May 2011 Yo Ho Ho! Let Down Your Hair! (New 10/9 Lessons Learned #550)

[Trentmom]

yay, u started

The play area looks great.

Kids are great how they make friends so fast

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi Marsha looking forward to reading along on your trip happy that you have begun I know that Rachel is a wonderful friend as well I love the idea of Praises and Prayer so very special I need to remember these two P's a little more often in my daily walk WTL

Can't wait for more
J-

 

[KigerKat]

I have always wanted to travel somewhere by train. It sounds like so much fun!!

BTW...did the link in the email I sent you work?

 

[mickeystoontown]

I love your "praises and prayers" idea. I may just have to steal that one from you. Well, maybe not steal it because that's totally not what the whole thing stands for....but borrow it.

The play area for the kids looks like a nice way to pass the time. So cute that Rachel made a friend.

 

[kaoden39]

I think maybe kids make friends so much easier is because they still trust every one and have no preconceived thoughts or idea.

I also may steal your "praises and prayers", what a great idea that is.

 

[betsywdw]

Yay! So happy to see this today!

The Chuggington play are is so cute! How sweet that met Rachel made a friend!

 

[WDWCP96]

The Chuggington play area is so neat. They didn't have that area when we took the auto train in 2008, my son would have loved that. So cute that Rachel made a friend.

 

[Marshay]

I love the play area! I'm sure my boys would too!

Travel trays, I might need to look into these.

Yes, the play area was great! Since we had gotten there about 1-1.25 hrs prior to boarding, it helped pass the time.

Here is a picture of the travel tray we have. We don't use the strap around our kids but just set it on their lap. Either way works. There are pockets on both sides for toys/snacks/drinks and there is about a 1" lip all around the edges so crayons/food/toys don't fall off. We them!

yay, u started

The play area looks great.

Kids are great how they make friends so fast

It was fun! It turned out that the Chuggington display was only up that weekend for a special event. I think it's something they should have all the time.

Hi Marsha looking forward to reading along on your trip happy that you have begun I know that Rachel is a wonderful friend as well I love the idea of Praises and Prayer so very special I need to remember these two P's a little more often in my daily walk WTL

Can't wait for more
J-

yeah, the P&P were just a good way for me to reflect on the tremendous blessing we have in just being able to go to Disney multiple times. I won't say I always remembered but I tried.

I have always wanted to travel somewhere by train. It sounds like so much fun!!

BTW...did the link in the email I sent you work?

The train is really great. More on that coming up.

Oh, I totally forgot about your pictures b/c I was trying so hard to finish going through mine!! Many thanks...I will let you know. I also need to start my Picaboo album and definitely want Brett's photos for that!!

Can I share (and give credit) Brett's photos here? My readers would LOVE to see them. He did such an awesome job!!

No problem if he rather not. I know some people prefer not to and I respect that.

I love your "praises and prayers" idea. I may just have to steal that one from you. Well, maybe not steal it because that's totally not what the whole thing stands for....but borrow it.

The play area for the kids looks like a nice way to pass the time. So cute that Rachel made a friend.

Share ... not steal! Seriously, go ahead! It would be so cool to see a bunch of Dissers doing that!!

Rachel is so good at making friends!

I think maybe kids make friends so much easier is because they still trust every one and have no preconceived thoughts or idea.

I also may steal your "praises and prayers", what a great idea that is.

Please do the P&P, too!

Yes, you are right. As we get older, we open up less.

I was thinking how funny the reaction would be if I walked up to someone and just said, "hey, want to be my friend?"

I think a dirty look and a quick run away would occur...

Yay! So happy to see this today!

The Chuggington play are is so cute! How sweet that met Rachel made a friend!

Thanks! It was very neat. The other girl was very sweet, too. Unfortunately, we never saw her again in WDW, much to Rachel's disappointment.

 

[Marshay]

The Chuggington play area is so neat. They didn't have that area when we took the auto train in 2008, my son would have loved that. So cute that Rachel made a friend.

Looks like you just slipped this one in!

Yeah, it was only a temporary thing -- 2 days. But it TOTALLY made sense to me to have it full-time. Although I guess the upkeep on it with free crayons, coloring books, etc might cost more than what AMTRAK thinks it is worth.

But believe me, it kept the kiddies excited, out of the way and happy!

 

[Marshay]

So if I just looked at my notes, I would have seen that they were celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Amtrak and that is why they had the Chuggington play area.

Also, Rachel's friend was Emily and Rachel also insisted that Emily's younger sister Olivia be her BFF too. I had forgotten that.

Anyway, it's time to board and we found our Family Room. Although we could do Coach again, we are all more pleasant in a room, so the extra cost is worth it to us.

We packed 4 bags for our overnight -- seriously One bag had the change of clothes, pajamas and toiletries for all of us. Another was just Rachel's toys. Another was Elizabeth's toys and the final was pillows for the 3 of us and stuffed animals and blankets for the kids. Whew!!

Let's just say I overpacked!

So we decided that on the return, we would just do 1 small suitcase for clothes, 1 collapsible hamper for the pillows/blankets/stuffed animals and one small suitcase for toys. That worked out a lot better.

Oh, but Jerry brought along 2 bags just for himself. I think he got it down to just one small bag on the return. His was stuffed with all kinds of snacks ... that he never ate!

Then we went off to the Lounge car for snacks -- wine, cheese, celery, carrots, apples, oranges, crackers. Yummy!

We find a booth and across from us is another family with a daughter, Mia, who decided that our table was more fun than her mom/dad's (we brought some toys to play with). So she crawls under our table and Rachel joins her.

Back to the room and the girls play quietly ...

for a few minutes.

Mentally, I knew that taking the train makes it soooo much easier than being trapped in the SUV. However, it's still a long drive and it's still a confined space.

And the girls were "active"...if you know what I mean.

They were getting on my nerves. I really just wanted to sit in quiet for a few minutes...read a book, smile on them as they sweetly play together like good little sisters -- WHHHRP(that's the sound of my daydream ending!)

No, Rachel was in a mood and Elizabeth wanted everything that Rachel had. I had brought separate toys for them but silly me, why would they only want to play with their own??

The train was scheduled to depart around 4pm but "something" happened to delay us. We couldn't make out the "wklodrjrekjka" on the PA system. So we didnt end up leaving until almost 1.5 - 2 hours later.

Amtrak warned us that we wouldn't make the 9:30am arrival.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!!

Didn't Amtrak know we had major plans for Flower and Garden Show and Pixar??

 

[lledman]

Didn't Amtrak know we had major plans for Flower and Garden Show and Pixar??

That stinks - I hope you guys were still able to salvage your first day.

 

[Marshay]

So the kids are getting cranky and it's only 5pm. I should have chosen the 5pm dinner service but alas, I chose the 7pm so we just had to make the most of it.

Here is more information from my notes:

The Autotrain goes 70mph (when it can), had 317 passengers and 103 vehicles on board.

We left at 5:40pm (instead of 4pm)

I enjoyed 3 glasses of wine (now these are little Dixie cup sizes and not filled so it really may have been about 1.5 glasses.

I had gotten my nails done earlier in the day and Jerry was great to finish the packing so I could have nice looking nails in the pictures (I'll just have to point that out now!)

It's now about 6pm, so we get up to walk the train and just move around. By the time we get back it's almost dinner time. Amtrak does not want you to come early. There is no "lobby", so they make an annoucement at 7pm.

Here we are at the dining table:

And Jerry and Rachel.

Dinner is very good, as always. We got the Beef Tenderloins in a delicious red wine sauce, baked potato, veggies, salad, roll and strawberry cheesecake for dessert.

The kids got spaghetti and chicken strips, but neither ate very much as they were tired.

However, Rachel found out that she likes French Dressing on her salad. It's not one of my favorites, but I'm glad she found something that she liked.

Then off to bed. Elizabeth got the bottom kids bunk.

Rachel climbing the ladder to her bunk.

Rachel in bed

I woke up many times during the night as the speed of the train changed. However, I was able to get to sleep right away so I woke up well-rested.

 

[kaoden39]

I think that the delays stink.


I have had those moments of total bliss that lasts all of what feels like 30 seconds. Even as they get older they are like that. It's quite irritating to tell you the truth.


When our kids were little I always over packed for whatever we did. I never knew what they would want or need for sure. But, in defense of over packing you are prepared for almost everything.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

There is something so classic about traveling by train, it must have been much more comfortable than being trapped in a car and driving all the way down.

 

[Marshay]

That stinks - I hope you guys were still able to salvage your first day.

Yeah, and I know flights get delayed too ... and last time we drove we got stuck in traffic for about an hour...at least this way we could walk around and spread out in our room...but still no one likes delays (esp us Dissers who plan!)

I think that the delays stink.

I have had those moments of total bliss that lasts all of what feels like 30 seconds. Even as they get older they are like that. It's quite irritating to tell you the truth.

When our kids were little I always over packed for whatever we did. I never knew what they would want or need for sure. But, in defense of over packing you are prepared for almost everything.

Nooo, you're supposed to tell me that it gets easier as the kids get older!

Yeah, it didn't seem like much when I was packing ... but when you put 4 people and 6 bags in a room that's about 4 x 8 ... that's another thing.

There is something so classic about traveling by train, it must have been much more comfortable than being trapped in a car and driving all the way down.

Yep, I really do like taking the train. In fact I like it so much that I forget that the girls will still get rambunctious! Just not as bad as cooped up in a SUV for 14+ driving hours.

 

[KigerKat]

Can I share (and give credit) Brett's photos here? My readers would LOVE to see them. He did such an awesome job!!

No problem if he rather not. I know some people prefer not to and I respect that.

No problem! He's already posted some of them over on the photography board. Post away!!

 

[Trentmom]

Bummer about the delay

Sounds like some good food

We are pondering doing the auto train ourselves

We wouldn't do the room, but just regular seats.

Airfare is jut out of this world right now

So we shall see

 

[mousescrapper]

sorry the train was late...were you stuck in it too then while waiting? and that the kids got ansty...but glad dinner was good

need to see a pic of your pretty nails


and awww Ellie looks a bit nervous in her little bed...hope you arrive not to late and it doesn't mess w/ your schedule!

J~

 

[lbuzz52]

I was going to say that you sure took a lot- but I would do the same thing if I had my car with me.

My kids also have to have whatever the other one does.

That meals sounds great. I had no idea they cooked like that on a train!

 

[WDWCP96]

We had a delay On our trip too but it was in the middle of the night and they had to stop the train for quite a while. I too would wake when the speed of the train changed. I definitely would do the train again but not for a couple of years because my middle child is not one to be contained right now.