Taking the Amtrak to Disney

[torinsmom]

We are planning to visit Disney in March. I have discovered that driving would be more costly than taking the Amtrak. Amtrak from NC to Kissimmee is $132, less if my sister uses her AAA card. Gas would likely be at least $170, plus I have a lease so miles are an issue. We will be staying at a hotel with a Shuttle, and take a taxi to and from the station--4-5 miles.

Has anyone taken the Amtrak to Disney? It is a night train, but I figure we will be so hyped, we wouldn't sleep anyway. We can run on Adrenaline the next day and get a good nights sleep after our first day at the parks.

Marsha

 

[thelionqueen]

Would like to know myself. How long is the trip by train?

 

[figment95]

My mom takes the train from Richmond to Orlando every year. She really likes it but she always books a bedroom. That adds a lot to the ticket price. The one thing I can tell you is that the train is always late. One time it was five hours late! That could put a serious dent in your travel plans. You can check on the Amtrak website for train status. You may want to keep an eye on it for a few weeks before you book if being late is going to stress you out.

 

[torinsmom]

The ride from Durham NC to Kissimmee is 13 hours. Not too much longer than driving. I'll keep the train times in mind and see how they are running.

Marsha

 

[torinsmom]

Sorry, double post........

Yeah, I am not booking a bedroom. The seats recline and we will be excited anyway. We'll take a nap that afternoon.

The trip from Raleigh NC to Kissimmee is 13 hours. I'll keep an eye on the timing before I book.

Marsha

 

[txgirl]

We are planning to visit Disney in March. I have discovered that driving would be more costly than taking the Amtrak. Amtrak from NC to Kissimmee is $132, less if my sister uses her AAA card. Gas would likely be at least $170, plus I have a lease so miles are an issue. We will be staying at a hotel with a Shuttle, and take a taxi to and from the station--4-5 miles.

Has anyone taken the Amtrak to Disney? It is a night train, but I figure we will be so hyped, we wouldn't sleep anyway. We can run on Adrenaline the next day and get a good nights sleep after our first day at the parks.

Marsha

Wouldn't you split the gas cost for driving, making the cost more like $85 per person?

 

[torinsmom]

No, its just me and my 11 DS, and I'm not making him pay, LOL. My sister is just getting the tickets for us using her AAA card. Besides, the driving part would make me need a whole days rest to recover and the wear and tear on my car(and my nerves) would make it much less appealing than sitting, watching a DVD, and reading.

Marsha

 

[DVCajun]

Is Amtrac $130 a person? Because you can get air fare from Raleigh to Orlando for less than $100 a person if you keep an eye on it. We got fares for $89 a person in October from Raleigh. 13 hours is a loooooong time!

 

[cuterlt]

I took Amtrak from NM to DisneyLAND, so the other way, back in December. We really enjoyed it. We took coach on the way, and had a roomette on the way back. Personally I liked coach a lot better than a roomette. The roommette was tiny and I had an easier time sleeping on the upper level of the train than on the lower level in a roomette.
Our train trip was about 16 hours long.
One thing you should do if you can is bring snacks or food along. It's allowed. We took a cooler for sodas and chips and other snacks, and ate a good meal before we left. Food on the train is more expensive than food at disney. and you have very limited options.
We also found codes online and were able to get our tickets extremely cheap. I found a deal for buy one get one free so for both of us it was $116 both ways (not including the roomette). If you PM me, I can PM you codes to help out with the price.
If you have any other questions, let me know. I did a great deal of research before I went so can hopefully help.
Have a great trip! Enjoy!

 

[nbodyhome]

I took Amtrak this past year to DC (from Orlando). I used to love Amtrak - and it just depends on the ride, the way there was terrible (including being smelly) - the way back, much better. If they keep the compartments clean, and you don't have too many loud people or drunks, they are okay (if they get there in time!) There was a cabin attendant who was awesome on the way back - told people to be not as loud, cleaning, keeping everything in order.

I don't like to fly, but the last Amtrak trip has sent me back to airplanes - possibly for good. Europe trains are SO much nicer!

Denise

 

[Antonia]

People were stuck on the Amtrak for 20 hours!!!!!!!!!!! coming back from Orlando last week. At first they were stuck near for 6 hours and then theywere stuck for 14 more hours out in the middle of nowhere due to a freight train derailing. The story was in the news. The passengers were nearly crazy.

 

[torinsmom]

No, it was $132 for the both of us---kids ride free.

I don't care for flying if I can avoid it. I had brain surgery back in 2003, and since then I get majorly airsick. And by the time you get to the airport early and flights are delayed, claim your baggage and get out of the airport, I don't feel like I've saved much time at all.

Marsha

 

[DVCajun]

Amtrak.com says kids 2-15 are half-price. Do you have a different deal? I might consider it if kids were free.

 

[CarolynNC]

No, its just me and my 11 DS, and I'm not making him pay, LOL. My sister is just getting the tickets for us using her AAA card. Besides, the driving part would make me need a whole days rest to recover and the wear and tear on my car(and my nerves) would make it much less appealing than sitting, watching a DVD, and reading.

Marsha

I've taken Amtrak from Durham to Kissimmee several times. My son's dad refused to let him fly when he was younger. My son was crazy about trains so we opted for the train over driving. I've also driven numerous times and the drive just wears me out. I'm not good for much of anything once I arrive and the return drive is even worse. Although the train trip can be long it sure beat driving every time. I only had one delay out of the four trips I've taken and that was only several hours due to a freak snowstorm in NC. You just never know so you need to be prepared for the trip. It's great that most of the travel is overnight. We never had much trouble sleeping in coach. We wore loose, comfortable clothes, packed a large flannel sheet to use for cover, brought pillows, and I brought an eye shade to block out light. I did feel a bit like a pack horse since I carried a softsided cooler, snacks, laptop for dvds, books on tape, my son's gameboy...you know all the essentials of traveling with a young son. Thankfully now my son is old enough to decide for himself. Southwest fares out of RDU beat train fare most times and my time is worth any difference. Let me know if you need further details.

 

[torinsmom]

Oh, my bad, kids are 1/2 price. For just me, It was 88, for both 132. Still a good deal though and I think it was 116 with AAA discount.

Carolyn--

Sounds like you had a good experience. Can you tell me if the trains have electric outlets? I am just curious--you know, the DVD battery is like 2 hours or something, so electric would be nice. I plan to bring snacks and drinks with us now that I know its allowed.

Marsha

 

[CarolynNC]

Carolyn--

Sounds like you had a good experience. Can you tell me if the trains have electric outlets? I am just curious--you know, the DVD battery is like 2 hours or something, so electric would be nice. I plan to bring snacks and drinks with us now that I know its allowed.

Marsha

You know, I don't remember about the electrical plug. My laptop has a long life battery so I don't think I plugged it in at our seat location. I do remember one trip where my son and his friend spent time in a lounge car (I think that's what it's called) and plugged the laptop into an outlet. One of my favorite things to do is listen to books on tape. The library has lots that appeal to all ages. If I remember correctly we took Harry Potter with us one trip. He was a delightful companion.

I'm the type who will make the best of the situation. There isn't anything I can do if I hit a delay so I make the best of it. Whining and complaining never improved the trip for my son (and his friend when he traveled along). As I said I would rather fly but sometimes that's not the option available. You just have to look at the trip as another of life's great adventures. It might be a small hardship but the end result is so worth the trip. I'm sorry you have problems flying. Since Southwest came to RDU I'm almost always able to get $39/$49 one way fares to MCO. With such good fares and quick flights we're able to make more trips to WDW and US/IOA.

 

[cuterlt]

There were no outlets in our coach car. I did see someone using an outlet in the lounge car for his laptop. Actually, he was there every time we went by, the whole trip, plugged into the outlet. And had to stand to use it. So I wouldn't rely on being able to have an outlet.
Make sure you do take headphones. On our trip that was overnight, almost everyone in our car was sleeping.

 

[nbodyhome]

There were outlets in the coach car I was in in July - one per row, it seems.

Denise

 

[maggiew]

Me and my 2 girls took the Amtrak from Chicago to Kissimmee a couple summers ago. I got a super cheap deal - less than $200 for the 3 of us. I believe it was kids ride free at that time. The trip was parts of 3 days and 2 overnights. We had the time (I am a teacher and had the summer off.) and the price was right, so we took advantage.

I would do it again if the price was right and I had the time. I might consider stopping overnight in Washington DC to see some sites and get a good nights sleep! But since your trip is just overnight, personally I would do it. My kids slept all night long and well into the morning. I slept well on the nights I didn't have anyone sitting next to me. The other couple nights were a bit restless.

There was one set of plugs in the train car I was in. They seemed to be in the middle seats of each car. There are also plugs in the sightseeing car. If you can manage to get a seat in the row with a plug, I would try for that.

If you have any other questions, just ask and I will try to remember if I can.

Maggie

 

[CarolynNC]

Make sure you do take headphones. On our trip that was overnight, almost everyone in our car was sleeping.

Not only will those headphones keep you from disturbing others, they're great for blocking out noise when you're trying to sleep. Of course I remember one trip when we were watching a disney movie and there were a bunch of kids behind us. We ended up switching a bunch of people around and setting up the laptop so most of the kids could watch. This was the next morning. I think our train was scheduled to get in around noon. It certainly kept them all occupied during the last leg of the journey.