As I mentioned when the Fest was announced, so far Monday, July 18th is an open day. The only definite activity would be the evening departure on the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles at 6:15 PM. Obviously to be safe we want to have wrapped up any other travels well in advance of that time to ensure we don't miss the train.
I penciled in a morning round trip on Pacific Surfliners to Anaheim, for the purpose of seeing the Anaheim Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (ARTIC). That option would result in about a 48 minute dwell in Anaheim before returning. I have nothing at all planned for the afternoon under that scenario, and perhaps I shouldn't.
Since we no longer get the 100 point AGR minimum per trip, some of you may want to go slightly further south before returning, maybe Santa Ana or Irvine (although the latter dwell becomes too short between trains). However there are options too to do Amtrak in one direction and Metrolink Orange County Line back, or vice versa. However because we will later be on the Southwest Chief on the same segment between Los Angeles and Fullerton, maybe some would rather do something else. So we could also ride Metrolink in other places without doing Amtrak until the Southwest Chief. Or, a triangular trip visiting the Inland Empire and Orange County might also be possible using 3 lines (either the San Bernardino or Riverside Lines, plus the IEOC Line, plus the Orange County Line).
Note that if an all Metrolink day is planned, we would have to also look at a lunch stop, whereas if we are on the Pacific Surfliners we can eat in its café car while travelling.
This poll is just to gauge whether anything should be changed. Or we could make it a free for all and people can do whatever they wish on their own or with smaller groups, or just remain in Los Angeles and sightsee. Please only vote if you will be involved in the Fest on that day.