All about the Autotrain

[easyas123]

What happens If your car is to wide or to long ?

On the autotrain booking site it has the definitions of 'Standard, Extended & motorcycle' vehicles and the dimensions so that you know in advance. As to what would happen should you book and not double check those dimensions for a vehicle you know to be a bit bigger well...I suppose they would deny you boarding.

 

[5Tulips]

What happens If your car is to wide or to long ?

Yes they deny boarding. They tell you to YouTube how to take off your mirror. You cannot leave your car in parking lot either. They will process a refund though. The Amtrak clerk said it happens all the time with the newer models. There were three SUVs/trucks turned away on our departure day. Plenty of old Suburbans loaded on but new Tahoes were a no-go.

 

[Hungryhippo]

We are a family of 5 (2adults, 3 kids) and we're thinking of taking the auto train. The amtrak resevation site says i'll need 2 family bedrooms for my party of 5 but we'd be happy to with 1 family bedroom + 1 roommette. Has anyone done this as an online reservation? Do i have to make two separate reservations?

 

[easyas123]

We are a family of 5 (2adults, 3 kids) and we're thinking of taking the auto train. The amtrak resevation site says i'll need 2 family bedrooms for my party of 5 but we'd be happy to with 1 family bedroom + 1 roommette. Has anyone done this as an online reservation? Do i have to make two separate reservations?

if your party doesn’t need to be near each other then I’d just make two reservations, otherwise you might want to call to try to arrange rooms near each other… we rode about a week ago and there was a woman raising holy hell with poor Amtrak attendant because they weren’t near each other and they “wanted to be”.

 

[5Tulips]

We are a family of 5 (2adults, 3 kids) and we're thinking of taking the auto train. The amtrak resevation site says i'll need 2 family bedrooms for my party of 5 but we'd be happy to with 1 family bedroom + 1 roommette. Has anyone done this as an online reservation? Do i have to make two separate reservations?

We are a family of five and I call Amtrak directly. They are able to see the all the sleeper reservations and can assign you specific rooms close to each other. They will then email your tickets with the confirmed cabin numbers.

 

[Lisa75]

We have only used the bedroom with the in cabin bathroom thus far. For spring break we have this southbound but a roomette for the two of us on the northbound trip. Cost of a bedroom northbound was too pricey. Our roomette is on the upper level which I am happy about but I see there is only one restroom up there. Are there any issues with going downstairs to use one of the ones on that level?

 

[patclairesmom]

We have only used the bedroom with the in cabin bathroom thus far. For spring break we have this southbound but a roomette for the two of us on the northbound trip. Cost of a bedroom northbound was too pricey. Our roomette is on the upper level which I am happy about but I see there is only one restroom up there. Are there any issues with going downstairs to use one of the ones on that level?

You can use the restrooms downstairs and there are a few of them including a shower and dressing room.

 

[Lisa75]

Gosh I had the last question and I’m back again. We’ve only used priority off-load until now. For our Easter points reservation I was able to call and add it for the southbound trip awhile ago but northbound was and is still sold out.

So does getting there really early have an impact on when the car comes out upon arrival? Or not at all and it’s random? Thanks!

******ETA answered question found a discussion on an Amtrak forum that it’s random due to the different track arrangement in Lorton versus Sanford.

 

[bdcp]

We recently booked for our Oct/Nov trip to FL (cruise and family visit) rt in a bedroom using points. Gotta love having the BOA Amtrak MC. This will be the first time we've done two years in a row in probably 10 years. DH has an aunt and cousin who live near Tampa so we're going there first before heading to Port Canaveral for a couple of days. We also bought priority offload for the first time ever (both directions). The cost of priority offloading is the only expense for this AT trip. We're tired of waiting an hour or more for our car.

 

[bdcp]

Gosh I had the last question and I’m back again. We’ve only used priority off-load until now. For our Easter points reservation I was able to call and add it for the southbound trip awhile ago but northbound was and is still sold out.

So does getting there really early have an impact on when the car comes out upon arrival? Or not at all and it’s random? Thanks!

******ETA answered question found a discussion on an Amtrak forum that it’s random due to the different track arrangement in Lorton versus Sanford.

We always get there early and our car has always been in the last 1/3 offloaded. As I said above, our next RT, we booked priority both directions for the first time ever. It's "random" except everyone I know that has been early has had to wait a while. We've done 9 round trips.

 

[bdcp]

I’m thinking of taking the auto train in the spring. Not sure about the width of my 2017 Toyota Highlander. Does auto train actually measure? Do they include mirrors extended or folding? Any insight appreciated.

I have a 2014 Toyota Highlander and it's gone three times no problem. Just google measurements for your vehicle and mine and compare them. They will fold the mirrors in. Also, when you make reservations, call and they will ask for the make and model. I do know if I bought a new Highlander, it's bigger than the one I have and would cost more.

 

[bdcp]

Yes they will measure before you get out of the car. It’s like a big yardstick that they pass thru the car with mirrors folded.

In 9 trips, we have never experienced that. Our last trip was SB in Nov and NB in Dec.

 

[EpcotQueen]

Thank you all for your feedback. I called Amtrak to double check if my vehicle would qualify for the standard rate. It didn't. It was 1 inch over the allowed rate. So I changed my vehicle reservation to the extended. More dollars but at least now I know my vehicle is ok.

 

[DJFan88]

So I was just looking at the menu and at the bottom it said dinner entrees are served with a complimentary alcoholic beverage. They used to do a carafe of wine at dinner along time ago, but then for awhile they had stopped it and we havent gone in a few years.
Is it back?

And as an aside, I booked our roomettes awhile back (November or Dec. maybe?) and I just checked the rates on our trip in June and the rates have more than doubled! So glad I booked early as I usually do.

 

[Woosterguy]

So I was just looking at the menu and at the bottom it said dinner entrees are served with a complimentary alcoholic beverage. They used to do a carafe of wine at dinner along time ago, but then for awhile they had stopped it and we havent gone in a few years.
Is it back?

And as an aside, I booked our roomettes awhile back (November or Dec. maybe?) and I just checked the rates on our trip in June and the rates have more than doubled! So glad I booked early as I usually do.

We were on the train a month ago in a bedroom and ye we got a glass of wine with dinner. Warning, the flat iron steak isn’t the easiest thing to cut with a plastic knife.

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

We just got back from our roundtrip on the Auto Train. Our ride to Lorton normally takes about 3 hours but on Good Friday it took about 5 hours and we almost missed the train! We got to the station at 2:15 and the cutoff is 2:30, that was cutting it way too close so next time we will leave much earlier in the morning. We couldn't even stop for bathroom breaks or lunch we were so worried about getting there on time. Our GPS and Google Maps at times both had us getting there after 3pm. This is the first time we traveled over spring break, we normally travel in the summer so we were not prepared for the constant heavy traffic all the way down 95.

Our daughter is intolerant to gluten and dairy and we usually have lunch at Jersey Mike's before we board the train but we only had enough time to pick up our to go order. We were so hungry since we weren't able to stop for lunch so we planned on eating on the platform while we waited to board. When we checked in, we were told there would be no dining service since about 1/3 of the entire staff on the train had called out, including the chef and the dining assistant. We would also not have an attendant in our sleeper car. Instead of the typical dinner service and wine we would have the choice of a ham or turkey Subway sandwich and water. We were glad we ordered a large roast beef sandwich on gluten free bread from Jersey Mike's for our daughter since she couldn't eat the Subway sandwich. She could eat half of the Jersey Mike's hoagie for lunch and save the other half in our cooler for her dinner. It was about 2:30 when we sat down on the platform to eat our lunch and we realized Jersey Mike's forgot our daughter's gluten free sandwich! We ordered 5 sandwiches and we were in such a rush to grab our order so we could check in at the station that we never counted how many sandwiches were in the bag. We panicked a bit, especially considering that the Jersey Mike's sandwich was supposed to be her lunch AND dinner. Since we already checked in our car we couldn't drive back to get the sandwich and we didn't have time to wait for an Uber before boarding began so DH had to run back to get the sandwich. He called them while he was on the way and they made a second sandwich for DD for free (but really there are only so many roast beef sandwiches a little girl can eat in one day). DH made it back with about 5 minutes to spare before boarding began.

At 3:45, an attendant from another car, who was as nice as could be considering how much stress she was under, dropped off our Subway sandwiches and some Doritos. She explained that they didn't have adequate refrigeration to store all of the Subway sandwiches so they had to be delivered early. Considering we had just eaten lunch on the platform, we weren't hungry at all for dinner that early (except for DH, he can always eat). The Subway sandwich consisted of 1 piece of turkey, some lettuce and tomato on a 6 inch roll. After DH ate his sandwich they made an announcement asking for any extra sandwiches to be delivered back to the lounge. Someone made a mistake when ordering or counting and 2 entire sleeper cars did not get their sandwiches. We gave 4 of our sandwiches back since we were still full from Jersey Mike's. We did receive a $100 credit for each of the 2 rooms that we booked for the inconvenience within 48 hours of our trip, we didn't even have to call. Thankfully, that was the end of our Auto Train drama! The rest of the trip south went well, breakfast was coffee cake and cereal and we got in around 8:30am and we had our car (priority) by 9.

As for the northbound trip, we made a few stops before we got to the station. First, we stopped at Gideon's in the East End Market in Orlando which is just a few minutes out of the way when traveling from Orlando to Sanford and shared some cake and cookies in their patio area. They have some great shops in that market. Much easier to get Gideon's cookies at the East End Market with zero wait compared to the mad house at Disney Springs. We checked in at the station to see what was happening for dinner- thankfully dining service was back to normal- and then we stopped at Magnolia Square Market (a German market) in Sanford and had a great lunch from their deli before boarding the train. They make their own gluten free bread and were very careful about making DD's sandwich in a special area. DH picked up a few beers to bring with us on the train and the kids each picked out some Haribo's from their huge selection. If you get to Sanford early, I highly recommend the Market or their full service restaurant which is around the corner.

For dinner on the train I had the tortellini with chicken which was very good (sooo much better than the sad Subway sandwiches they offered us on the southbound train). DH had the steak which he though was just OK and I didn't like it at all, he regretted not ordering the tortellini. Our eldest DD liked her chicken and DS enjoyed his mac and cheese. Our youngest DD saved half of her gluten free sandwich from the Magnolia Square Market for dinner and also had a gluten free German chocolate cake from their bakery. The cheesecake from the dinner menu was very soft, like a mousse and the chocolate cake was very rich. DH and I both ordered red wine as well as a soda. Breakfast included coffee cake, cereal as well as sausage egg and cheese bagel sandwiches. We got in a little late, at about 10am and had our car (priority again) by 10:30.



Tortellini


Chicken


Mac and Cheese


Steak


Cheesecake (offered with a chocolate or strawberry topping)


Chocolate cake


Bagel sandwich

 

[Lisa75]

We were the day before you. Went down on Thursday the 14th and all was well. Sorry to hear about your dinner. I need to pay attention from now on about how to pull the beds down in case we run into that.

We always get there first thing on all legs and sit forever. We cut it so close northbound on the 21st. Whoa. We are usually in the station around noon but we were eating at Mara at that time. Just enjoying every last minute at AKV. I was sweating on the way to Sanford for sure. We got there just before two. My son he’s 10 and loved it as we boarded within minutes of checking in. If we missed the train I don’t think I go as far north as you (Delaware) and I have parents in NC. Won’t do that again though!

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

We were the day before you. Went down on Thursday the 14th and all was well. Sorry to hear about your dinner. I need to pay attention from now on about how to pull the beds down in case we run into that.

We always get there first thing on all legs and sit forever. We cut it so close northbound on the 21st. Whoa. We are usually in the station around noon but we were eating at Mara at that time. Just enjoying every last minute at AKV. I was sweating on the way to Sanford for sure. We got there just before two. My son he’s 10 and loved it as we boarded within minutes of checking in. If we missed the train I don’t think I go as far north as you (Delaware) and I have parents in NC. Won’t do that again though!

It is no joke to be stressed about making that train! Especially around a holiday when it is 100% booked. When we checked in at Sanford, they told us their deadline for cars was 2:15, the Lorton deadline was 2:30. Strange that there is a difference, all of the Amtrak paperwork says 2:30 is the deadline.

 

[erinch]

Yikes on your experience!
We ride down on June 3. We drive from PA. I always make the family leave early, because my DH gets so stressed with beltway traffic. The aim is to get there around 11:30, check in, then go get a nice leisurely lunch.

I commend you on your resilience in getting the Jersey's Mikes!

 

[GinnyBear's_mom]

Yikes on your experience!
We ride down on June 3. We drive from PA. I always make the family leave early, because my DH gets so stressed with beltway traffic. The aim is to get there around 11:30, check in, then go get a nice leisurely lunch.

I commend you on your resilience in getting the Jersey's Mikes!

We plan on leaving at the crack of dawn for our July trip- I can't take that stress again!