Just Wondering? Has anyone taken the train from MI to Disney World?

[skw251520]

Happy Sunday everyone, I was just wondering if anyone has ever taken the train from Mi to Disney world? what was it like and would you do it again?

 

[EACarlson]

I'm curious, where in Michigan and how long would the trip be?

 

[bobbiwoz]

I chatted with a Miami local and she and her husband have taken day trips to WDW, and they like doing it. She mentioned that they don’t have luggage.

If you are asking about Michigan, I don’t know.

 

[wdwnomad]

You might want to check out some of the Amtrak discussion boards. I think you will find more feedback over there.

With that said, train travel is a journey. It is an experience. I think if you go into it with the that mind set it will help alot. It is going to be lot longer and more expensive that driving or flying. I would not plan anything for your arrival day. The train is going to be late. Sometimes can be many hours late.

Since you are traveling that MI, I believe you will be taking the new Floridian route. That is a long ride. It is two nights. If the budget allows I do a sleeper car. I wouldn't want to go coach that long.

 

[Mikey15]

Yeah if it’s the new “Floridian” route bundle, it’s a little circuitous. Plus from MI I think you’d need to drive to IN or OH to get on it (or take train towards Chicago then switch over).

I do love train travel, but for MI to FL it doesn’t seem nearly as quick or convenient or cheap as flying…

 

[_19disnA]

Never used Amtrak but was curious and checked their website. Chosen random future dates and apparently it takes 48 hrs to get from Detroit to Orlando (via Chicago). Price comparisons depend on which option you choose, but I wouldn't recommend only being able to sit for that long of a ride. Seems you need to sleep somewhere or would be exhausted/sore by the time you arrive. Using up 4 days of your Disney vacation in transit seems like a very long time to me compared to an option like flying.

Is there a reason you don't want to fly?

 

[Mikey15]

From Toledo (hour drive from Detroit) the train ride cuts down to 35 hours, but yes, it’s still two full overnights.

Actually, from “South Detroit” Toledo it leaves around midnight. I suppose for people who love the Journey it’s a midnight train going anywhere…

 

[jec6613]

I've done the single overnight in Amtrak sleeper cars before, it's very relaxing and you can be as connected or disconnected as you like. Though the Roomettes are quite small, so I'd recommend being very close with traveling companions, or getting the larger bedroom.

 

[mistysue]

We could get flights for less, so I went for the 2.5 hour option over the 48 hours. (I included the cost of inevitably wanting to get something to eat/drink during that 2 day trip, which made the flight the obviously better choice!) There are prettier routes if you just want a train ride. We literally get there in half the time driving vs that train ride, though I really have always wished they had a North-South along I-75, and that would probably be closer to the drive time.

 

[jec6613]

(I included the cost of inevitably wanting to get something to eat/drink during that 2 day trip, which made the flight the obviously better choice!)

Just FYI, a sleeper compartment includes all meals in the dining car. I can highly recommend the flat iron steak, it was quite tasty.

 

[mistysue]

Just FYI, a sleeper compartment includes all meals in the dining car. I can highly recommend the flat iron steak, it was quite tasty.

That sleeper car is more than double what we usually pay for comfort +

I'm curious if your steak is on that route though, we've found the menu can be different on different lines.

 

[squeezeplay101]

As a frequent train traveler, I have often thought of taking Amtrak to WDW. However, taking coach all that way is the only cost comparable option to flying - and that would be miserable for so long a journey. It will also be much later than you think over so many stops.

 

[Miffy]

I've done part of this route--NYC to Orlando--several times, although not in last 6 or 7 years.

A room or roomette is a necessity unless you don't mind sitting in a possibly extremely noisy coach seat and getting little to no sleep for, in the OP's case, 2 days.

The train can be fun, an adventure. But it can also seem like a huge slog.

If you have special dietary needs, it's probably better to bring your own food. And, even if you don't have any special dietary needs, it's good to bring food with you since I've had a couple of trips from Orlando to NYC where they ran out of food.

As a PP stated, this can be a very very very long trip. Freight has the right of way on the train lines, and sometimes the passenger train is stopped for many hours waiting for the freight train(s) to pass. I was also on this route once when the train was delayed for such a long time--they never told us what the matter was--that they were planning to take the passengers the rest of the way to Orlando by BUS. Yes, bus. And the train was perhaps 12 hours away from Orlando at that point. It didn't happen, but I was in a very bad mood during the time when it seemed like that was going to happen.

The killer for me was two trips in a row where someone in the roomette car DH and I were in was smoking nearly the entire trip and there was no way to pin down what roomette or room they were in. The secondhand smoke was intense. Even though smoking is prohibited on Amtrak, that doesn't stop people from doing it surreptitiously. And it's not like being on an airplane, where the smoker can be easily found. This pretty much killed my ever wanting to take this train again. Granted, this doesn't always happen.

And, finally, if you're going to be traveling during the winter, your entire trip can be screwed up, hugely delayed, or outright canceled, because of snow. Yes, that's happened to us.

 

[jec6613]

That sleeper car is more than double what we usually pay for comfort +

I'm curious if your steak is on that route though, we've found the menu can be different on different lines.

Yeah, pricing varies considerably as well.

I checked, the Floridian has the steak. It really only exists as a route because of the chronic equipment shortages Amtrak has been having lately as demand has been going up. I'm not sure they have much if any more market share, but the US has a lot more people now than when they put in equipment orders.

 

[MikeF;NJ]

Yeah, pricing varies considerably as well.

I checked, the Floridian has the steak. It really only exists as a route because of the chronic equipment shortages Amtrak has been having lately as demand has been going up. I'm not sure they have much if any more market share, but the US has a lot more people now than when they put in equipment orders.

I could be mistaken, but I was under the impression the route was (re)created because of construction issues in the NYC area.

 

[jec6613]

Freight has the right of way on the train lines, and sometimes the passenger train is stopped for many hours waiting for the freight train(s) to pass.

This is a myth with a kernel of truth. Freight has always had to yield to Passenger, but it wasn't really enforced until recently, after which the on-time performance of passenger services skyrocketed.

Nowadays the bigger issue is Precision Scheduled Railroad technology, where the fewer times a passenger train is held up by freight it's much more impactful as the freight trains don't fit onto sidings anymore so the passenger train must yield. It's a bit of a mess for anywhere that doesn't have at least double track. The Floridian after DC does run on CSX that is double or triple tracked almost the entire way, but heading to Chicago there are single track subdivisions. The next rumored improvement is re-routing it over the Fort Wayne subdivision, which would greatly improve performance as it's flat and straight multi-track allowing for very high speeds, well above the 110 MPH max speed of the rolling stock.

 

[jec6613]

I could be mistaken, but I was under the impression the route was (re)created because of construction issues in the NYC area.

That was a stated reason, but the slot through the tunnel is still in use and being leased to NJT, while the freed up Superliners by combining the services are being used to restore services farther west - the Viewliner fleet is newer so has more available units.

 

[Miffy]

This is a myth with a kernel of truth. Freight has always had to yield to Passenger, but it wasn't really enforced until recently, after which the on-time performance of passenger services skyrocketed.

Nowadays the bigger issue is Precision Scheduled Railroad technology, where the fewer times a passenger train is held up by freight it's much more impactful as the freight trains don't fit onto sidings anymore so the passenger train must yield. It's a bit of a mess for anywhere that doesn't have at least double track. The Floridian after DC does run on CSX that is double or triple tracked almost the entire way, but heading to Chicago there are single track subdivisions. The next rumored improvement is re-routing it over the Fort Wayne subdivision, which would greatly improve performance as it's flat and straight multi-track allowing for very high speeds, well above the 110 MPH max speed of the rolling stock.

Interesting. I (obviously) didn't know this.