Today, I’m fortunate to have my client, Vanessa Jalbert, share her family’s experiences with the Amtrack Auto Train. Vanessa’s family, and friends, just completed a two week vacation that I’d helped them with. They’d gone from sailing onboard a Disney cruise (the Dream – with it’s AquaDuck), to visiting both Legoland and Walt Disney World. A very busy vacation, for sure. They’d decided to drive to Florida from Ottawa, but were feeling tired at the end on the venture. On the drive back, they decided to take advantage of Amtrack’s Auto Train.
Read about their adventure. And see here for further details
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245666320 .
==========
“Rock-a-bye-baby”
The Amtrak Autotrain… why had I never heard of this before? After enjoying 2 weeks in FL the last thing we wanted to do was spend 2 days driving back to Ontario so I booked us (4 adults, 3 kids) on the Autotrain. For those wondering, “What is an autotrain?” the answer is simple – it is a like a ferry on rails! The Autotrain is run by Amtrak and it ONLY runs direct from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida. There are no stops for additional passengers in between and the train only stops once for fuel at about the ½ way point. It is an overnight train and there are reclining lounge chairs included in your cost as well as all your meals (supper and breakfast). You can reserve sleeping cars in advance but that increases your cost. The earlier you book the better your prices!
We showed up at the Amtrak station in Sanford, FL around 1:00pm, we were given a numbered magnet for the side of our vehicle, told where to go for off loading our overnight bags. From there, the staff will take your vehicle, and load it onto large double-decker auto cars. We had a short line up to get our seats and dinner time assigned, and then waited until boarding. The station is airy and bright with an outdoor play area and small store with snacks.
On the train we were top level (most lower level seats are reserved for passengers with mobility issues) in car 12. We had 2 rows of 4 seats together and there is lots of room for your luggage at your feet and above. The kids were awesome; they thought the train was great. They loved the big reclining seats, the flip up leg rest and the foot rest you could move on the seat in front of you. Fully reclined, you could stretch your body out and sleep. Once your pre-selected dinner time is announced, you make your way to the dining cars for your meal. The food was surprisingly good. I had the ½ chicken that was excellent, and the desert of the day was to die for. There was all you can drink free white wine with your meal along with water, juice, tea, coffee, etc… The staff were super friendly, and the food was fast and warm.
There are plenty of washrooms per car, and even an area to sit and do your hair/make-up in the ladies washroom. The Lounge car has tables where folks were playing cards, working on laptops, and having a few drinks (cash bar). This car also shows a nightly movie suitable for kids, this was a good selling point but ended up being one of my only issues with the trip. The lounge car has an enclosed smoking area on the 1st level. Even though it is enclosed, the stale smoke smell is all through the lounge car, and I would not put a child there to watch a movie. We had to walk through it to get to the dining car, and for non-smokers it was not a place we would take advantage of. Luckily we had our own portable DVD players with us, and the kids were more than happy to watch a movie in the seats. Our car was clean and smell free!
For sleeping, we made a bed on the floor for one of the smaller kids, and she loved it. She sat there, and played like it was a little house. For my son, he was lucky enough to get 2 seats together, so we reclined them both, made up a little bed for him then draped a blanket over the top like a fort. A third child slept curled up in the seat with the leg rest up. They all slept very well! My little guy slept 11 hours (hence my rock-a-bye-baby title!) It is a bit more difficult for mommy and daddy to sleep so easily but I was generally comfortable in my chair and had enough sleep that we were able to drive back the next day, and not feel too exhausted. Put it this way, I had more sleep coming back on the train than I had going down in the car.
As morning arrives, the call is made periodically from 6 – 8 am for breakfast, there are no assigned times. There were muffins, bagels, fruit, cream cheese, jam, cereal, juice, milk, tea and coffee for breakfast.
Detraining was a breeze. We arrived in Lorton just before 9:30 and were off the train in minutes. Then it is game of BINGO! You wait until the number of your car is called, walk out of the station, get in and drive away.
It was a great experience and we would do it again! I’ve listed some pros, cons and tips for you.
Pros:
- Saves on almost 2/3rd of the driving time = savings on gas, food, lodging, wear and tear on the car and sanity. Made the drive home seem really fast.
- Sleep – much more than we had going down.
- Not cost prohibitive.
- Friendly staff – they were all super nice, helpful and friendly.
- Electrical outlets for charging appliances (iphone, DVD, games for kids, etc…)
- Nice stations with outdoor play areas to burn off that energy the kids have before and on after.
- Food was decent and plentiful, lots of options for meals (one beef, one chicken, one fish, etc…)
- Good desserts
- Free wine with dinner 🙂
- Sleeping berths are available to those who want to pay the extra.
- Ride is pleasant and there are some sights to see.
Cons:
- Lounge car uninhabitable for anyone other than smokers, which makes the movie night a bust (but we had more than enough to keep the kids busy). It would be nice to have a non-smoking lounge car, so some adults could go play cards or socialize if they are awake during the night.
- Wait at the start in Sanford was about equal to an airport wait, but this is partly because we were a party of 7, and wanted to get our seats together. Many people came much later. There is no pre-reservation of seats except for those who have sleeping cars.
- Sleeping semi-reclined is not for everyone but works great for the kids. Don’t expect a full night’s sleep unless you are one of those people that can sleep anywhere at any time.
Tips:
- If you are arriving early, pack lunch/snacks for the wait in the terminal or stop in Sanford (Win Dixi, Publix, Walmart, Subway, etc…) to get some food. The terminal store has lots of pre-packaged sandwiches, candy and some healthy options but it was $$.
- Pack a normal size pillow, travel neck pillow and/or your own blanket. They turn up the temp in the car as you go from South to North, but it was worth having the extras. A small travel pillow and blanket are provided, but we enjoyed the extras because it allowed us to make a bed on the floor for one of the kids, and a fort over the seats for the other.
- Pack your electronics, books, etc… to pass the time. We did find by the time dinner was done, the kids were settled it was only a short time after that the motion of the train rocked us to sleep too but it was nice to sit back and relax for a while.