Auto Train Tips

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 January 2009 08:21 Written by lorie Thursday, 22 January 2009 08:21

Last summer (July 2008) we traveled to Disney World in Orlando via the Auto Train from Lorton, Virginia.  You can read my review of the autotrain experience by clicking here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).

As you can see, I wasn’t very excited about our experience on the autotrain.  It now being seven months since our trip I can see that with a little planning and knowledge the trip could have been a better experience.

Here are some tips I’d recommend for anyone planning to take the Amtrak auto train to Orlando, Disney World.

1.  Bring a comfortable pillow and blanket — maybe a few pillows — they can always be stored in your car when you are finished with them.

2.  Wear very comfortable clothing — layered so that you can adjust according to the train temperature.

3.  Bring plenty of snacks, water, and whatever else you might enjoy for the long trip.

4.  Plan on being late in arriving at Disney World.

5.  Bring earplugs — or something that will shut out the noise of banging doors on the train and others who like to stay up through the night.

6.  Plan on tipping the staff in the dining car.

7.  Don’t expect much for the movie — bring your own portable dvd player and/or laptop to view movies.

Enjoy your trip … and if you haven’t already done so … request a Disney World Planning Trip DVD by clicking the banner.

Amtrak Auto Train Review, Part 2

Last Updated on Friday, 7 November 2008 06:43 Written by lorie Tuesday, 15 July 2008 10:41

(To read Part 1 of this AutoTrain Experience click here)

Auto Train from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida Experience, Part 2

Part 2 of this tale begins at about 9 p.m. when it’s basically time to settle down for the night. The kids were pretty tired and seemed to fall asleep within a few minutes — while my husband and I attempted to watch a movie on a video ipod. It’s just not the same watching a movie on a 2 inch screen — but it worked and I soon feel asleep.

However, about 90 minutes later I was awakened by a terrible smell. I honestly thought the toddlers in front of us had gone to the bathroom in their pjs. It was an awful smell. However, after a few minutes the smell lessen and I attempted to go back to sleep. The train however was rocking quite a bit. It’s definitely not a smooth ride. There were many times when I was just about ready to doze off when the train would take a severe rocking and jolt me awake. If the train wasn’t rocking then the boy scout troop in the train car behind us was charging through the cars towards the lounge car for snacks. Those boy scouts were up all night long. The lady in front of us with her two young children was also up all night long watching a video on her laptop computer which no matter which way I turned seem to shine directly in my direction. If she wasn’t watching a movie she was rummaging through her bags looking for something to eat. And that awful smell reoccurred on a regular basis throughout the night — we finally figured out it had something to do with the toilet waste management system — ickkkkkyyyyyy.

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. The seats themselves were not very comfortable. They are your ordinary airline type seating — not very soft or comfortable and they did not fully recline. There is more leg room than on an airplane — but that didn’t seem to help me fall asleep any easier. Each passenger is given a very small pillow and something they call a blanket — in my opinion, it is a very thin piece of fabric no thicker than a flannel sheet and approximately 36 inches square. It was obvious which passengers were ‘pros’ on the autotrain — they brought along they own pillows and blankets.

The train did make its scheduled stop at about midnight in South Carolina for refueling. However, many times during the night the train would slow down considerably — to what seemed like 25 miles per hour or so — or sometimes stop all together for a period of 10 to 15 minutes. I’m assuming this was times when the train was passing through a town with a non-working signal — for when the train conductor gave his morning announcement he said we were delayed by two hours and would not be arriving in Sanford, Florida until 10:30 a.m. because of signaling problems — what a disappointment!

Let me backtrack a bit … before the conductor’s wake-up announcement we had the boy scouts once again trooping through the train car to the breakfast car at 5:45 a.m. — breakfast started at 6 a.m. and I guess they wanted to be one of the first to eat…. LOL. After a while, since we were all up we decided to go to breakfast too. Unfortunately the dining car was full at that point and we had to wait 30 minutes to be seated for breakfast — which was a very basic continental breakfast of coffee, milk, juice, muffins and bagels. Not much to eat after a restless, long night — and a two-hour delay to look forward to.

As we were eating the conductor came on again to announce we were about to enter Jacksonville, Florida — this is about 7:00 a.m. and it really puzzled me why it was going to take an additional 3 1/2 hours to reach Sanford, Florida. We had lived in Jacksonville years ago and the trip from Jacksonville to Sanford was 2 hours at most by car.

After breakfast we went back to our seats and I figured I would try to sleep a little since we still had a few hours before arrival. However, within a few minutes we were told it was time to collect the pillows and blankets — and this was under threat of not being about to de-train unless all pillows and blankets were accounted for. Thus, we gave up our blankets and pillows. I watched as they collected the pillows and placed them back into each of the overhead compartments — and then took all the thin blankets and refolded them and placed them all in each overhead compartment. Now… I must say that realllllllly grosssssssssed me out — these blankets we had used to sleep in all night — perhaps coughed on, sneezed on … and who knows what else where NOT BEING WASHED before being used again by the next train passengers. YUCK YUCK and DOUBLE YUCK! I have five kids and I’m not easily grossed out like this … but this was just too much for me.

Okay … end of rant … just bring your own pillows and blankets if you decide to use the autotrain … lol

Finally, at 9:30 there’s the announcement that we are almost at the station — (not a 2 hour delay after all — only 1 hour delay) YEA. It took about 30 minutes from the time we pulled into the station until we were allowed to get off the train. At that point everyone enters the train station to await the calling of your number to claim your car. This is where I knew we might wait a long time. Thank goodness our van was the 3rd vehicle off the train!!!!! — we only had to wait about 20 minutes from the time of deboarding the train to getting in our car and continuing the last leg of the trip to Disney World.

We jumped in the car and didn’t even look to see if there was any damage (there wasn’t) and headed straight to I-4 to get to Disney. We pulled up at the Polynesian Resort at 11:45 a.m. — almost 24 hours from the time we had left our home to start out on this adventure. Twice the time it takes to drive by car to Disney from our home.

Conclusion: It takes us 12 to 13 hours to drive to Disney from our door to the Polynesian’s door. It took nearly TWICE that time to travel by train — and it wasn’t a very restful or pleasant experience. We’re glad we did it this one time — our 11 year old train-lover got his taste of what a train ride is all about and has definitely changed his career plans from train conductor to something else entirely.

If you are traveling with an odd number of people know that your seating arrangements may not be idea. Bring plenty of snacks from home for eating onboard unless you want to spend a lot of money on the snacks available in the lounge car. Be sure to bring entertainment for yourself in case you can’t sleep — and plenty of comfortable pillows and/or blankets.

I hope you enjoyed the review and if you are planning on taking the autotrain any time soon I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

We’re taking the Autotrain to Disney!

Last Updated on Monday, 14 July 2008 08:43 Written by lorie Tuesday, 3 June 2008 06:15

We’ve decided to take the autotrain to Disney. The train leaves from Lorton, VA each day at 4 p.m. and arrives in Florida the next morning at 8:30 a.m. Of course, this is actually a longer trip than driving …. but we’re doing this for several reasons … one of which is ‘the experience.’

You see, my 11 year old loves trains and has never been on a ‘real’ train ride. He has visited Thomas the Tank Engine when he was younger and taken that short little ride at the Baltimore Museum and also up in Strasburg, Pennsylvania — but never a really long train ride to actually travel from one place to another. For that matter, no one in our family has ever done that. So, we’re all looking forward to the adventure.

I’m also hoping it will be a bit less stressful trip without either my husband or I having to do that marathon drive at 3 a.m. in the morning. I never sleep well the night before our trip — I’m always worried something I may have forgotten to do for the trip, or that I won’t hear the alarm and oversleep — so even if we don’t get a good night’s sleep on the train I figure it’s a wash.

Cost wise, it is a little more expensive — however, with gas continually increasing that ‘extra cost’ is shrinking daily — also, they serve dinner and breakfast on the train and it’s included in the price — and we are saving the wear and tear on the car. When we drive we need to stop at least twice to eat, and the trip costs at least an ‘oil change’ for the car — so we’ll be saving that amount.

We’re definitely getting excited about this new adventure and can’t wait to blog about it once we’re back home!

Update:  We’re back from vacation and you can read all the exciting details about our auto train experience by clicking here.