How to get between San Francisco and Los Angeles without a car nor involving air travel

The proposed CAHSR

 Double Decked Megabus

 Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Train in Union Station

Greyhound Express bus




For most of us the most common choices to get between these two major California cities or metropolitan areas is to fly or drive. Though with airline travel getting very unpleasant and riddled with delays nowadays and other issues and the roads been unbearably congested people look for other means. Unfortuntetely nowadays there are few pleasant and quick alternatives to these two methods. California High speed rail is still a long ways off from being constructed. It would be at least 2025 before it is completed and running. That is if its ever completed due to the bureaucracy. On the flip China has already completed 6012 miles of high speed rail lines as of 2012. Both California and China started planning for HSR during the 1990s though California as of 2012 still have not a single mile of HSR built.

While the news might be filled with doom and gloom for CAHSR there are still options to get from north to South California available currently without driving or setting foot inside an airport. For those living in San Francisco or in the east bay such as in Oakland or Martinez. There are few ways of getting down south. For rail travel one can board Amtrak San Joaquin(Which starts from Emeryville(Oakland) runs through Martinez, Antioch, and Stockton) and ride to Bakersfield where they would be directed to transfer to an amtrak bus through the grapevine and to Los Angeles Union Station. The trip would usually take about 7 hours and fifty minutes if all ran on time. There is also the coast starlight which actually runs from Seattle to Los Angeles however this train would take more than twelve hours to complete its journey which can be riddled with delays as it follows the windy coastal tracks and shares tracks with heavy freight train traffic. Or for a shorter time alternative with shoreline scenic trains one can ride a combination of Amtrak bus and train service between San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara and transfer to Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains which the trip takes about 8 1/2 to 9/1/2 hours.

In addition to Amtrak there are also buses such as Greyhound though this is not a very pleasant way to travel as Greyhound often has many bad reputations and often stop in most blighted parts of cities such as Central City East in Los Angeles. For information for those who like to take Greyhound from San Francisco and the east bay area there are buses running from Oakland to Los Angeles the fastest schedule is 7 hours and five minutes departing Oakland 10:35 am and arriving Los Angeles at 5:40pm, there are other runs throughout the day however those bus trips might take up to two hours longer depending on schedule. Greyhound also recently brought up Greyhound express which uses a yield management fare structure similar to the newer start ups of Megabus and Boltbus. Greyhound Express is advertised to have the newest buses in the Greyhound fleet said to be equipped with electric outlets, wifi, and leather seats which should be cleaner than cloth seats. In my experience while Greyhound may not show movies they have the best Internet wifi access of all the lines I experienced. 

While Greyhound might not be most people's cup of tea there are also a number of private buses that runs the route between San Francisco Bay Area and South California. These are generally much cleaner than greyhound and avoids the blighted areas and often travels with the least amounts of stops therefore shortening the time spent on the road. Private chartered bus companies names include Cashuttlebus which runs buses between San Francisco/San Jose and Los Angeles area which includes W Hollywood hostel and Santa Monica, USAsia(A chinatown bus company that travels from Oakland and San Francisco Chinatowns to San Gabriel), xedohoang(A vietnamese bus company) also known as low fare bus, Green tortious(this is usually an adventure travel company but provides buses that that solely travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles).

The websites for these bus companies are www.cashuttlebus.com, xedohoang(Vietnamese bus) is www.lowfarebus.com, USAsia bus is www.usasiatour.com, Greyhound is obviously Greyhound.com, and Megabus is Megabus.com

Rates for Greyhound, BoltBus, Megabus, and CA shuttle bus are based on reservation system and may vary due to time of booking as well as passenger loads, rates for XeDoHoang(Vietnamese bus) and USAsia(Chinatown bus) are fixed.


Departure/arrival points, 
Commercial long distance bus lines
Boltbus - owned by Greyhound. 
Multiple departure times a  day please checkout Boltbus.com
Prices depends on demand and time of reservation.
San Francisco 200 Folsom Greyhound Slip 1
Oakland- West Oakland BART station
San Jose- Diridon Train Station
Los Angeles- Union train Station

Greyhound
Oakland-

2103 San Pablo Avenue

Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 832-4730

San Francisco-

200 Folsom Street San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 495-1569

San Jose-
70 S Almaden Ave, San Jose, CA ‎
There are multiple departure times throughout the day though it is recommended that travelers from Bay Area to LA only ride the Express buses. Prices may vary by demand and usually goes up when it gets close to time of departure.

(408) 295-4151 ‎ · greyhound.com

email: sales@cashuttlebus.com
phone: 4082941798
San Francisco Bay Area
HILTON SAN FRANCISCO (NEAR UNION SQUARE)
Mason Street between O’Farrell Street and Ellis Street  

11:45AM departure toward LA 7:30PM arrival from LA Powell Street pickup Carl’s Jr. at 25 Cyril Magnin Street, adjacent to City Café. 12:00pm departure toward LA 7:45pm arrival from LA The San Jose Caltrain Station  65 Cahill St., San Jose, CA 95110 south of HP Pavillion and Santa Clara Street. 1:15pm departure toward LA 6:45 arrival from LA Los Angeles Area USA Hostels 1624 Schrader Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028 Right in front of USA Hostel entrance North Hollywood  adjacent to North Hollywood station where red line subway and Orange Line rapid busway meets. Located across from Enterprise Rent-A Car at 5401 Lankershim Blvd.  7:00 pm arrival 12:45pm Departure toward SF Bay Area 7:00pm Santa Monica Hostels International 1436 2nd St. Santa Monica, CA 90401. front entrance 8:30pm arrival from SF Bay Area 11:30AM Depart for SF Bay Area Union Station  Denny's Restaurant directly across from Union station. east entrance where the transit bus loop is.  530 Ramirez St Los Angeles, 90012  7:45PM arrival time 12:00PM departure for SF Bay Area Departures daily EXCEPT TUES AND SAT

Megabus
Multiple departures daily
please check Megabus.com
San Francisco Caltrain 4th and king streets
San Jose Diridon Station
Burbank/North Hollywood Metrolink station,
Los Angeles Union Station
Asian Charter bus lines
USAsiatour
Website www.usasiatour.com/usasiatour/SF~LA_ENG.html
Daily departures all seven days of the week
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Chinatown
Bank of America 944 Stockton st. and Washington St.
Southbound Departure: 9:00 AM Northbound arrival: 6:30pm

Oakland Chinatown  Corner of Franklin St & 9th street. 
Southbound Departure: 9:30 am Northbound arrival: 6:00pm
Cupertino Fatima Restaurant 10125 Bandley Dr. & Stevens Creek Blvd. near Marina Supermarket 
Southbound departure: 10:30am Northbound arrival: 4:50pm
San Jose Maxim Market (945 Mclaughlin Ave)
Southbound departure: 10:45am Northbound arrival: 4:40pm

Southern California/Greater Los Angeles area/ San Gabriel Valley
San Gabriel On Valley blvd Between New Ave and Prospect Ave
Southbound Arrival: 5:30pm Northbound Departure: 10:00am

Ticket prices: Adult one way:$55 Round trip(within 30 days) $100
Child(2-9) and elder (older than 65) subtract $5 from the adult rates.

On this blog site I would just point out the transportation options I would review my experience on these bus companies on another blogger site.

Xe Do Hoang
Daily departures 7 days a week with increased departure times on Friday and Sundays
Vietnamese Lees Sandwiches served on bus, no lunch break only a short 15 minute rest break
North California to South California
6:30AM McDonald, San Francisco 600 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 6:00AM
7:00am Ba Le's Sandwiches, Oakland
1909 International Ave, Oakland
7:30AM Huong Lan Sandwich, Sacramento independent Van.
8:30AM Lees Sandwich, San Jose
2525 King Rd, San Jose
Approximate Arrival times
2:00 pmChinatown, Metro station
1231 North Spring Street, Los Angeles
2:15PM Thuan Phat Supermarket, El Monte
2650 N Rosemead Blvd, El Monte
3:00PM ABC Supermarket, Westminster
8970 Bolsa Ave, Westminster, CA
(Connecting van)
5:00PM (Separate Van) arrives in Lucky Seafood, San Diego,
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego
South California to North California
Departure times
7:00AM Lucky Seafood, San Francisco
9326 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego
9:45AM ABC Supermarket, Westminster
8970 Bolsa Ave, Westminster
10:30AM Thuan Phat Supermarket, El Monte
2650 N Rosemead Blvd, El Monte
10:55AM Chinatown, Metro Station
1231 North Spring street, Los Angeles
Arriving At:
4:15 PM Lee Sandwich, San Jose
2525 King Rd, San Jose
5:45PM Ba Le's Sandwiches, Oakland
1909 International Ave, Oakland
6:00PM McDonald, San Francisco
600 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
6:30pm Huong Lan Sandwich, Sacramento
6930 65 Street, Sacramento
Additional afternoon departure times for Friday and Sundays
Trips to South California
Departure times
5:00PM Lee Sandwich, San Jose
2525 King Rd, San Jose
Approximate arrival times
11:00PM Thuan Phat Supermarket, El Monte
11:30PM ABC Supermarket Westminster
Trips to North California
4:00PM ABC Supermarket
4:30PM Thuan Phat Supermarket
11PM Lee Sandwich, San Jose
PLEASE NOTE:
All information are based on web information as off May 2014 information may vary, departure times and arrival times might vary due to unforeseen conditions or due to company mishaps.
Also if one chooses to use the Asian bus lines beware of language barrier issues as personnel speak very limited English. Please regard this for information only and do a reality check with the companies before traveling.

Visiting Treasure Island San Francisco

Today the new eastern Span of the Bay Bridge has opened

Nationality laws what might surprise one while traveling.

Important notice for those who are traveling to their country of Ancestry. 

Beware that nationality laws of your old country might bring a nasty surprise to your visit. 

For recent immigrants or those who's parents or even grandparents had immigrated. There comes a time when one want or need to return to the old country. While returning to old country might be a fun and educational experience one can also experience difficulties possibly while leaving the country. There are many people who think that they naturalized and became citizens in their new country they are relinquished from all duties of citizenship back in their old country. There are many who think people can only be citizens of one country. However the truth may surprise many. Nowadays many countries around the world allow and often require any citizens keep the responsibilities and benefits of citizenship regardless of whether they hold other citizenships or nationalities. This not only affect those who naturalize to another country's citizenship after immigration but also to those born in the other country as first or second generation immigrants all dependent on each country's nationality laws. This is what is called the Jus Sanguinus "right of the blood" rule. The most likely scenario one would face in this situation is the country might require its' "citizen" to depart the country using only the country's own travel documents. Many might not be aware of this requirement and try to use their other country's travel document to depart which can lead to not being able to depart the country and having to go through time consuming process. One example of this is Poland where tourists might fall into what is infamously known as the "Passport trap". This can catch unsuspecting tourists off guard who might not know they could be considered Polish solely because one of their grandparents had Polish citizenship as Polish Nationality laws grant citizenship by descent to an unlimited amount of generations unless one goes through the buracratic process of discontinuing the citizenship. There are also countries such as China that require citizens to obtain an exit permit to leave the country. According to Chinese Nationality laws which can be complicated in situations involving children and spouses and this can be quite a hassle to deal with. For example adult Chinese nationals who voluntarily naturalize and acquire citizenship from another country loses Chinese nationality under article 9 of Chinese nationality law however their children who were at dependent age who automatically became citizens of the other country when the parents acquired citizenship are not considered to have voluntarily acquired at own will under article 9 therefore the Chinese government does not recognize their foreign nationality and will require them to use Chinese travel documents and obtain exit permits to leave the country which can be a difficult process especially since the child is also considered a citizen of the other country(foreign citizenship/travel documents which China doesn't recognize for its nationals) they would no longer hold visas in their Chinese passports nor possess green cards either of which is often necessary in order to obtain an exit permit to leave China. The same goes for those who acquire nationality by descent or by marriage.  Therefore its important for such affected individuals to visit the Chinese Embassy or Chinese consulate office abroad to obtain the proper documents before departing for China.  Another more important issue to beware about is countries requiring compulsory military service such as Republic of Korea and Taiwan, ROC requires all male citizens to undergo military service. While those countries are relatively rare nowadays and usually exempt those living abroad from service, if one is a potentially affected male of these countries this includes those who were born to parents or even grandparents who were from these countries should contact the embassies or consulate offices to make sure and possibly to obtain documents that they are exempt from draft due to their overseas residence. It is also not wise to try to hide by using another passport as places like Taiwan would suspend the exemption if the male citizen of draft age does not use their ROC passports and detain such person in Taiwan until he completes his military service. For those with any possible ties to the Republic of Korea, there are also true stories that some people got drafted or had close calls due to their grandparents having Korean nationality. Usually what happens is when such persons happens to try to get long term visa's or to extend their visas in their non Korean passport during their extended visits only to get this nasty surprise draft notice which confused them as they might never had considered themselves Korean citizens nor held any Korean travel documents.

So for those who happens to be planning to travel to any country that one lived in before or suspect to have family ties to try to visit the local embassy or consulate office for advice before going.

Please take my information for only informational use. Please contact the appropriate officials such as embassy or consular offices for the most updated information regarding your status. 

links to handy travel resources

Here is a guide to Mountain Driving with RVs  lets you know when the big hills appear

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Organic farms in Latin America 
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Secrets to getting the cheapest airfare
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A mythbuster like topic is it possible to travel from San Diego to San Francisco using only "public" city transit and no private bus or Amtrak?

Yesterday I had been asked this question.

A quite myth buster like question. Someone wants to know whether it is possible to travel from San Diego all the way to San Francisco using municipal or county transit systems but without involving Amtrak, Greyhound, or any private bus companies.

The asker of the question wants the route to travel as coast side as possible and not inland.

After doing some researching online My conclusion is that this myth is busted. However part of it is true.

According to my knowledge which I got online it is possible to travel from San Diego via Coaster rail and change to Metrolink at Oceanside and ride to Los Angeles Union Station. At Los Angeles Union station transfer to the Ventura line and ride toward the end of the line. However to travel to any point farther north seems impossible as transit systems in Ventura county doesn't not seem to connect with transit systems those farther north such as Santa Barbara county. I guess for now any point north of Ventura would require use of Amtrak, Greyhound, or other privatized transportation options.
For those traveling from San Francisco and southwards One can get to as far as Salinas or Monterey via  urban transit but any point farther south would require Amtrak or private buses. Google maps transit would direct you to Amtrak or even the Bundu bus if you decide to travel farther north. Though I see Bundu bus has very bad reviews online so I be weary of taking this bus company.

For now the best way is to travel via Amtrak with the coastal route. There are several methods to do this one is to take to Pacific surf liner to Los Angeles Union Station and transfer to Coast Starlight. While this way is relatively easy but can take a long time as the Coast Starlight travels on a very crooked track and according to Amtrak.com the whole journey would take about 12 hours and often much longer as Amtrak is notorious for delays and encountering track problems. The other path is to ride Amtrak Pacific surf liner from San Diego to Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo depending on where the line ends and transfer to an Amtrak bus to travel the rest of the distance. Believe it or not this way usually use less time than riding the train all the way. For booking you can book the entire trip on Amtrak.com there is no need to by separate bus tickets to transfer to an Amtrak bus if you booked a train that does not reach your destination and require a transfer to a bus.

Maybe someday California's intercity transit systems would be good enough to allow people to travel between San Diego and San Francisco via transit. Though for now it seems like it is impossible to avoid privatized transit.

Going to Mexico get a AT&T Gophone SIM card

Searching for the best value cell phone plan for going south to Mexico?

Nowadays cell phones appear to be is necessary as money when heading out from home. Twenty years ago cell phones and their price were insanely huge and hard to comprehend. Things have evolved over the years to bring cell phone prices down to earth and make them much more user friendly. The prices for communication on a cell phone is also dropped to a bargain and include long distance calls in its price and most companies include minutes for use in the entire country for the same rate. Cell phones also have evolved to not only a phone without a landline but also has become personnel data computers and can go on the Internet.

While most cell phone companies have pretty much eliminated roaming charges for the country that the company is in. They still tack pretty high roaming charges for those who would venture just slightly out of the country as they have to contract with a whole different company. It is surprisingly the reality that things can still be so divided between countries despite how globalized the world population is nowadays where the world seems like ones backyard. This can really be quite a hassle for those who live either in border zones or happens to have to travel between countries. People living in border zones not only do they often need to cross the border often they also might often encounter that even when they don't officially cross the border itself their cell phones often "jump" between signals of carriers of either countries which would lead to expensive roaming charges i.e in the US Verizon Wireless and AT&T charges $0.99 a minute for Roaming in Mexico. This includes when being next to the border when Mexico's Telcel signals from towers south of the border overpowers signals transmitted by AT&T towers north of the border as radio signals don't stop at the border.

For those traveling to Mexico there are two choices to avoid the roaming charges. One is to by a local Sim card. The two major local companies include Telcel and Movistar. Telcel is known as the largest mobile network in Mexico kind of like Verizon Wireless in the US, it uses mostly GSM technology though it does use limited CDMA but I heard its been phased out. Movistar is the second largest network in Mexico which is behind Telcel in terms of size. However Movistar operates in Spain and many other Spanish speaking countries in Latin America so its a larger company. There are two things to think about before buying a local sim card, first it might not be cheaper, the second is that one would need a Mexican address to obtain a local SIM card. For this section I write rates in US dollars to avoid comfusion unless otherwise noted. I give some examples of rates for Mexican carriers which I find surprisingly high, for example Telcel rates can be quite steep at $0.32 a minute for outgoing calls to local region in Mexico(fyi Mexico has nine regions for cell phone billing) 7 pesos/$0.58USD for long distance (calls to another region) and 16 pesos/$1.33USD a minute for calls to the US which surprisingly costs even more than making a roam call with any US cell phone carrier in Mexico. The charge for incoming calls with Telcel range from no cost for calls from the same region as where the phone is registered in to $0.19USD for long distance incoming calls from all different regions. Movistar is also another major nationwide cell phone service provider in Mexico. Its rates are cheaper than Telcel at 3.3 pesos $0.27USD a minute for all calls in Mexico regardless of distance or where the phone is in Mexico. The rate applies even for calls to the US. With Movistar there are no roaming or long distance charges in Mexico unlike Telcel. Movistar also offers flat rate calling plans for prepaid sim cards Though buying Mexican carrier SIM cards can be a hassles for those short on time, unfamiliar with Mexico locations, or have difficulty with Spanish as it can be hard to find instructions in English. Also cell phone carriers might require a local address in order to register a sim card which can be a difficulty for travelers particularly boaters who may not have a local land address.  The second choice however is to simply buy a prepaid AT&T Go phone Sim card in the US. Surprisingly AT&T has an amazing deal with Telcel Mexico which is the largest mobile network in Mexico and offers a $0.25USD a minute rate anywhere in Mexico. This rate is actually lower than the rate offered by the cheaper of the two Mexican carriers which is Movistar for per minute outgoing calls and much lower than Telcel's own rates. Alas this rate does not apply to those who have AT&T regular plan phones which the closest best deal is to subscribe to world traveler rates for about $5.99 a month which discounts roaming from $0.99 to $0.59. The downsides for this option are one would need an GSM unlocked phone that would support the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths, one would also need to pay the same rate for incoming calls, also in order to take advantage of the data plan the phone has to be an AT&T phone, and most importantly locals in Mexico who call from a landline or Mexican based cell phone carrier would probably have to pay long distance to call you even if you are particularly next door.

In conclusion if one is going to stay for just a few weeks in Mexico or in a border zone its best to just get an AT&T gophone sim card given one has an unlocked GSM phone that supports 850Mhz and 1900Mhz bandwidths. One would get customer service in English and can easily refill the account balance. Also it can be used in the US without roaming charges which is good thing for those on the border where cell phone signals can interfere with each other without warning. Though if you are staying in Mexico for an extended period of time or have a lot of people who need to call you in Mexico get Movistar but still try if possible to have a phone with an AT&T Gophone sim.  For those with Verizon Wireless phones a good value option is to go for the Nationwide plus Mexico which costs just $15 dollars more than their standard nationwide plans however remember CDMA coverage in Mexico is not as good as GSM as the major carriers in Mexico are making less development on CDMA to focus on GSM. Verizon also offers 100mb global data plan for International use which include Mexico for $25 The best thing is that Verizon global data plan also include cruise ships which is the first in the industry to do this.

Please note that this is for information only. Please do a reality check for the most updated details.

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.