Question on Night before Autotrain

[kaffinito]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of taking the Autotrain from Lorton VA for our August trip to WDW and was wondering if anyone knew a good place to spend the night there. We'd like to arrive the night before our train leaves, so we don't have to drive all night to make the train. Travelocity was no help, they just had $130.00+ hotels.

TIA!

Karen

 

[RustManFan]

There are some very affordable places in Alexandria and Arlington Virginia. We have taken the auto train 5 or 6 times and always stay over the night before....rather than risk traffic causing problems on the day.

We just looked up chains.

 

[kaffinito]

Thanks!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

We have stayed at the Comfort Inn in Lorton. It is on the opposite side of the highway then the Lorton station. Breaksfast is included in the rate. It was nice and only a few minutes to the station. If you already have your tickets in the amtrak folder on the auto train there is an add for them on the back of the folder. Enjoy your trip- we will be taking our 6th trip on the autotrain in Aug. We now travel straight there from CT- leave at 2 am arrive at 11 am. I do miss the hotel but it gives us more time at the world.
Any ?'s I would be happy at help

 

[kaffinito]

We have stayed at the Comfort Inn in Lorton. It is on the opposite side of the highway then the Lorton station. Breaksfast is included in the rate. It was nice and only a few minutes to the station. If you already have your tickets in the amtrak folder on the auto train there is an add for them on the back of the folder. Enjoy your trip- we will be taking our 6th trip on the autotrain in Aug. We now travel straight there from CT- leave at 2 am arrive at 11 am. I do miss the hotel but it gives us more time at the world.
Any ?'s I would be happy at help

Yep! And thanks! I'm considering it as a option since it would be a really nice way to get to WDW this August. Is the Family bedroom worth it or are the coach seats comfortable enough to sleep on?

I have two high functioning autistic kids, which is why I'm considering the bedroom, but I think they could both sleep on the seats. I'm just worried about them inconveniencing the other passengers.

Also, is it worth spending the night in Lorton or is it better to leave Michigan at 4:00 am to get to Lorton by 1:00 pm?

Thanks a bunch for the help!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

We have traveled previously in coach, roomette and deluxe bedroom. Have not had the family bed room yet. Coach is decent to sleep in - there is plenty of room to put up the foot rest and recline the seat- we bring a pillow and fleece blanket to keep comfy. The cars are generally grouped by family type. Seniors - singles- couples w/o children in seperate cars from families traveling w/ children. So you would most likely get into the families car. It is generally a noisy car till 9 pm when the lights go off-- there is floor lighting left on. We bring DVD player( with earphones - it is required and hand held video game units to keep the kids amused. Basically the train leaves by 4 pm- earlier if everyone is loaded. Dinner is at 5, 7 or 9pm. We usually get the 5 pm seating. I have the kids start to try to sleep by 8 pm the very latest (they have been up since 2 am w/ small naps here and there)Once the kids are asleep I usually watch a movie or read a book- dh usually sleeps since he has been driving since 2 am. We get up around 630 to see where the train is - if it is early or on time we get ready for breaksfast - if it is running late we usually hang out a bit before breaksfast. I like that there is always something going on that it breaks up sitting in one spot for so long The last 2 trips we arrived in Sanford before 9 am and were in WDW by 10 am. Both times our vehicle was unloaded as the 5th and 3rd vehicle-- which was nice. We also have been almost last which can take a while.

Dh works for amtrak so we go on as coach passengers and if there is space available we upgrade to the bedrooms. I would think getting a bedroom depends on your children. The coach cars are noisy to begin w/- well the family ones are. If you bring enough activities to keep them occupied you should be okay in coach. The bedrooms are nice but they are small too. I heard the family room bunks are small so it would depend on age and size of you children too. If we are upgraded to sleepers we end up w/ 2 of them. One year they put 4 of us in one that slept 2 DH would not complain-- it was our return trip home-- now we know to keep coach seats if needed. Another year they only had 1 sleeper avail so I gave it to DH and 2 ds- DD and I took the coach seats-- poor dd kept asking where the button was to have the man turn our seats into beds!! I told her we were in our invisiable room!!.

The trip for us should only take 6 hours but we leave by 2 am and arrive by 11 am. That includes a billon restroom stops and an hr for breaksfast in Maryland. We also leave so early so we don't hit NYC rush hour traffic. So far we have avoided any rush hour traffic. We also have a route around DC so we stay out of the loop. We do get in early-- we found a little plaza down the road that has a $ store and mcdonalds- We do a little shopping and then grab lunch and head over to get in line at the station. You would have to see where you would end up around rush hour and to add extra time for any construction/accident delays. The first time on the Autotrain I stayed at the comfort inn w/ my dm and it was nice- we were bored in the morning bc you had to check out early and we had to go find something to do till it was time to board. When we head to disney we prefer to get the extra day in at disney then spend it at a hotel.

We will be going down on Aug 5th and returning on the 13th. Last year the trains were sold out all summer.

I hoped this help answer your ?'s -- let me know if you have any others.

 

[kaffinito]

Perfect! I think we'll just leave early then and stay coach on the train. We won't need a family bedroom if they have lights out at a certain time. Also, since we'll be seated together I won't have to worry about the boys as much. Those bedrooms sound small!

You also answered my next question about when to book. I think I'll get on that right away so we can get our dates locked in. Thanks again for your help. I'm really looking forward to taking the train!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

If you have AAA-- they offer a discount too

Enjoy your trip

 

[ldo]

the lower level seats are the same $ as upper, but only about 16 seats in 1/3 of the train (vs. 100 seats in upper level). There is a door and then bathrooms are on the other side. You will have less people and a MUCH quieter car, plus easy access to bathrooms. Anyone can reserve LL seats, but mostly it is elderly, who want easy bathroom access without stairs, or prior autrotrain riders who knew to request lower level---we have traveled this way 3x with kids--have fun. Elaine

 

[Ms. Belle]

Lights are out at a certain time, but that doesn't stop people around you from talking and socializing. I've been in coach and had a bedroom and I prefer the bedroom, mainly because it's quiet. When we were in coach, the people around us never stopped talking and I barely got any sleep.

Just something to think about.

 

[kaffinito]

the lower level seats are the same $ as upper, but only about 16 seats in 1/3 of the train (vs. 100 seats in upper level). There is a door and then bathrooms are on the other side. You will have less people and a MUCH quieter car, plus easy access to bathrooms. Anyone can reserve LL seats, but mostly it is elderly, who want easy bathroom access without stairs, or prior autrotrain riders who knew to request lower level---we have traveled this way 3x with kids--have fun. Elaine

Good tip! I'll request lower level then.

Lights are out at a certain time, but that doesn't stop people around you from talking and socializing. I've been in coach and had a bedroom and I prefer the bedroom, mainly because it's quiet. When we were in coach, the people around us never stopped talking and I barely got any sleep.

Just something to think about.

I appreciate that. I was thinking of bringing my MP3 player with some classical music on it and some tunes or videos (and headphones) for the boys. I'm actually afraid that in the bedroom the boys will talk more and stay up later than they will in Coach. The oldest boy especially. If they are in Coach they will follow the rules -one of the benefits of autism.

 

[kmk160]

We too are booked on the AutoTrain in August and also traveling with two little ones, 3 and 6.
My question about coach is this....
I know the seats recline but if there is an armrest, does it go up?
Sounds like a silly question I know, but I want to be sure that my little one can lay on her seat and rest her legs or head on my lap.

Thanks a ton!

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

I can't remember if there is an arm rest -- but if there is it does fold up. DS has slept across 2 seats before. There is plenty of room to snuggle. I suggest to bring a pillow and fleece blanket from home to help going to sleep. When will you be on the train? We are going 8/5 to 8/13.
I'd be happy to help with any other ?'s you have

 

[kaffinito]

Well I have one more question too. I am assuming that a full sized pick up truck is counted as an oversized vehicle, is that correct?

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

I checked w/ DH -- he believes it is an oversize vehicle-- depends on length too. I think if you go to the amtrak website you can see the size options for vehicle. Also he say he doesn't think you can leave anything in the back of the pickup. sorry this isn't too helpful. He is now saying to call the 800 number and they can help you too.

 

[kaffinito]

Thanks - I'll do that. I want to make sure that my truck counts as oversized, since that's what I think it is. I think it's too big to count as a regular vehicle. I'm going to have to call anyway to request lower level coach.

I really appreciate all of your help - I'm really excited about taking the train halfway and think it will be a blast! (I love trains )

 

[LisaNJ25]

We too are booked on the AutoTrain in August and also traveling with two little ones, 3 and 6.
My question about coach is this....
I know the seats recline but if there is an armrest, does it go up?
Sounds like a silly question I know, but I want to be sure that my little one can lay on her seat and rest her legs or head on my lap.

Thanks a ton!

Yep, the arm rests go up. So does the foot rests. It helps if you have a little one who lays across your lap onto their seat.

We have done the auto train 2 times but last time we have had a major delay going and a canceled return trip. I am thinking about booking for this august but waiting for the kids go free promo.

 

[RustManFan]

We have used coach on every trip. Sometimes there were empty seats and we could spread out but often the cars were pretty full. Got lots of rest if not much actual sleep. Having my own pillow certainly helped!! Did it first time without and had to stop at WalMart and buy pillows and pillowcases before we headed to train and home.