Ever taken a train?

[Disney Family]

As a family of 6, we will be going to WDW in Nov. DH absolutely refuses to put 4 DDs (7,4,2,1) on a plane. I dread the thought of the 12 hr ride in the confinement of the van, not to mention being worn out before we get there!

Has anyone ever taken a train? If so, how was your experience?

 

[scanne]

Hi. In 1996 I took the autotrain from Virginia with my parents. The trip going down was fine. I think the whole trip was 18 hours. You're a lot closer than Virginia, so it will be less. I found the train ride very enjoyable. The seats are comfy and there's lots of leg room. However, I'd fly just for the convenience of it. Out of curiosity, why won't DH fly with your 4 daughters? Is it cost? Just remember that kids can fly free under 3 if they sit on a parents' lap. Even though I have a hard time getting on a plane (major fear!) I still would rather get there in 2 1/2 hours instead of 17 - 20 hours. JMHO.

 

[PamOKW]

Well, I had to travel further (24 hours before delays made it much longer) and take a regular Amtrak (a very old Amtrak at that) rather than the Autotrain and I'll say this.....cured my fear of flying in a hurry!

 

[KellyJ76]

I took Amtrak from Michigan to Orlando when I went to WDW in 1997 with my Mom. We then took a Mears shuttle from the Amtrak station to the Beach Club Resort. It was a bit hectic getting our shuttle once we arrived at the Orlando station as it was very busy. Otherwise we enjoyed the train ride very much. I would definitely recommend sleeping car accommodtions if your train ride is overnight (We spent 2 nights on the train each way. It's a little expensive, but does include your meals - AAA offers discounts on Amtrak travel also). I live in WA state now and have travelled by train to Michigan & back twice in the past year. I actually prefer the train to flying, if I have the time. It is very relaxing.

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Wish we were only 12 hrs away! Can you rent or purchase a TV/VCR? We've driven to WDW three times (16 - 20 hrs) and to the Destin area 3x (13 - 16 hrs - depends on whether we bring the travel trailer) with our DD. Course, she's the ONLY one Maybe that would help. Also, maybe split the travel into two days with a hotel with a pool overnight. Or, drive thru the night and take turns driving and the kids can sleep.

I wouldn't advise using the "free" trip for the younger ones via air. They could end up hitting the ceiling during bumping flights (and many have). They need to be seatbelted just like in all vehicles.

Sorry I wasn't much help.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Yes, twice and both times the train hit another oncoming train!

lst time we had to evacuate and spend 15 hours at the Army/Navy in MD. The second time, we were not so lucky. We had to swim through a small lake to get to the other side of train ~ had to pass a few water snakes along the way in VA!

No thank you. I'll take airlines at $75 roundtrip non-stop direct any day...............

 

[skeezixspud]

While I love train travel as a general rule, the only part of this country where I will take AmTrak is up the NE corridor between DC-NY-Boston. In Europe I always prefer the trains, but in Europe they know how to properly run train service.

Outside the NE corridor (the Autotrain being the exception, since it's an express), the train is likely to be a) as expensive as flying and b) very slow. Amtrak almost always runs several hours late, so you may lose some vacation time to delays. Trains are comfortable to travel in with children, however, because they can move around freely, and trains just generally fascinate kids anyway.

 

[Kermit]

I haven't checked to be sure, but a train might take much longer than a car since there is no express route from NC to Florida. You'd probable have to make a lot of stops and maybe even change trains.

I would just drive. Your kids are so young that you could probably leave around 5:00 one night and they would fall asleep when they started to get bored. If you didn't want to drive through the night, you could stop at around 11:00 or 12:00. Then when you got up the next morning, you wouldn't be too far away.

 

[DC7800]

No change of trains is required unless you board in the Charlotte, NC area (in which case you change at Raleigh).

 

[DC7800]

It's about 12-13 hours from Raleigh (10:34 p.m. - 11:49 a.m.) or Fayetteville (4:35 a.m. - 4:06 p.m.), North Carolina to the Orlando Amtrak station. There are 11 stops between NC and Orlando.

 

[CarolynK]

We took Amtrak once about 7 years ago. It was from Chicago to Boston, roundtrip. Our trip was so unpleasant that we seriously considered renting a car to drive back from Boston.

We were in a "sleeper" which was a chair that converted into a bed, as well as an upper "bed". Very tight.

We had brought food with us, and I found part of my sandwich missing when I went to take it out of my bag. I found out why a little later when the mouse came back for more. I told one of the employees, who wasn't very sympathetic. I slept on the upper bunk with my husband until he relented, and moved to the lower bunk.

We were also delayed several times, waiting for freight trains to pass, because they have the right of way.

We were looking for an adventure, but it wasn't quite what we expected.

If we couldn't afford to fly, we would drive. No more Amtrak for us.

 

[JudithM]

We took the Autotrain round trip earlier this month. We have taken it a few times over the last several years. When we returned to Lorton, VA this time my comment was, "Next time I consider the Autotrain, please remind me how much I like to drive." Several times in both directions the train felt like it would jump off the track. The train seemed to rock left & right much more than we remembered from previous trips.

 

[travelcoupons]

Some excellent train trip reports can be found at the following site:

http://communities.prodigy.net/trains/trips001.htm

 

[DC7800]

Originally posted by JudithM
We took the Autotrain round trip earlier this month. Several times in both directions the train felt like it would jump off the track. The train seemed to rock left & right much more than we remembered from previous trips.

You can blame the track owner, CSX railroad, for much of this rocking motion, but it isn't in any way dangerous. The periodic side-to-side motion is either caused by poor track conditions or by misalignment of the passenger car's trucks (wheel assemblies the car rides on). CSX recently hasn't exactly been known for the smoothest track in the country. If I had to guess, your car also needed some adjustments if the motion was so pronounced. I was on Auto-Train at the end of July, and noted a more pronounced rocking from the lounge car (oldest car on the train). However, I also noticed at least one CSX maintenance-of-way train out working on the tracks.

 

[JudithM]

i was pretty sure many of the tracks used by the Autotrain belonged to CSX. Thanks for the additional insight. We all thought it was noticeably more "rocky" than previous trips.

 

[KnightsQwn]

Remember that when you take a train, it's longer and more boring.... I have taken kids on the train and have flown ever since. It's easier for me to deal with three hours of "boring" and "are we there yet" and fussiness than hours upon hours of train travel. Not to mention, the phantom motion lasts longer from a train than a plane and the "canned air" is breathed longer.
Hope no one gets sick...
If we couldn't fly, we would drive and we're in CA!

 

[Chuck S]

We took the train from San Antonio to Orlanda several years ago. When we got to the train station, we were loaded onto busses. There was a bridge out on the other side of Houston, and the stopped the East bound train in San Antonio and bussed EVERYONE to New Orleans. Suppossedly there were no other places for trains to reverse direction, so everyone westbound was busses from New Orleans to San Antonio.

Anyway, after an 11 hour bus ride, (we stopped for lunch in Houston), we boarded Amtrak in New Orleans. The train part of the trip was nice and the food in the dining car was very good. I didn't have any trouble sleeping in the standard coach seats and the bridge was fixed for our return trip. That is not to say that I don't PREFER to fly, I really like getting there in a few hours vs. a day and a half, but a friend is going with us in January who doesn't fly well, so we may take the train again.

 

[Luv2Dream]

We took the Amtrak Autotrain in May and we had a family bedroom. I wouldn't do that again. The family bedroom, although roomy enough for the 3 of us, is located on the lower level of the train at the end of the car which means it is very noisy. I didn't get a wink of sleep either way. I'm glad I did it once but I'm not sure I'll sign up again anytime soon. Our train was going so fast that I thought we would derail. We even made it back to Lorton about 45 minutes early! If I did do it again, I would get upper level bedrooms, even if I had to book 2 of them to get enough beds.