Amtrak train reservations

[luvlifeinfl]

Ok, folks I just am a little excited my DH & I just got off the phone w/ Amtrak our travel reservations have been booked thru Amtrak Auto train. :sohappy::sohappy:We will arrive in Sanford, Fl on 11/21 around 9:30am, it could take them any were from 15min to an hr to off load our van. So that could put us at SSR by 11am. But our plan is to stop at the Super Walmart & buy all that we need to stock in our villa for our 9 day trip.

I still have 153 days to go, but just makes me feel 1 day closer to getting there.

 

[Rinx]

That's awesome congrats! I just recently travelled on the auto train to participate in the CP in January and came back the same way in May. It's a pretty cool experience, I thought so especially because I like trains if you haven't noticed :lol: Anyway the food is actually really good and getting comfortable at bed time isn't too difficult (I had a coach seat, maybe you have a sleeper). You're going down in November so I can't imagine there being just as many cars as when I went in January with the snow birds but nonetheless they are very efficient in unloading. I hope you guys have an awesome time!! :wave:

P.S. being a DVC member myself I recommend going to SSR first just in case the room is not ready. I've had instances at OKW where the room wasn't ready til 4 pm and food may spoil if the room's not available

 

[Tink313]

:wave:Hope you have a great experience. We used amtrak on our first vacation to and from Disney and while it was fun at first it didnt end that way. All Im gonna say is 2 kids (3 & 7) and Delays and Smelly bathrooms .:dazzle: :lol: Amtrak did give us a 400 dollar voucher that we never used.
I hope your ride on the rails goes way better than mine.

 

[disneygirl1]

Oh what fun!!! We took the train to Disney about 6 years ago from Philly b/c my parents do not like to fly. It was fun, but a long ride, especially with a 16 month old. But the running joke with my Mom is that the baby was the best behaved out of all of us! LOL :lol:

 

[luvlifeinfl]

All, thanks for posting. We did the Amtrak last yr. I can say yes it is a long trip, but better than us driving. We did coach last yr, so it was hard to get comfortable. This yr we plan to get sleeper cars.

I know when we ent last yr we left on July 3ed and we go delayed 2 times on the tracks, the first time we were not even out of the station an 1 hr and there was a brush fire that delayed us about 45 min. then the next time was around midnight and I have no clue where we were but looking out the window I could tell it was a small town, there was an ambulance & another emergancy vehicle, we were told that there was a medical emergancy and they had to remove a passenger..so all in all we were about an hr & a half late arriving into Sanford.

The thing is the station here in Lorton I assume is newer, the one in Sanford looks like it sits in a town that the only real employment is the train station.

Oh I want to just mention that there was a gentleman that works on the train, he was our server at dinner, what was funny is that he was working on our return and he remebered us.

152 days to go.

 

[Rinx]

They just began a massive expansion of the station in Sanford. It's not going to be done yet I don't think when you go but it's supposed to be beautiful when finished.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

They just began a massive expansion of the station in Sanford. It's not going to be done yet I don't think when you go but it's supposed to be beautiful when finished.

I remember last yr they had a temporay building set up for folks to sit it. It seemed a little odd, so I guess that is for the expansion you are talking about.

 

[Mousenut]

Auto Train

We have taken the Auto Train every year since 2003. Sure, there have been delays, but it beats 18+ hours in the van with 8 other grumpy people from 1 to 71 We plan on getting sleeping accomodations this year since there will only be 5 of us going.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

We have taken the Auto Train every year since 2003. Sure, there have been delays, but it beats 18+ hours in the van with 8 other grumpy people from 1 to 71 We plan on getting sleeping accomodations this year since there will only be 5 of us going.

I noticed you are from PA, I moved to VA in 1985 from a town called California PA.

I do agree with you on the driving, we did it our 1 & 2nd yr, for us ot was about 15hrs, but I just could not,so we tried stopping over in SC the 3rd yr, but that was still hard. so last yr we took the train and I feel like it saves so much wear & tear on the van. and for the price you can not beat it.

Oh yeah that many folks in a van and that long is crazy. At least with the train you can get up & move.

 

[Beccone]

We took the autotrain down last August and got one of the family rooms and a rommette, which worked out perfectly because they were at the end of the car and right beside each other so we just kept our doors open pretty much the whole time until bedtime. Loved the ride, food was good, the kids loved going up to the dining car to watch the movie and we even got to Sanford ahead of schedule and to top it off our truck was one of the first cars off the train which made many people jealous Now here's where the trouble began, Tropical Storm Fay came and flooded alot of the surrounding areas of Orlando. We got a phone call 6 huors before our train was to depart saying that our train was canceled because the tracks were flooded Amtrack told us they would be happy to reschedule but they couldn't get us on a train until Thursday, and this was on Saturday, like we were supposed to sit around Orlando for an extra 6 days. We had to end up putting my mil and oldest son on a plane (truck was packed to the gills and no way were we going to be able to travel 14 hours like that) and we had to drive home. My dh at this point just wanted to get home so we ended up driving straight through until we got to MD. Not a "fun" thing with 3 kids under 6. It took Amtrak a few weeks to refund our money and for our "troubles" they sent us a $100 gift certificate for a future trip. Although we did enjoy our trainride down, I don't think we will ever do it again, it's just not for us. My grandfather loved it though, he was a snowbird would take the autotrain several times a year when he would come home.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

We took the autotrain down last August and got one of the family rooms and a rommette, which worked out perfectly because they were at the end of the car and right beside each other so we just kept our doors open pretty much the whole time until bedtime. Loved the ride, food was good, the kids loved going up to the dining car to watch the movie and we even got to Sanford ahead of schedule and to top it off our truck was one of the first cars off the train which made many people jealous Now here's where the trouble began, Tropical Storm Fay came and flooded alot of the surrounding areas of Orlando. We got a phone call 6 huors before our train was to depart saying that our train was canceled because the tracks were flooded Amtrack told us they would be happy to reschedule but they couldn't get us on a train until Thursday, and this was on Saturday, like we were supposed to sit around Orlando for an extra 6 days. We had to end up putting my mil and oldest son on a plane (truck was packed to the gills and no way were we going to be able to travel 14 hours like that) and we had to drive home. My dh at this point just wanted to get home so we ended up driving straight through until we got to MD. Not a "fun" thing with 3 kids under 6. It took Amtrak a few weeks to refund our money and for our "troubles" they sent us a $100 gift certificate for a future trip. Although we did enjoy our trainride down, I don't think we will ever do it again, it's just not for us. My grandfather loved it though, he was a snowbird would take the autotrain several times a year when he would come home.

That is the only thing I hate is the unexpected. At least you did get a refund and they just did not say that they would give a credit voucher for your next trip which you might not use.