Amusement parks trips on Amtrak

[fairviewroad]

Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, ID, which the EB passes right by, is accessible by rental car either from Spokane or Sandpoint.

Good luck getting a rental car in either of those places when the EB rolls into town, though. You'd have to be really, really dedicated if you wanted to take Amtrak as part of a visit to Silverwood. I guess you could get a hotel room to spend a few hours until the rental car places opened.

I suppose if you wanted to arrive/depart in Spokane at a more practical hour you could take the Thruway bus from Seattle that arrives/departs Spokane during the afternoon. So technically that would be using Amtrak to get there, though not by train.

Well, yes, one would have to spend time in a hotel room first. I wasn't implying one would sit around at the station(s) waiting for rental car places to open first.

Fair enough. But overall I think you could file Silverwood into the category "technically possible but not at all practical" when it comes to reaching amusement parks via Amtrak. Which sadly, applies to reaching a lot of interesting destinations via Amtrak.

 

[BCL]

I went over the entire list of stations (including bus stops) and it looks like GAC is the only train station that is named after an amusement park, and VMW is the only bus stop that is named after an amusement park.

I guess the irony is that it's not really that close to Great America. At this point the closest landmark is probably Levi's Stadium, but I'm not sure if they're interested in renaming it or if they've be allowed to with trademark issues. I'm also wondering if they had to deal with trademark issues when they picked the name.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Silverwood Theme Park in Athol, ID, which the EB passes right by, is accessible by rental car either from Spokane or Sandpoint.

Good luck getting a rental car in either of those places when the EB rolls into town, though. You'd have to be really, really dedicated if you wanted to take Amtrak as part of a visit to Silverwood. I guess you could get a hotel room to spend a few hours until the rental car places opened.

I suppose if you wanted to arrive/depart in Spokane at a more practical hour you could take the Thruway bus from Seattle that arrives/departs Spokane during the afternoon. So technically that would be using Amtrak to get there, though not by train.

Well, yes, one would have to spend time in a hotel room first. I wasn't implying one would sit around at the station(s) waiting for rental car places to open first.

Fair enough. But overall I think you could file Silverwood into the category "technically possible but not at all practical" when it comes to reaching amusement parks via Amtrak. Which sadly, applies to reaching a lot of interesting destinations via Amtrak.

You can include Six Flags and Sea World of San Antonio in the technically possible but largely impractical list. Lack of any obvious coordination with major tourist destinations and lack of cooperation with local transportation services really limits Amtrak's fundamental usefulness to the uninitiated.

 

[BCL]

You can include Six Flags and Sea World of San Antonio in the technically possible but largely impractical list. Lack of any obvious coordination with major tourist destinations and lack of cooperation with local transportation services really limits Amtrak's fundamental usefulness to the uninitiated.

OK. Maybe a modified question. Where would walking be practical? While I've noted that the distance from GAC to the front entrance of Great America is about a mile, that's actually not that great a distance when you consider the time that would be spent walking around all day.

 

[Philly Amtrak Fan]

You can include Six Flags and Sea World of San Antonio in the technically possible but largely impractical list. Lack of any obvious coordination with major tourist destinations and lack of cooperation with local transportation services really limits Amtrak's fundamental usefulness to the uninitiated.

OK. Maybe a modified question. Where would walking be practical? While I've noted that the distance from GAC to the front entrance of Great America is about a mile, that's actually not that great a distance when you consider the time that would be spent walking around all day.

You also have to consider is there a good walking route (sidewalks, flat, no hills, not having to cross heavy traffic, safety, especially at night)? I'd rather walk 2 miles on a safe flat sidewalk than walk across I-95.

 

[BCL]

You can include Six Flags and Sea World of San Antonio in the technically possible but largely impractical list. Lack of any obvious coordination with major tourist destinations and lack of cooperation with local transportation services really limits Amtrak's fundamental usefulness to the uninitiated.

OK. Maybe a modified question. Where would walking be practical? While I've noted that the distance from GAC to the front entrance of Great America is about a mile, that's actually not that great a distance when you consider the time that would be spent walking around all day.

You also have to consider is there a good walking route (sidewalks, flat, no hills, not having to cross heavy traffic, safety, especially at night)? I'd rather walk 2 miles on a safe flat sidewalk than walk across I-95.

This says under a mile.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Great+America+Station,+5099+Stars+and+Stripes+Drive,+Santa+Clara,+CA+95054/California's+Great+America,+Great+America+Parkway,+Santa+Clara,+CA/@37.4018969,-121.9749451,1141m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x808fc9b674fcac55:0xb42088ec90e7eb3d!2m2!1d-121.9671214!2d37.4068839!1m5!1m1!1s0x808fc9c6db85b8ab:0x72af1434e8036575!2m2!1d-121.9742936!2d37.3979464!3e2

The path Google Maps recommends requires:

* going up a set of stairs

* walking across the sidewalk on a high overpass, crossing one set of traffic lights at the entrance to Levi's Stadium, the crossing through the Great America parking lot. Other than the stairs and the overpass, it's pretty flat.

If you could cut through the 49ers headquarters and training facility, it would be faster. The 49ers actually take over the train station parking lot around game day.

 

[fairviewroad]

You can include Six Flags and Sea World of San Antonio in the technically possible but largely impractical list. Lack of any obvious coordination with major tourist destinations and lack of cooperation with local transportation services really limits Amtrak's fundamental usefulness to the uninitiated.

OK. Maybe a modified question. Where would walking be practical? While I've noted that the distance from GAC to the front entrance of Great America is about a mile, that's actually not that great a distance when you consider the time that would be spent walking around all day.

I'd think the one mile walk is less appealing precisely because you'd be on your feet all day. Especially with kids, the prospect of a 20-minute walk back to the train station is daunting. It's not like a sporting event where you will be mostly sitting for three hours. That said, I'd guess some people do it, considering that parking costs $18. In fact, I'd guess that parking revenue is one reason why Great America doesn't offer a shuttle bus to/from the train station.

 

[manchacrr]

Toronto (Maple Leaf) - Canada's Wonderland

Altoona, PA (Pennsylvanian) - Lakemont Park

Lancaster, PA (Pennsylvanian/Keystone) - Dutch Wonderland

Philadelphia/New York City (Mult. Routes) - Six Flags Great Adventure

New York City (Mult. Routes) - Coney Island, Playland Park

Cincinnati (Cardinal) - Kings Island

Huntington, WV (Cardinal) - Camden Park

St. Louis (Texas Eagle) - Six Flags St. Louis