IndyRacingNut
Train Attendant
I took the Auto train with my family last year to Disney World, and I wanted to relay my experience with ya'll. But I'd love to hear what others think about their own experience.
First of all, we realized that the Auto Train leaving Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL (and back) was going to be expensive. But other than not being able to stop at South of the Border, SC & pick up a bunch of fireworks, that not having to drive there and back would easily be worth the extra money, especially when travelling with 6 people.
The train left about 30 min late due to some late arrivals that they had to pack into the auto cars, but that was fine. Probably my favorite part of being able to take our minivan with us is that we could stuff the car with absolutely everything we could possibly need down in Florida, rather than worry about space concerns for 6 people AND our stuff. And no worries about baggage fees on any given airline...
Our family consists of myself, my girlfriend, and four boys, age 17, 15, 3 and 1. So we made sure that we booked far enough in advance (we booked it 5 months ahead), so that we could get the family bedroom for the adults & little ones, and a roomette for the teenagers. Anyone with a similar aged family can sympathize with me that we simply could NOT handle yet another family vacation with teenagers and toddlers in the same car for the entire trip from VA to FL.
I tell you, just the fact that you can get up, walk around, check out other cars, chill out in your own room, use the free WiFi, make use of the arcade on the bottom floor of one of the cars, etc...It made travelling with a couple of sullen teenagers a breeze. We hardly saw them except at meal times. Speaking of dinner & breakfast....
Sometime in the afternoon, our room attendant took our preferred time to eat dinner...I asked for the earliest dinner time, because with little ones & hungry teens, it could get ugly if we wait till late. I chose the beef tenderloin & my GF chose the salmon. Of course, the 3yr old had his chicken choo-choos (nuggets). Dinner was surprisingly very good & sure beat the bag of peanuts we'd have had on the airplane.
After dinner, my GF retired to the family bedroom with the baby & I took my 3 yr old son to the observation car to take in the sights before it got dark. To this day, he still talks about the cows he saw and all the trees going so fast!!
To my surprise, the younger kids did remarkably well in sleeping on the train. My GF slept on the bottom along with the baby, and my 3yr old & I slept on the top bunk. Thank God they have those straps that serve as bed rails, because I had to get up in the middle of the night to pee & saw him up against them...otherwise, he'd have rolled right off! So I took him off from the top bunk & put him on the bottom in case it happened again. Best part of a family room is that you have windows on BOTH sides of train...but the big tradeoff is that there is not an in-room toilet/shower. VERY inconvenient when travelling with children. The teenagers reported that they stayed up till past midnight roaming the cars & playing video games & watching one of the movies they had there on the train.
At sometime in the middle of the night we made a stop in South Carolina, I think, & I peeked outside to see new crewmembers coming onto the train & various supplies being loaded onto the train & someone doing something with a big hose to the side of the cars (refilling the water & draining sewage I have to assume), but I'm a light sleeper anyways, so I was able to handle the one stop with no problem. Everyone else was conked out....I honestly think the rhythmic sound of the train on the rails helped the baby sleep through the night for the first time I can recall.
I normally wake up super early (at or before 5am) so I got dressed, & just went to the club car to enjoy some reading time to myself. Once 6am rolled around, I got everyone up & had everyone head over to breakfast. Nice part I learned is that although breakfast service starts at 6am, they normally don't announce it to the coach passengers until around 7am, so we had a nice quiet continental breakfast, which gives everyone a nice choice of food without being picky.
The rest of the morning was spent just enjoying time in the family room playing cards or watching the scenery roll by in the observation car. And let me tell you, the conductors and everyone working on our train really went out of their way to make the trip (and the trip back!) a special one for my 3 year old...It was his first train ride, and although I know most of us don't remember much at that age, there are certain things I remember when I was that age, and I am POSITIVE that this will be one of those for him. If he doesn't, I have plenty of video from this trip.
Once we got to Sanford, we had to wait about an hour for our car to get unloaded and then we spent two wonderful weeks in and around the Orlando area...going from places like Disney World, to Medieval Times, to the Kennedy Space Center and a couple of other places.
The ride back to VA was just as fun as the ride to FL was.
Yeah sure, we could have spent less money if we just drove there, but when you realize that you can have just as much fun TRAVELLING as you do at your destination, only then will you realize what a fantastic value the Auto Train is.
First of all, we realized that the Auto Train leaving Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL (and back) was going to be expensive. But other than not being able to stop at South of the Border, SC & pick up a bunch of fireworks, that not having to drive there and back would easily be worth the extra money, especially when travelling with 6 people.
The train left about 30 min late due to some late arrivals that they had to pack into the auto cars, but that was fine. Probably my favorite part of being able to take our minivan with us is that we could stuff the car with absolutely everything we could possibly need down in Florida, rather than worry about space concerns for 6 people AND our stuff. And no worries about baggage fees on any given airline...
Our family consists of myself, my girlfriend, and four boys, age 17, 15, 3 and 1. So we made sure that we booked far enough in advance (we booked it 5 months ahead), so that we could get the family bedroom for the adults & little ones, and a roomette for the teenagers. Anyone with a similar aged family can sympathize with me that we simply could NOT handle yet another family vacation with teenagers and toddlers in the same car for the entire trip from VA to FL.
I tell you, just the fact that you can get up, walk around, check out other cars, chill out in your own room, use the free WiFi, make use of the arcade on the bottom floor of one of the cars, etc...It made travelling with a couple of sullen teenagers a breeze. We hardly saw them except at meal times. Speaking of dinner & breakfast....
Sometime in the afternoon, our room attendant took our preferred time to eat dinner...I asked for the earliest dinner time, because with little ones & hungry teens, it could get ugly if we wait till late. I chose the beef tenderloin & my GF chose the salmon. Of course, the 3yr old had his chicken choo-choos (nuggets). Dinner was surprisingly very good & sure beat the bag of peanuts we'd have had on the airplane.
After dinner, my GF retired to the family bedroom with the baby & I took my 3 yr old son to the observation car to take in the sights before it got dark. To this day, he still talks about the cows he saw and all the trees going so fast!!
To my surprise, the younger kids did remarkably well in sleeping on the train. My GF slept on the bottom along with the baby, and my 3yr old & I slept on the top bunk. Thank God they have those straps that serve as bed rails, because I had to get up in the middle of the night to pee & saw him up against them...otherwise, he'd have rolled right off! So I took him off from the top bunk & put him on the bottom in case it happened again. Best part of a family room is that you have windows on BOTH sides of train...but the big tradeoff is that there is not an in-room toilet/shower. VERY inconvenient when travelling with children. The teenagers reported that they stayed up till past midnight roaming the cars & playing video games & watching one of the movies they had there on the train.
At sometime in the middle of the night we made a stop in South Carolina, I think, & I peeked outside to see new crewmembers coming onto the train & various supplies being loaded onto the train & someone doing something with a big hose to the side of the cars (refilling the water & draining sewage I have to assume), but I'm a light sleeper anyways, so I was able to handle the one stop with no problem. Everyone else was conked out....I honestly think the rhythmic sound of the train on the rails helped the baby sleep through the night for the first time I can recall.
I normally wake up super early (at or before 5am) so I got dressed, & just went to the club car to enjoy some reading time to myself. Once 6am rolled around, I got everyone up & had everyone head over to breakfast. Nice part I learned is that although breakfast service starts at 6am, they normally don't announce it to the coach passengers until around 7am, so we had a nice quiet continental breakfast, which gives everyone a nice choice of food without being picky.
The rest of the morning was spent just enjoying time in the family room playing cards or watching the scenery roll by in the observation car. And let me tell you, the conductors and everyone working on our train really went out of their way to make the trip (and the trip back!) a special one for my 3 year old...It was his first train ride, and although I know most of us don't remember much at that age, there are certain things I remember when I was that age, and I am POSITIVE that this will be one of those for him. If he doesn't, I have plenty of video from this trip.
Once we got to Sanford, we had to wait about an hour for our car to get unloaded and then we spent two wonderful weeks in and around the Orlando area...going from places like Disney World, to Medieval Times, to the Kennedy Space Center and a couple of other places.
The ride back to VA was just as fun as the ride to FL was.
Yeah sure, we could have spent less money if we just drove there, but when you realize that you can have just as much fun TRAVELLING as you do at your destination, only then will you realize what a fantastic value the Auto Train is.