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This summer I will be arriving in Fullerton,CA on the Southwest Chief (6:29AM?) with a friend who is mobility challenged. I have two questions I was hoping some of you may be able to help me with. 1) Any recommendations for a restaurant near the station for breakfast/brunch depending on when the Chief arrives(perhaps patio seating?) 2) We will be attending a baseball game at Angels stadium at 12:30pm that day and wondered about public transportation to the stadium from the Amtrak station area. My friend uses a cane to walk, but long walks and steps can be "taxing". Thanks for any suggestions.
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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Not sure what station is closest -- but the Angel stadium is visible from the Pacific Surfliner that goes to San Diego. If I recall the stadium is just across a parking lot from the tracks (It is however a very large parking lot). You might check with the Angels Customer Service or with Amtrak.
Dee
Posts: 460 | From: North Central CT | Registered: May 2004
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a meyer - the Anaheim AMTRAK station is actually at the back of the Angels Stadium parking lot. From Fullerton, you can take either AMTRAK's Pacific Surfliner or a Metrolink commuter train and get right to the stadium parking lot. Concerning getting from the station across the (LARGE!!!!!!) parking lot to the stadium, I can't help you there -- maybe there is some kind of shuttle service they operate?
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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point your browser to octa.net, they have a trip planner there, also like most other transportation hubs the Anaheim station has a lot of taxis lurking about for a small fee they might get you close to the stadium. Call the Angels and explain your situation they might have a few ideas.
Posts: 229 | From: Long Beach CA | Registered: Jan 2007
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I hope your Chief trip treats you well. Expect a 7:00 AM or latter arrival into Fullerton. 6:29 is scheduled but more often then not the earliest I've arrived is 7:00.
The Fullerton depot has taxi service and a bus depot in the parking lot so there are numerous ways to get around from the Fullerton depot if you don't plan on taking a Surfliner or Metrolink to Anaheim station.
Not sure of restaurants around the depot since I go straight home after taking the train. But there are many new stores and development in downtown Fullerton that is very close to the depot.
If I was taking the Chief in to see an Angels game I'd definitely include a Surfliner/Metrolink ride to Anaheim station since it is so close to the stadium. However the walk from the station to the ballpark will likely be difficult for your friend.
There is taxi service at Anaheim station, however I'm not sure if they would be willing to drive you across the parking lot.
You might even want to contact Angels stadium to see if they can provide a short shuttle for your friend using one of their many small "golf" carts.
I went to their website and found the following entries that might be helpful:
Bus Service: The Orange County Transportation Authority has bus service to the ballpark. Residents in Orange County should call 636-RIDE or 800-636-RIDE if outside the area for more information on bus schedules.
Seating: Angels Baseball offers a limited amount of semi-ambulatory seating for customers requesting special accommodations who do not require the use of a wheelchair. These types of seats are available in select locations of Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Please contact the Angels Ticket Office at (714) 634-2000 for more information, availability and seat locations.
Taxi Service: Fans that request taxi service should stop by the Guest Relations Center and have a concierge call a taxi for them.
Telephone: (714) 940-2000
Hope this helps.
-------------------- Matt Visit gallery for photos of our train layouts Posts: 579 | From: San Bernardino Subdivison | Registered: Dec 2001
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Thanks for all the info and the website to octa.net. It looks like the Pacific Surfliner has the right times for geting from Fullerton to Anaheim for our game. We will make arrangements with the distance from the station to the ballpark. Google Earth shows Santa Fe Cafe, Rail Restaurant, and Worlds Best Hamburgers as restraurants near the Fullerton Station. We should be able to pick one of those. Any preferences in restaurants near the Fullerton Amtrak Station? Thanks again for the info!!
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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Just one more little bit of information.....If you are arriving into Fullerton on a weekday morning, be prepared to see a crowd waiting at the platform! Every time I've come in on #3 on a weekday, the platform is crowded with people heading off to work. Even though things are nice and quiet and winding down at the end of a train trip near the end of it's journey, you will walk off the train into a crowd of commuters!
There is one restaurant that has not been mentioned yet: Knowlwood. It is located in the same parking lot area as the others. Although I have no idea what their hours are.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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smitty195, thanks for the info. It appears that the "worlds best hamburger" label on Google Earth IS Knowlwood restaurant! I'll see if I can find the hours of operation.
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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quote:Originally posted by a meyer: 1) Any recommendations for a restaurant near the station for breakfast/brunch depending on when the Chief arrives(perhaps patio seating?)
The only dining area with an unobstructed view of the tracks is the Santa Fe Cafe in one end of the restored 1930s vintage station. It has indoor seating and an outdoor patio about 20 feet from the tracks, The food served is pretty basic (burgers, burritos, sandwiches) but OK. They are open for breakfast. Eating there can be a bit loud when a BNSF Transcon freight roars by. There is usually a gaggle of railfans present. This might be your best bet for breakfast.
Also on the perimeter of the parking lot/bus terminal are a Spaghetti Factory that is a former UP station moved from its original location a block south. It is next to the tracks but only a few tables have a good view.
You already have found Knowlwood. I have always found their boast of "World's Best Burger" (I vote for "In 'n Out") to be overblown, but it's not bad.
The Rail Restaurant is a very good, pricey place that serves fantastic food, but it opens at 5PM I believe. That is, if it's still open. I heard a rumor about a change of owners.
And then there are a pizzeria, a sushi bar, a rock & roll cafe, a steak house, and a good Italian reataurant (in a former Pacific Electric station), all without crossing a major street. Some of these may not be open for breakfast.
If you walk a bit there are many more restaurants in nearby Fullerton, everything from sports bars to classy French cuisine. Even a good jazz club 1 & 1/2 blocks away. Lots of night life in downtown Fullerton.
All the place lacks is a hotel within walking distance of the station.
I have gone to Angel's games in a wheelchair, and they are very good about it. Special seating at the back of the Loge level, I seem to recall. The walk from the Anaheim RR station to the stadium is a long one.
It might be better to take a cab from the Fullerton station to the stadium if they let him drop you off close to the main stadium entrance instead of the parking lot perimeter. Ask the cabby where he is allowed to let you out. If he says at the parking lot entrance, forget about it.
It would be a good idea to buy your baseball tickets before you get here and pick them up at the "Will Call" ticket window. The Angels sell out most of their games. The "Will Call" windows are almost on the other side of the stadium from the RR station, adding to your walk. If you are walking to the ticket window from the RR station, go to the left and circle the stadium clockwise.
Jack
-------------------- Jack Posts: 13 | From: Anaheim, CA Orange | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks All very much for the great info.!!!!! We are all set with tickets and choices for restaurants around the Fullerton Amtrak station. We will call the Angels in regards to any options of getting from the Amtrak station across the large parking lot.I hope to post a trip report with pictures in a few weeks after the trip.
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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Thanks for the update Chris! We will probably make the Santa Fe Cafe our first choice and go from there depending on what time the Chief comes in.
Andy
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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My friend and I just completed our baseball tour, finishing the last few days riding the Southwest Chief! Thanks to the great suggestions made on this forum, Fullerton and Anaheim went flawlessly and we felt at ease knowing the options we would have on the Chief. If interested, you can find photos of the entire trip at my website http://www.mlbtour2007.com and click on the MLBTour 2007 link towards the top. The Southwest Chief photos start at Day#7.
Since the website has mostly photos, I will include a brief trip report here on the Southwest Chief portion:
Day#7: We arrived at Chicago Union Station after a Sunday afternoon Cubs game and were very cordially checked in by a very friendly agent. We had a few minutes to explore the Great Hall and take a few photos. Although I was raised and lived much of my life in Central Illinois, this was my first time in Union Station. We made our way to the gate and boarded the lower coach car (my friend is mobility challenged). Unfortunately, there were not two seats together, but we got seats on the aisle next to each other. We left Chicago on time and enjoyed the city views and then meandered into the farmlands. Our destination for tonight was Kansas City where we would spend the night and next day to attend a Kansas City Royal game. We would then leave that night on the Chief again for Fullerton,CA.
The journey was fairly uneventful except for a mishap between one of our fellow passengers and the Coach attendant. The handicapped passenger had travelled Amtrak many times and was concerned that noboday came to get her dinner order after a couple hours into the trip. My friend and I planned on just a snack in the evening. When I went to the snack bar I saw the car attendant and mentioned to her that the lady passenger was concerned about not having her dinner order taken. The attendant suddenly appeared very angry and said "she better not expect me to deliver her meals because she should be in the forward coach car if she wants that service!". I just shrugged and said I was just passing along the information. When I returned with snacks for my friend, he told me the car attendant came down and got in a heated argument with the handicapped lady. About fifteen minutes later, the attendant appeared to have a "Jekyl and Hyde" attack and became very pleasant and served the handicapped lady's request happily?? We arrived in Kansas City about 30 minutes late and caught a cab to the hotel.
Day#8: We were picked up at the hotel by a friend who grew up in Kansas City and was back there to visit family. We toured the town by car and made a stop at Arthur Bryants BBQ and Boulevarde Brewery. Both were great places. We all attended the Royals game that night. After the game, our friend drove us to KC Union Station. Unfortunately we were in KC Union Station at night and it was too dark for photos. I did manage a photo of the Great Hall on a lower shutter speed which didn't come out too bad.
The Southwest Chief departed about an hour late. We had the Handicap Sleeper for the journey to Fullerton. The sleeper car was an older car, perhaps Superliner I, but was clean and adequate. After an all day tour of Kansas City it was great to be able to relax in the sleeper.
Day#9: We had breakfast delivered to our room. The omlettes were good. Our attendant was great! My friend had some difficulty climbing the stairs to the upper level, but he really wanted to experience the lounge and dinner cars. Once on the upper level we spent most of the day in the lounge car were we met a gentleman on the same quest we were on. He was also trying to visit all 30 Major League Baseball parks. We exchanged experiences and had a great conversation. He was about to visit our "Homefield" Chase Field in Phoenix, so we game him some local info..
When we arrived in Albuqurque I de-trained and took some photos. When we were getting the turn down for nighttime, our attendant offered to bring us breakfast to our room since he expected we would be about an hour late into Fullerton.
Day#10: Our attendant brought us breakfast at about 6:00AM. They didn't have omlettes like we expected, but we got the Bob Evans Scrambler. It was OK but not great. We arrived in Fullerton about an hour late. We still had plenty of time to enjoy coffee, newspaper, and training watching from the Santa Fe Cafe. The weather was great and train watching relaxing. We opted to take a cab to Anaheim Amtrak station to save on handling luggage on the train for a short trip. We arrived at Anaheim station and the counter agent pleasantly let us check our 4 bags at the station while we went to the Angels basebal game. The station is just across the parking lot from Angel Stadium. The walk was not too much for my mobility challenged friend since it was flat.
We enjoyed the great weather in California and the baseball game. After the game we went back to the Amtrak station, got our bags, and easily found a cab to Orange County Airport. We flew back home to Phoenix that evening with fond memories of our baseball trip and journey on the Southwest Chief.
Again, thanks to all of you for your help and options available in advance!
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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Glad to hear that all went well and that you enjoyed your trip.
You and your friend demonstrate once again that proper planning makes such great memories possible.
Hope you are planning another "baseball journey". May I suggest a trip on the Coast Starlight. A fantastic train trip that will make possible games with teams such as Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners. (No doubt others would have similar suggested trips).
Dee
Posts: 460 | From: North Central CT | Registered: May 2004
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Sounds like a neat trip.....glad you both had a great time. And the coach attendant that got into an argument with the disabled woman in the coach car, well, that's Amtrak for ya! There is another thread on here with a trip report about the Coast Starlight, and how the transfer from Los Angeles to Anaheim was handled. These horrible Amtrak employees that act like this should be fired. I get sick and tired of seeing these lazy good-for-nothing employees collect a nice paycheck for doing absolutely NOTHING except getting passengers upset.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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