Has anyone used this service to get their car to Florida? Do they allow pets? How does that work? We need to take our 2 cats with us. Any tips would be so helpful.
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Has anyone used this service to get their car to Florida? Do they allow pets? How does that work? We need to take our 2 cats with us. Any tips would be so helpful.
We love the AutoTrain, and have taken it many times. However, it is not a pet-friendly route, so only service animals are allowed. The Amtrak pet policy is found here. In all my trips, I've also only seen one service animal on the train, since there is only one stop (around midnight), so it isn't a pet-friendly route.
If you decide to try it, without the cats, it is a decent trip, and it is nice to have your car (and everything you can pack in it) while in Florida. We pay extra for the sleeper car, it is nice to have a quiet room, and an actual "bed", so we can get at least a few hours sleep on the train.
There is an option for "priority offloading" which guarantees that your car will be one of the first 30 off the train, which can save a lot of time at the arrival. For departure, you can arrive as early as 11:30am or so, but you don't have to be there until 2:30pm, so if you don't care about your meal time (you can select a 5, 7 or 9pm dinner once you check-in), there isn't really any advantage to getting to the station early.
We've had some quick trips, where we have arrived super early, and some where we have been hours late ... all depends on the traffic on the tracks (and the time we hit a fallen tree!). Still, a great option to driving the whole way. :)
We too have used the Autotrain many times. It is a great option to driving the whole way. I'm in the Philly area so the drive to Lorton,Va to pick up the train is a nice ride for us however, we usually stay in the area the night before just in case traffic is bad. This also extends your trip an extra day! We travel as a family of four adults and can save you money certain times a year. We once traveled round trip with the four of us and our car for LESS than $900! It was great for us. We stayed at Fort Wilderness in the cabins and shopped at home for groceries. Once we arrived in the Lake Buena Vista area we stopped at a grocery store for perishables.
Now that we are older, we don't enjoy the long drive so the Autotrain has been our favorite way to travel to Florida.We have our car with us and can explore outside of Disney World.We also have friends and family in Orlando and can visit them.
Have fun, whatever you decide to do.
We did it twice (one way each time) and really enjoyed the experience, however, it really isn't very practical. It costs far more than it does to fly and while it is more relaxing and enjoyable it takes about eight times longer so it's kind of hard to justify.