until you cross a small street and turn right and walk a short distance where you will spot the ticket booths and main gates on your left. As an alternative you can get off at the stop prior to La Palma Avenue walk across the Beach/La Palma intersection and arrive at the main gates on the right. When returning remember to walk Northward which is to the left of the main entrance. Cross toward the northeast corner of Beach/La Palma Intersection and walk north till you reach the bus stop.
 
Magic Mountain, (CAUTION this park can be difficult and risky to get to as it is far north of the city and trains and transit options can be limited) . One can take the Metrolink Antelope Valley line and get off at Santa Clarita station. One can take a short taxi ride to the gate from there. There are transit buses from the Metrolink station however it is not very convenient for visitors. They are mostly geared for the park staff so they run at very early hours and stop far from the main entrance. The ones that stop closer to main entrance require a transfer to get to and from the Metrolink train station.
 
Santa Monica pier- The Santa Monica Big Blue Bus number 10 travels between Los Angeles Union Station and Santa Monica Pier via the i10 freeway the trip takes about little less than an hour
 
Seaworld San Diego-
Travel via Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to San Diego once you get there there is a SeaWorld shuttle bus that picks up passengers at the San Diego Santa Fe Depot (SAN) at 9:20 a.m. (following the arrival of train 566) or 10:20 a.m. (following the arrival of train 768) with service directly to SeaWorld. The shuttle will return to pick you up at 5:00 p.m. and take you back to the train station. If unable to catch these two trains an alternative way is to get off one station earlier at the Old town train station and take bus 9 which brings one directly to the ticketing and entry turnstile plaza of Seaworld.  Please note that bus 9 would service the Seaworld stop to no later than 6:48pm weekdays and 8:38pm weekends.

Universal Studios - The best way via transit to get to Universal Studios is to travel by Metro Red line train and get off at Universal Studios stop. After exiting the station turn around and walk toward the intersection of Lankershim blvd and cross to the southeast corner where there would be a shuttle stop for shuttle to the main gate.

One alternative to the hassle of commuting into the parks is to stay in hotels around the parks themselves. For example some hotels such as Holiday Inn around Knotts Berry Farm has shuttles to both Knotts Berry farm and to Disneyland. Hotels around the Disney Resort are often either around walking distance to the park entrance or have shuttle service. Check with the hotel. Maps.google.com is a great tool to determine the location of the hotel in relation to the parks entry plaza. Beware that some hotels might appear close to the park but might be very far from the entry point and might not have a shuttle. If you have to stay at a property without hotel shuttle service check to see if Anaheim Resort Transit serves that route. For those staying in Disneyland area hotels but planning on visiting Knotts Berry farm as well please take note that most Disneyland area hotels might not have shuttles to Knotts berry Farm however there is Metro bus 460 that travels the most direct route between Disneyland on Harbor bl. east of maingate bus plaza and Knotts Berry Farm on Beach bl.