AMTRAK CRITIQUE

[yensid67]

I am a simple kind of guy that doesn't need fancy and fabulous, I just need what I need! Today(8/10) is my 54th birthday and my Husband of 22 years asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I did not want a cake, balloons or even a card. I just wanted to go on an Amtrak train ride to DC, eat and come back! Nothing special, not a lot of money...just something as simple as a train ride makes me happy! So that's what I did...best $28 I spent on a train ride! It was an adventure!
The train was to pull into the station at 11am...its was and hour and 18 minutes late! No biggie, just go with the flow! At this station, there is NO ONE around to direct you, just signs. We(other riders) followed the signs that said AMTRAK THIS WAY...we had to walk across the tracks on a breezeway and back down on the other side and wait. Door at the bottom of the steps said Welcome to Amtrak...so we knew we were in the right place...or so we thought. So at 12noon we made our way across the breezeway to the designated track...waiting...waiting...then here comes the train...ON THE OTHER TRACK on the other side by the station! AND of course, when we went out the doors to wait for the train...THE DOORS LOCKED! No way out and surrounded by fence! Amtrak employee runs across to unlock the doors and then we were on the train. Climbed the stairs to the upper floor, sat in our seats and off we went! I won't bored you with the rest but the ride to and from DC was GREAT! A lot of people are criticizing Amtrak for being rundown, uncomfortable...
Our seats were VERY COMFORTABLE!...they reclined back very far for comfort, seats were well cushioned, the foot rests were just like a recliner and clean(as much as a 50 years old train can be.) The crew took very good care of the passengers)the side by side space was tight, BUT the legroom between the seats was AWESOME...we had our legs stretched out and could not touch the seat in front of us!
I WOULD RECOMMEND taking AMTRAK for your next Disney Vacation. Hop onboard and leave the driving to someone else! If you are close enough to hop on AUTO TRAIN I would do that so you can avoid a car rental expense.
All in all...even though the coach car itself was a little rough around the edges with a little staining, there was no bad smells, very quiet, relaxing. We didn't have a chance to try the Cafe car so cannot comment on that! The only NEGATIVE I have about our experience, is the hiccup at the train station. I will be calling Amtrak and let them know. Even if they had a live feed to an Amtrak Agent that could give us directions would be better than nothing at all.
That's what I think about AMTRAK!

 

[Lilofan]

I am a simple kind of guy that doesn't need fancy and fabulous, I just need what I need! Today(8/10) is my 54th birthday and my Husband of 22 years asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I did not want a cake, balloons or even a card. I just wanted to go on an Amtrak train ride to DC, eat and come back! Nothing special, not a lot of money...just something as simple as a train ride makes me happy! So that's what I did...best $28 I spent on a train ride! It was an adventure!
The train was to pull into the station at 11am...its was and hour and 18 minutes late! No biggie, just go with the flow! At this station, there is NO ONE around to direct you, just signs. We(other riders) followed the signs that said AMTRAK THIS WAY...we had to walk across the tracks on a breezeway and back down on the other side and wait. Door at the bottom of the steps said Welcome to Amtrak...so we knew we were in the right place...or so we thought. So at 12noon we made our way across the breezeway to the designated track...waiting...waiting...then here comes the train...ON THE OTHER TRACK on the other side by the station! AND of course, when we went out the doors to wait for the train...THE DOORS LOCKED! No way out and surrounded by fence! Amtrak employee runs across to unlock the doors and then we were on the train. Climbed the stairs to the upper floor, sat in our seats and off we went! I won't bored you with the rest but the ride to and from DC was GREAT! A lot of people are criticizing Amtrak for being rundown, uncomfortable...
Our seats were VERY COMFORTABLE!...they reclined back very far for comfort, seats were well cushioned, the foot rests were just like a recliner and clean(as much as a 50 years old train can be. The crew took very good care of the passengers) the side beside space was tight, BUT the legroom between the seats was AWESOME...we had our legs stretched out and could not touch the seat in front of us!
I WOULD RECOMMEND taking AMTRAK for your next Disney Vacation. Hope and board and leave the driving to someone else! If you are close enough to hope on AUTO TRAIN I would do that so you can avoid a car rental expense.

That's what I think about AMTRAK!

I've taken the auto train. The regular coach seat is bigger and more spacious than a first class seat on an airplane.

 

[ppet]

I have taken the train from Chicago to Spokane several times. It is peaceful and relaxing to sit there and watch the landscape drift by. It takes about 36 hours to cross from city to city. The food isn't bad on the train, Solid diner fair. I will definitely do another AMTRAK trip at some point.

 

[Brer Penguin]

I am hopeful that the Amtrak line connecting New Orleans to Florida is repaired and operational one day soon. I would love the opportunity to take the train down to Disney, but it is too convoluted to do so right now.

 

[Stellajack]

We took the AMTRAK Silver Star from Raleigh to Kissimmee about 5 years ago. The trip down was through the night arriving about 10:30 the following morning. It was pleasant to eat breakfast on the train in a civilized manner while we passed through local neighborhoods. However, the trip back started out with a 4 hour delay for our return train coming up from Miami. The train was comfortable with plenty of leg room. It was a bucket list experience for us, so we will probably not do it again. The train was 13 hours vs. 1.5 hrs. flight time.