Update: Thanks everyone but we're taking the train! UPDATED: I'm back!

[jlmarr]

I'm Back!
...
But the cons far outway the pros. Live and learn.

Not pretty, but thanks for the detailed report. I'm sure many learned from that.

 

[beattyfamily]

Not pretty, but thanks for the detailed report. I'm sure many learned from that.

The clientele is the reason we'll never take the train again! Some people love, some hate it! I'm the latter.

I glad I could help.

I am comparing it to flying. I've never driven so I can't compare it to that. It may very well be better than driving.

I just wanted to give my honest opinion. I do not regret it but I doubt I'd do it again. But we had a great week at Disney so all is good.

 

[dejr_8]

I'm Back!

I came back late Saturday night and was busy with things yesterday.

Hmmm....where do I begin?

Ok, how about this: I believe I would never take the train again. I'm not sure I would even if it meant it was the only way I could go to Disney again!

Now 'maybe', just maybe I would do it again if I could book a Roomette or a bedroom but then I believe the cost would make it not worthwhile and I might as well fly. BUT if I could get an amazing deal on a room, I'd consider it again.

Why didn't we like it?

First, its LONG. It's 24 hrs sitting upright. Maybe if it were only 6 hours or less it wouldn't have been so bad or like I said if we booked a room....
Second, we were a party of 3 so my kids sat together but I sat alone. Going down I was lucky and had no neighbor but coming home, I wasn't so lucky and I had 2 different neighbors; one for 3 hours and one for about 15 hours and at first I wasn't even next to my kids but with persistance, we were finally next to each other after about 3 hours! I had a neighbor through the night and only sat alone for the last 4 hours. Not fun. And my second neighbor should have bought 2 tickets if you know what I mean. I was squished the whole time with her touching me the whole time. But at least I had an aisle seat or it would have been MUCH worse.
Third, you could hear everything. Every snore, every fart and every whining or crying kid. On the way down we had a child in front of us that was either whining or crying the WHOLE way. If he was sleeping, he was snoring. Luckily on the way home, we had well behaved kids around us. We even had a baby that didn't cry once in the 10 hours we rode with him.
Fourth, it was FREEZING both ways. Luckily on the way home we each had a blanket. Going down I had one for my girls to share which just wasn't enough. It really was FREEZING. We were shivering.
Fifth, coming home, overnight after 'trying' to sleep, I woke up with four big bites on my neck/upper back.
Sixth, the bathrooms were GROSS. Kind of like a port-o-potty. They got more gross as the trip went on. People were slobs about it too. Some people came prepared with wet wipes and even lysol spray.
Seventh, you could smell everything everyone was eating and sometimes it just reeked!

Lastly, the clientele just wasn't quite the same as flying. Enough said.

Pros? Well, it was cheaper than flying.
A pro to driving? I didn't have to drive, I could go to the bathroom any time I wanted, I didn't have to stop for breaks or rest.
But the cons far outway the pros. Live and learn.

I'll answer any questions I can.

I see you had the "full" train experience. It's a shame because I like taking the train but the service needs a considerable upgrade.

And yes it is a completely different experience when you have a sleeper. If you book very early, the charge for a sleeper is less but it is still more expensive than flying.

 

[cathyce2]

I haven't taken the train since 2001 and it sounds like nothing has changed so I won't be taking it anytime soon. Thanks for the info

 

[Robinrs]

I'm at work and in HYSTERICS!! Thanks for reminding me why I haven't taken the train since 1986!!

I went to Tennessee from NY with my sister who never flies. I didn't mind going down but coming BACK!!!!

I was fine until we stopped at some podunk town and on comes the ENTIRE POPULATION!!!!! 7 or 8 adults and at least a MILLION kids... okay, maybe not a million, 10 thousand or so...

The kids sort of found the sleeping lady fascinating because they decided to stare at me. Over their chairs, in the aisle...... GO AWAY!!!!!

So stupid me I start talking to them. I heard about their relative who is marrying a "city" guy from Noo York Ceety and how they're gonna ride in a LEEM-O-ZINE for hours and hours and hours.

From now on I fly or

 

[beattyfamily]

I see you had the "full" train experience. It's a shame because I like taking the train but the service needs a considerable upgrade.

And yes it is a completely different experience when you have a sleeper. If you book very early, the charge for a sleeper is less but it is still more expensive than flying.

That's what I figured but I only took the train because airfare was so high so unless I can get a sleeper for a great price, I'll either be flying or driving down.

More than likely, I'll be flying next time!

 

[disneystacy]

We are taking the train from Cary, NC to Disney but we have a sleeper car. Soooo glad we decided to upgrade to the sleeper. We booked early enough out that it was actually cheaper than flying.

 

[dejr_8]

We are taking the train from Cary, NC to Disney but we have a sleeper car. Soooo glad we decided to upgrade to the sleeper. We booked early enough out that it was actually cheaper than flying.

We did that once. You get on in Cary and the next stop is Raleigh. You have to get off that train and wait for the next one to show up - which is probably running a few hours last. I would suggest just getting on at the Raleigh station.

 

[beattyfamily]

We are taking the train from Cary, NC to Disney but we have a sleeper car. Soooo glad we decided to upgrade to the sleeper. We booked early enough out that it was actually cheaper than flying.

Then you'll be fine. You have a sleeper and you are going half the distance I did! Just bring a blanet and some wet wipes for the bathroom (unless you have the room with the tiny toilet in it!) and you'll be fine.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

We did that once. You get on in Cary and the next stop is Raleigh. You have to get off that train and wait for the next one to show up - which is probably running a few hours last. I would suggest just getting on at the Raleigh station.

I've gone out of Cary twice and did not go to Raleigh. The last two years we went the train hits Cary on the way OUT of Raleigh. Cary is South of Raleigh, so the train leaves Raleigh and goes through Cary on the way to Orlando.

 

[luv2sew]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience...I wanted to post when you were planning but just felt if I told you all that you wouldn't believe me and I would get the old DIS boards blasting that I was making it up and it was a wonderful way to go.

Yep, you had the exact same experience that we had on the train. Except we were a family of 4 so we had seats across from each other and filled both. But my DH hated the snoring and "stuff" and coming home on our trip some kids kept screaming for a candy bar and the entire trip the mom kept screaming back "No, your not getting a candy bar"....if I had a candy bar I would have thrown it back to shut the kids up, seriously parents really need to understand when to pick the battles and on a train car full of people that is not the time or place...just give the kid a candy bar OK.

Some of what you said about the smells and the squishing of bodies I think fits also to flying but the fact that it is a shorter trip helps in that respect.

We have driven a bunch of times to Disney from about 50 miles north of Philadelphia.....I really enjoy the trip driving...I like to stop when I want, eat where i want and it's a great excuse to add extra days to your vacation. Some in my family does not share that excitement.

Hope your time in Disney was much better and chalk it up as a fantastic life experience.

 

[dejr_8]

I've gone out of Cary twice and did not go to Raleigh. The last two years we went the train hits Cary on the way OUT of Raleigh. Cary is South of Raleigh, so the train leaves Raleigh and goes through Cary on the way to Orlando.

That's interesting. The time we got on at Cary it was the train from Charlotte. We then had to wait at Raleigh for the train to Orlando.
The Cary Station is SO much nicer than Raleigh.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

That's interesting. The time we got on at Cary it was the train from Charlotte. We then had to wait at Raleigh for the train to Orlando.
The Cary Station is SO much nicer than Raleigh.

From Charlotte it might be different. Do you stop at Cary on the way to Raleigh as well as out of? The train leaves out of Raleigh to Orlando and stops in Cary about 9:20. So either way you would have to wait. So you could choose to wait in Cary, even though there is more to walk to in Raleigh. We come from Greensboro, so it's only about an hour to Cary. We could take the train from Greensboro but we would have to wait all day and afternoon for the 920 train. So we just drive to Cary and leave our car there. I mean, it's free parking and the Cary crime rate is sooooooo low! Not a lot of hoodlums in Cary, know what I mean?

 

[dejr_8]

From Charlotte it might be different. Do you stop at Cary on the way to Raleigh as well as out of? The train leaves out of Raleigh to Orlando and stops in Cary about 9:20. So either way you would have to wait. So you could choose to wait in Cary, even though there is more to walk to in Raleigh. We come from Greensboro, so it's only about an hour to Cary. We could take the train from Greensboro but we would have to wait all day and afternoon for the 920 train. So we just drive to Cary and leave our car there. I mean, it's free parking and the Cary crime rate is sooooooo low! Not a lot of hoodlums in Cary, know what I mean?

This was 6 years ago. The train to Orlando did not stop in Cary. I didn't want to drive to or park in Raleigh.

So my option was to park at Cary get on the train that runs between Charlotte and Raleigh and then wait at the Raleigh station for the train to Orlando.

I was freaking out because the train from Charlotte was running late (about 90 minutes). I was worried that we would miss the train to Orlando. Well we finally get to Raleigh and the train to Orlando was running 3 hours later. We only got on the train to Orlando around midnight.

 

[DawnCt1]

I'm Back!

I came back late Saturday night and was busy with things yesterday.

Hmmm....where do I begin?

Ok, how about this: I believe I would never take the train again. I'm not sure I would even if it meant it was the only way I could go to Disney again!

Now 'maybe', just maybe I would do it again if I could book a Roomette or a bedroom but then I believe the cost would make it not worthwhile and I might as well fly. BUT if I could get an amazing deal on a room, I'd consider it again.

Why didn't we like it?

First, its LONG. It's 24 hrs sitting upright. Maybe if it were only 6 hours or less it wouldn't have been so bad or like I said if we booked a room....
Second, we were a party of 3 so my kids sat together but I sat alone. Going down I was lucky and had no neighbor but coming home, I wasn't so lucky and I had 2 different neighbors; one for 3 hours and one for about 15 hours and at first I wasn't even next to my kids but with persistance, we were finally next to each other after about 3 hours! I had a neighbor through the night and only sat alone for the last 4 hours. Not fun. And my second neighbor should have bought 2 tickets if you know what I mean. I was squished the whole time with her touching me the whole time. But at least I had an aisle seat or it would have been MUCH worse.
Third, you could hear everything. Every snore, every fart and every whining or crying kid. On the way down we had a child in front of us that was either whining or crying the WHOLE way. If he was sleeping, he was snoring. Luckily on the way home, we had well behaved kids around us. We even had a baby that didn't cry once in the 10 hours we rode with him.
Fourth, it was FREEZING both ways. Luckily on the way home we each had a blanket. Going down I had one for my girls to share which just wasn't enough. It really was FREEZING. We were shivering.
Fifth, coming home, overnight after 'trying' to sleep, I woke up with four big bites on my neck/upper back.
Sixth, the bathrooms were GROSS. Kind of like a port-o-potty. They got more gross as the trip went on. People were slobs about it too. Some people came prepared with wet wipes and even lysol spray.
Seventh, you could smell everything everyone was eating and sometimes it just reeked!

Lastly, the clientele just wasn't quite the same as flying. Enough said.

Pros? Well, it was cheaper than flying.
A pro to driving? I didn't have to drive, I could go to the bathroom any time I wanted, I didn't have to stop for breaks or rest.
But the cons far outway the pros. Live and learn.

I'll answer any questions I can.

This is the first time I saw this thread but years ago I considered the train and went onto Prodigy's Disney board and asked. Some people had been on the autotrain out of DC. Others took the "regular train". One thread ran through at least half of the descriptions; It was the "train from hell". Crying kids, crowded, ran out of food, overflowing toilets, problems with the temperature, etc, etc. That was enough for me. I decided that I too would rather stay home because if you don't like the trip down, you sure as heck are going to HATE the trip back. I wished I saw this thread before you made your plans, not that it would have changed your mind but it was another opinion and one I am sticking with based on your own experiences.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

This was 6 years ago. The train to Orlando did not stop in Cary. I didn't want to drive to or park in Raleigh.

So my option was to park at Cary get on the train that runs between Charlotte and Raleigh and then wait at the Raleigh station for the train to Orlando.

I was freaking out because the train from Charlotte was running late (about 90 minutes). I was worried that we would miss the train to Orlando. Well we finally get to Raleigh and the train to Orlando was running 3 hours later. We only got on the train to Orlando around midnight.

OH MY! Well if you decide to go again by train check to see if the line from CHA to Raleigh stops in Cary. Or drive to Cary. We normally have dinner somewhere in town and then head to the station!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We are always toying around with different ideas for trips. We've thought about driving (MA to FL) and have many friends that do it, but it just seems so long, especially on the way home when we're tired. But we really like the idea of having our own car with us, it's like our little Home Away From Home, lol.

Just for the heck of it I priced up the Auto Train (VA to FL) which I would not do without a sleep area. For our family of 4 to take the Auto Train with an Oversized Vehicle and to get a family sleep room for 4 (with bathroom "nearby", ha!), round trip it would be about $1300-1400 (forget exact amount). We would board at 4pm (hopefully) and arrive at 9:30am the next day, ie 15 1/2 hrs. And we'd still have a 500 mile/9 hr trip from MA to VA. For just the trip home it would be about $600-700. It seems to make more sense to just get a hotel room somewhere along the route down and/or home to break up the ride. (Especially hearing these reports of the riff raff on the train! Or as someone mentioned upthread, unless you want to consider the train ride part of the "adventure". )

Thanks for the report, beattyfamily! It'd been a while since I considered Amtrack - priced it up once before. Guess I'll keep looking!

 

[dejr_8]

OH MY! Well if you decide to go again by train check to see if the line from CHA to Raleigh stops in Cary. Or drive to Cary. We normally have dinner somewhere in town and then head to the station!

The last 3 times we took the train we went out of raleigh.