Autotrain?

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Hi, we are considering taking the Autotrain on this trip in October. It will be Dh, DD9, DD4, DD2, my mother and myself. We were cosidering getting 2 family bedrooms, but I'm not really sure how the sleeping arrangements will work. I don't want to put kids on the top bunk, but I don't want to sleep over them either. Are the beds big enough for Dh and I to each sleep with one of the kids and then DD9 will have her own(I think she can handle the top)? I read some reviews on here though and now I'm wondering if it's even worth it b/c alot of people seem to not be able to sleep anyway between the noise and motion. If we don't do sleepers, how are the seats to sleep in? Is it very noisy? Also, I saw right now they have a special for kids to travel free, but it ends Oct 3. Do they normally offer another kid discount after that? Our trip is Oct 17-25. TIA

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Bumping

 

[madhouserobey]

hi we took the autotrain last nov and had a family bedroom there is five of us myself,dw,ds7,dd5,ds4 .my wife and i slept together on the bottom couch it folds into a full size bed or little bigger.ds4 and dd6 slept in bunks ,they have cargo like nets so kids can't fall out without trying. other ds7 slept in other lower bed.now right outside of family bedroom is i believe is a roomette.that has two chair that face each other at night they fold down and one bed thenthey fold down upper bed,so this sleeps two. here is only one family bedroom per sleeper car so your group would be in two diffrent sleeper cars.if you do what i explain in the beginning of this post you can be inthe same car right next to each other.just shure you ask for a lower level romette with family bedroom . hope this helps

 

[Henlady]

Hi Tara
We have traveled by autotrain about 7 times since 1988. Most have been in regular coach with our 2 kids (now 22 & 24yo) The coach seats are roomy and recline somewhat and have legrests that can be put up. Sleeping in coach is not overly comfortable for adults, but you can catch some sleep. I would compare sleeping in coach to be slightly bumpier than sleeping in a moving car.
We tried a room on our trip in October and DH loves traveling that way. There is some noise and bumpieness (sp) but you have a bed to lay in. We did not have any trouble sleeping. On the otherhand, if you require total silence to sleep, you won't do so well.
We are traveling on the AutoTrain in June (we'll have a roomette) and again in September but we're just doing coach then.
My kids always enjoyed train travel they were about 6 & 7 the first trip. If the train is not crowded in coach, you can "spread out" and each take up a double seat. Hope this helps.

Kris

58 days till our "Favorite restaurant tour"
163 days till our Disney Dining plan trip

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Hi guys, thanks for your help. I am so confused. We took the regular train (not Auto) to Disney once before and chose to just sleep in the chairs because we thought sleeping in beds while moving would be weird. But what I hadn't considered was people around us snoring, and making noise. I'm happy to find out that the kids won't fall out of the bunk, but I'm just wondering if we're not going to be able to sleep anyway because of the bumpiness, should we even bother. Also on the trip back turns out to be alot more expensive than the trip there for some reason. Hopefully I'll be able to make a decision soon. Thanks for your input though.

 

[Capt_BJ]

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[DMville]

As someone who rode a commuter train for 10 years, I can tell you a train is one of the best places to sleep. I could be out cold 1 minute out of the station in the middle of the day. You get a rythmic "clickety-clack" going, a occasional gentle sway--after 10 minutes on the train it will all be familiar background noise.