Drive or take Amtrak?

[jen2009]

Our trip is in December and we check-in on the 13th and check-out on the 20th. My question is should we drive from Virginia Beach or take the train from Richmond. Its about 12 hours to drive and 15 for the train. I have a severe fear of flying after last flight a few years ago. DH doesn't care either way. We would leave about 4am if we drive and arrive around 5pm. If we take the train we leave at 930pm on Dec. 12th and arrive at 1230pm on Dec. 13th. It would cost about $300 in gas for car and $500 for train (this includes transportation form station to POFQ). We are just trying to figure out what we should do? I have no clue and I would be doing most of the driving, because I like to drive. Any ideas?

 

[copper]

Drive! I took amtrak last August with my teenage daughters from NYC-Orlando and it was HELL. Even if it was free I would never do it again. No sleep (unless you have sleeper), no security, broken toilets, uncomfortable ride and it took forever! It is faster to drive to Orlando from NY then to take the train because it makes so many stops. I would only take Amtrak for short trips and even then I would consider driving.

 

[zero creativity]

Same question

We are planning a trip in August 2010. There will be four of us and we will need the car. We live about 15 minutes south of Lorton, VA and it seems more economical to drive than to fly or take the auto train. We do plan on stopping a night on the way down.

 

[piggy1116]

I say drive. we drive every year from upstate NY to Disney. It generally takes us 19hrs. We pack a cooler with sandwich stuff and stop in the rest areas to eat. I tend to do 99% of the driving. (can't trust DH)

 

[pegsina]

DRIVE!!! Granted we went in August shortly after a Cat 1 hurricane/trop storm had cancelled service for several days but service resumed 4 days before we left and the delays were unbearable!!! We left from Boston. We were supposed to be in Orlando at 11AM, but the train spent most of the night stopped!! We didn't get there til 5PM. Rooms are small and hard to really get any sleep in. Not sure if you have younger kids but keeping them occupied on the train ride can be HELL!!!
This past summer we drove. We reached Richmond at the end of day one, and you can easily drive from there to Disney in 10 hrs, no overnight stay needed so much cheaper and you can stop when you want etc. Having a car once you get there is an added bonus. We'd definitely drive again!

 

[Mr Wizard]

Drive. I feel just having your own car at your disposal is reason enough. As a person who won't fly I'm totally used to it. Make it fun, I allways bring some new music to listen to. We bring snax and allways paruse the shelves of the gas stops for something new. Dig your old CB radio out of the closet ( or find an older neighbor who probably has one ) and hook it up. They are still a hoot to listen to. And there are some interesting "advertisements " on it as you travel down I 95. AND you are allways traveling on YOUR schedule.

 

[eagles]

i'm in the minority here, i love taking the train. we live on the eastern shore of va, and we have taken the train out of richmond several times. i would do it again in a heartbeat. but i think it costs a bit much. and if you want a room, you better get it asap, the closer you get to the departure date, the price skyrockets, i have seen it hit over $911
..we never start in newport news, just drive straight to richmond and leave the car in the parking lot. yes the train does make several stops along the way. you really don't get much of a view as the majority of the time is at night, so just sleep.
.. we never brought our own pillows, but we do bring our own fleece blankets, and they have always served there purpose. one time there was 10 of us traveling so i packed lunch boxes/bags for each person, did not have to buy their food. but in the morning, hubby and i had to have our hot drinks.
..if you have to go to the restrooms, just get up and go to them. some may be broke, but we never had that experience. we did have on car where they never turned the lights out and the door between cars was broke and would never close properly, but that was the only bad time we had.

richmond has 2 departure times, one arrives around the 10/1030ish am in orlando, and one is a later arrival around 130ish? we have taken both, prefer the earlier arrival one. i have lots of travel games that i bring and we play games or read or sleep. also we brought a portable dvd player so you can watch movies, or bring the laptop. you do not have to stay in the coach seats either, we have spent several hours in another area (lounge maybe, but they had tables and we sat there playing games.
..i believe its schedule lenght of time is 16 hours, but be warned, there are may be many delays, it seems to be the norm rather than the exception.
..all in all i would take the train over driving anyday and just consider it all to be part of the vacation/trip experience. the only reason we drove last year is because of the expense. if i could afford it i would always take the train and would never question it especially if getting a room.

i can't drive straight thru anymore, and can normally only drive about 7 hours, so we end up over night at south of the border then drive the rest of the way the next day. i vote for taking the train and relax.

 

[jen2009]

Thanks for everyone's input. We usually drive down when we go, but thought maybe the train would be more relaxing. Did not even factor in the trip to Richmond in the travel time. I just forget about it because I do not count our trip as starting until we hit route 58 towards Suffolk. Might I add the worst part of driving for the entire trip.:brick:

I think we are going to drive and take my car over his truck. I get better gas mileage but it is not as big and roomy as our expedition. This way we can stop in St. Augustine for dinner at Caps on the Water before we pull into Disney.

Got married at Disney in March, but had to leave day after wedding due to death in family the day before wedding back home.

83 days and counting before we return for our official honeymoon.:sohappy: