easiest and what size luggage for train?

[disney_girl125]

I'm taking the train for the first time in June. It's going to be me and my 3 kids. The first leg of our trip they don't have any checked luggage or help with luggage. So, basically we have to get it all on the train ourselves and it stays with us. My kids are 12,11,7. We'll be gone a total of 7 days. I'm just going to pack all of our stuff together. Any opinions on the type, size, and how many pieces of luggage i'll need? I would like to get it in as few pieces as possible!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, rolling canvas duffel bag or bags, with sturdy wheels, not packed heavier than you can easily carry.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Did you check Amtrak's baggage guidelines?

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Content_C&pagename=am/Layout&cid=1241267293829

I agree - take only what you can manage yourself.

 

[NJBILL]

Check here to see if have taken advantage of any discounts..


http://travelweather.weebly.com/disney-weather.html

Have a great trip..Our family loved the train on our many visits. The only way to travel..

 

[lisa-upnorth]

we take a small one empty for what we get in Florida and 2 totes we carry with us for things we need on the train and one large suitcase on wheels. Even thought they don't have bag check you will be fine getting it on.There is an area on the train car that is for bags so if it is too big to put near you leave it there.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We board at an unmanned station so there's no baggage car access and you have to drag it to the train and get it on board. I see you're from PA and headed to Disney you will switch trains either in Philly or DC....those station do have checked bags and they do go by the Amtrak guidlines for luggage...50# limit, 3 checked and size limits. We only take what we can comfortly haul ourselves. We picked rolling duffle bags that will adhere to Amtrak's specs and can easily roll down between the aisle in the train car. Some times they enter the car at the wrong end and you must carry or roll your bag thru the aisle to the other end. So choose wisely.

We're from northeastern Ohio and possibily use the same train as you and when we hit DC, we use checked bags...so much easier not dragging your stuff....getting into Philly or DC, you get off under the station and it's quite a long haul, up an escalator to main floor level, you can grab a Red Cap to help, if you can find one or tote it all yourself. We get off the train in Kissimmee and our bags are off real quick, everyone got off in Orlando and only a few stay on to Kissimmee, and it's a short drag to the cab area. same going home, we use the baggage service to DC , but when we board in DC for Ohio, we got to schelp our stuff ourselves. Either way, when you hit the big city, either DC or Philly, use the Red Caps to help you...for the price of a tip (we go 2 bucks a bag) they will haul your bags and you to the train car, and load your suitcases before all the others start boarding...great service, you're seated before everyone else and in DC, your train can be a long walk to get to.

 

[disney_girl125]

Thanks everyone for your replies! For those that take the train, I have some questions..
How far are the bathrooms from your seats? Is there certain seats I should request or is anywhere they put us good? Do all the seats have electrical outlets? Do you pack or buy your food? Is it safe to leave everything in your seat to go to the dining car? I don't know how much food I can pack because i'm already going to be carrying alot!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

Thanks everyone for your replies! For those that take the train, I have some questions..
How far are the bathrooms from your seats? Is there certain seats I should request or is anywhere they put us good? Do all the seats have electrical outlets? Do you pack or buy your food? Is it safe to leave everything in your seat to go to the dining car? I don't know how much food I can pack because i'm already going to be carrying alot!!

Restrooms are located either in the front or rear of each car, one very small and one handicap accessable, both unisex......one seat or another really no difference but we seem to prefer the last seats in a car....no one behind you.
Electrical outlets are up for grabs, never seen any rhyme or reason but some cars have one per pair of seats and some cars one for the whole car. I've read that Amtrak was up grading their cars on this but you never know, we've had good luck on the trains from Ohio to DC having the one per pair of seats and from DC south....pot luck....

We pack our food, some sandwiches, chips and suck and drinks, small collapseable cooler, dinig car is quite good but expensive, club car has pretty decent food, a little pricey but acceptable (hamburger, pizza, soup, breakfast crossant, coffee, tea, pop and alcohol. You can walk to the club car and get your food in a carboard carton and return to your seats for consumption..tray in coach seats pulls down. I won't leave anything of value in the seat when dining but we never do the dining car.....you can ask other seat mates to keep an eye on your things when leaving...

We're on the train 36 hours, Alliance Ohio to DC then DC to Kissimmee....we board at 3 am so we purchase coffee and danish that morning....for lunch we have our packed lunch with snacks inbetween and then we're in DC.....6 hour layover unless were earlier enough to catch the first train south out but there are a ton of food establishment in the terminal...we'll grab Mcdonalds, Sabaro pizza or something for a late dinner on board and again breakfast from the club car in the am....we arrive, if on time, in Kissimmee at 1:30 pm and have our first Disney meal at the resort. This is easiest for us, less expensive then the dining car, we have enough packed with us and not that hard to strap to one of our bags....especially the drinks...

 

[gokenin]

I know there is no way to tell but on average how on-time are the trains? I only ask if a train is scheduled to get in around 1 is it typically within an hour of that time? Also if you are connecting trains how much time should you try to leave between trains to factor in delays?

 

[pepe of ohio]

I know there is no way to tell but on average how on-time are the trains? I only ask if a train is scheduled to get in around 1 is it typically within an hour of that time? Also if you are connecting trains how much time should you try to leave between trains to factor in delays?

Train delays of yesterday year were of the minutes to alot of hours....who's to know or figure. Recently with a change in higher up Amtrak personal, they seem to be running more to on time or 30 minutes late. CDX owns the tracks and had preference...Amtrak waits, accidents, medical emergencies, awole bunch of reasons slow down the trains but they do make up some time. Our train is usually late picking us up...1-2 hours...makes connections hard in yesteryear but Amtrak has made a big buffer in connecting trains....we have a 6 hour layover in DC....but if we're on time getting into DC, we can catch the first train out with a 30 minute wait...but you can not bank on that.

Amtrak's web site you can look up the past history of train and their average runs...something to look at but not really helpful...you're still at the mercy of the railroad. I wouldn't book a connecting train 40 minutes from my arrival....too unlikey and I'm not sure the web site would let you. In the past, we've been 2 hours to 9 hours late getting in....we've been late boarding in DC 4-6 hours.....it's what it is, it is....can't actually say but they are know for lateness.

 

[disney_girl125]

Your late posts worry me! I'm boarding a train 5 minutes from my house, but there's only one a day that stops there so it's a no go for getting an earlier train. My schedule is arrive in Philly at 10:41am and depart philly at 12:35pm for orlando.
I could drive an hour to another station but i'd be adding $60 plus gas to my fare because of the parking fees for that station.

 

[Vijoge]

My schedule is arrive in Philly at 10:41am and depart philly at 12:35pm for orlando.

97 Silver Meteor also goes to Orlando and doesn't leave Philadelphia until 4:58 PM.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Your late posts worry me! I'm boarding a train 5 minutes from my house, but there's only one a day that stops there so it's a no go for getting an earlier train. My schedule is arrive in Philly at 10:41am and depart philly at 12:35pm for orlando.
I could drive an hour to another station but i'd be adding $60 plus gas to my fare because of the parking fees for that station.

Here's my take on the schedules....our train pick up is scheduled at 3am, once a day....it's a 45 minute car trip for us to an unmanned station. We leave home in time to arrive at 2:30am, no matter what Julie (automated voice phone person giving train status) say about train status. She may say the train is 30 minutes late but at the end says train can and do make up time.....we rather be there and waiting because the train doesn't sit and wait for scheduled guests to stroll on in but waits 3 minutes and leaves. We've gotten off at home and seen people strolling down the way to the train pick up point like the train was going to wait and they seen the train leave.....they said what can they do...2 choices, race to the next train stop or do it again tomorrow but be there when it's scheduled to arrive.

We pull into DC from Ohio and since trains were notoriety late, they adjusted their schedules accordingly...longer layovers.....your arriving train could run late and the in-coming train could run late and Amtrak would reimburse, either money, pay to put you up until the next train or day, which costs them plenty in the old days....new regime and better to keeping schedules but still the bigger gap in connecting trains. I hate the long lay over in DC, 6 hours, but if our in coming train runs late, that time period is shortened and we won't miss the connecting train. The earlier train out of DC that I mentioned in an earlier post, we 've only caught twice in over 20+ trips...connection times just too close and our in coming train not on time. Only reason we like catching the earlier one, is we get to Disney earlier.

I haven't looked at the train schedule for you, another poster has and it seems you do have a good lay over, hardly going to miss anything....I'd recheck my ticket and times.....good luck and driving to another station is no help, it's still the same train just at an earlier or later time than your original stop and will arrive in Philly on time or late just the same.

 

[pepe of ohio]

97 Silver Meteor also goes to Orlando and doesn't leave Philadelphia until 4:58 PM.

I plugged in Pittsburgh PA, Pennsylvanian train to Philly arrives at 2:50pm and south bound Silver Meteor departs Philly at 4:58. Either way, I see no problem......unless there's some unforeseen difficulty that nothing can remedy.

 

[gokenin]

next noobie question when you buy your tickets do you go with the suggestions that Amtrack makes or do you make your own by doing a custom multi-city trip agenda?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Amtrak's recommendations. First, they do this more than I do (okay, much more ), and second, if I do my own 'custom' itinerary? It costs more.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We don't have alot of choices, for us just 2 and we pick the one that gets us to Florida the earliest with less lay-over. time wise....pretty hard to make a custom connecting train trip...don't think Amtrak will even allow it the way it has the schedule made up and being know for delays in route....

As for the aside....we get picked up in Alliance Ohio to DC and one trip, few years back, our train was way late getting to Alliance....no way were we going to make the connection in DC so at the Pittsburgh stop, they unloaded us and others that were making the connection in DC onto a chartered bus, with our luggage and drove us all to DC (bus can travel a lot faster, no stops) to make the connection, which we did......not to my liking...if I wanted to travel by bus, I'd have booked one.....got reimbursed for that trip by Amtrak (called guest services and complained) and once returning from Kissimmee to DC, bomb scare near Jacksonville held up the train for over 8 hours....arrived in DC to no train and they again loaded us on a bus and raced to Pittsburgh to catch our train there and we then had a 2 hour train ride to Alliance ( again complained and another free trip) occasions are rare but do happen, it seems less of late than the more of yesteryear.

 

[disney_girl125]

Thanks for your help! I'm taking the earlier train. So, the first train picks me up at 9:51am and arrives in Philly at 10:41am. Then i'm departing philly at 12:35pm. So, I have almost 2 hours between trains. I only live an hour from Philly, but parking there is about $21 a day. So it was cheaper for me just to take the train that's 5 minutes from me.

 

[gokenin]

Amtracks suggested trip
Saturday, December 3, 2011
161 Northeast Regional (RTE - NYP)

Depart: 9:55 am, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Arrive: 1:44 pm, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Duration: 3 hr, 49 min
Amenities
97 Silver Meteor (NYP - KIS)

Depart: 3:15 pm, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Arrive: 1:32 pm, Sun, Dec 4, 2011
Duration: 22 hr, 17 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$131.00
Discount
- $13.10

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $117.90

Saturday, December 10, 2011
98 Silver Meteor (KIS - NYP)

Depart: 1:16 pm, Sat, Dec 10, 2011
Arrive: 11:36 am, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Duration: 22 hr, 20 min
Amenities
164 Northeast Regional (NYP - RTE)

Depart: 1:00 pm, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Arrive: 5:04 pm, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Duration: 4 hr, 4 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$172.00
Discount
- $17.20

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $154.80
Rail Discount- $30.30
Terms & Conditions Total $272.70

or this custom version which is a little cheaper but extends the time between trains.


Saturday, December 3, 2011
99 Northeast Regional (RTE - NYP)

Depart: 8:55 am, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Arrive: 12:50 pm, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Duration: 3 hr, 55 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$37.73

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $37.73

Saturday, December 3, 2011
97 Silver Meteor (NYP - KIS)

Depart: 3:15 pm, Sat, Dec 3, 2011
Arrive: 1:32 pm, Sun, Dec 4, 2011
Duration: 22 hr, 17 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$80.17

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $80.17

Saturday, December 10, 2011
98 Silver Meteor (KIS - NYP)

Depart: 1:16 pm, Sat, Dec 10, 2011
Arrive: 11:36 am, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Duration: 22 hr, 20 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$80.17

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $80.17

Sunday, December 11, 2011
88 Northeast Regional (NYP - RTE)

Depart: 3:00 pm, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Arrive: 7:07 pm, Sun, Dec 11, 2011
Duration: 4 hr, 7 min
Amenities
1 AAA Adult
$37.73

1 Reserved Coach Seat


Subtotal $37.73
Terms & Conditions Total $235.80

 

[disney_girl125]

Personally if it was me i'd go with the cheaper one with more layover. Your layovers kind of fall during meal times, so if your at a station with restaurants you could use that time to eat.