Has anyone taken Amtrak to Disneyworld instead of driving?

[mom2willnash]

We're planning on driving to Disney but with gas prices being what they are I thought I'd check out Amtrak. Has anyone ever taken the train? How would you get from the train station to a hotel on-site (we're staying at the Wilderness Lodge) and what is the cost? We probably wouldn't rent a car for the week since we're staying on property. Would a taxi be astronomical?

 

[wunderkind319]

My mom's afraid to fly and we never wanted to drive so I've taken Amtrak to and from Penn Station in New York City 11 or 12 times. The trip by Amtrak from Penn should take 23 hours but it usually took about 26-27 because Amtrak is never on time. For such a long trip, we always got the bedroom which was great because you have your own bathroom, little TV, and window. If you get off at Orlando (the train station where part of Earnest Saves Christmas was filmed), the taxi ride to Disney is usually about $30 each way - but that was years ago. I've never driven down there, but we flew down for my honeymoon and the Magical Express was the most convenient thing ever. If you can't fly, though, I would deff. recommend Amtrak. It's gotta be better than a car because you can walk around whenever you want and the food is complimentary.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I haven't taken the train (someday, I promise!) but if you use the Kissimmee station in both directions, first it's a little closer to Walt Disney World so a cab would cost you a little less. But more important - far, far fewer people board there than in Orlando so the station's less crowded and easier to traverse.

 

[pepe of ohio]

I haven't taken the train (someday, I promise!) but if you use the Kissimmee station in both directions, first it's a little closer to Walt Disney World so a cab would cost you a little less. But more important - far, far fewer people board there than in Orlando so the station's less crowded and easier to traverse.

We always use regular Amtrak and do detrain in Kissimmee for the reasons the above poster stated, alot less congested and the cab fare from there to the resorts in the MK area is 35-36 dollars one way, about a 20 minute ride. Orlando station is packed going and coming and we avoid it by going one stop further to Kissimmee, usually about 10 people get off and going home about the same, makes for a quick stop and you're away, watch out the window in the Orland station of about 100 people sweating in the Floorida sun trying to get on, one by one, while I'm seated, cool and relaxed.

 

[wunderkind319]

We always use regular Amtrak and do detrain in Kissimmee for the reasons the above poster stated, alot less congested and the cab fare from there to the resorts in the MK area is 35-36 dollars one way, about a 20 minute ride. Orlando station is packed going and coming and we avoid it by going one stop further to Kissimmee, usually about 10 people get off and going home about the same, makes for a quick stop and you're away, watch out the window in the Orland station of about 100 people sweating in the Floorida sun trying to get on, one by one, while I'm seated, cool and relaxed.

That's so weird because we used to get off at Kissimmee for the longest time, but we started getting off at Orlando instead because it was less crowded! Maybe it's just the time of year. We used to go down in February a lot.

 

[crdshrk007]

I live in ohio, and took amtrak from toledo to washington, and washington to orlando. We booked a bedroom suit on the train. It was WONDERFUL Food was great and I was so refreshed when I arrived. The gentle sway of the train gave me the best slepp I had in years.
They had a bus waiting for us that took us to get are rental car.
We decided instaed of spending $30 on a cab to, and $30 for a cab back, we would rent a car. You can get a car in orlando for about $150 a week ( with coupons ) and you have a car there for when you want to travel outside od wdw. We always went to wal mart at night to pick up all the odds and ends we needed.

 

[tarasdad]

My family and I just used Amtrak from Boston - Orlando and return last week. It was ok but enough bad that I told my wife I would never do it again. Now I realize that some things are not Amtraks fault, but some are. First off we we in coach not sleepers so that is perhaps a factor in my opinion. On the way down, we went from Boston to New York and changed trains that went from NY to Orlando. This train was fine as for as the quality of the car we were in with the exception of the seat I had had a broken leg rest that would not stay up and that did not help when trying to sleep. It did have electical outlets next to each set of seats so the 2 kids could plug in their dvd player and watch movies so that was a big help. They filled the reservations for the dining car before they even got back to the car we were in so the only option was the snack car. In the seats behind ours there was a lady and a young child that screamed I-LOW until the wee hours and that certainly did not help the sleeping issue. I don't know if that is really an Amtrak problem or not but at least on an airplane it would not have lasted 12 hours.

On the return we had an older car that had seen its better days and had no elec. outlets. The only outlet available was 1 seat in the lounge car and the guy that grapped that one early on was using it for the entire trip from Orl. to Washington. Of the four seats my family had, three of them had broken leg rests or foot rests. There were also a group of 200 middle school kids that were constantly walking through the cars from 1:00pm until the longe car closed at 11:00pm. Although they were not overly disruptive a large group were thrown out of the lounge car for throwing candy at each other and I did hear the train crew speaking about the group and could tell they were not happy with them. The car also had various rattles that made it impossible to sleep.

I don't have any real regrets that we used Amtrak because I feel it was a learning experiance for the two kids and they did get to see some things that they otherwise would probably never experiance. But after it was all over I said to my wife "Never again"