Need Advice: AUTOTRAIN

[kandb]

We're going down to WDW in mid-December, leaving on a Sunday from NJ. We will be approx. 180 miles from Lorton. Any suggestions on what time we should leave NJ? Are there places to eat lunch if we get to Lorton early? What is the best time to check into Lorton? And now the MOST important question - How is the food on the autotrain? Any advice/suggestions, are appreciated. Lori

 

[tinker-belle]

Hiya. We've used the auto train twice, driving down from Northern Jersey- it always took us about four hours. Although they say train leaves at 4, they often start loading at 3PM. It's also 'first come first served' as far as dinner times go. If the train is full they will have three choices of 5pm, 7pm, and 9pm. There is also a line to check in your car at the station that can take quite a while (once it took us 45 minutes). So we usually leave at around 9AM, to factor in possible traffic, lines etc. There is a SMALL playground on the Lorton side. There is a gift shop. There is also a place where you can rent a dvd player for the trip at the station. The food is pretty good. Dinner gives you a choice of about 5 different suppers and 3 different desserts. During the trip they also have free cookies, party mix, coffee, hot chocolate and fruit. They sell a few other things though. Breakfast is continental- bagels, cereal etc. Have a great time!

 

[bdcp]

Don't wait to get there for boarding. You need to be there for your car to be loaded. You also need to be there earlier if you have a van or suv. We only live 45 minutes away and made sure we were there by noon. The Lorton station is nice. We started loading passengers just before 3. They load the cars as they arrive. Make sure you are there before you need to be in case of traffic. Be aware, if the incoming train is running late, you may have to wait in your car in line (at least the driver does) until they open the gates after all the outgoing cars are unloaded.

Also, are you in coach or do you have a sleeper? The food in the sleeper for dinner is supposed to be better. We'll find out in Nov when we go again. The food served to coach passengers was good too.

If I were you, I would be there by noon-1 at the latest because the lines out from the gate can get long the closer you get to 2 and that way you give yourself plenty of cushion in case you hit traffic or something. There's also a whole thread on here about the autotrain. Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=402667

and see this too:http://www.wdwinfo.com/transportation/auto_train.htm

 

[lademps]

Hi bdcp,

we also live about 3 hours from Lorton, in Central Pennsylvania. We will be traveling the auto train in February. Are you familiar with the Comfort Inn that is located nearest the Auto Train Station in Lorton? Because weather can be questionable at that time of the year, I considered making a res at this hotel for the night before.

Are there any dining/vending facitilies at the station?

One more question:
you mentioned taking a sleeping accommodation for your next trip? In the past, have you ever sat on the "lower level" seating area...any thoughts?

Thank you for commenting on these questions. If anyone else has any comments to add, please do. I will also check out the website on this DIS.
Thanks again!

Lori

 

[madhouserobey]

took the autotrain last thanksgiving had family berdroom and the food was outstanding.ds8 did not want kid meal so they gave him turkey dinner with all the fixing ,dw had filet w/ crab and i had rost chicken in cream sauce . p.s. train left early i think by 3:45 or 4 as everyone plus cars were onboard.arrived in sanford at about 7:30 am an had to wait the in trian on the tracks because station doesn't open until 8am. taking train again at the end of oct and returning on train beginning of nov. can't wait

 

[jmurphy625]

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but what is the Autotrain?

 

[Henlady]

The AutoTrain is an Amtrak train that travels only between Lorton, VA and Sanford, Fl and vice versa. You arrive at either the Lorton or Sanford auto train terminal and they load your car onto the train and you are seated in either coach or rooms/roomettes (1st class) for your trip. There are no "stops" for the train - no one gets on or off except at Lorton or Sanford. The only stop is in the middle of the night at Florence SC for a crew change, but you stay on the train. The train leaves either terminal at about 4:00pm and is supposed to arrive at its destination at 8:30am the next morning. Sometimes the train is late arriving - anywhere from 15 minutes to 6 hours.
Your meals - supper & continental breakfast - are included in the fare as well as some snacks, coffee & tea. A movie is shown during the evening hours in the lounge car. We find the trip a relaxing start to our vacation. We just sit back and enjoy the scenery, we are not generally in a hurry to get anywhere.

Some people (like us) love traveling on the AutoTrain .
Some think it is the trip from hell .

 

[Ms.Mouse]

Do you find the Autotrain stays fairly on time???? Two years ago, we went with Amtrack because we never went anywhere by train and wanted the experience... Well, what a nightmare!!!!!!! From Hartford, CT to Washington, everything was ok BUT in Virginia the train was pulled over and we stayed on the tracks all night!!! The following morning, the train started again. We had breakfast but at lunchtime, they were able to serve a few people and then ran out of food... They said there was a fire on the food car and they left it in Washington!!! So, there were nuts and hard liquor!!! Not even juice or milk!!!! Needless to say, a good few people were drunk and becoming very verbal and using vulgar language and becoming pretty "active" in their upset over the delays. Then they kept pulling over so other trains could go by and we ended up at WDW about 13 hours past the time we were supposed to be there!!! AND THAT WAS ON THE WAY THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the way home, we called from WDW to ask if the train was running on time because we thought if the train was late, we would stay in Disney for a few more hours... They said they were on time... We went directly to the train station and found that the train was already 3 hours late.... Then 5, then 7 etc.... Well, 8 hours later, we board the train... The train smelled like a septic tank and the toilets were filthy!!! I told them it was unacceptable and a health hazzard since we had to travel from Florida to Washington on this filthy train... They didn't do anything about it until people started getting very verbal on the train and people were calling Amtrack from their cells... Then, at one of the station stops, they asked us all to get off the train and they cleaned it up. Of course, that set us back even more!!!! Horror story, or what????? I vowed never to go by that mode of travel again. We fly now but I'm TERRIFIED of air travel!!!

So, now that you heard my tangent about my Amtrack Nightmare.... How's the Autotrain for time (usually)??? How much more expensive is it to go by Autotrain than by regular Amtrack???

 

[papagooch]

Food near the auto train:
To the west of the Autotrain stop there is a small strip mall just past the Comfort Inn. It has a pizza place and I think a chinese place. To the east of the train stop there is a shopping center about a mile down with a grocery store. The road will approach from the rear of the shopping center and it will be on your right. There is a bar/restaurant in that center called Polos I think. Never eaten in there but I drive past it all the time. There is also a small gas station that is almost across from the train stop entrance with a convenience store. Hope this helps have a great time.

 

[bdcp]

I don't know anything about the hotels since we live so close to the station I've never stayed in them, but Lorton is a residential area and very safe. There is a store in the station, but they sell magazines, candy, convenience store type stuff. Once again, please read the links I posted above. THere is info about the surrounding areas at both stations on the first link. As for on time, it varies because Amtrak doesn't own the tracks, CSX does and they are shared by freight as well as passenger trains. It sounds like Ms. Mouse had an very unusual experience. My sister just took the regular Amtrak from MD to FL and back and they had a great experience and their kids loved it. We took the auto train last Nov and had upper level coach seats. The lower level was all snowbirds and handicapped on our trip to FL. Coming back there was no one in the lower level on our car. This trip we're in an roomette (also upper level). Just DH and I. Once again, read the links I sent. The first one is reviews and FAQ's. Pretty much everything asked here is answered there.

 

[jodifla]

Do you find the Autotrain stays fairly on time???? Two years ago, we went with Amtrack because we never went anywhere by train and wanted the experience... Well, what a nightmare!!!!!!! From Hartford, CT to Washington, everything was ok BUT in Virginia the train was pulled over and we stayed on the tracks all night!!! The following morning, the train started again. We had breakfast but at lunchtime, they were able to serve a few people and then ran out of food... They said there was a fire on the food car and they left it in Washington!!! So, there were nuts and hard liquor!!! Not even juice or milk!!!! Needless to say, a good few people were drunk and becoming very verbal and using vulgar language and becoming pretty "active" in their upset over the delays. Then they kept pulling over so other trains could go by and we ended up at WDW about 13 hours past the time we were supposed to be there!!! AND THAT WAS ON THE WAY THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the way home, we called from WDW to ask if the train was running on time because we thought if the train was late, we would stay in Disney for a few more hours... They said they were on time... We went directly to the train station and found that the train was already 3 hours late.... Then 5, then 7 etc.... Well, 8 hours later, we board the train... The train smelled like a septic tank and the toilets were filthy!!! I told them it was unacceptable and a health hazzard since we had to travel from Florida to Washington on this filthy train... They didn't do anything about it until people started getting very verbal on the train and people were calling Amtrack from their cells... Then, at one of the station stops, they asked us all to get off the train and they cleaned it up. Of course, that set us back even more!!!! Horror story, or what????? I vowed never to go by that mode of travel again. We fly now but I'm TERRIFIED of air travel!!!

So, now that you heard my tangent about my Amtrack Nightmare.... How's the Autotrain for time (usually)??? How much more expensive is it to go by Autotrain than by regular Amtrack???

My two Autotrain trips were right on time.

 

[Henlady]

Most of our trips were on time. Once it was about 2 hrs late and once about an hour late. No problem though.

 

[Ms.Mouse]

Most of our trips were on time. Once it was about 2 hrs late and once about an hour late. No problem though.

2 hours isn't really bad. Maybe there's a possibility we can go by autotrain next time and see how it goes.