Planning trip to Disneyland by Train

I've been wanting to take the CZ to California, and had a couple hundred dollars of eVouchers burning a hole in my pocket, My original plan had me riding round trip from Jackson, MI all in coach as the roomette fares were high for Memorial day weekend. Well first the SWC went down to 450 for a roomette on Sunday, so I jumped on that. Then last night Saturday May 23's No 5 was down to $301 for a roomette, So I now have that part of the trip settled. Now tonight its back up to around $600. Anyway I thought that the Zephyr had two sleepers, but I am in car 0533 room 4, did they add another sleeper.

So for now I plan on spending a night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Emeryville and than 11 or 712/5812 and a Surfliner to Anaheim. My question is it worth spending 100 dollars extra for the Starlight for a roomette to get to use the PPC, and how late do buses run from Anaheim station to the Convention center/Disney Resort? If I take 712 I could get to LAUPT in time to rent a car(as long as the train/bus combo is no more than 45 mins late) With my work schedule I have decided to take a Red Eye flight back to Detroit Saturday Night.

So give me the pros and cons, Coast vs. the Valley :unsure:

Sounds to me like an extra sleeper is being added to your train, which should be at the rear

The Hiton Garden Inn? That's the former Holiday Inn built in the early 70s. The location isn't really that convenient regarding distance from the station. It's a nice little walk. I've also stayed there after a party. The caveat I would advise is that the "mountain view" rooms are facing the freeway and you will hear road noise. Not great if you're a light sleeper. Not sure if the "bay view" rooms are that much quieter, but I'd think they would be. Of course if you can sleep on a train......

A friend of my wife stayed at the Courtyard across from the Bay Street shopping complex. We were concerned that they might be in a room facing the freeway. They were, but there was no hint of any freeway noise in the room. I suppose they had newer building materials that kept out the sound.

It certainly would be worth an extra $100 to me on this great trip to ride in the PPC on the CS. In fact, it may well turn out to be the highlight of your trip.

After 2 days on the Train I figure the half mile or so walk to the Garden Inn will do me good. I have only taken the CZ once; back in 2002, snagged a coach seat on Rail Sale for $28 from Chicago!!, on that trip we lost the Express roadrailers in a misshap in Roseville, and got to Emeryville real late, I stayed at a hotel in Jack London Square, and there was a Bar next door, so it cant be as bad as that.

I have gone ahead and bought the ticket on 11 and 796. and already made a reservation with Suppershuttle for a ride to LAX Saturday evening.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Personally, but that's just me, I'd spend the extra $100 for the Starlight.

I've done the Bay Area to SoCal (and reverse) several X on the CS, and have maybe spent a total-combined-time of 1 hour in my roomette. The rest was PPC, Diner, or SSL.

Is the Super Shuttle from the DL area? It may be less to take Amtrak or Metrolink to LA and take the FlyAway shuttle to LAX. It runs directly fron Union Station to the airport every 1/2 hour and costs (I think) $8.50 per person.

I never thought of taking the train back to Union Station and the Fly Away, But the Supper Shuttle will pick me up at the Marriott and drop me off at Terminal 7 for $17.00. On the trip in 2002 I flew from Oakland to LAX and rented a car, then at the end dropped the car off in the morning then took the bus to the light rail station , and went to Union Station dropped off my bags and went to Universal by Subway till two hours before train time to catch the SWC back to Chicago.

I did a similar thing last summer, CZ to CS to Surfliner. The coast starlight leg in coach felt loooong to me, even though I'd just spent two days in coach on the CZ. This year I'm springing for a roomette, it's worth it to me to be able to stretch out, and use the PPC.

You guys have convinced me, I am keeping the Reservation on the Starlight with a roomette! And the number 50 bus leaves ARTIC about 20 mins after the Surfliner arrives, Its just a short walk from the corner of Katella and Harbor Blvd to the Clarion. The only hiccup in my plans now is when I decided to fly home instead of taking the SWC I had to Move hotels for the last night to the Marriot. But it looks like they are right across the parking lot from each other.

So Everything is booked and paid for except Food/Spending money and My 4 day Disneyland Parkhopper!

Another good choice between the CZ and the CS is the Holiday Inn Garden in Sacramento. It may be cheaper than Emeryville. You can check in and then go to see the California Railroad Museum at the north end of Old Town Sacramento. You would have to get up a little earlier in Sacramento to get on the CS before 6:30AM.

Enjoy your trip through Glenwood Canyon, Ruby Canyon and over the Sierras all in daylight on the CZ.

Yeah, I thought of Sacramento after I had prepaid the hotel in Emeryville, so its too late now. I did do a nice week long driving loop from SJC to Anaheim about 10 years ago. I visited Great America, Sequoia NP, Disneyland, Knotts, Sea World, Magic Mountain, The Hearst Castle, Santa Cruz Beach Board Walk, Discovery Kingdom and, CSRM. It was over 100 degrees, I only stayed at Discovery Kingdom to ride each coaster one time and headed off to Sacramento!

I was stationed at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Auora CO, while they were building I-70 thru Glenwood Canyon. The change was amazing the first time I saw the new highway a few years later!

kneemeister said:

After 2 days on the Train I figure the half mile or so walk to the Garden Inn will do me good.

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I've walked in the area (used to work in Emeryville) so it's not too bad. For the most part there aren't homeless under the freeway since Emeryville PD respond quickly. The hotel itself is generally nice. It feels like I'd expect a Hilton property to feel, with the caveat that it's not a full service hotel but a business traveler hotel with somewhat fewer amenities. If you're facing the freeway, you'll hear the sound of tires on pavement. It's mentioned in many reviews.

I used to recommend the Public Market, but now it's kind of sad except for Peet's Coffee. They do have a customize single cup pour over coffee that's actually pretty nice and not too pricey. Only a few locations have this.

You'll be in easy walking distance of Chevy's - if you're up for California style Tex-Mex. good place to get a drink, and the place has great views of the bay.

The HGI also has a shuttle to/from the train station. A bunch of us stayed there for the Gathering and at least two of us ("old" ladies) walked to/from the train station each day. Which was nice since we'd be sitting on trains all day.

As was said, a bunch of us stayed there during the Gathering last Oct. Its a decent hotel if you get a good price!

Not that its primo, but there's a Denny's soon as you cross under the Freeway on the way to the Amtrak Station that several of us had breakfast in, I thought the food was better than most such joints and the price was right also!

Can't remember the name of the place but the food court across the from the Amtrak Station (take the bridge over the tracks towards the Hyatt House that overlooks the tracks) has really reasonable and tastey ethnic food stalls!?

A bunch of us ate there on Sunday night when we returned from San Jose on our Group ride on the train with the drunken Raider Nation!

jimhudson said:

Can't remember the name of the place but the food court across the from the Amtrak Station (take the bridge over the tracks towards the Hyatt House that overlooks the tracks) has really reasonable and tastey ethnic food stalls!?

A bunch of us ate there on Sunday night when we returned from San Jose on our Group ride on the train with the drunken Raider Nation!

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Jim, I think that's the Public Market that BCL spoke of.

Thanks for the Emeryville info. I looked at it on Google and thought that the market looked wort checking out. If the train is on time I may catch the

Emery-go-round to BART and head across the bay for the evening. I have only driven around the bay the evening I landed in SC 10 years ago.

I went from Great America to my hotel in San Jose via the bay bridge

HGI was only 118 prepaid, Vs. 170 for Hyatt House and over 200 for the Courtyard

AmtrakBlue said:

jimhudson said:

Can't remember the name of the place but the food court across the from the Amtrak Station (take the bridge over the tracks towards the Hyatt House that overlooks the tracks) has really reasonable and tastey ethnic food stalls!?

A bunch of us ate there on Sunday night when we returned from San Jose on our Group ride on the train with the drunken Raider Nation!

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Jim, I think that's the Public Market that BCL spoke of.

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I know that place well. It used to be a regular hangout for me as a college student back starting in the late 80s - I think it opened in 1989. They used to have an arcade just outside where the stalls were. Over the years the vendors changed, but it was still pretty nice for a while. One of the original occupants was a bar and restaurant called (I think) "The OT Cafe" owned by Ronnie Lott. That didn't last long, and eventually a Borders location took up the majority of the place. It was always busy, and some afternoons it was dominated by Army personnel from the Oakland Army Base.

Eventually things changed. I stopped going there after I took another job. I went back one day and then noticed that there was only half the stall space, which apparently was under construction to be part of a Guitar Center location. It was sad looking too. Apparently there is one of the big vendors still there - an Afghan/Persian restaurant operated by a man who seemingly remembers any face and everyone is "my friend". Right now the most I'll do there is enter Peet's Coffee from the outside and head for the Amtrak station.

If I were to recommend a place, it would be Bay Street. That's an upscale mixed-used shopping center and apartment complex. Nothing is really unique there, but they have casual dining like Elephant Bar and PF Chang's.

As far as travel from the DLR to LAX for your return flight, MouseSavers used to have discount coupons for Super Shuttle and the Gray Lines Disneyland Express.

In 2012 when we last visited DL, the wife and I flew into Orange County/John Wayne and used the Disneyland Express. They dropped us off right in front of our hotel (Best Western Inn Park Place), which was also just right across the street from the DLR.

Lucky dog!

Can I come with you?

Oh, and don' forget to set time aside to make your reservation for a ride in the Lilly Belle!

Dang, I never thought to check MouseSavers. But amazingly the cost is the exact same as it was 5 years ago. I have been to Disneyland about 5 times in the last 14 years. and this will be the first time I wont have a car. The last time I used the Super Shuttle, I picked a car up from Alamo at Downtown Disney, and spent one of my 5 days taking a drive to visit the desert and got lost on the way to the Tehachapi Loop, I finally got there but there were no trains. Last year I chased trains for a day along old 66 west of Needles, then took county roads across the desert to Twenty Nine Palms.

I will have to check into that Lilly Belle ride!

You may be able to ride in the Lilly Belle, and you also may be able to ride up in the tender, if you ask.

If you're going to Disneyland alone (or with someone willing to split up on rides), be sure to use single rider lines where they're available- the most useful ones for us have been on Radiator Springs, Grizzly River Run, and Splash Mountain; it can also be a win on California Screamin', Soarin', , Indiana Jones (there is a minimum-wait on this ride, no matter what, because everyone has to watch the safety video), the Matterhorn and Goofy's Sky School (a ride I personally dislike going on at all, but my youngest kid loves it). [i think that's the full list of rides that single rider is available on]

Yeah, I love the Single Rider lines. The most efficient Disney Single Rider line is Exp. Everest at Animal Kingdom. I have often got several rides in 15 mins. when the standby line is way over 30. The single rider line for Indiana Jones is very confussing, with all the times you have to cross the standby and fastpass lines. Disneyland uses single rider more than WDW, for instance, Soarin' has it at DCA but not at Epcot, Same for Indiana Jones vs. Dinasaur (exact same ride system, different storyline and themeing). I am a WDW Passholder by the way.

Oh, good, just making sure you knew about it! I always feel so awkward watching parties of one arriving at the front of a 55 minute standby line when I just waited 4 minutes and am getting on.

We *loved* that Expedition Everest single rider! Disneyland has more than twice as many single rider lines in its two parks as all of Disney World, which we found surprising when we visited Florida. By the way, Big Thunder (this IS a train forum, so...) is way better at Disneyland than in the Magic Kingdom, especially with its recent rebuild.