No Movie on the AUTOTRAIN anymore?

[kandb]

We are taking the autotrain in Oct. When I called they said there is no movie car and you have to rent a digiplayer. I think they said it costs $23. Has anyone ever rented it? What kind of shows/movies are on it? Thanks for info. Is the train really cold in October from the A/C? We are going down in coach. Thanks, Linda

 

[Henlady]

When we were on the AutoTrain in early June they were still showing a movie in the evening. It is shown on the TV's in the Lounge Car. There is not a specific "movie car". They were also renting the Dig E Players. We'll be on the Auto Train on Friday Sept 15. I'll let you know when we get back about the movie situation.

 

[kandb]

Bump, bump

 

[QueenGoblin]

I'm interested in knowing too if anyone has ridden lately. We leave on Saturday. We have a portable DVD player and a laptop computer so we can play movies as long as we are near an outlet, but I was kind of hoping for the lounge car movie as a change of pace for DD.
I guess they are really pushing the digi-player rentals

 

[AshAlytwins]

Let us know about the movie...we always enjoy that. We head down the day after Turkey Day!!

 

[garydeb]

We rented the digiplayer in May and Loved it. It has a wide range of movies that you can see plus games. They will show you them in the Lobby of the Autotrain. If your battery goes dead the attendants can get you a new one also.... Have a great trip and the digiplayer we well worth it for us.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

The autotrain sounds so cool.....I wish we had one around here.

 

[jodifla]

The autotrain sounds so cool.....I wish we had one around here.

I took the autotrain in February, I drove from Michigan to the Autotrain. It's about 10 hours. Much better than driving the whole way to Florida.

 

[madhouserobey]

kandb when are you taking the autotrain in oct .we're taking it on the 26 of oct

 

[DisneyPoly]

I can confirm that there is NO MOVIE any longer shown on the Auto Train. We traveled 3 weeks ago and they have discontinued the movies. They offer the Digiplayer instead. The cost is $25 one way. It contains TV shows (Friends, Scrubs, Two and a Half Men, My Wife and Kids and the like) one episode each. It also offers full length movies for all ages. We enjoyed them and rented two each way. The battery should last the entire trip, however if the battery does run out, they will supply you with a new one (free of charge) on the train.

You can request an outlet seat prior to boarding when traveling with your own equipment.

Enjoy!

 

[bdcp]

We are taking the autotrain in Oct. When I called they said there is no movie car and you have to rent a digiplayer. I think they said it costs $23. Has anyone ever rented it? What kind of shows/movies are on it? Thanks for info. Is the train really cold in October from the A/C? We are going down in coach. Thanks, Linda

To answer your a/c question, we were in coach last Nov both ways and I never got cold. I did cover up with the beach towel I brought when I slept and I had on jeans, short sleeves and socks. We'll be going again this Nov and have a roomette both ways. We didn't watch the movie last time and we'll have my laptop with us and the roomettes have outlets. Our return trip last year was the week they launched the new digiplayers and trying to get us to rent one, but we had my dh's laptop with a couple of our own dvd's so we didn't. Something else I mentioned on another thread, there was a guy on our return trip last year with a small tv that he watched. Since you travel through/by lots of cities, the tv signals are pretty strong and he was able to watch the early evening news and a couple of shows. I think I'm going to bring my sony watchman with us.

 

[AshAlytwins]

Bummer no movie!! Quess i will help with the homework till the 16 hours pass and I am soon on Expedition Everest!!!

 

[wdwluver]

But it's an unusual situation. My DH snores - LOUDLY!!!

I'm so used to being annoyed by it I didn't give it much thought when everyone started going to sleep for the night.

Boy was the train quiet. Then DH started snoring. Passengers started groaning. One woman called a friend and held her phone up in the air so she could hear DH snoring.

By 3 a.m., DH wakes up and goes to the observation car. Everyone else was finally able to sleep.

I felt so embarrased I didn't move until the train stopped in Sanford and we unloaded.

 

[bdcp]

We had a girl behind us last year on the train who didn't shut up until her cell phone battery died. She was gossiping, cussing, talking loudly. Turning around and looking at her did no good. She wasn't gonna stop for anyone. Snoring I can handle as it's out of someone's control, but the constant loud conversation was just so rude. I think everyone on the train was happy when her battery died. The best thing about the train is you can get up and escape for a while to the lounge car if you feel like it. This is another reason we got a roomette this time.

 

[Henlady]

Just returned from our trip via the Auto Train. I am happy to report that YES, THERE IS still a movie shown in the lounge car of the Auto Train. On our trip from Lorton to Sanford on Friday 9/15-16 the movie shown was "Over the Hedge". On the trip from Sanford to Lorton on 9/20-21 the movie shown was "RV". Movie was shown twice during the evening in the lounge cars of both coach and "first class".

 

[bdcp]

How early/late were you? I checked several days last week and it was consistently 15-30 minutes early every day both directions. Coach or sleeper?

 

[Henlady]

On the Sept 15-16 trip we were in coach, lower level. We left about 20 minutes early and arrived about 20 minutes early. There were 3 other people assigned to the lower level seating which made 6 of us all together so we each got our "own" seat. Meals served were Meatloaf, Chicken Pomodora (chicken with a tomato sauce), Cod Fillet, Vegetarian Lasagna, and the special was Beef Shortribs. DD & I had the short ribs, they were pretty good. DH had the meatloaf, he said it was OK, but a little salty. There were 236 people on the train going south.

On the Sept 20-21 trip, we upgraded to 2 roomettes (3 of us). DH is MUCH happier in the rooms. The ride north was smoother than the ride south.
We left about 15 minutes early, but were delayed a little during the night due to a "broken rail" in North Carolina. We arrived in Lorton at about 9:15.
Meals served in first class were: NY Strip Steak, Roasted chicken, Salmon Filet, Chicken Marsala and Vegetable Lasagna. We all had the steak. For "train" food it was a pretty good steak.
Our car was the last car taken off the train (first time that has happened) and they gave DH a nice AutoTrain logo travel mug.
There were 148 people traveling north.
We have traveled both coach and first class in the past, but this time DH has declared its a room or nothing for future trips.

 

[bdcp]

As I have posted before we went coach last Nov and the food was pretty decent. We're in a roomette this Nov and I've heard the food is a little better. Obviously different choices as you said in your post. We didn't even attempt to go to the movie last time but I didn't think they would do away with it. It gives families something to do in the evenings.

 

[Henlady]

The other difference between coach and first class is that at the beginning of the trip in first class in the lounge car there is a selection of cheese, veggies and dip, wine tasting - they had 3 types available (all Virginia produced wines) as well as the normal snack mix and fruit. In coach you only have the snack mix and fruit. Wine is served at supper in both classes, but in first class we had a choice of a burgandy or a white , in coach you only had white wine available. The other difference is that in coach you are served on styro plates and plastic glasses. In first class both supper and breakfast is served on china and glass - not a biggie, but it is a nice difference. The food in both classes is pretty good with a nice variety available. Desserts were much the same - cheesecake, sugarfree jello, ice cream and a specialty dessert - going south it was an apple crumb pie and north it was Key lime pie.