Amtrak vs Flying

[MaeMaesMagic]

Im looking into the best way to travel. Normally we fly from newark, nj to orlando early am in and late evening out. But i cant seem to find anything to meet my needs. :brick: So I looked into train service its much cheaper but with 2 kids not sure about the long ride via train. Just looking for advice. We are traveling Jan 09, Im a bit frustrated with this. :shrug: Thanks for your help!

 

[Monty]

If the flying schedule doesn't meet your needs, how will a longer time on train help?

Anyway, if you go by train, just take along games, books or other distraction tools for the kids. They may not need distracting, my DS was thrilled to spend hours exploring the train [with me escorting] when he first rode.

 

[Lynne M]

It's going to take nearly 24 hours to get to from NJ to FL by train. I've done it once with my Mom, because she wasn't real keen on flying. Well, let me tell you that trip got her right over her fear of flying. :ROFLOL: We got hardly any sleep, even though we had a family bedroom compartment. You couldn't pay me to do it in a regular train seat.

It wasn't horrible, and Mom and I laughed a lot at the time. But it's not something I need to do more than once in my life. I'd happily pay twice as much to get there in 2.5 hours by plane, instead of 24 hours by train. I don't get enough vacation time to blow two full days traveling.

Another thing to consider is weather in January. Planes can fly around snowstorms. Trains get cancelled in bad weather. If there's a several-inch snowstorm that hits, say, Virginia, it doesn't matter if the weather is lovely in NJ and FL. Your train will be severely delayed, or cancelled. I just returned from an Amtrak trip to NYC. When we got to 30th Street station in Philly on Friday, they had cancelled every train that went south of VA, because of the threat from TS Hanna.

 

[MichWolv]

Why would spending 24 hours on a train be an improvement over not getting flights at your preferred time during the day?

Train travel is relaxing, IMHO, but surely not enough to justify the incredible amount of extra time it would take.

 

[MaeMaesMagic]

Thanks the weather never occured to me :hammer: also after thinking about it 24 hours on a train with 6 & 10 yrs will be the death of me. im just frustrated not being able to get a flight out before 7am or back after 6pm. We like to travel in to disney very early in the day and out late. Ive looked into alturnate airports and maybe leaving a day early, not sure what else to do:veryconfu

 

[smk]

Thanks the weather never occured to me :hammer: also after thinking about it 24 hours on a train with 6 & 10 yrs will be the death of me. im just frustrated not being able to get a flight out before 7am or back after 6pm. We like to travel in to disney very early in the day and out late. Ive looked into alturnate airports and maybe leaving a day early, not sure what else to do:veryconfu

Doesn't it snow in Jersey too? You all could have mountains of snow and get delayed just like you might on a train. I would say anytime you travel in winter from the snow belt to anywhere you better be prepared for a delay. :shrug: I would take all of this with a grain of salt and take the best route for you and the kids, IMHO, that is flying, it's faster. :wave:

 

[KristieLC]

Personally, I think it would be less stressful to just drive if a flight doesn't work out for you, and it would certainly be cheaper than a train, even with stopping 1/2 way for the night in a place close to Charlotte. Not sure where in NJ you are, but that is where I am from (until recently) and have done the trip to Charlotte probably 20 times or so, and as long as you do the PA turnpike, 81, and 77 - traffic isn't usually bad so it is a relatively easy ride. Of course you would have to be able to add a day or two to both ends of your vacation. If you can manage to get on a flight though, definitely do that. What about flying in late the night before you are at Disney, and then just book a hotel off site for the night that way first this in the morning you can head over to your hotel and leave you bags and hit the parks.

 

[sbkline]

The problem with Amtrack is that you're lucky if you can find a direct train route to your destination. Even with planes, you are likely to have to fly from one airport to another, then catch another plane for the rest of the trip. But it's much worse with a train. For example: I live in Central Illinois. To drive to Florida, we take I-57 down to southern Illinois, then catch I-24 through Kentucky and Tennesee, then catch I-75 through Georgia into Florida, then catch the turnpike to Orlando. The trip takes about 18 hours by car. The 18 hours is only counting actual driving time and doesn't count the time it takes to stop to eat or sleep. Now, regarding Amtrack, I once called to inquire about taking Amtrack down and it was going to be even longer to do it that way than it would be to drive. Because I would have to go down to New Orleans, then catch another train from New Orleans to Orlando. Not only would little or no money be saved this way, but it would take even more time than it would to drive down there because there is no direct route for Amtrack from point A to point B.

 

[colleen2997]

I don't know how close you are to Philly Intl, but every year we fly out of Philly at 6:55 AM on Southwest or Airtran. They both have many flights out that early and flights that come in very late as well.

 

[DisneyWall-E]

If you have the time I would travel by train. I took a trip with my granny when I was 14 from New Orleans to Niagra Falls by train and it was the most fun I have ever had traveling anywhere. there is so much more room on a train. I spent a lot of time in the recreation? car. they had TV's and booths and a snack bar. One night the car was full of people and it turned into an all nighter of boys vs girls in a game of trivia. someone brought a deck of trivia cards. I will never forget that night.

 

[Kamikaze]

Everyone I've ever heard of thats taken Amtrak (notice, no C) from the northeast to Orlando has hated it.

If you can't fly, just drive. At least that way, you can get different kinds of food, stop at places (get some fireworks?), and have control over your trip. If the kids were being cranky, you could stop, let them get out and run around at a McDonald's play place or something, and then be on your way. No such luck with a train.

If Newark doesn't have your flight, there are plenty of other airports in the area. Have you checked them? Also, I don't know when you're looking at flights, but keep in mind that flight times are unreliable for anything more than say ... 4-5 months out.

 

[brianheather]

Thanks the weather never occured to me :hammer: also after thinking about it 24 hours on a train with 6 & 10 yrs will be the death of me. im just frustrated not being able to get a flight out before 7am or back after 6pm. We like to travel in to disney very early in the day and out late. Ive looked into alturnate airports and maybe leaving a day early, not sure what else to do:veryconfu

Jetblue has a flight that leaves at 730 and you are in MCO by 1030 out of Newark. We are taking it next Sat.

 

[smk]

If you have the time I would travel by train. I took a trip with my granny when I was 14 from New Orleans to Niagra Falls by train and it was the most fun I have ever had traveling anywhere. there is so much more room on a train. I spent a lot of time in the recreation? car. they had TV's and booths and a snack bar. One night the car was full of people and it turned into an all nighter of boys vs girls in a game of trivia. someone brought a deck of trivia cards. I will never forget that night.

We used to take the train from Indy to California/Oregon every summer when I was growing up, all my relatives live in Oregon. It was so much fun! The vista dome, the rocky mountains, the snack car. I am sure my parents didn't have as much fun becasue we never got a sleeper car, only seats. If it was an option for me to take a train to Orlando I certainly would. It is just not an option. I would have to take a train to Chicago and then a train to Orlando, passing right by my home in Indy. Now, I favor driving to Orlando. It will cost us a lot less (to drive) than to fly when we go in October. I would walk to Orlando if that was my only way to go!(not really but you all know what I mean)

 

[Susan Savia]

We're leaving January 9th from northern VA. We always stop in Santee, SC for the night and arrive by noon the next day. Last year we made a short stop at Daytonna Beach just to see the Ocean. With plenty of Disney music, the trip passes quickly.

________________________

Next Trip - January 2009

 

[MR. DISNEY]

I live in Central Jersey. I always take the auto train. I hear people say that you are adding time to your travel; I say I'm on vacation the minute I leave work. It's all part of the journey.

 

[slappy magoo]

We're trying the Autotrain this December. I'd prefer to fly, but my wife hates it, plus our little one will be, imo, too little for flying. It's not the sitcomish nightmare of a screming baby for three hours that worries me (we're in NJ too, even I could deal with someone else's screaming baby for just a few hours). But she'll be too young still for flu shots, plus you always hear nightmare stories about babies developing awful ear infections because their ears aren't developed enough to deal with the changes in cabin pressure (plus, you try making a 5 month old chew gum to alleviate the pressure, people give you SUCH a stinkeye!). We've driven down before. mainly because the only time we can go seems to be late August, around hurricane season, and we want to be able to get out fast in the event things are looking bad (our first trip in 04 was cut short almost 2 days for this very reason). My wife's a teacher, and there ain't no way she can miss the first day of school, not even for an emeregency like a hurricane. (ain't no? Hell, I'M not the teacher!). So while I've never minded the drive in the past, I know that, with a wee one, we're not driving straight through like we usually have in the past. More bathroom breaks, more feeding breaks, more soothing-a-baby-that-demands-to-be-held breaks. So I figured, at least on the way there, we'll just drive to Virginia and take the Auto Train. If we wind up enjoying the trip, we may inquire about making it a roundtrip, but I'm not as worried about the time it'll take to get back, heck, it could take us 2 or more days & it's no big deal. Getting there, though, time is limited, and rather than risk agita over slow-going, I figured, heck let someone else drive. Sure, there could be a delay on the train, but there could be a pileup on i-95 as well. This way, if I'm not driving, and not behind the wheel of the car getting angrier and angrier the more we go nowhere, we can at least enjoy each other's company, have snacks, play with the baby, etc. Here's to hoping.

 

[MR. DISNEY]

We travel with our 8 year old. We ALWAYS GET THE ROOM. I don't care how much it is I need to sleep. I love the Auto Train!

 

[jojokidsmom]

We are also trying the autotrain this December. My husband is a huge train fan and we thought this would be our only chance to take the train since we live about an hour north of Lorton. In comparing prices, we found that the autotrain was only about $150 more than flying and renting a car for 2 adults and a 4 year old. I would only do this if we were getting a sleeper...can't imagine doing it with just seats! The train gets in early enough to Sanford that you can enjoy almost an entire day at Disney.

 

[DivineMadness7]

Not sure I follow the logic of the airline times not meeting your needs, so take the train instead....but I'll do my best to tell you my experience about the AutoTrain.

Three times I've done the AutoTrain. My mother hates to fly (lots of ear pain problems) so we compromise by alternating flying and the train. Driving just isn't an option for us, we've done it before and have sworn it off.

We have always just booked the seats and not the sleeper....sleeping in the chairs was terrible. It got worse each time. The first time wasn't too bad, I was about 16 years old and could have slept basically anywhere. Now that I'm an old lady (25 :lol it was a nightmare. I'm in decent shape, but sleeping in those chairs meant my body was going to be sore and mangled before I even set foot on WDW property. I felt worse than I would after a week of walking!

My grandparents booked a sleeper car once and hated it. They aren't picky people and found it to be not much of an improvement over sleeping in the chairs as the sleeper cars are EXTREMELY small and cramped.

The "snacks" are lame, the "movie" they show is on a 10 inch tv in a club car, the "food" is worse than airplane or hospital food (yes, it's possible.) Overall, I think my family is pretty easy-going but we really have grown to hate the train. It is not anywhere near as romantic as they make it look in the old black and white movies!

When I compare the times I have flown (2 hours from Pittsburgh to Orlando) to train (5? hours to Lorton from W. PA and then another 12? on the train to FL) I always feel better when I have flown. After being on the train, I NEEDED a vacation! :lol: You feel so worn out and you're still excited to go to WDW, but you're a little bitter. You feel like you've just made a deal with the devil to get to WDW and you're not really sure if it was worth it :ROFLOL:

My dad, brother and I have all sworn that this really was the LAST time we would ever set foot on that train. We said that the other 2 times but allowed my mom to talk us into it again. My mom still argues it is "not that bad" but keep in mind her bias as she really does not want to fly. Next month, we'll be flying Southwest into Orlando. Sure, we're spending more money but to us, it is money well spent. :wave:

 

[sleepybear]

Jetblue has a flight that leaves at 730 and you are in MCO by 1030 out of Newark. We are taking it next Sat.

We've done the JetBlue 7:30 from Newark flight. Also did the Continental 7:15. I love getting up before dawn and going to the airport for those early-morning flights. Don't know why, because it's kind of masochistic.