Autotrain Question

Hi,

I'm in the Pennsylvania area also and we took Amtrak (not the autotrain) down to Orlando in 2003. Very bad trip, I hate to say. We only had coach seats so we had to sleep in them which we thought wouldn't be so bad, but it is because there is so much noise all night long. This might not be too bad if you have a sleeper car (which is more expensive). After 24 hours of rail travel noise we were practically hurling ourselves off the train when it pulled into the Orlando Train station! Coming home our train arriving in Orlando was 5, yes 5 hours late from Miami! Suffice it to say, we would not recommend this way of travel again to anyone. Yes its cheaper than flying, but not worth it for us. Also, the bathrooms are totally repulsive.

Sorry for the negativity. At least our trip to WDW that year was fantastic

Hope this helps.

:wave:

We're not too far from you in South Jersey. I've done the Auto-Train out of Lorton and the regular AMTRAK our of 30th Street Station. We got "deluxe" rooms each time for the 3 of us.

I will probably not do it again. If I remember correctly (and you can check their schedules to get a much better time), the regular Amtrak leaves 30th street station around 2:00 am and arrives around 11:00 am in Orlando.

The Auto Train leaves Lorton around 4:00 pm and arrives around 9:00 am in Sanford.

The Auto train is an "Expres" (though it does stop) so the actual travel time is a little less, but you have to get down to the station (I think they tell you by 2:30), so that takes some time.

So for me to take the Amtrak out of 30th street, I have to leave my house around Noon, and by the time I've gotten a taxi or rental car out of the Orlando station, I arrive about noon the next day.

For the Auto- Train, we would have to leave about 10:00 am to make sure we'll make it through Washington traffic and be comfortable that we'll be to the station in time to load our car. Count on another couple hours in Sanford for unloading plus a half hour drive from there, and you're arriving around 11:30 the next day.

It takes me about 14-15 hours to drive the whole way, so if I start driving at noon and drive until, say 10 pm, I'm only five hours away. If I start driving by 6:00 the next morning, I'm there by 11:00, so my trip is shorter than either train. Plus, my hotel room is much nicer, I can eat whatever I want and sleep much better than I can on the train.

I prefer to drive, but if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer.

I lived in Philly for a couple years. I have never taken the train from Philly to Orlando (I get a little impatient and don't like to sit for long periods of time), but we did fly a couple times. I find if you watch the flights on Southwest you can get really good deals. I know I have gone before at $49 one way. The downfall is that you have to check the website often and when a good deal comes up you need to book it right away because there are only a certain number of seats available for each price range. You can also download Ding for price specials....but that also usually has a lot of restrictions and needs to be booked the same day, but great prices. A couple of weeks ago I was sent a special from Islip, NY (near me) to Orlando for $39 one way. For my husband and it will cost more than that to drive home for the Penn State game.

Bluewaves said:

Ok so we are looking at ways to get down to Florida so we are exploring our oppurtunities.

A little background we are coming down from Eastern PA just west of Allentown, basically we figure we have 3 options and one of them is autotrain.

So my question is, is it worth it?

Anyone have any experience with the service and how it works?

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated especially from those who have taken it recently.

Thanks in advance

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Just out of curiosity,are your other 2 options driving and flying? I would second the vote for flying with Southwest - we have had good luck with them from Providence to Orlando several times.

Yes the other options were drving and flying.

The last time I looked into the Autotrain, it was really expensive and as Gary said it takes longer than driving. Costwise, it's comparable to flying. And if you're staying on property, you really don't need a car. Flying is sooo much quicker and less stressful. Plus you don't lose days at the beginning and end of the vacation.