When waiting to travel, I could not get enough info on the autotrain, so I will post our own experiences in case anyone is interested.
We took the train on Sat, Sept 24th. We drove to Lorton, allowed two extra hours for unexpected problems, but arrived w/ plenty of time to spare.
Kids had great fun, my husband enjoyed it also, and he really didn't want to go at all, so that is saying something. My kids are 10, 8, and 5, so they were quite mobile and loved travelling back and forth through the cars and up and down the stairs. Dinner was very nice, good food, good service and we enjoyed it immensely. Different and great fun. We took the early dinner as we did not have lunch while traveling. The time went rather quickly and before we knew it, it was time to settle in for sleep. I was watching the movie, so by the time I got back most of the extra seats were gone. (husband didn't claim them like I told him too) So my two girls ended up sleeping in the same seat. They managed ok, the rest of us had our own and we actually slept fairly well; not a real sound sleep, but not bad. We had to stop for repairs during the night, so arrived 1 hour and 45 minutes late in Sanford. We were also in the last 10 cars to be unloaded so got held up at the station for over an hour after de-training.
Return trip: We left WDW on Friday, Sept 30. We were a little early heading to the station, so we stopped at the mall not far from the station. We bought some magazines and books at the bookstore to read on the train, and still got to the station with time to spare. We were not all seated together, which was strange because the train was practically empty. We were able to move, but it was weird. We also had the terrible odor of sewer gas in our car, which was horrendous. The other cars were fine, so I think there was definitely something wrong w/ our car. Because it was so empty we were able to move to another car, and claimed the extra seats immediately. That way we were all able to spread out for sleeping. We left Sanford 15 minutes early and arrived in Lorton 15 minutes early as well. I thought the trip to Lorton was rougher and the air conditioning was either set very low or wasn't working properly as it was
rather warm. My husband couldn't sleep because he was actually sweating for a good portion of the night. I noticed it as well, though I didn't have the problem he did. Other than that, dinner was great, breakfast was great, the kids enjoyed it, and all in all it was a good experience. It was long though, but far, far better than driving and we would consider doing it again.
The only other problem, was on our return trip, in our original car, there was a toddler who was crying and carrying on something terrible. If we had had to stay in that car and he had been like that for most of the night, we would not have been able to sleep at all, and it would have made for a awful return trip. We were only in that car an hour and a half and I ended up with a headache. So having to move was a real blessing. I wonder if they would have let us move just because of the toddler. Anyone have that kind of problem?
Lori
That's so funny! We moms are always happy as long as everyone else is safe and comfortable! Thanks again for the info. If we ever decide to do it again, we'll have to try the sleeper. 
