No Planes, but trains and automobiles – Part 2 – The Amtrak Autotrain Jul 23-24

[Mickey'sGirl]

Cast:
DH – Brian (CanadianWDWFan) Turning 45 on this trip
DS14 – Harry – Celebrating graduating from Grade 8 (High School already?!?!?)
DS8 ½ – Euan – Celebrating his Half-Birthday because we can’t go down in January
Me – Jennifer – Just happy to be making the trip with my guys!

We arrived at the Amtrak station in Lorton VA at about 11:25 on Monday morning. We were able to check in shortly after 11:30, request the 7pm sitting for dinner, watch our car get loaded and then check out the station and the waiting train. We had reserved two adjoining Superliner Sleeper Cabins for our journey. We are all very tall, and there is no way our 6’4” DS14 would fit in a kiddie bed!! At 2pm we were invited to board the train, and wine, cheese and crudités would be served in the lounge at 3pm. We were greeted by our car attendant, Ingrid, and directed toward our cabins. The wall between them had been retracted to create one large cabin, with two long couches along either wall, two single seater chairs, two wash stand/sinks, and two shower/toilette rooms. All in all, the space was much bigger than either Brian or I were expecting (which made this claustrophobic chickie quite happy). Brian and Euan made some videos of the cabin, then we headed out to the lounge for our wine and snacks, and a call to Brian’s Mom and then my sister to give them the scoop. The boys headed back to our cabin before us, as we were finishing up our drinks. We had a nice conversation with three ladies travelling from Queens down to Florida to meet up with their husband’s there. They were quite lovely to chat with. We went back to our cabin when the train pulled out, to catch the sights for a bit before we were called to dinner at 7.

Dinner in the Sleeper cars is quite nice, served on china with linens and wine etc. Harry had Salmon with Lobster Sauce, Brian had Skirt Steak, I had vegetarian Lasagna and Euan had the kid’s chicken nuggets. We all enjoyed our meals, then headed back to our cabin. When we returned our beds were made up … an upper and lower bunk on each side. Euan and Brian took the top bunks (I couldn’t climb up and Harry couldn’t fit). We weren’t ready to go to bed yet, so we sat up listening to music and watching what we could out the windows. When we did finally hit the hay, neither Brian or I slept very well … the rocking motion of the train which lulled both of our boys off to sleep very quickly kept Brian and I awake. Brian just because, but me because my nighttime self is not very sensible … Nighttime me was sure the train was about to tip over. Daytime me knew it wasn’t, but Daytime me could not convince Nighttime me of the fact.

So, Brian and I were up early in the morning. It was nice to be able to shower and get ready in the privacy of our own space. When we were set, we woke the boys and we were able to go to the Dining car for a light breakfast (Bagels and cereal and bananaphones). It hit the spot. When we got back to our cabin, our room had been cleaned up and restored to its couch-like state. We continued to watch the world outside our windows until we pulled into the station in Sanford FL. We detrained, and after about a 45 minute wait, we retrieved our car and we were off! Our first destination was IHOP for “brunch”, and then off to the Boardwalk for our first resort of our DisneyWorld holiday.

[Caroleh]

Sounds like a nice peaceful trip...very relaxing!!

[Dopey's Girl]

I think I would have trouble sleeping on a train too. Thanks for the report!

[Melanie]

WOW! What a difference your train trip was compared to ours last November. LOL! You definitely get what you pay for. Sounds really nice, but I'm sorry you couldn't relax and sleep.

[faline]

The trip on the train sounds very nice except for the not-sleeping part.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Yea! I'm glad you (mostly) liked the train. I don't sleep super well on it either, but DH just zonks out as soon as his head hits the pillow.

I always think there is something wonderfully romantic about sitting up and watching the lights of the little (and big) towns go by. Of course, when I'm tired the next afternoon it doesn't seem quite so wonderful.

But, we love the Autotrain, and I'm glad it was good, and that the boys liked it!

[DizNee143]

Sounds like a smooth time aboard the train. My parents have taken it a couple times to Disney also..they love it! And like you got a cabin to have to themselves!
Yay we are almost to Disney! Off to read more

[emerzmom]

The train trip (minus the sleep) sounds wonderful!

Julie

[DisneyDINK]

I worked for Amtrak for 12 years and in all of that time I sold one Auto Train ticket, but that isn't surprising since I was working for Amtrak in Oregon and Washington (State).

I used to take the train from Seattle to Chicago, a 2 day trip. I always slept better the second night. Eventually I got better at sleeping on trains, but, for many people, sleeping on the train is often an issue.

Thanks for posting all of the trip reports!

[January-2007]

Thanks for reporting. DH and I took the train to WDW on our Honeymoon but we weren't on the AutoTrain, we just took coach. Very different experience. Glad to hear all about it.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[Dsnygirl]

Lol.... like the "nighttime me" vs. "daytime me" thing. I can imagine it felt quite odd!! Hoping you did catch a FEW winks, but even if not... the adrenaline of hitting WDW probably helped carry you through!!