Amtrak to The Happiest Place On Earth.

[RRMike]

Hi all. I take Amtrak from Connecticut to WDW every year. does anybody else here do this, and how were your experiences? Mine have been good so far,and I prefer to travel this way.

[Disney05]

I've often wondered about the train. Do you have any details?

[Capt Bily]

Hi all. I take Amtrak from Connecticut to WDW every year. does anybody else here do this, and how were your experiences? Mine have been good so far,and I prefer to travel this way.

Do you take your car with you?

[RRMike]

I take Amtrak's Silver service ouy of New York Penn Station in the morming. To Orlando. I use a car service to go grocery shopping and get to my resort. I get a viewliner roomette. Its a small room that sleeps two people.Larger room are avalible. It has its own toilet and sink. Its a little small but for me its just fine. Meals are included and are quite good. it takes about 23 hours and I'm usuly at EPCOT around 1 p.m. the next day. I use the time on the train to relax, read and walk to the lounge car for a beer or glass of wine ,and socialize with other passengers. The cost is about the same as a first class plane ticket to Orlando. I have never taken the Auto train. If I was staying for a long period I would consider it. The Auto train Runs From Lorton V.A. to Sanford F. L. There is no way to get your car from the New York area to F.L. by Amtrak other than driving to Lorton.

[M5ward]

We've taken the Auto Train down a couple of times. It's a fun trip (especially for the flying impaired). The biggest problem is that we have to drive something over four hours to get to Lortan, VA, to get the train. The first year we did it, we had to drive in a blizzard and stay overnight in Lortan because we were afraid it would be worse the next day. We got a roomette too which was hysterical during the night when DH (who was in the top bed) had to go to the bathroom. We fly down now (though neither of us likes flying) because it just takes less time....and my doctor prescribes Xanax.

[M5ward]

Oh...the last time we went down by train, I took my laptop and we watched movies in our roomette. We took our car both times and it is pretty expensive. It costs us less to fly.

[RRMike]

I was Thinking of taking a portable DVD player. But I like to look at the scenery. I got a chuckle about the top berth. I call that Roomette Acrobatics. Thanks for the input on the Auto Train. I think the drive from Connecticut to Lorton would be the worst part for me.You can get a rental car at the Orlando Train station. It is one of the few stations that offer this.

[ohiodisneydad]

My wife's friend and her husband do the auto train and they love it. They are retired and travel alone so they drive over to VA from OH then AMTRAK on to WDW. They swear by it. I priced it for the five of us plus our SUV and it was outrageous.

[J&J]

do you know if you can take your dog with you on the train. if you get a room can they stay with you? I have a very quiet friendly one.

[Park Hopper Dad]

WE took Amtrak to Washington,DC in 2006.My wife didn't mind it,and my two girls loved it.But I hated it!That was the longest 14 hours I have ever spent.I rode the same route in1971 when I went to DC with my school;but I was 12 yrs old then,and with a bunch of kids,and when we all fell asleep,we were out until morning.But I'll never do the train again as an adult.Especially if we can't get private sleepers.From the noise to people talking on their cell phones all night,to coughing,to snoring,to going up and down the aisle all night,I don't know how long it took me to finally fall a sleep.
We went to DC from Atlanta,and maybe it's that particular route;and the type of people that take that route.Looked like a lot of lower income people,a lot of low educated people.Get my drift?I don't have anything against anybody at all,I am a Christian and I treat everybody equal.But on this train to DC and back,was people that just didn't care how they inconvienenced others at all.It's a shame that this world is full of so many people that just don't care about others.
I saw some huge trains at Union Station in DC that I know had those private sleepers.But the Atlanta to DC route,has trains with one car for sleepers and they were all booked before the train got into Atlanta.Plus the price was going to be over $1600.00 for four of us round trip for private sleepers.Too Much!
I'd love to do a train trip somewhere else in the U.S. instead of the route we did.

[RRMike]

Park hopper Dad. I'm sorry you had such a bad trip. I have heard similar storries about riding coach class. I was going to do this on a recent trip and was takked out of it be a experienced Amtrak traveler. I always take a sleeper. I've seen families in the bedrooms that sleep four. I didn't price that out.

[RRMike]

do you know if you can take your dog with you on the train. if you get a room can they stay with you? I have a very quiet friendly one.

You can not bring your pet dog. You can bring a service anminal on, and make arrangements to walk it with the train crew. see Amtrak's policy under( Persons with disabilities and special needs) regarding this.

[Park Hopper Dad]

Park hopper Dad. I'm sorry you had such a bad trip. I have heard similar storries about riding coach class. I was going to do this on a recent trip and was takked out of it be a experienced Amtrak traveler. I always take a sleeper. I've seen families in the bedrooms that sleep four. I didn't price that out.

Thanks Mike for your nice reply.I'll bet there are a lot better routes to ride a train on than the Atlanta to DC route.It has to be probably one of the worst routes going.Scenery is horrible,except when pulling into DC.Too many stops also and pullovers letting other trains go by on the same track.Is that safe?There again,the type of people that travel that route.if I EVER take a train again,I'll get private sleepers or not us the train at all.

[RRMike]

Hello. I come to you from Club Acela at New York Penn Station. When you purchase a sleeper for your trip to Orlando you get first class priviladges. The waiting area is quiet and comfortable. There is a business center with computers, Internet, coppiers, and fax machines. Complementry pasteries and coffie. The area is non smoking. The bathrooms are clean.There are comfortable chairs and televisions. Now I'm off to WDW.

[RRMike]

Hello. I returned a few weeks ago from my recent Amtrak trip to WDW. The trip down was great. We lost about a half hour going around a stalled freight train in V.A. And we were never able to make it up. We were 25 minutes late into Orlando. Not bad for 1050 miles. The food was good but the menu is a little limited for the dining car. the chefs specials were great. I met alot of people going to WDW and had the pleasure of running into a very nice couple I met on the train at EPCOT and Anminal Kingdom. The trip home was interesting. Amtrak now puts their sleeper cars at the back of the train. It is much quietier and alot less diesel smell. I slept alot better in my Roomette with this arangement. I hope they keep it this way. We had a great trip at WDW and were very sad about leaving, and I had pressing issue at home so the trip seemed longer than normal. I'm looking foward to doing this trip again. I'm thinking of doing part of the return leg of my next trip in coach to save some money. I met alot nice people in coach class and they said they were happy with their travels from Flordia to New York. Though I did notice alot of sleepy and tired looking coach passengers in the lounge car. I may do a half day trip to Montreal to see how I handle this.