Question about taking the auto train

[newmansjg]

We have book a Land/Sea vacation for the first week of July. I'm so excited to take our boys on this trip!! They are going to love being on the ship and can't wait to get back to The World.

I saw someone mention taking the auto train and just looked into it. Prices aren't bad so I may try to talk DH into it. Not sure if it will fly, but we'll see. My question would be if we would be able to leave our car at the resort (we are on land first) while we are on the cruise? Or would it be best to forego the transfer and just drive to the cruise terminal? How far is it from the resort to the terminal? The drive from the Amtrak station is less than an hour, and since the boys will be excited to get to Disney World, it will probably fly by.

 

[Enna]

It is less than an hour drive from WDW to the terminal. Parking at the terminal is secure, and costs $12/night of the cruise.

We did the auto train for our trip home last year. While I'm glad we had the experience once, I woulnd't want to do it again.

 

[Grandmax3]

We took the auto train to the cruise last November. We left the car parked at the port and it was great just walking over and getting to our car after the cruise. It is secured parking and the cost was just $12 aday payable in advance. It was a mad house with the people trying to find the right bus or car etc. we were on the road in about 5-10 mins.

 

[Stinasmom]

OK-- I am from the west coast and had no idea what the "auto train" was until I found this thread with pictures:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1077041&referrerid=&highlight=auto+train
I had never heard of driving your car onto a train, traveling the rails, then getting your car at the end of the journey!
We have ferries around Puget Sound that take your car, same idea I guess!

 

[ReggieB]

We have used the autotrain a couple of times when we have gone to WDW. We've used the port terminal parking twice also and we were really happy with it. Though DH is still complaining about the bird poop that got baked on in the heat!!

My family enjoys the autotrain, my DS6 is train mad. I hate flying, so this really works out better for us than driving. It takes about the same time for us. It's by no way five star accommodation, and the food is only okay, but the people are always super friendly. It' a little adventure in it's self! I expect to be using it again this year.

 

[disney1990]

Which cruise are you taking? We are taking the 3 day leaving on July 5th.

We have been riding the Auto Train since 1990 and have experienced few problems. It sure beatings driving back and forth to Florida. This trip, we are driving down (so we can visit Savannah, GA) and taking the Auto Train back. If you have any questions about the train, just ask.

 

[christinou]

We will be taking the autotrain on Thurday for our cruise this coming Saturday, we really enjoy taking it, the drive from Sanford to Disney World is about an hour, then and hour to the cruise terminal. I think that it is a lot easier to just drive yourself directly to the port and probably cheaper than transfer, the parking at the port is very safe and very close to the cruise terminal. My 2 kids love the train, and we just make it a part of the vacation, it certainly is not efficient time wise but a nice way to travel, and it sure beats driving.

 

[newmansjg]

Which cruise are you taking? We are taking the 3 day leaving on July 5th.

We are going on that same cruise. We are going to be at WDW from the 1st -5th, then taking that cruise. Is this your first cruise? It's our first Disney cruise, but DH and I have cruised in the past. I'm very excited, mostly for the boys (6 and 4) to experience it.

Thanks for the responses, everyone! I still need to work of DH wanting to go on the train. He's used it before and said it was not a good experience, but that could be the circumstances he was in (flight got cancelled and had to get to NYC for an important meeting the next day), so he was already in a bad mood.

 

[bmalonef45]

While I love trains and have given that gift to my son also, train travel in the US is at best marginal. It is a very relaxing way to travel and if the only other option is driving than it should be considered as almost equal. It all depends on your distance but if I am correct it seems you will be boarding near DC and traveling to FL. Which without looking at schedules will be the better part of at least a day on the train (probably more and thats each way). To me that seems like a lot of time to devote to transit. If you fly you could spend the extra time at WDW. If you really want to ride a train, they have a few of them both large and small!

Either way have fun and enjoy the cruise. We were able to rent a car the day we arrived. Return it in Cocoa Beach, go on our cruise and then rent a car for our return trip back to MCO for a lot less than it would have cost to use Disney Transfer. There were 4 of us and at 30.00 each both way it was going to cost over 200.00 to use their busses. If you are doing a Land and Sea package I think that may be included but not sure. We also looked at renting and then just parking the rental car at the port. But with the day cost of the car plus the cost of parking per day that also made no financial sense. It was nice to have the car for flexiblility. If you do rent I have heard bad stories about crowded shuttles on the day you get back.

Have fun and let us know what you decide. Would love to hear a trip report of the the Auto Train trip and cruise when you return.

 

[newmansjg]

Bryan,

If we do take the train, we would do an overnight trip. It leaves VA at 4:00 and gets to Sanford at 8:30. Then another hour's drive to WDW, and I figure we'd be there by 10:30 at the latest (after having to wait to get our car off the train).

The earliest we could get there flying would be noon, then have the ride to the resort, grabbing lunch (because our boys would be starving by then), throwing our luggage in the hotel and maybe hitting one of the parks for the afternoon. I thought if we could get there by 10:30, we'd have plenty of time to get to whichever park we'd like to visit that day.

 

[grlzmom]

Bryan,

If we do take the train, we would do an overnight trip. It leaves VA at 4:00 and gets to Sanford at 8:30. Then another hour's drive to WDW, and I figure we'd be there by 10:30 at the latest (after having to wait to get our car off the train).

The earliest we could get there flying would be noon, then have the ride to the resort, grabbing lunch (because our boys would be starving by then), throwing our luggage in the hotel and maybe hitting one of the parks for the afternoon. I thought if we could get there by 10:30, we'd have plenty of time to get to whichever park we'd like to visit that day.

We love the autotrain and took it when we lived on the east coast. My parents still use it for every Florida trip.

Just to give you a heads up though, the train is FREQUENTLY delayed in arriving and more often than not, we were NOT on the road by 10:30.

I dont think it ever got in (for us or my parents) at the scheduled 8:30 arrival.

Also, I highly recommend getting a sleeper car vs. riding in coach. It is worth the extra money.

My kids loved it and considered the whole adventure part of the vacation, not just a way of getting to the vacation.

 

[DisneyPoly]

We travel via the AutoTrain all the time, and have to agree with grlzmom that you cannot count on the arrival time. We have arrived as early as 7:00 a.m. and had to wait for the Amtrak employees to arrive at the Sanford station to disembark us, and as late as 3:30 p.m. On that trip, a family was traveling south to board the Disney Cruise and thought they would have plenty of time to arrive at the terminal. Needless to say, they were in a total panic as they more than likely were not going to make it in time. Amtrak did their best to unload them first, however they had to wait for their vehicle to be unloaded. This was a great example of arriving a day early to avoid stress, as you never know what can happen.

Enjoy traveling whichever way you choose

 

[Ct_TiggerFan]

We have used the Autotrain twice
It beats driving down all the way from Ct

Food is ok nothing to rave about but not terrible.

I would recommend arriving the day before as the arrival time is not always when planned.