Amtrak ?s

[la79al]

Enough people in the family have mentioned a trip to Disney that I'm pretty sure we will be heading back in the next year or so. My biggest questions right now involve getting there. We did the AutoTrain a few years ago and while we really liked it, I'm not sure it would be worth the cost to take the minivan with us versus renting something down there. I guess my big question is how similar is a regular Amtrak train versus the AT? We would be leaving from Baltimore area and would have someone to pick us up in FL. It would be me, a 7ish year old, a 5ish year old and a 6 monthish year old (possibly add a year to all of those if we choose to wait two years). I might be able to find another adult to go along. When we did the AT, we had regular seats and it worked out fine so we would just do that again. Any suggestions on AT over regular train?

 

[bocaj1431]

Enough people in the family have mentioned a trip to Disney that I'm pretty sure we will be heading back in the next year or so. My biggest questions right now involve getting there. We did the AutoTrain a few years ago and while we really liked it, I'm not sure it would be worth the cost to take the minivan with us versus renting something down there. I guess my big question is how similar is a regular Amtrak train versus the AT? We would be leaving from Baltimore area and would have someone to pick us up in FL. It would be me, a 7ish year old, a 5ish year old and a 6 monthish year old (possibly add a year to all of those if we choose to wait two years). I might be able to find another adult to go along. When we did the AT, we had regular seats and it worked out fine so we would just do that again. Any suggestions on AT over regular train?

I have never used AT but I have used amtrack coach and roomette to DW and we will never do that again. Our trip began in NY so it was longer than the trip you will be doing and that may make it easier for you. I will share what we experienced and at least it will give you an Idea of what could go wrong.

It was just myself and my 13 year old son. He does have High functioning Autism so that contributed but because your children are so young, you will most likely encounter some of the same problems.

Problems with coach. Seats can get uncomfortable after a while. My son just could not handle being on the train that long. It was exhausting trying to entertain him. I would imagine because you will have such young children going with you, you might also face this difficulty. Bathrooms started off clean but as the trip progressed they became disgusting. Drunk people. I saw videos of drunk people on you tube and thought it must be just on the short commuter trains but I was wrong. A man in the seat behind us became so drunk. At first he was the friendly drunk who would not stop talking to everyone around him, including us. Then he began hitting on all the young girls in seats close by. He must of been in his late 30's and he was hitting on teens. Then he began bothering this one woman who was alone with her 5 year old. He also was trying to play with the child when it was clear she did not want him to do that. He actually grabbed my waist when I got up to go to the bathroom. Then he got mean. He started complaining about this very old couple who was speaking Spanish. He was making racist comments about them. Then he began berating the conductors because there were not enough smoke stops. Lastly, while everyone was quiet trying to sleep he was yelling to himself about how bad the conductors were. After about 8 hrs, the police came on the train and escorted him off. The funny thing was that someone else further up on the train also got thrown off for being drunk. I personally blame the employee who was serving them alcohol in the club car. The train also lost our luggage and it took three days to get it.

The roomette was worse. The toilette would periodically leave a smell of urine in the room even though we never used it and covered it with a garbage bag. It was such a tight space and moving around was difficult. Also, when attempting to climb up to the top bunk it is awkward. You have to step on the toilet cover then grab the one handle they have and lift yourself up. While I was attempting to do this the train jerked and I fell back onto my sons brand new laptop and broke the screen. The dining car was okay. The waitor was very unpleasant though. I preferred coach over the roomette.

I personally could not handle the train long distance with three young children especially a 1 year old.

There is a thread devoted to amtrack and you can find a lot more information there.

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a nice trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

I just looked for the train you would take between MD and Orlando. Looking at the Silver Star, I see these stations that are served along the way:

Baltimore, MD - Penn Station (BAL)
Washington, DC - Union Station (WAS)
Alexandria, VA (ALX)
Richmond, VA - Staples Mill Road (RVR)
Petersburg, VA (PTB)
Rocky Mount, NC (RMT)
Wilson, NC (WLN)
Selma, NC (SSM)
Raleigh, NC (RGH)
Fayetteville, NC (FAY)
Dillon, SC (DIL)
Florence, SC (FLO)
Kingstree, SC (KTR)
North Charleston, SC (CHS)
Yemassee, SC (YEM)
Cary, NC (CYN)
Southern Pines, NC (SOP)
Hamlet, NC (HAM)
Camden, SC (CAM)
Columbia, SC (CLB)
Denmark, SC (DNK)
Savannah, GA (SAV)
Jesup, GA (JSP)
Jacksonville, FL (JAX)
Palatka, FL (PAK)
DeLand, FL (DLD)
Winter Park, FL (WPK)
Orlando, FL (ORL)
Kissimmee, FL (KIS)


You might stop at each and every one of those stops. With Amtrak, every stop gives a strong chance of getting behind schedule.

With the Autotrain, you have none of those stops. And you get food.


I've taken Amtrak on the west coast, from Seattle to San Jose CA. Hours late. I went back home. More hours late. I have friends who went from San Francisco to Seattle and they were 24 hours late. Every stop Amtrak makes can put them behind. I wouldn't do it. I'd take the autotrain instead.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Thanks to the two posters above; your posts were very interesting. Personally, I can't think of too many worse ways to travel by myself with two very young children and a baby than on Amtrak on a very long route; possibly steerage crossing the Atlantic as an immigrant in the 1800s, but not much else.

 

[bdcp]

Regular Amtrak is no where near the same as the AT. We just got off the AT this am. On the AT, there is no passengers getting off and on at multiple stops. AT only loads at one end and unloads at the other. We do regular Amtrak in the northeast corridor to go to NY which is fine because it's just 3 hours or so. Our train coming back from FL this am had lots of kids. We had two young ones in our sleeper and other than the fact the little girl was a talker, her baby brother (prob about 7 months) was quiet. There a lots of families on the AT during certain times of the year (school is out).

The crew on the AT is wonderful. It's a route that is very popular among the crew so not just anyone gets it. You just can't compare regular Amtrak long distance to FL to the Auto Train. Apples and oranges.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Yes, I only have experience with regular Amtrak. It's fine for fairly short trips, such as DC-NYC, but a longer trip would not be for me.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Enough people in the family have mentioned a trip to Disney that I'm pretty sure we will be heading back in the next year or so. My biggest questions right now involve getting there. We did the AutoTrain a few years ago and while we really liked it, I'm not sure it would be worth the cost to take the minivan with us versus renting something down there. I guess my big question is how similar is a regular Amtrak train versus the AT? We would be leaving from Baltimore area and would have someone to pick us up in FL. It would be me, a 7ish year old, a 5ish year old and a 6 monthish year old (possibly add a year to all of those if we choose to wait two years). I might be able to find another adult to go along. When we did the AT, we had regular seats and it worked out fine so we would just do that again. Any suggestions on AT over regular train?

Why are you considering Amtrak? Its usually more expensive than flying, and takes longer than driving. Considering you have DCA, BWI, and IAD nearby (with nonstop flights available on Southwest, JetBlue, and Frontier), I'd only consider taking the train as an adventure, and only in a nice room.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

The roomette was worse. The toilette would periodically leave a smell of urine in the room even though we never used it and covered it with a garbage bag.

I wonder who though it was a good idea to have a toilet in such a tiny space. I used to joke that the design of the roomette (on the single level Amtrak sleeper cars) was rejected by the soviets.

 

[bocaj1431]

I wonder who though it was a good idea to have a toilet in such a tiny space. I used to joke that the design of the roomette (on the single level Amtrak sleeper cars) was rejected by the soviets.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

For those unfamiliar, these are pictures of the toilet in the roomette. The left picture is with the cover open (yes, that is the regular seat right next to the toilet seat), and the right picture is with the cover over the toilet.

 

[ibob52]

For those unfamiliar, these are pictures of the toilet in the roomette. The left picture is with the cover open (yes, that is the regular seat right next to the toilet seat), and the right picture is with the cover over the toilet.

Wow ... thanks for the pictures ... definitely not my cup of tea ...