All about the Autotrain

[monorailsilver]

I'm the previous poster that said we sit the kids 3 across when they were younger. We now sit 4 and 2. Usually its the teens that are sitting with others. I feel it can't hurt their conversational skills at all.

We are also from CT. I grew up in Stratford right on the Trumbull town line. We have been taking the AT to WDW the last 10 years. We are heading back end of July for 2 wks. We leave the same day as the train. We head for the train by 2 am from central CT. We take the merritt to 95 right before the GWB.then the NJTP to 95. We stop in MD for breakfast for about an hour. Then we pick which tunnel in MD. From there we pick up 295 down to 95 - completely avoiding the DC loop. We have had really good luck in our travels. We tend to miss all rush hour traffic.

We travel both coach and sleepers. DH works for Amtrak. If there r open sleepers we can get a few. We have split our party btwn both when there r not enough sleeprrs for all.of us. We are required to eat in coach dining. It can be a long walk up to coach dining from sleepers. Last year we fit 4 of us in one
Deluxe bed room. It was amusing. I'm surprised I actually slept! I had ds6 and dd10 on the bottom bunk w me.

Can't wait till July!

We are planning on leaving at 6 or shortly before from Trumbull. Last year when we drive we did that and thankfully bit no traffic.

 

[vacationer1954]

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conte...=am/AM_Alert_C/Alerts_Popup&cid=1251625571842

Looks like a second day that they're not operating. Our trip is Friday.

 

[Lefty33]

We actually had a very good experience with Amtrak regarding the Auto Train.
It just wasn't in a way that I had planned.

We drove down from PA and were going to take the Auto Train back to Lorton.

Last week I was watching how the trains were at times horribly late in both directions and opted to call on 2/6 to cancel our trip on 2/8 as the trains on the proceeding two days had departed Sanford over eight hours late respectively.

I spoke with Sasha who went into the whole shtick about their cancellation policy and then we she realized what train I was talking about she put me on hold for a few minutes. After speaking with a supervisor she said that because the train the day prior had left Sanford and arrived in Lorton over eight hours late, Amtrak’s cancellation policy did not apply and I was entitled to a full refund.

Sure enough the full amount was credited to my card on 2/9 just as she said it would.

I’m bummed that we couldn’t ride but at the same time kudos to her and Amtrak for doing the right thing and for doing exactly what they said they would.

 

[ktrain]

Autotrain cancelled for third day. Not running 2/14/14.

 

[vacationer1954]

Trying to get through to them now to initiate a refund.

 

[Marshay]

We actually had a very good experience with Amtrak regarding the Auto Train.
It just wasn't in a way that I had planned.

We drove down from PA and were going to take the Auto Train back to Lorton.

Last week I was watching how the trains were at times horribly late in both directions and opted to call on 2/6 to cancel our trip on 2/8 as the trains on the proceeding two days had departed Sanford over eight hours late respectively.

I spoke with Sasha who went into the whole shtick about their cancellation policy and then we she realized what train I was talking about she put me on hold for a few minutes. After speaking with a supervisor she said that because the train the day prior had left Sanford and arrived in Lorton over eight hours late, Amtrak’s cancellation policy did not apply and I was entitled to a full refund.

Sure enough the full amount was credited to my card on 2/9 just as she said it would.

I’m bummed that we couldn’t ride but at the same time kudos to her and Amtrak for doing the right thing and for doing exactly what they said they would.

Thanks for sharing! It really is the only right thing for Amtrak to do since they are so late, canceling trains anyway, etc. Hopefully you can try to use them again in the future!

 

[Marshay]

Trying to get through to them now to initiate a refund.

Hopefully, it will be easy to get your refund and you will have a chance to use them in the future.

 

[jad215]

I've been checking to see if the roomette price drops for our October trip almost everyday and it hasn't. For whatever reason I checked to see what the price would be for the bedroom just to see if the other options had price drops. What a nice surprise when I noticed that they had them at just $31 more than what we paid for the roomette on the 11th month mark which was still at the same price. Called right away and upgraded! Hopefully the prices will drop more, but just wanted to let everyone know to check everything!

 

[jwboucher]

I've been checking to see if the roomette price drops for our October trip almost everyday and it hasn't. For whatever reason I checked to see what the price would be for the bedroom just to see if the other options had price drops. What a nice surprise when I noticed that they had them at just $31 more than what we paid for the roomette on the 11th month mark which was still at the same price. Called right away and upgraded! Hopefully the prices will drop more, but just wanted to let everyone know to check everything!

How much is that? A bedroom is $175 more than a roomette for my Sept dates. Roomette $321.

 

[jad215]

How much is that? A bedroom is $175 more than a roomette for my Sept dates. Roomette $321.

They've significantly jacked up the price for October...and we are leaving on a Wednesday. We always get a roomette and it's typically about $450-$500 one way for everything when we book at 11 months out. This time the roomette itself is $630. I happened to check the price of the bedroom and it was $661, so we called and upgraded immediately. I just looked again today and now the bedroom is $805 for our day. Roomette is still the same price.

 

[TallGuy76]

The departure from Lorton on 2/1 wound up being around 7:30. We were fed snacks (fresh fruit, chips, sodas, water, etc) mid-afternoon, and then 'dinner' of sandwiches, chips, and drinks early evening. The next morning, they had the usual breakfast at the usual time, and then had the train dinner for lunch around 1pm. I think we arrived in Sanford around 3, just in time to hit rush hour through Orlando.

We were slated to return from Sanford on 2/14 but the train was cancelled. Amtrak advised it would run again on Monday, but, we didn't feel that we could wait that long. We drove back instead. Seems most of the hotel rooms along I-95 in SC and NC were booked solid due to weather related power outages, so, we wound up sleeping at a rest stop just over the NC line. Got home to about a foot and a half of snow and having to navigate our very long driveway that was covered in pristine ice covered snow.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

We live on Ontario, when I google map it, it will take us 8 hours to get to Lorton. I thought maybe we would leave around 3am to get to the train on time for a 4:30 pm departure. But my concern is the DC area. Would this give us enough wiggle room to get around that area? I hear so many bad things about that area, but we have never driven through there before. We are travelling in August. TIA!!

 

[vacationer1954]

We live in Boston and plan on leaving next time around 4am to make the 2pm check-in time for the train. And we think that'll be somewhat risky. We'll probably always be able to make the trip in far less time, but catch it on one of those messy messy days and we could end up even missing the train with less wiggle room.

 

[DJFan88]

We live in Boston and plan on leaving next time around 4am to make the 2pm check-in time for the train. And we think that'll be somewhat risky. We'll probably always be able to make the trip in far less time, but catch it on one of those messy messy days and we could end up even missing the train with less wiggle room.

If you're going this time of year, I get what you're saying.
I also get what your saying because you never know about accidents, or whatever and you don't want to miss it.
We are in Western Mass. and left about that time and got there pitifully early. In fact, check in wasn't even ready yet. So, I guess before 11, probably 10:30. We went down to the local grocery and got some breakfast foods. Then we checked in early and waited, and waited, and waited. Long, long day.
Next time I may research the area a little better and see what our options may be. Now we know how early we don't need to be there. It was our first time, so didn't know what to expect.
The way back in FLA we were a little smarter and took our time getting there and still checked in early (around 1 or so) and still got the dinner time we wanted and waited and waited, but it was better than the Lorton wait.

 

[DJFan88]

We live on Ontario, when I google map it, it will take us 8 hours to get to Lorton. I thought maybe we would leave around 3am to get to the train on time for a 4:30 pm departure. But my concern is the DC area. Would this give us enough wiggle room to get around that area? I hear so many bad things about that area, but we have never driven through there before. We are travelling in August. TIA!!

Wow, that would be a little close for me. Like I said we were early by a lot when we left Western Mass. at around 4 am. But isn't Ontario a lot farther than Western Mass.? It must've taken us 6 1/2 hr. I think we went on a Sunday so we probably missed a lot of commuter traffic. What If you got close and then went for a nice late breakfast somewhere? I'm going to research that for my next trip.
You remind me of why we leave so early. Traffic is hard to predict. And, you will have to go by NY, probably on the NJ garden state parkway which is the major pain if you ask me. DC bypass loop didn't seem too bad, and you'll probably hit it after rush hour.
The timing is just awful for this thing. When we used to drive thewhole way we would leave at night and drive right through around 10 or 11 at night.

 

[chartle]

We live on Ontario, when I google map it, it will take us 8 hours to get to Lorton. I thought maybe we would leave around 3am to get to the train on time for a 4:30 pm departure. But my concern is the DC area. Would this give us enough wiggle room to get around that area? I hear so many bad things about that area, but we have never driven through there before. We are travelling in August. TIA!!

What day of the week and what major metro areas do you go through?

DC rush hour, as much as I have driven it, seems to start at say 5 AM and is over 4:58 AM the next day.

 

[crazyfordisney2000]

What day of the week and what major metro areas do you go through?

DC rush hour, as much as I have driven it, seems to start at say 5 AM and is over 4:58 AM the next day.

The train departs at 4:30pm on Saturday. It's 8hrs & 15 min according to google maps, we would travel I-81 S through Syracuse (that's as far on 81 we have ever travelled) right down through Scranton , Harrisburg, to I-495 S to Lorton. It really doesn't look like we would hit anything major until the DC area. There is also another route, I-81S to I-476 S , but is 15min longer, and it goes on the outskirts of Philadelphia and through Baltimore.

I'd like to leave the night before but I'm not sure it would make any difference time wise. If we get to a hotel 4 hours away, and leave at 7am, the time line would be the same as if we left at 3am from home. If I could get the Friday off work it would solve all this!

 

[monorailsilver]

What day of the week and what major metro areas do you go through?

DC rush hour, as much as I have driven it, seems to start at say 5 AM and is over 4:58 AM the next day.

Thanks for the laugh!!!

We were lucky last year when we drove. We hit no traffic thru DC or NY/NJ for that matter. We hit it north of Richmond (we drove to fl ).

 

[ineedmyblankie]

I grew up in Trumbull and I still have family there. I have a few friends from Monroe too.

Small world! I grew up in Trumbull too and that's where my parents still live.

We are also from CT. I grew up in Stratford right on the Trumbull town line. We have been taking the AT to WDW the last 10 years. We are heading back end of July for 2 wks. We leave the same day as the train. We head for the train by 2 am from central CT.

...and we lived in Stratford before we moved to Monroe! We lived in the Paradise Green area.

We are going 9/14. Last year we drove to Lorton via 95 the day of departure. We left at 4am. Got there 12-12:30 with a stop for breakfast at a CrackerBarrel.

We are planning on leaving at 6 or shortly before from Trumbull. Last year when we drive we did that and thankfully bit no traffic.

You are all so much braver than I am! It also may have something to do with the fact though that we can NEVER get out of the house for vacations when we plan to. It's not unusual for us to be an hour or two behind schedule leaving! With my luck, we would be the people who leave late, hit traffic and miss the train. I think my kids would seriously consider disowning me.

DC rush hour, as much as I have driven it, seems to start at say 5 AM and is over 4:58 AM the next day.

 

[monorailsilver]

Dumb question. Those do you who bring pillows and blankets, how do you bring them on the train? Do you stuff them in a suitcase? Or put them in a bag?

The snow is making me think of FL..April can't come soon enough!