Autotrain from VA to FLA

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Has anyone ever used the auto train from Lorton VA to Sanford FLA? we may be taking this into consideration but need some input...and who better to ask but my DIS peeps. It would be myself, DH, DS14 and DS12. I wanted to see if anyone has used the regular seating and what your thoughts are on them. For us to get a suite would defeat the purpose on trying to save a little extra.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jennifer in MI]

My family took the auto train a few years ago. It was a lot of fun!! We did opt for the suite as our kids were so young and we didn't want to bother people. I know that we got dinner and breakfast with our tickets. The restaurant had real tablecloths and real plates! It was very nice! I'm not sure if that was because we had a suite or if every ticket on the autotrain includes food.

I used to take Amtrak home from college regularly. Their coach seats are nice. They recline and have a foot rest. I wouldn't say it was a comfortable sleep, but I did sleep a little.

You mention wanting to save money - could you just drive the entire way? That's what we do now that we have four kids.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Driving is the way we have been doing it the past 4 years and the drive down is great since we are excited to be going on vacation, its just the drive home seems so long!! (plus we dont want to leave) We will probably end up driving down again unless we find really cheap airline tickets (if we fly we will have to rent a car) so I thought maybe the auto train since we can use our own car in FLA.. My husband is 6 feet tall and my oldest son is 5"11. I am thinking they would be uncomfortable trying to sleep in one of the beds in the suite.

Thanks for the advice, we are just not sure what we want to do yet

 

[SandrA9810]

Yeah, but the amount of ease on your mind can be worth it than driving. I want to take it north and then do a road trip back home. Stopping at historic sites, mountain trails, Kari's parent's, and other sea world parks.

I know sometimes amtrak does buy 1 adult get 1 child's ticket free or 1/2 off. But I don't know if it works for the car train as well.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Yeah, but the amount of ease on your mind can be worth it than driving. I want to take it north and then do a road trip back home. Stopping at historic sites, mountain trails, Kari's parent's, and other sea world parks.

I know sometimes amtrak does buy 1 adult get 1 child's ticket free or 1/2 off. But I don't know if it works for the car train as well.

Thanks, I will keep my eye out for that one!!

 

[msmayor]

We priced out the auto train for our last trip and found that it cost just as much as flying and renting a car...the fare for the car alone was almost $500! Coupled with the length of time required and the idea of sleeping in a seat instead of a hotel bed overnight, we decided to keep to our own schedule and just drive.

My kids have taken the regular train from Union Station in DC all the way to Orlando. They were four hours late getting in (someone laid on the tracks in SC and committed suicide at 4 in the morning, requiring significant stop time) and they were exhausted upon arrival. They slept fitfully in the seats...they kept 'sliding' down (for the train ride home, they actually went to Target and bought rubber shelf liner and cut "butt mats" out to put underneath them...to keep them from sliding!).

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hello,
We have taken the auto train 4 times and we will again on aug.6th. I love it. It's relaxing to me and the food is good. I slept ok and my kids had no problem sleepinh, but they can sleep anywhere.. We take the laptop for movies and pre writing my trip report, DVD player, Ipods, books coloring books and markers for the little one and some snacks although they have stuff in the lounge (fruit, muffins, coffee, tea,etc.). We like to guess when our number when be called for our car as they unload too. It's fun and part of my vacation.

 

[VBAndrea]

Has anyone ever used the auto train from Lorton VA to Sanford FLA? we may be taking this into consideration but need some input...and who better to ask but my DIS peeps. It would be myself, DH, DS14 and DS12. I wanted to see if anyone has used the regular seating and what your thoughts are on them. For us to get a suite would defeat the purpose on trying to save a little extra.

Thanks in advance

Try this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=402667&highlight=auto+train

The thread title is "All about the Autotrain" just in case the link doesn't work. I was doing a lot of research on it as we were considering it, but it's just too expensive. I really wanted to do it so dh and I could sleep instead of drive, but due to costs we're just getting a hotel to take a break at in southern GA. Hopefully rading through the thread you'll get a good idea of how feasible seating would be for you.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Try this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=402667&highlight=auto+train

The thread title is "All about the Autotrain" just in case the link doesn't work. I was doing a lot of research on it as we were considering it, but it's just too expensive. I really wanted to do it so dh and I could sleep instead of drive, but due to costs we're just getting a hotel to take a break at in southern GA. Hopefully rading through the thread you'll get a good idea of how feasible seating would be for you.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out. We usually stop in Savannah and sleep overnight there and then head out early to Orlando the next day - The expense is whats holding us back - we could be spending that extra money on our vacation doing something fun!!

 

[dvcgirl]

We priced out the auto train for our last trip and found that it cost just as much as flying and renting a car...the fare for the car alone was almost $500! Coupled with the length of time required and the idea of sleeping in a seat instead of a hotel bed overnight, we decided to keep to our own schedule and just drive.

My kids have taken the regular train from Union Station in DC all the way to Orlando. They were four hours late getting in (someone laid on the tracks in SC and committed suicide at 4 in the morning, requiring significant stop time) and they were exhausted upon arrival. They slept fitfully in the seats...they kept 'sliding' down (for the train ride home, they actually went to Target and bought rubber shelf liner and cut "butt mats" out to put underneath them...to keep them from sliding!).

My in-laws took the Auto Train and they were also delayed 3 hours. They had coach seats and didn't sleep at all. My sister took the "regular" Amtrak from Raleigh to Orlando once and got a suite....and they loved it. We lived in Orlando at the time and picked them up/dropped them off at the train station in Orlando....and as in most cities....it wasn't in the best of areas.

And on the suicide note.....my Aunt's second husband is an engineer for Amtrak. Over his 25+ year career he has hit several people looking to commit suicide.....isn't that awful?

 

[msmayor]

And on the suicide note.....my Aunt's second husband is an engineer for Amtrak. Over his 25+ year career he has hit several people looking to commit suicide.....isn't that awful?

That's what the train attendant told my sister when she was trying to find out what had happened after the train came to a very loud screetching halt. She said it happens more than folks think, and they of course must remain stopped until all the emergency personnel are finished and investigators have what they need.

They hit a huge deer on the way home, but apparently they don't even stop for that; I think its like hitting a speed bump to the train.

 

[Ali]

I last took it in 1998 - I always get a suite now because of my HORRIBLE experiences in the coach seats... people next to me eating garlic cheese for hours, the noises of hundreds of people on the phone, coughing, other assorted sounds....the smell, I can't get over how bad people can smell after 24 hours.

My trips were always late - once we had a fire on board and had to sit on a tall place on the track for hours until a tarin could come out and uncouple the bad train car - we had no power or bathrooms for those hours and it was a coach seat trip for me so I had no where to go for privacy at all. We ended up being 19 hours late.

My son wants to do it some time and I will probably do it just so he can have the experince but I will never go in coach seats ever ever again!!!

 

[disneydreamersx4]

We took the Autotrain in Nov. 2007 and my family LOVED it!! I'm not a good passenger any form of transportation so don't pay me no mind
My husband is 5'10 and he didn't have a problem sleeping in coach, the seats are comfy to me too. DH said it's nice to let someone else do the driving.
We paid $685 with the compact car, 2 adults 2 children and that was using AAA discount! The price has gone up of course since then.
We had no delays at all.

Let us know what you decide and have a fun trip

 

[kmvand1]

Driving is the way we have been doing it the past 4 years and the drive down is great since we are excited to be going on vacation, its just the drive home seems so long!! (plus we dont want to leave) We will probably end up driving down again unless we find really cheap airline tickets (if we fly we will have to rent a car) so I thought maybe the auto train since we can use our own car in FLA.. My husband is 6 feet tall and my oldest son is 5"11. I am thinking they would be uncomfortable trying to sleep in one of the beds in the suite.

Thanks for the advice, we are just not sure what we want to do yet

My husband is 6' 4" and my son is 6' 5". They made it perfectly clear to me within 3 hours into the train ride, NEVER AGAIN! We opted for the coach seats and luckily were in an uncrowded car, however, the constant coughing of the woman behind me, the elderly people grabbing onto the back of our seats while walking and almost falling, and the man talking on his cell phone all hours of the night, was enough to make us batty by the time we arrived in Sanford.

 

[RangerPooh]

Ironically enough we were just talking about this earlier, so it's nice to see the post. DH priced it out and for the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids) it was about $500, not too bad, but not the best. As for the coach seats, I rode with 2 toddlers (just me, not DH) from Washington state to Chicago and have lived to talk about it. Almsot 40 hours spent on the train. While it takes some creativity to occupy their minds it wasn't a terrible experience.

 

[Conway733]

DH and I used the Autotrain last year in November. Everything went smoothly...no delays or anything like that, but it is virtually impossible to get any sort of sleep in coach. I can't imagine that would be easy with children. We liked the Autotrain, but will fly or drive next time. It seemed like most families with children on our trip upgraded to the rooms.

 

[disneymarie]

DS Dil and dgs took auto train in May 09. THe price down was not bad, but to bring the car back was huge $$$$.

They opted to get a suit which was extremly tight. and also pretty noisy. But the dgs is all about trains so it was for him. The top bunk was like a camp bed, the bottom smaller then a double.Tight quarters too.
He used AAA discount too,

The trip was uneventful, straight through about a 40 minute drive from sanford.

We met them at the resort and then the week later we all drove back to PA together. One night in Florence SC, lunch at south of the boarder, and straight through home with potty stops.

Had the DVD, laptop,and time just seemed to pass. Not as bad as I thought and I am a are we there yet gal

Ourt air fair on a three day notice with ORBITZ was $83 with tax one way. gas on the way home was $50 our share and a room at Fairfield $60.00 Great breakfast there and took fruit and muffins for the trip.

Anyway, for novelty of the train and not needing to drive ds would perhaps take the train. If he did I would still drive one way.

I heard Clark Howard say to price renting a car to drive to save on your own car. I never priced that...
But the day the Garmin would auto drive too, I am all for it !
di

 

[ckoncurat]

We drove down in 2007 and took the autotrain back. I thought it was really fun! They gave us seats in the handicapped car, closer to the bathrooms, and we had the section to ourselves, so the kids spread out. The food was good, the kids enjoyed the movie, and the conductor was very kind to us. I didnt sleep much (I'm a light sleeper) but the kids did. I would definitely do it again.

 

[wall*e2008]

And on the suicide note.....my Aunt's second husband is an engineer for Amtrak. Over his 25+ year career he has hit several people looking to commit suicide.....isn't that awful?

I find making others kill you so you can die but not take your own life is so low. The person who is made to kill you will to carry that burdon for the rest of their lives.

On can arrive 4 hours late on a plane or by car. A suicide is not the problem of Amtrak. If the train left 4 hours late, that is Amtrak's fault.


We have taken the auto train before and will be on our next trip. We do not like the two person suite. You rock too much side to side. The deluxe you rock from head to toe. We slept great.

When we go coach we reserve the lower level. a much smoother ride. There are only 12 total seats at this level. We have the bathrooms on our floor, but have a door between. On our last trip there were only 8 of us in our car. When we went upstairs to dinner, boy were we rocking.

 

[2BigKIdz]

Has anyone ever used the auto train from Lorton VA to Sanford FLA? we may be taking this into consideration but need some input...and who better to ask but my DIS peeps. It would be myself, DH, DS14 and DS12. I wanted to see if anyone has used the regular seating and what your thoughts are on them. For us to get a suite would defeat the purpose on trying to save a little extra.

Thanks in advance

Airtran is having a sale, there was a post on the budget board the other day. I could have booked my husband's ticket out of Richmond to Orlando for a total of $54 one way, but I already booked before I saw the special so I paid $79 total for his ticket. You could save $50 on each ticket, may be cheaper than the train.

I had never heard of the autotrain before, I'll have to check it out because I don't fly.