We took the auto train in June, so I thought I would write a few thoughts on our trip. There were 6 of us total, me, DH, DS8, DS5, and 2 DSs 15 mon. We live in NW PA and had a 6 hr drive to the AT station. We had a bedroom suite each way, with priority unloading for our vehicle each way. I booked a couple of months ahead, and did book before they eliminated the
AAA discount. It was our second trip on the AT, the first was August 2017 in the same accommodations.
* We stayed at a Springhill suites in Potomac Mills the night before. If you recall I asked a lot of questions about where to stay beforehand, and this worked out just fine. Not as convenient as the Comfort Inn at the same exit, but we had a huge room and it was quite a bit nicer than the CI. So thanks everyone for the advice you gave on nearby towns, etc...
*We went southbound on June 9th. We checked in early, at about noon and got our 5:00 dinner time, then went to the local grocery store for snacks and ate at Chipotle. We went back at just before 2:00 to leave the car and boarded on time. the door between our 2 bedrooms wasn't opened (that's how they make it a BR Suite, open a door b/w 2 of the bedrooms), we waited quite a long time before out attendant came around and when we asked him to open it he said he had to get a supervisor, and it was clear it wasn't a priority of his. OK, no problem. Finally quite a bit later I flagged him down and asked again, and he started to brush it off again so I mentioned that it we had asked for it to be open when we booked and really wanted to be able to settle in without going into the hall b/w rooms with 2 toddlers, and then he was amazingly able to find the keys within a minute or 2. Not a huge deal, just a bit annoying since the same thing happened Southbound last trip and northbound has been perfect both times. Our attendant was not stellar. Not terrible, just nothing beyond the bare minimum. We did have headrest covers.
*Dinner was fine, I'm pretty sure we had cloth napkins and table cloths, and we did have real silverware. The food was ok, not great but about what I would expect. 3 of our party has gluten allergies so they couldn't eat. We did buy a half bottle of wine to share.
*The lounge car was the one with glass domes, which was kind of neat The employee working the lounge car was extremely nice, and we met the conductor who was super nice as well. We bought a few snacks for the kids - I really wish they had Coke instead of Pepsi!
*I LOVE sleeping on the AT, I feel like its being rocked to sleep or something - whatever it is I could do it all the time. There is a lot less room in the bedroom after the beds are down. We only had them lower one bunk since we didn't need 2.
* we used one of the wet baths to shower in and the other for a toilet, and had no problems with water leaking/draining/etc.. Not the nicest shower, but it works.
*since we don't go to breakfast getting the room turned back to seating from beds is a pain, we would sit on one side while he did the other and then switch.
*We got in on time and were in our car within 10 min probably, I would say we were between the 10th-15th vehicle off. We pulled over to the regular parking to load up everything and the kids
*We went Northbound on June 22. We were running late, we underestimated how long it would take us to eat lunch at the Contempo cafe and then we had to do an emergency outfit change with a new shirt after one last Mickey Bar for DS5
. By the time we got our car and loaded everyone up our GPS put us at the AT station at 1:57, so only a 30 min cushion for the last auto check in. We are not people to push things like that, so I was nervous. Luckily we had no issues and got there at exactly 2:00. Unluckily, the southbound AT also got to the Sanford station at 2:00
* we checked in and had to take the 3rd dinner since we were so late, not ideal with little kids. Also not ideal were all of the passengers from the SB train in the waiting room because it was so hot out and their cars weren't being offloaded yet, and all of the people waiting for the NB train were there as well. We all fit better than expected, honestly. I waited in line like 15 min in the shop for snacks, but I could have waited and had no line later, it was more for something different to do. We did find seats, but keeping 2 toddlers occupied for 4 hrs wasn't fun. We took turns walking them in circles around the building and outside and around that way, and eventually I put them both in my double carrier but carrying an extra 60 lbs for 90 min wasn't fun! Most of the people on thr train with us knew who we were before we got on that day, from seeing us walk circles for hours. They boarded us at 6:00, the train left at 7:00, and they had 2 dinners at 7:30 and 9:30.
*The door between our bedrooms was open and the room was all set up for us, and our attendant was a very sweet woman who was great. Probably just coincidence, but for our 2 round trip AT trips we've had less than wonderful male attendants on the way down who didn't have our suite ready and did the bare minimum, and very nice female attendants who went above and beyond and had the room ready on the way north.
*3 of the 4 kids fell asleep at dinner, and the 4th and my DH were close. That's when the server told us we could have requested to have our meals brought to our rooms earlier! I wish I had known that!! At least now I do, so if it ever happens again we'll do it. Although I will just try not to be so late we have to get the 3rd seating.
*I had a great night, I still love sleeping on the AT, and in the morning my DH and DS8 actually got to go to breakfast since we had time because we were late. Based on what they said, it was nothing special.
*They have run out of ice in the ice bin early on all 4 of our trips - I wish they could/would refill that.
*We were supposed to get in at 11:00, but then we had to stop for a broken hose on an auto carrier, then flooding had caused problems with the signals in VA, so we ended up getting in sometime around 1:00.
* I was happy all of our delays were on the way home, with no missing Disney time. My DH would have much preferred it the other way, with a 6 hr drive home. At least we came home a day early, so he didn't work until Monday.
*Our car was actually the first one off, so no wait at all to speak of there.
All in all it was very successful, and we still love the AT and think of it as an extension of our vacation. It was better this time since we had 2 weeks so we didn't feel like we were losing as much time by not flying. Next time we'll have to pay for the 2 youngest, but it's still the way to go for us until they get old enough to be able to sit still for long periods of time and not need such constant supervision - maybe when they are 4 or so we'll attempt flying with 4 kids!
