Auto Train

[MaggieH]

Has anyone actually taken the Autotrain from Lorton Va. to Sanford. Will be traveling with 2 adult daughters and 6 month old grandson next week and wondering what I've gotton myself into.

 

[musical2]

You might want to check out this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=402667

 

[erinch]

When we took our 9 month old we went coach. It was great because we got a bulkhead seat, and she slept in her car carrier seat.

We love the auto train. Now that we're older, we get roomettes; but we did coach a number of times.

 

[JLTraveling]

We absolutely adore trains in general, and the Auto Train is by the far the nicest experience! We've never bothered to pay for a sleeper...it's a little known fact that the trains are rarely full and the seats can be rotated 180 degrees. So when sleep time comes in coach, just rotate the seat in front of you, put up your leg rests, and presto--instead full-size bed!

The seats are big and comfortable, you can walk around at your leisure, the food in the dining car is great, and the lounge is a wonderful place to read or watch the scenery.

There's a whole train culture too--overall, people are friendly, outgoing, and conversation happens naturally. But your personal space will be respected if you prefer to read, sleep, or zone out. Your stuff will be respected too, we've always just left everything at our seats and it's been there when we got back.

I suppose those who require a great deal of privacy would do better with a sleeper or even an alternate means of transport, but for us, the train is the way to go

 

[erinch]

We absolutely adore trains in general, and the Auto Train is by the far the nicest experience! We've never bothered to pay for a sleeper...it's a little known fact that the trains are rarely full and the seats can be rotated 180 degrees. So when sleep time comes in coach, just rotate the seat in front of you, put up your leg rests, and presto--instead full-size bed!

On our numerous trips in coach, we found the train to be pretty empty about 2/3 of the time, all of which were wonderful. On several occasions, it was completely jampacked.

One way to check the current passenger load is to go to the amtrack site and cost out a trip. The pricing goes by tiers; once the cheapest tier is filled, they set on the next level. If the pricing is still at the cheaper levels, then the train, thus far, is less full. Right before you go, you can call Amtrak and ask them how full your train is. (Phrase it that you want to know how early you need to get to the station). This will let you know whether you'll have room to spread out, or if you'll need to have just one seat.

Another thing we found is that the seats opposite where the stairs are are usually left unassigned, because the exit light shines on them all night. If you bring eyeshades, or an extra travel size blanket to make a sort of curtain with, you can often snag those seats, giving both you and your seat partner two seats each. On all but one of the coach trips we took, the "eternal light" seats were available to whomever claimed them first. One one trip, the attendants wouldn't let anybody sit there, and demanded that people stay in their assigned seats.

Be sure to bring your own pillow and blanket, as stated in posts above. The amtrak pillows are horrible.

 

[MICKEEP]

We have done the Autotrain twice and both times we requested the lower level and both times we were the only people on the lower level. Had the whole room to ourselves.

The lower level is great because you do not have people walking the aisles all hours of the night.

 

[Poohbear5]

We just did the autotrain for the first time this May and enjoyed it. We were in coach. On the way down, the train car was near empty, on the way back it was a sold out with mostly senior citizens heading back north for the winter.
Both legs of the trip, our car was near last getting unloaded.

The ride down was definitely more relaxing with the empty train!
Several seniors got into squabbles on and off all night on the return trip.

Much more relaxing than driving! You can pack your car to the hilt without worrying about luggage restrictions as you would with flying.
We brought back tons of souvenirs and gifts; don't know what we would have done with them had we flown.

Have fun!

 

[erinch]

In the riding coach on the auto train department, they pretty much divide people in the "Families from Hell" car, and the "Seniors from Hell" car, and the desirable young adults and adults car.

Once your kids are past the age of 11 or so, and if they are quieter types, then if you tell the seat assigner that your teenage children need to work on their thesis the whole way down, and would prefer a quieter car, then you can often work your way out of the family car.

If you have smaller children, there are some advantages to the family car, because you don't need to worry if your kids start doing loud kid stuff.

It's a hoot, because the seniors want away from the "noisy kids", but they make as much noise -- some of them -- complaining and squabbling as children do.

 

[Poohbear5]

In the riding coach on the auto train department, they pretty much divide people in the "Families from Hell" car, and the "Seniors from Hell" car, and the desirable young adults and adults car.

We are a couple in our mid-forties and were SURROUNDED by squabbling seniors on our return trip. I think there were just so many, that they took over EVERY train car! Just got to have a sense of humor about it!

 

[wls23]

i just took the auto train in june 2009 - it was myself, DD 3 and dad - we purchased a family bedroom.

let me first start off by being upfront and telling you that i am somewhat of a travel snob (as i travelled quite a bit for work) - i became quite accustomed to flying first class and staying in very posh hotels....

with this said...our vacation was for 3 weeks and we needed to have a vehicle on hand.....my daughter loves trains - and i don't.

nonetheless, we booked the autotrain....and to be honest...i was pleasantly surprised. we had a great trip down....good food, good movie and arrived 1.5 hours early.

The return was just me and DD. On the morning of our departure day, we received a call from amtrak to tell us that the train was running late - when all was said and done...it was nearly 4 hours late to depart. The return train was fairly packed and there were 3 seatings for dinner.....AMTRAK knew that folks in the last seating were going to eat very late....so they prepared accordingly and provided free sandwiches to all......

all in all....i was pleasantly surprised at what a great experience it was and would do it again in a heartbeat....again...we had a bedroom, so unfortunately, i cannot speak to the experience in coach class.

good luck