July 2010 Big Bdays Family Reunion (Update 9/28 Final Thoughts)

[kaoden39]

I wish they had something like the autotrain here, I went so far as to look it up. They don't, it sounds like a cool way to travel.

 

[Marshay]

Yeah, as far as I know, it is only on the east coast and just between those two stations -- Lorton, VA and Sanford, FL. They are really crowded in spring and late fall when all the senior citizens (called "snowbirds") go north/south to avoid the heat/cold.

And lots of families use it to go to WDW.

I think it makes the most sense if you normally would fly and rent a car for more than a week. I like the idea of driving down but training back. On the way down, we'll be so excited we won't notice the long drive as much.

 

[cherbear]

The train day sounds like so much fun!

I LOVED when we got to tour the "Christmas Story Train". It was the first train that I've ever been on, and the fact that it was Disney AND it was free--that was just AWESOME!

 

[Marshay]

The train day sounds like so much fun!

I LOVED when we got to tour the "Christmas Story Train". It was the first train that I've ever been on, and the fact that it was Disney AND it was free--that was just AWESOME!

I remember that! I was actually thinking of your TR when I saw the thing about the Train Day. I still haven't seen that movie...

 

[Trentmom]

Yay!!!


I need to price that out.

We are afraid to drive that many hrs in my car as it acts up every once in awhile

We could definiltey do 6 hrs to the station. That not a big deal.

THen to not have to rent a car when we got down there, would be sweet if we wanted to do other things

Can you PM me the cost?

 

[Marshay]

Yay!!!


I need to price that out.

We are afraid to drive that many hrs in my car as it acts up every once in awhile

We could definiltey do 6 hrs to the station. That not a big deal.

THen to not have to rent a car when we got down there, would be sweet if we wanted to do other things

Can you PM me the cost?

I'm not sure it would be worth it for you guys. It really is only a good deal if you plan on renting a car while at Disney and going more than a week and only get Coach seats. As soon as you add a room, the price goes up considerably.

Now last year they had kids ride free and this year kids are only $19. However, the date we travel they didn't have any seats for the $19 -- bummer!!

For two kids (we are getting a seat for Elizabeth), two adults, 8 meals, snacks, movie, ability to walk around, restrooms in your car, ability to take all the luggage your vehicle can hold and even a public shower if we decide we need to use it (doubt that!), plus an oversize vehicle (Toyota Sequoia) going one-way with a AAA discount, it is $600. But remember we booked late. I priced out our same trip at 11 months (the earliest you can book so this was late March just for comparison) with everything else the same and it was only $400.

Now you'd have to double the cost for R/T.

Flying and renting a large vehicle was going to cost us about $1400. Driving will cost us about $500 one way (gas, food, tolls, wear & tear, hotel) since our SUV is a gas hog.

So it's only $25/pp more to take the train than to drive back home, and we get home a day sooner so Jerry doesn't have to take another day off work and we should be less stressed -- less wear & tear on our vehicle, no worries about accidents or traffic jams, construction delays, etc.

I think we are also going to try to book the train for our May 2011 trip and then after we take it in July, if it's really awful, just cancel and get our money back. But I want to make our ressies when it's cheapest (at 11 months). I'm bummed we didn't look into it sooner. I had priced out a room and for the 4 of us it would have been $1100!!! That was only one-way. So you definitely have to do coach to make it worth it!

 

[Trentmom]

Not sure how I missed your response, sorry about that

But you are right, not a good deal for us

Thanks for explaining it all out so I could see


Almost at 2 month point..getting so close now

 

[Marshay]

Just a short update on our schedule down to WDW.

Friday night we plan to stop in Rocky Mount, NC. I'm going to start our Priceline bids today. Others have gotten a 3 * hotel in Rocky Mount for $40 and $45. I wonder how lucky we'll get, esp since it's middle of the summer...We are making this a hard stop. Should take us about 4 hours -- just to get a few extra hours in.

Then for Saturday, I'm going to make 3 ressies (fully refundable). One for Jacksonville, FL which is our most likely destination. Another for St. Augustine, FL, which is only an hour more. and one for Ormond Beach, which is only a 1/2 hr more. This way if traffic is light and we aren't making too many stops, we can get a little further, which I'm hoping we can do. I'd love to get to WDW sooner on Sunday and relax in the pool and explore the Boardwalk Villas.

Like I said, just a short update.

Let the Priceline bidding begin!

 

[mousescrapper]

sounds like a good plan...each step closer to WDW!

 

[Trentmom]

Rocky Mount is so pretty

Sounds like a good plan

 

[Marshay]

sounds like a good plan...each step closer to WDW!

I know! I can't believe I'm about 2 months away! I'm hoping to work on my Disney craft projects tonight! I've been soooo neglectful this time.

Rocky Mount is so pretty

Sounds like a good plan

Too bad we won't get to see RM much. We'll get in around 11pm and hopefully leave by 9am, 10am at the latest.

 

[cherbear]

gettin' close!!!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I totally lurked on your report. I thought I had posted, but alas...I reread everything and I hadn't. Your daughters are cute! I loved their Easter outfits.

We will be at BWV for a couple of nights at the end of our stay. We only have enough points for studios, and I want to go each summer (and winter for a long weekend) so I have to be careful borrowing to make sure I can cover the travels. We hope to add on points...probably not too soon, though. My DD's both are seeing the orthodontist to begin treatments.

It looks like we might see you at Yak and Yeti...I have to double check, but i think we are there the same night for dinner.

Deb

 

[Marshay]

I totally lurked on your report. I thought I had posted, but alas...I reread everything and I hadn't. Your daughters are cute! I loved their Easter outfits.

We will be at BWV for a couple of nights at the end of our stay. We only have enough points for studios, and I want to go each summer (and winter for a long weekend) so I have to be careful borrowing to make sure I can cover the travels. We hope to add on points...probably not too soon, though. My DD's both are seeing the orthodontist to begin treatments.

It looks like we might see you at Yak and Yeti...I have to double check, but i think we are there the same night for dinner.

Deb

Hey, Deb! That Disney "addonitis" really does hit you hard! We bought 165 at SSR and then added on two more small contracts at AKV b/c we like AKV and realize that when we can only travel in summer and school breaks, the points will certainly add up quickly.

We changed our Yak and Yeti ressie to Tusker House. For some reason Y&Y wasn't coming up on the Tables in Wonderland card for the 20% discount, so I switched to TH. However, the rest of my family is going to eat at Flame Tree BBQ, which we like as well, so we may just decide to skip the sit-down for this meal.

Thanks for posting!

 

[Marshay]

Two months from today I will hopefully be watching Main Street Electrical Parade!!!

 

[Marshay]

OK, I still haven't got Priceline to agree to my hotel bids. Guess I'm just being too cheap. I'll give it a few more days just adding a few dollars ... then if I don't get anything this week, I'll get more serious about prices next week. But I gotta try for the cheap!

I did book two hotels for the night before we check into BWV. One just north of Jacksonville and one in St. Augustine. We're hoping to get to the St. Augustine one -- it's nicer, with both an indoor and outdoor pool, a lake and trails and an expanded continental breakfast! I figure if we get in around 5 or 6pm, we can still make use of the facilities and blow off some steam. But if driving is slow for some reason, then we'll just do the J-ville one.

 

[Marshay]

Oh, I almost forgot!

We went to the National Train Day at Union Station in Washington, DC sponsored by Amtrak. We got to walk through about 7 or 8 trains including some older/luxury (antique?) trains and the brand new Acela (speed train from DC to NY).

But the best part was they had the cars from the Autotrain!! We got to see each of the rooms, the lounge car, the dining car and the regular coach car (which we are doing). We spent time adjusting the coach seats and talking to Jean and Julie (who said they'd look out for us b/c they'll be working when go). They had the sleeping cars set up for both day and night travel.

Thoughts:
1) The family suite is VERY SMALL. It is literally the size of a small bed. There are two sets of bunk beds that form an "L". So two beds are long and two are short. There may have been one small window. It was just not pleasing at all. Even when it was set up for the day, I would feel too claustrophic -- and I'm not prone to that. I don't think it is worth it at all to pay $500 for that. However, I can understand if people want their privacy and to be able to actually lie down.

2) The 2-3 person rooms were wonderful!! They had a huge picture window, with two seats facing each other, and a small table. At night the seats convert to a bed and a bunk bed is above you. I would totally do this room, but alas with 4 of us, we cannot.

3) Finally, the coach seating. I was pleasantly surprised by how much room you have. Your knees cannot touch the seat in front of you at all. The seat reclines (but not flat). There are leg rests and foot rests and honestly, I could put one of the kids on the floor and there would still be room for my legs.

Now the seats were definitely not "oh-my-god" comfortable. I'd say they were fine -- to be expected. However, I think with us being tired at the end of our trip and the rolling of the train, we should be fine. It's only one night.

4) The dining cars look really nice -- booth seating and they had the food displayed and it looked good. The Lounge cars concern me a bit. They are super cool looking. Booths, tables, open area. You can play games, watch tv, eat snacks, etc. But they will not guarantee enough space for everyone to have a table in the lounge car. I asked the employees how crowded they get, and was told that you should get to the lounge car early and just plan to hang out there for a while. It stays busy from departure to after the 1st showing of the movie. Then most families with small kids leave and the older kids watch the 2nd showing. After that it really empties out with just adults.

5) Dinner seating is at 5, 7 and 9pm and you can choose your seating. 5pm is filled with more young families, and 9pm is mostly adults only.

Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have pics but I didn't expect to see this train and didn't bring our camera. but I was thrilled to be able to see the actual train and try out the bunks and seats! Now we know more what to expect.

6) Final note, the coach and sleeping cars definitely showed signs of wear and tear. They really could use an overhaul, but that isn't likely to happen. Overall, the train might have felt a 'bit' dark and dirty in the sleeping rooms. It wasn't dirty and it's probably just bc we were enclosed in the terminal w/o light to get in that made it look so dark.

 

[Marshay]

WOO HOO!!!!!

I just checked on Amtrak's web page to see if prices went up or down and guess what? They now are allowing the promotional $19/kid fee for the date of my travel!!!

So I immediately changed my ressie to the new price. Instead of $614, we are only paying $490!!! That is now cheaper than driving our gas hog SUV, getting hotels and food + tolls!!

 

[Trentmom]

Steve had to work or we would have went to National Train day at station in Philly

Glad you got to see where you would be staying and sitting during your stay. That is cool


Yay on cheaper price and saving some money


Bigger yay on 2 months!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[swwake]

What a deal on Amtrak!

I heard a tip on the Clark Howard show. I think he said to try Hotwire for a hotel, get the price and number of stars, then go over to Priceline and bid 10% lower than the Hotwire price. Now that I think if it, that may have been for rental cars, but I'd still try it and see if it works.