Has anyone taken the train??

[dandelion]

In late April we were offered several choices of entree: beef, chicken, fish and pasta. Children had the same offerings in smaller portions. The wait staff were very accommodating, for example, bringing my dd her chicken without the dreaded bbq sauce. The entrees were good but not great, though my dh really enjoyed his pot roast.

Desserts included cheesecake (vg), apple pie (vvg) and ice cream for the kids. We had plenty of wine and coffee, and felt we had been treated well.

 

[erinch]

thanks for the quick answer. I was trying to imagine manuvering the 7 yo through a buffet line on a moving train, and it wasn't a pretty picture.

 

[dandelion]

Originally posted by erinch
I was trying to imagine manuvering the 7 yo through a buffet line on a moving train, and it wasn't a pretty picture.

Oh, I hear you on that. I have a 4YO (today is his birthday!) boy and a 6YO girl who weighs 42 lbs. soaking wet. They both did a lot of rockin' and rollin' whenever they tried to move between the coaches. A buffet would have been a disaster - I'm sure Amtrak realizes that.

I enjoyed the whole experience. Perhaps because our train was uncrowded, I didn't find the restrooms that horrible or the mealtime that rushed.

 

[Eeyore's myhero]

It's been about 15 years, but we took the train from Alexandria, VA down to Orlando. Our car at the time (Pathfinder) was too high for the restrictions on the Auto Train, but we splurged and got a sleeper car. My husband had one bunk, and daughter and I shared another (she was about 5 at the time, so space wasn't a problem). Sleeper car was surprisingly comfortable, but we'd never do it again!

Motion was indeed a problem. At some point in North Carolina the tracks got very rough, and hubby began to experience motion sickness. Nothing serious, and since we knew he was susceptible we'd packed Dramamine so we were prepared. The trip back, however, was an absolute nightmare!

The man in the sleeper next to us was violently sick the entire night, and unfortunately there's not much soundproofing between sleeper units. I don't know if he had a bad reaction to the food (wasn't great) or suffered from severe motion sickness, or both, but the poor man's wife summoned attendants in an effort to get him medical assistance. Needless to say, we were all feeling a bit green by the time we pulled into Alexandria, and were all taking the Dramamine.

We've driven the rest of our trips down!

 

[dsnycrzy]

I have taken the train 4 times and august will be my 5th. I love the train. I even got a great deal this year. $528 for the whole family r/t. It 10 of us all together. Cant't beat that. We will bring the back pack cooler we picked up from JCPenny's (thanks to a DIS board tip, thanks. Well bring sandwiches and drink pouches and snacks (7 out of the 10 of us are kids, the other 3 are kids at heart. I will never fly because it to much hassle to get a ride to Philly airport from Delaware and back. We actually take our bags to be checked in and then drive home and walk the 3 blocks back to the train station. Coming home we walk home with our train bag and get the car and go back and pick up our luggage.
A must is the blanket and pillow, I agree.
A don't sit near the doors, sleeping will be near impossible due to poeple coming and going (we had a drunk doing that and I had my 2 1/2 baby, lacking sleep anyway, I wanted to strangle him)
Bring things to do. Cards, crossword puzzlues, game boys etc.


Sorry this is long but this is my first time posting since I discovered the website 3 months ago and had problems getting activated. I love it here. I was glad ti fine out I am normal with my Disney addiction.
take the train it's fun.

 

[beccasmom]

I took the regular train down to Orlando from Philadelphia in March, 2000. Airfares were exorbitant then (Spring Break time!) and Amtrak had a 2-for1 deal which was great because my mom is a senior and we got an additional discount.

Traveling to Orlando was fine......a lot of stops, though. I easily get car sick, but I felt fine on the train. We slept (dozed, really) in our seats and they were quite comfortable, with lots of leg room. We were sitting by a young mom traveling alone with three kids under age 7 (one an infant), but they were incredibly well-behaved children and played quietly. We arrived in Orlando on time.

Traveling back to Philly was a nightmare. The train was overcrowded and the conductor was overwhelmed. Someone locked off a restroom for four hours (maybe someone was taking a nap in there, who knows!) and the train was delayed over 2 hours even before we left the state of Florida. There were dozens of people in conversation on their cellphones into well into the wee hours and it was generally an uncomfortable and unpleasant trip.

I've heard mixed opinions on the AutoTrain. I've always wanted to try it, but I can usually get a much cheaper fare to Orlando from Philadelphia so I've never truly been able to make a case for it. I'm less inclined to try it now after my experience three years ago. Maybe some day, though.

 

[Mermaid02]

Well I'm thinking about taking the train in October. The 4 of us can take the train from Maine to Florida for $600- about half what a flight would cost us! I think my kids would really enjoy it also. My Aunt and Uncle took a trip a couple of years ago across country and they really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll regret it, but I think we'll try it!

 

[singitalto]

I've taken the train twice and the auto train once. All were good experiences except the last trip coming home. We were 5 1/2 hours late, making the trip 30 1/2 hours from Orlando to NY. Even worse, the employees on that train we not very accomodating. (We wanted to be moved and saw others moved- but they would not accomodate us, I think the same drunk walking the aisles was on our train too!) I have to say as much as I hate flying, I would rather fly then take another train(unless we had a sleeper, but that is so expensive, I think I'd rather fly and stay at a deluxe hotel instead!)
I think I have seen my share of trains for now!!