All about the Autotrain

[lindap1]

Our first time on the AT was in 2011 and we took a way too much stuff with us.. Last year I really downsized what we took onboard, but then again we had a family bedroom...I didn't know about the family suite..would that be priced as two roomettes Maybe I'll look into that because it is nice having your own restroom....last year I was appalled at how people left the restrooms

 

[NJRRK]

The suite is priced as two bedrooms, not two roomettes.

 

[lindap1]

I called for prices WOW! Right now we are paying 246 one way for the family bedroom...for the bedroom suite it will be 646 one way We'll stick to the family bedroom

 

[Vickie1016]

Hi monorailsilver! We have traveled on the auto-train (round trip) 3 times, with our 4th trip for July 2014. It is DH, DD7 & myself. We have always traveled in the bedroom with the shower/bathroom. I will try to answer your questions as best as possible.

This year we had one small travel bag (for clothes), one duffel bag (for toiletries), one hard cooler (snacks) and one backpack (for games for DD). I also had DD pillow & a blanket for her.

Our second trip -2010 northbound - we were delayed for several hours and did not arrive into Lorton till about 1:00 pm. Pack snacks!! We now pack a cooler with snacks, extra water & fruit.

Have a great trip!!



Hey everyone!

Happy New Year!

Guess what, I am going on the auto train *this* year. I bought tickets last May for this coming April. It seemed so long ago but I had a Disney trip in the summer so I was looking forward to that.

We are headed to Ft. Myers from CT. Last year we drove & while I don't mind driving & our 3 kids were great and my mother slept on & off (she flew home) it was a long drive with some long & boring tree lined states!

I think I have asked questions before & now I have more since the time is getting closer (less then 100 days).

We will drive down in the morning from CT. We plan to leave 5:30-6 to avoid the rush hour traffic thru CT & NY. We will spend Thursday night at my moms & leave from her house on Friday vs our house since she is a 1/2 from the NY line. It will give us an extra hour of sleep.

It should take us about 5 hours but I am planning on 6 just to be safe.

We got rooms..yay!!! I have a roomette & a bedroom for the way down & a family bedroom for the way back. It will be tight I know but most of the time we will be sleeping.

-Pillows & blankets-I should bring at least one for each of us I assume as a just in case. we always take one pillow & Blanket for DD

-is there ice available? don't remember

-Should I bring water for us or can I get that on the train? For the bedrooms & roomettes, there is always water at the top of the stairs, as well as coffee & hot water

-Has anyone gone with food allergies? My 10 yo son is allergic to dairy, treenuts, egg whites (he can have them cooked) & peanut (although that one he might be done with come Thursday when we do a food challenge). I am concerned with dinner for him. I see there is salmon & he does like fish. I see there is some kind of breaded chicken & he is a nugget boy at heart! I saw I need to call at least 72 hours in advance sorry can not comment as we do not have food allergies

-we can check in once we get there but we don't have to check in our car right then, correct? that is correct depending on what time you arrive at the station, after a posted time you must check your car. I believe the amtrak website will have that time listed.

-my dh wants to do the priority off loading, is it worth it. He says yes so I don't know why I am asking. But maybe has anyone done this. for our 2013 southbound trip, we paid for priority off load, we had a full park day planned & diner reservations. Our train was 1 hour early arriving in Sanford, and we were on WDW property by 11:00, after stopping at a grocery store. For our 2014 trip, we reserved it again.

-Has anyone ever booked the bedroom suite (I am assuming this is available on the AT). I know if we like the train in 2015, our school vacation is Easter week as well & our kids will be bigger & that might be better for us, more money but better. I can always shut the door to the kids in one side & lock it too!!! Never booked a bedroom suite, but have always traveled with a bedroom.

-do kids really mingle? I mean if I brought games or if other kids brought games would they really play with one another. I am sure they would play a game so much better with kids they don't know & wouldn't argue then if they were just with their siblings. DD7 was to young to mingle on our trips

-can I let my kids go for a walk with out me or my dh? I know they won't get lost plus my 12 yo has a phone. My kids will be 12 (3 weeks shy of 13), 10 & 8. sorry, can't answer

-will I get motion sick? Or will it feel similar to a car & I will just pass out. Do I need ear plugs? My husband snores & that wakes me & I am a fairly light sleeper for the most part. I think back to when I was in the hospital post childbirth & the nurse would creep in my room & I would immediately wake. She barely made any noise. Take a motion sickness pill BEFORE you board the train so it has time to work. If you are a light sleeper, you will be in small quarters, so ear plugs might help.

-breakfast-what time & what is available. I think they start around 6:30? Bagels, corn or blueberry muffins, boxed cereal, juice, coffee, tea & banannas

-Showers-do I need to bring towels? On the way there one room will have a shower. On the way back we will use the shared shower. When staying in the bedroom with the shower, towels are provided and if you need more, ask the attendent

-we do have a luggage hard top carrier for our car. DH & I plan on taking it off & shoving it in the car. Yes I will be the one sweating & swearing at my dh because I am short. We can fold down the backs of the van seats & it fit. Yes we tried. can't answer as we do not have a top carrier

I would skip taking it but we are going to the beach & I have a beach cart, umbrellas, a few extra chairs, toys & boogie boards to bring & they all go on top. We may have to empty it first. I do plan on bringing gloves because it will be bug filled & a sheet to lay it on in the car.

And I just looked at the train online. A roomette for a family of 4 (that is all that is available on our days) was $1100+ and then add the car to that. Yikes!! I paid just under $1900 for us 5 RT. I just wanted to see if it went down, I guess not.

I am sure that there is something else but I forgot. Since it is about 15° out right now, I am thinking warmth.

 

[vacationer1954]

I called for prices WOW! Right now we are paying 246 one way for the family bedroom...for the bedroom suite it will be 646 one way We'll stick to the family bedroom

I find that most of the time the regular bedrooms are more expensive than the family bedroom (and so the bedroom suite would probably be more than twice as expensive as the family bedroom).

 

[Marshay]

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! Guess what, I am going on the auto train *this* year. I bought tickets last May for this coming April. It seemed so long ago but I had a Disney trip in the summer so I was looking forward to that. We are headed to Ft. Myers from CT. Last year we drove & while I don't mind driving & our 3 kids were great and my mother slept on & off (she flew home) it was a long drive with some long & boring tree lined states! I think I have asked questions before & now I have more since the time is getting closer (less then 100 days). We will drive down in the morning from CT. We plan to leave 5:30-6 to avoid the rush hour traffic thru CT & NY. We will spend Thursday night at my moms & leave from her house on Friday vs our house since she is a 1/2 from the NY line. It will give us an extra hour of sleep. It should take us about 5 hours but I am planning on 6 just to be safe. We got rooms..yay!!! I have a roomette & a bedroom for the way down & a family bedroom for the way back. It will be tight I know but most of the time we will be sleeping. -Pillows & blankets-I should bring at least one for each of us I assume as a just in case. -is there ice available? -Should I bring water for us or can I get that on the train? -Has anyone gone with food allergies? My 10 yo son is allergic to dairy, treenuts, egg whites (he can have them cooked) & peanut (although that one he might be done with come Thursday when we do a food challenge). I am concerned with dinner for him. I see there is salmon & he does like fish. I see there is some kind of breaded chicken & he is a nugget boy at heart! I saw I need to call at least 72 hours in advance -we can check in once we get there but we don't have to check in our car right then, correct? -my dh wants to do the priority off loading, is it worth it. He says yes so I don't know why I am asking. But maybe has anyone done this. -Has anyone ever booked the bedroom suite (I am assuming this is available on the AT). I know if we like the train in 2015, our school vacation is Easter week as well & our kids will be bigger & that might be better for us, more money but better. I can always shut the door to the kids in one side & lock it too!!! -do kids really mingle? I mean if I brought games or if other kids brought games would they really play with one another. I am sure they would play a game so much better with kids they don't know & wouldn't argue then if they were just with their siblings. -can I let my kids go for a walk with out me or my dh? I know they won't get lost plus my 12 yo has a phone. My kids will be 12 (3 weeks shy of 13), 10 & 8. -will I get motion sick? Or will it feel similar to a car & I will just pass out. Do I need ear plugs? My husband snores & that wakes me & I am a fairly light sleeper for the most part. I think back to when I was in the hospital post childbirth & the nurse would creep in my room & I would immediately wake. She barely made any noise. -breakfast-what time & what is available. -Showers-do I need to bring towels? On the way there one room will have a shower. On the way back we will use the shared shower. -we do have a luggage hard top carrier for our car. DH & I plan on taking it off & shoving it in the car. Yes I will be the one sweating & swearing at my dh because I am short. We can fold down the backs of the van seats & it fit. Yes we tried. I would skip taking it but we are going to the beach & I have a beach cart, umbrellas, a few extra chairs, toys & boogie boards to bring & they all go on top. We may have to empty it first. I do plan on bringing gloves because it will be bug filled & a sheet to lay it on in the car. And I just looked at the train online. A roomette for a family of 4 (that is all that is available on our days) was $1100+ and then add the car to that. Yikes!! I paid just under $1900 for us 5 RT. I just wanted to see if it went down, I guess not. I am sure that there is something else but I forgot. Since it is about 15° out right now, I am thinking warmth.

Just another set of answers:

For 10 trips we brought pillows and blankets. The past two trips we did not. Was nice not having to lug around. We grabbed extra pillows and blankets that were outside the bathrooms on the lower level.

Each car has ice on the upper level and a water spigot on both top and bottom.

For us, we find the price for priority off loading to be ridiculous just to save some (small) time. Much rather spend that at Disney. But if you have the money, go for it. It is a nicety. Most times we are only waiting around 25-30 min and the kids enjoy playing at the playground and running around. The last thing they want to do is sit in a car again for 45 minutes after sitting on the train all that time. So for us, the short wait actually works in our favor. Kids play, we check mail/FB and write up grocery store shopping list. One time we waited an hour as we were nearly the last family. I read my book while kids were on the playground. Sure, it would have been better to not wait that long ... But overall it was no biggie and that was one time in 12! Guess we are lucky! Even then, with an hour wait for our SUV, we were at Disney by 12:30pm, after stopping at Walmart and McD's, too!

I will say we have Annual Passes so for us it doesn't matter if we only enter a park at 1pm. We don't have to use a full day's ticket, so that works well for us.

Yes, kids play together. At the playground, at the train table, on board in the lounge car, etc.

Yes, you will wake up several times during the night. The train sways and swerves...stops and goes. If you are sensitive to this, you may feel it more. I'm a heavy sleeper at home or hotels and still wake up 4-6 times at night on the train. I fall back to sleep right away but when the train stops and starts (for a CX train or for fuel), or slows/speeds up quickly, it wakes me up. I consider it part of the experience.

We bring hardly any snacks (some candy and nuts) and no drinks. We fill up in the lounge car at 3pm, grab a piece of fruit for later if we want it, eat dinner and then go to lounge car for cookies, hot chocolate and a movie. We are Full when we go to bed. Also there are lots of water bottles in the rooms. At breakfast, we usually bring back a muffin or cereal or banana if we did not eat it there as many times they rush you to leave so they can serve more people. Unless you like a certain food or drink, I wouldn't take a cooler or anything much. You get plenty of food and snacks on board and again that takes up room.

Remember the less you take, the more room you will have. These rooms are small!! Esp when there are 3-4 people in them and there are very limited storage areas.

One thing I do take is a three plug electric cord...we never seem to have enough outlets for our phones, iPads, DVD player, etc. also a tote bag to bring electronics with us for when we leave our room since you can't lock the doors from the outside. Better safe than sorry!

Good luck!

 

[jwboucher]

I just booked a roomette on the north bound auto train for 9/14. We will be in car 5242. Does anyone know how far from the engine it is? Thanks. BTW I did get the same rate as southbound.

 

[MinnieGi]

Hey everyone!

Happy New Year!

Guess what, I am going on the auto train *this* year. I bought tickets last May for this coming April. It seemed so long ago but I had a Disney trip in the summer so I was looking forward to that.

We are headed to Ft. Myers from CT. Last year we drove & while I don't mind driving & our 3 kids were great and my mother slept on & off (she flew home) it was a long drive with some long & boring tree lined states!

I think I have asked questions before & now I have more since the time is getting closer (less then 100 days).

We will drive down in the morning from CT. We plan to leave 5:30-6 to avoid the rush hour traffic thru CT & NY. We will spend Thursday night at my moms & leave from her house on Friday vs our house since she is a 1/2 from the NY line. It will give us an extra hour of sleep.

It should take us about 5 hours but I am planning on 6 just to be safe.

We got rooms..yay!!! I have a roomette & a bedroom for the way down & a family bedroom for the way back. It will be tight I know but most of the time we will be sleeping.

-Pillows & blankets-I should bring at least one for each of us I assume as a just in case.

-is there ice available?

-Should I bring water for us or can I get that on the train?

-Has anyone gone with food allergies? My 10 yo son is allergic to dairy, treenuts, egg whites (he can have them cooked) & peanut (although that one he might be done with come Thursday when we do a food challenge). I am concerned with dinner for him. I see there is salmon & he does like fish. I see there is some kind of breaded chicken & he is a nugget boy at heart! I saw I need to call at least 72 hours in advance

-we can check in once we get there but we don't have to check in our car right then, correct?

-my dh wants to do the priority off loading, is it worth it. He says yes so I don't know why I am asking. But maybe has anyone done this.

-Has anyone ever booked the bedroom suite (I am assuming this is available on the AT). I know if we like the train in 2015, our school vacation is Easter week as well & our kids will be bigger & that might be better for us, more money but better. I can always shut the door to the kids in one side & lock it too!!!

-do kids really mingle? I mean if I brought games or if other kids brought games would they really play with one another. I am sure they would play a game so much better with kids they don't know & wouldn't argue then if they were just with their siblings.

-can I let my kids go for a walk with out me or my dh? I know they won't get lost plus my 12 yo has a phone. My kids will be 12 (3 weeks shy of 13), 10 & 8.

-will I get motion sick? Or will it feel similar to a car & I will just pass out. Do I need ear plugs? My husband snores & that wakes me & I am a fairly light sleeper for the most part. I think back to when I was in the hospital post childbirth & the nurse would creep in my room & I would immediately wake. She barely made any noise.

-breakfast-what time & what is available.

-Showers-do I need to bring towels? On the way there one room will have a shower. On the way back we will use the shared shower.

-we do have a luggage hard top carrier for our car. DH & I plan on taking it off & shoving it in the car. Yes I will be the one sweating & swearing at my dh because I am short. We can fold down the backs of the van seats & it fit. Yes we tried.

I would skip taking it but we are going to the beach & I have a beach cart, umbrellas, a few extra chairs, toys & boogie boards to bring & they all go on top. We may have to empty it first. I do plan on bringing gloves because it will be bug filled & a sheet to lay it on in the car.

And I just looked at the train online. A roomette for a family of 4 (that is all that is available on our days) was $1100+ and then add the car to that. Yikes!! I paid just under $1900 for us 5 RT. I just wanted to see if it went down, I guess not.

I am sure that there is something else but I forgot. Since it is about 15° out right now, I am thinking warmth.

Hi, We are veteran Auto Train riders and really enjoy the experience. We just got back from a Christmas trip using the AT.

I wanted to alert you to the size of beds in the family bedroom. If I am reading your post correctly you have 3 kids and 2 adults. Just want to make you aware that there are only two full size beds in the family bedroom and that the other two are smaller in length. It will be a tight squeeze I think for you all to fit in there especially with kids 12, 10 and 8. We stopped using the family bedroom when my oldest was about 10 - the bed length was just too short and she is not a tall gal. We now book two roomettes side by side so each of us have a full size bed. The family bedroom has a very closed in feel IMHO. It does not have full size windows and only one set of chairs face each other.

As others have said I do not carry a bunch of snacks, we really do get plenty on the train. I find the 7:00 dinner seating is perfect. We eat and drink when we board and maybe take a piece of fruit or snack bowl with us back after happy hour plus another glass of the free wine! This holds us over till 7:00 dinner. Dinner is filling but sometimes we go back to the lounge car for cookies around 9:00/9:30 and hang out. We do not put our beds down until about 10:00.

You do not get a great nights sleep on the AT - too much swaying and bumping. On the way down, I rarely get much at all. I'm excited and the bumping and swaying prevent me from really sleeping. But I find the laying down relaxing and manage just fine the next day. My kids and DH do not have as much trouble sleeping, but even they do not have a great nights sleep. We do carry on our own pillows and blankets. Must have my own!! We use the pillows and blankets even when our chairs are upright.

They have plenty of towels and washcloths. I tell you I personally have never used the shower on the train and have never seen anyone else either! I do wash up, brush teeth, do hair etc. but just not do a full shower. I think I'd be bumping into the walls the whole time! LOL! Lots of time there just is not enough time. We have several times pulled into the Sanford station at 8:00/8:30. And this last trip was our record we were in Sanford at 7:45!! Had to wait for the station to even open at 8:00 to get off the train. If you are arriving early they start calling for breakfast around 6:00 am.

We have not paid for priority. I find the Sanford station pulls the cars off pretty quickly. However this past time in Lorton I think I might have paid!! We were not even one of the last and it was taking them a LONG time to pull the cars off!

Have a fun trip and ask away if you have anymore ?'s.

 

[Marshay]

My northbound train in Nov just went down by $360 so I bought it last night. Still $140 more then I paid in Dec but I am ok with that. If it goes down more, I'll love that! Will keep watching.

Now my southbound train for the last week of Oct is still $1002 for just a FR, then vehicle on top -- too expensive. So I guess we will drive.

Also my August trip northbound is over $1000! We will drive for that too.

This is for family room, 2A, 2C.

It makes me sad to think we will drive since we love the train...

 

[lindap1]

I find that most of the time the regular bedrooms are more expensive than the family bedroom (and so the bedroom suite would probably be more than twice as expensive as the family bedroom).

I think having your own bathroom and shower in the room is why it cost so much. I don't mind sharing a public restroom but I REALLY wish people were neater and cleaner. Toilet paper all over and just disgusting things lying around...I would hate to see how these people live at home

 

[monorailsilver]

Hi, We are veteran Auto Train riders and really enjoy the experience. We just got back from a Christmas trip using the AT.

I wanted to alert you to the size of beds in the family bedroom. If I am reading your post correctly you have 3 kids and 2 adults. Just want to make you aware that there are only two full size beds in the family bedroom and that the other two are smaller in length. It will be a tight squeeze I think for you all to fit in there especially with kids 12, 10 and 8. We stopped using the family bedroom when my oldest was about 10 - the bed length was just too short and she is not a tall gal. We now book two roomettes side by side so each of us have a full size bed. The family bedroom has a very closed in feel IMHO. It does not have full size windows and only one set of chairs face each other.

As others have said I do not carry a bunch of snacks, we really do get plenty on the train. I find the 7:00 dinner seating is perfect. We eat and drink when we board and maybe take a piece of fruit or snack bowl with us back after happy hour plus another glass of the free wine! This holds us over till 7:00 dinner. Dinner is filling but sometimes we go back to the lounge car for cookies around 9:00/9:30 and hang out. We do not put our beds down until about 10:00.

You do not get a great nights sleep on the AT - too much swaying and bumping. On the way down, I rarely get much at all. I'm excited and the bumping and swaying prevent me from really sleeping. But I find the laying down relaxing and manage just fine the next day. My kids and DH do not have as much trouble sleeping, but even they do not have a great nights sleep. We do carry on our own pillows and blankets. Must have my own!! We use the pillows and blankets even when our chairs are upright.

They have plenty of towels and washcloths. I tell you I personally have never used the shower on the train and have never seen anyone else either! I do wash up, brush teeth, do hair etc. but just not do a full shower. I think I'd be bumping into the walls the whole time! LOL! Lots of time there just is not enough time. We have several times pulled into the Sanford station at 8:00/8:30. And this last trip was our record we were in Sanford at 7:45!! Had to wait for the station to even open at 8:00 to get off the train. If you are arriving early they start calling for breakfast around 6:00 am.

We have not paid for priority. I find the Sanford station pulls the cars off pretty quickly. However this past time in Lorton I think I might have paid!! We were not even one of the last and it was taking them a LONG time to pull the cars off!

Have a fun trip and ask away if you have anymore ?'s.

Thank you so much!

Yes we are trying the family bedroom. I even told my dh this will probably be the only time we get to do that so I'd give it a shot.

This is all trial and error this trip. We have a bedroom and a roomette one way and the family bedroom on the return. We board the train on Easter.

My son has a bunch of food allergies so unfortunately I need to carry some snacks for him as a just in case. He is 10 and thankfully likes fish and isn't allergic to it. I told him he will probably have to eat that assuming it isn't slathered in butter and nuts vs the choo chicken as I am not sure what it is breaded in. I will call before we leave for that.

I already mentioned the dinner times to my dh and he said 5. I was leaning towards 7 but we eat closer to 5. I think my dh is thinking he is going to be so tired from waking up at about 5 that am to leave no later then 6 to drive down that first day. And the return I think we are going to leave at about 8-9 am. I have to see how long the drive is as we aren't going to Disney.

I am sure you will hear my husband snoring where ever you live! He does not wake for anything. My kids are pretty sound sleepers too. It is just me being the light sleeper. Luckily we have a week at the beach and the sun can relax the migraine I get from lack of sleep. We will definitely bring pillows and blankets. They are coming on the trip anyways.

My dh is the type of person who needs to shower before going to the beach. Yep, crazy, right! On the way down to FL I think we can skip the shower since we are going to go to the beach but the way home I know we will have a 5 hr drive to my moms and then another hour to our house so he will want one. I am sure I will be up at 5 and will get one and I will wake him to do the same. Actually last April he did surprise me and didn't take a shower one beach morning.

I still haven't called for priority. I may do that just for the return.

I have a small list started-boogie boards, extra duct tape for the car carrier (he tapes it on top of strapping it), a sheet for when we place the car carrier inside the van and gloves because if you think I want to touch that car carrier with all those dead bugs...ick!

I do think that if we like it and we don't think we can fit in a roomette and a bedroom next year that we will look At the bedroom suite. Not sure.

Think beach....that is my end result...beach...warm sand, warm water and oodles of shells on sanibel.

 

[Marshay]

I think having your own bathroom and shower in the room is why it cost so much. I don't mind sharing a public restroom but I REALLY wish people were neater and cleaner. Toilet paper all over and just disgusting things lying around...I would hate to see how these people live at home

Wow, that is disgusting. In all our 12 trips, we gave never seen this! I've actually been very pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone keeps the bathrooms.

 

[Marshay]

my DH took a shower for the first time this past Dec. he is a big guy and said it is not easy to do, and harder to dry off and get dressed. But it can be done.

 

[vacationer1954]

I would hate to see how these people live at home

I don't think people live at home like they do on a train. I think the small size of the bathrooms makes keeping them as tidy as someone would keep a comparatively big stall on solid ground difficult if not impossible especially for the elderly and disabled.

 

[lindap1]

I'm sure it was kids that were leaving it so messy. I would hope adults aren't that messy...lol. I always bring toilet seat covers for my daughter anyways. Nothings worse then sitting down on a wet toilet seat

 

[KSL]

Yes we are trying the family bedroom. I even told my dh this will probably be the only time we get to do that so I'd give it a shot.

My dh is the type of person who needs to shower before going to the beach. Yep, crazy, right! On the way down to FL I think we can skip the shower since we are going to go to the beach but the way home I know we will have a 5 hr drive to my moms and then another hour to our house so he will want one. I am sure I will be up at 5 and will get one and I will wake him to do the same. Actually last April he did surprise me and didn't take a shower one beach morning.

I still haven't called for priority. I may do that just for the return.

Hi Monorail - I excerpted some of your post to chime in on a couple of things based on our experience last August....

We did the Family Bedroom with 2 adults and 3 kids -- 13, 10 and 8 at the time. Yep, we knew it was crazy, but we wanted to try it and we were all up for the "togetherness challenge"! They are all girls, and my eldest is very small for her age (as in, still well under 5' tall), and the rest of us are on the shorter side, as well. Like you said, that was a trial-and-error trip for us, as previously we have travelled coach. It worked out fine and we are doing the family bedroom again this upcoming July, but we all agree this will be the last time. If we do AT again it will probably be a trio of roomettes or maybe a bedroom and roomette (in either case DH will probably claim a roomette to himself so he can get away from all the estrogen for awhile! ).

I will admit DH & I did not get a normal night's sleep, but the kids slept like rocks. I slept with my youngest on the bottom larger/longer bunk, my older girls each had one of the shorter side bunks, and DH had the longer top bunk. We were all able to stretch fully out (again, none of us are tall) and it worked fine for us. However, I should add that we did not spend much awake time in there. Between the happy hour, dinner, showers, and visits to the lounge car, there was hardly any time when all 5 of us were in there, so we did not have an issue with feeling claustrophobic. There's no question it is tiny, but it worked OK for us.

Showers -- we tried them and they were adequate. My girls are used to showering at night and so we tried it. We kept it quick and didn't shampoo hair. We wore our flip flops to avoid bare feet in there. It was definitely tight quarters but it is doable. They do provide stacks of towels & washcloths, and there's a bucket with travel sized bars of soap and packets of shampoo if you don't bring your own.

We did the priority unloading on the way down and were happy we did -- we were anxious to be on our way and we were about 5th or 6th off, and it had us all in a great, vacation mood to be headed right out like that. It was a nice splurge but definitely not a necessity. We did not do priority on the way back as we were not in a hurry to get home! But we were there almost 2 hours waiting until finally our van came off, and it was drizzling so we didn't go outside for fresh air or playground or anything. I was so distracted waiting to hear our number that I couldn't settle in to read or relax. The more time that went by, the more I was thinking "we must be next...we MUST be next!" and I just couldn't concentrate on anything else (maybe I have a short attention span, lol!). That was killer because we knew we were facing a long drive and would have been nice to get on our way (in retrospect, waiting a bit when you are essentially at your destination, and doing priority to get started on the long ride ahead of you, would probably have been smarter, but we were so excited to get to WDW that we did it that way ). It's all luck of the draw, I think, on when your car comes off, so it's just a gamble on whether you will be waiting or not. We haven't decided what to do this year WRT priority unloading.

Thinkin' beachy thoughts for you!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Hi Monorail - I excerpted some of your post to chime in on a couple of things based on our experience last August....

We did the Family Bedroom with 2 adults and 3 kids -- 13, 10 and 8 at the time. Yep, we knew it was crazy, but we wanted to try it and we were all up for the "togetherness challenge"! They are all girls, and my eldest is very small for her age (as in, still well under 5' tall), and the rest of us are on the shorter side, as well. Like you said, that was a trial-and-error trip for us, as previously we have travelled coach. It worked out fine and we are doing the family bedroom again this upcoming July, but we all agree this will be the last time. If we do AT again it will probably be a trio of roomettes or maybe a bedroom and roomette (in either case DH will probably claim a roomette to himself so he can get away from all the estrogen for awhile! ).

I will admit DH & I did not get a normal night's sleep, but the kids slept like rocks. I slept with my youngest on the bottom larger/longer bunk, my older girls each had one of the shorter side bunks, and DH had the longer top bunk. We were all able to stretch fully out (again, none of us are tall) and it worked fine for us. However, I should add that we did not spend much awake time in there. Between the happy hour, dinner, showers, and visits to the lounge car, there was hardly any time when all 5 of us were in there, so we did not have an issue with feeling claustrophobic. There's no question it is tiny, but it worked OK for us.

Showers -- we tried them and they were adequate. My girls are used to showering at night and so we tried it. We kept it quick and didn't shampoo hair. We wore our flip flops to avoid bare feet in there. It was definitely tight quarters but it is doable. They do provide stacks of towels & washcloths, and there's a bucket with travel sized bars of soap and packets of shampoo if you don't bring your own.

We did the priority unloading on the way down and were happy we did -- we were anxious to be on our way and we were about 5th or 6th off, and it had us all in a great, vacation mood to be headed right out like that. It was a nice splurge but definitely not a necessity. We did not do priority on the way back as we were not in a hurry to get home! But we were there almost 2 hours waiting until finally our van came off, and it was drizzling so we didn't go outside for fresh air or playground or anything. I was so distracted waiting to hear our number that I couldn't settle in to read or relax. The more time that went by, the more I was thinking "we must be next...we MUST be next!" and I just couldn't concentrate on anything else (maybe I have a short attention span, lol!). That was killer because we knew we were facing a long drive and would have been nice to get on our way (in retrospect, waiting a bit when you are essentially at your destination, and doing priority to get started on the long ride ahead of you, would probably have been smarter, but we were so excited to get to WDW that we did it that way ). It's all luck of the draw, I think, on when your car comes off, so it's just a gamble on whether you will be waiting or not. We haven't decided what to do this year WRT priority unloading.

Thinkin' beachy thoughts for you!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

We did the priority unloading on the way down and were happy we did -- we were anxious to be on our way and we were about 5th or 6th off, and it had us all in a great, vacation mood to be headed right out like that. It was a nice splurge but definitely not a necessity. We did not do priority on the way back as we were not in a hurry to get home! But we were there almost 2 hours waiting until finally our van came off, and it was drizzling so we didn't go outside for fresh air or playground or anything. I was so distracted waiting to hear our number that I couldn't settle in to read or relax. The more time that went by, the more I was thinking "we must be next...we MUST be next!" and I just couldn't concentrate on anything else (maybe I have a short attention span, lol!). That was killer because we knew we were facing a long drive and would have been nice to get on our way (in retrospect, waiting a bit when you are essentially at your destination, and doing priority to get started on the long ride ahead of you, would probably have been smarter, but we were so excited to get to WDW that we did it that way ). It's all luck of the draw, I think, on when your car comes off, so it's just a gamble on whether you will be waiting or not. We haven't decided what to do this year WRT priority unloading.

Thinkin' beachy thoughts for you!

We have also had bad luck with our car getting off the train. We've done two round trips and for each leg our car was almost last all 4 times. The heck with that! I paid for the priority unloading for our September trip both going down and coming back. As you said, when we arrive in Sanford we want to get going - so much to do, so little time; we don't want to sit and wait until there's only a handful of us left. And when we arrive back in Lorton, well, I live practically across the street from the AT station, maybe a mile away as the crow flies. It was so frustrating to know my house was just on the other side of I-95 and I wanted to get home so I could take care of things like laundry, mail and grocery shopping, but there we sat at the AT station and waited and waited and waited...

Priority unloading wasn't available yet on our other trips; I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a better experience in September.

 

[monorailsilver]

Hi Monorail - I excerpted some of your post to chime in on a couple of things based on our experience last August....

We did the Family Bedroom with 2 adults and 3 kids -- 13, 10 and 8 at the time. Yep, we knew it was crazy, but we wanted to try it and we were all up for the "togetherness challenge"! They are all girls, and my eldest is very small for her age (as in, still well under 5' tall), and the rest of us are on the shorter side, as well. Like you said, that was a trial-and-error trip for us, as previously we have travelled coach. It worked out fine and we are doing the family bedroom again this upcoming July, but we all agree this will be the last time. If we do AT again it will probably be a trio of roomettes or maybe a bedroom and roomette (in either case DH will probably claim a roomette to himself so he can get away from all the estrogen for awhile! ).

I will admit DH & I did not get a normal night's sleep, but the kids slept like rocks. I slept with my youngest on the bottom larger/longer bunk, my older girls each had one of the shorter side bunks, and DH had the longer top bunk. We were all able to stretch fully out (again, none of us are tall) and it worked fine for us. However, I should add that we did not spend much awake time in there. Between the happy hour, dinner, showers, and visits to the lounge car, there was hardly any time when all 5 of us were in there, so we did not have an issue with feeling claustrophobic. There's no question it is tiny, but it worked OK for us.

Showers -- we tried them and they were adequate. My girls are used to showering at night and so we tried it. We kept it quick and didn't shampoo hair. We wore our flip flops to avoid bare feet in there. It was definitely tight quarters but it is doable. They do provide stacks of towels & washcloths, and there's a bucket with travel sized bars of soap and packets of shampoo if you don't bring your own.

We did the priority unloading on the way down and were happy we did -- we were anxious to be on our way and we were about 5th or 6th off, and it had us all in a great, vacation mood to be headed right out like that. It was a nice splurge but definitely not a necessity. We did not do priority on the way back as we were not in a hurry to get home! But we were there almost 2 hours waiting until finally our van came off, and it was drizzling so we didn't go outside for fresh air or playground or anything. I was so distracted waiting to hear our number that I couldn't settle in to read or relax. The more time that went by, the more I was thinking "we must be next...we MUST be next!" and I just couldn't concentrate on anything else (maybe I have a short attention span, lol!). That was killer because we knew we were facing a long drive and would have been nice to get on our way (in retrospect, waiting a bit when you are essentially at your destination, and doing priority to get started on the long ride ahead of you, would probably have been smarter, but we were so excited to get to WDW that we did it that way ). It's all luck of the draw, I think, on when your car comes off, so it's just a gamble on whether you will be waiting or not. We haven't decided what to do this year WRT priority unloading.

Thinkin' beachy thoughts for you!

Thank you!! This was so nice of you to reply!

The train departs on a Friday so dh & I will shower that am at my moms & my kids the night before. I probably won't make them shower....yes my 12 yo dtr cringes at showering still! Heck I have gone a day with no shower so I think they can. Saturday we will hit the beach early afternoon (I hope) so they will get one that night.

Thank you for giving the closeness of the family bedroom. I know this trip might be the only time we can try it so why not, right? We might even feel that we can do the roomette & bedroom with the 5 of us on our trip in 2015.

Yes I am already planning 2015! Again our break is around Easter & we have a 1/2 day that Thursday before Holy Friday so I will probably take my kids out of school that day like I am this year. That is assuming we enjoyed the train, right? But then it's either drive the whole way, take the train or pay outrageous prices for airfare during Easter week which is not going to happen. Or drive the way down & take the train home.

I am quite sure I will be the only one posting pictures on Facebook at 2am because I can't sleep. I won't be able to kick my husband for snoring...ear plugs...ear plugs put that on my list...

I am going to see if I can get priority off loading on the return. We have a 3-4 hour drive once we get to FL & I am thinking we will hit DtD for lunch or hopefully an early lunch before the 3 hr drive from there.

Thank you..

Kerri

 

[Ngwira]

I just booked a roomette on the north bound auto train for 9/14. We will be in car 5242. Does anyone know how far from the engine it is? Thanks. BTW I did get the same rate as southbound.

Finally booked our roomettes going northbound. Paid $138 per roomette. We are all set!