{"id":725,"date":"2016-02-26T07:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/?p=725"},"modified":"2016-02-13T17:16:51","modified_gmt":"2016-02-13T22:16:51","slug":"auto-train-part-3-the-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/auto-train-part-3-the-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto Train Part 3: The Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is Part 3 of our series on the Auto Train.\u00a0 Visit Part 2 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arrival for Loading<\/em><\/p>\n

Once you have your tickets (and accommodations), all you need to do is show up to enjoy your trip.\u00a0 You must arrive no later than 2:00PM (two hours earlier than the scheduled train departure).\u00a0 As you enter the station grounds, you will encounter a manned guard position (think guard shack).\u00a0 You will show your identification to the attendant, who will check it against the manifest.\u00a0 Once they have verified your information, they will place a magnet on your car with an identification number.\u00a0 They will also give you information regarding your trip along with the identification number for your vehicle which you will need the next morning to claim your car.<\/p>\n

Once you leave the attendant, you will pull your vehicle up to the station.\u00a0 You will be directed to one of several available rows.\u00a0 You will turn off your vehicle and gather the belongings you need for the overnight trip.\u00a0 Since space is tight in the seats or passenger compartments, don’t overpack — it’s helpful to have a few small toiletries, a change of clothes, your own pillow, and some activities to keep you occupied on the train, but you won’t want to overdo it.\u00a0 It’s also helpful to have some cash on hand to tip your waitstaff at dinner and breakfast, and tip money for your stateroom attendant.<\/p>\n

Once you have your belongings, you will head inside the station.\u00a0 At this point, you will need to check in at the desk.\u00a0 There is generally one attendant for Coach passengers and one for passengers that are staying in the sleeping cars.\u00a0 You will receive your exact accommodations (train car and compartment) and be able to select the dinner time you prefer.\u00a0\u00a0 If the train has lots of passengers, there might be up to three dinner times.\u00a0 The dining times can fill up if you arrive closer to 2:00 PM.\u00a0 We prefer to show up as early as possible so we can pick the dining time we prefer.<\/p>\n

\"Waiting<\/a>
Waiting Area in Lorton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Small<\/a>
Small Playground in Lorton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boarding<\/em><\/p>\n

After all the cars have been loaded on the car carriers, passenger boarding will begin.\u00a0 You will then find the exact accommodation information to your car and your seating.\u00a0 (We have never sat in the coach seating, so we can only address the sleeping compartments.)\u00a0 Once you board the car, you will be greeted by your car attendant.\u00a0 They will direct you to your room and help you get settled.\u00a0 They will ask your dining time and ask what time you would like your room converted into its sleeping configuration.\u00a0 They will also give you invaluable information on how to find the dining car, including how to get upstairs (if you are on the bottom level) and what direction to travel, forward or backwards.<\/p>\n

\"Sleeper<\/a>
Sleeper Car<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
One Side of Family Bedroom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dining<\/em><\/p>\n

As the evening rolls on (in more ways than one), the different dining times will be announced over the loud speakers.\u00a0 Once your time arrives, you will make your way to the dining car.\u00a0 The dining car is setup in tables of four.\u00a0 If you are not in a multiple of four people, you will most likely be seated with other people.\u00a0 As we have always traveled in our party of four, we have had a table to ourselves.\u00a0 The dinner menu will be presented to you again (they are usually displayed when you check in inside the station) and you can select your options.\u00a0 You will be served a salad, rolls, and you can select beverages.\u00a0 There is soda, coffee, tea, milk and probably other options.\u00a0 Adults can select from red or white wine, which is included in the cost of dinner.\u00a0 In addition to a main course, you will have several options for dessert.\u00a0 We have found the service to be friendly and efficient, and the food is surprisingly good considering it’s prepared en masse.<\/p>\n

In addition to the dinner seating, the Auto Train also has a lounge car which has complementary snacks available at certain times of the day.\u00a0 At boarding time, it’s generally fruit and salty snack mix, and cookies are available in the evening after dinner.\u00a0 Other types of snacks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages are available for purchase in the cafe part of the lounge car.\u00a0 The lounge car also features movies in the evening, for passengers who are interested in getting out of their seats or compartments.\u00a0 We’ve never tried this, but it might be a good way to meet other travelers.<\/p>\n

\"Dining<\/a>
Dining Menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bread<\/a>
Bread and Salad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Roasted<\/a>
Roasted Chicken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dessert\"<\/a>
Dessert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sleeping<\/em><\/p>\n

Once you finish dinner, you will return to your room.\u00a0 If I remember correctly, our room had always been converted at this point into the sleeping berths.\u00a0 We would spend some time watching movies in our room and getting ready for bed.\u00a0 After that, it was always an early lights out so we would be ready to hit Disney the next day!<\/p>\n

Morning on the Train
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

The train stops in Florence, SC very early in the morning for refueling and a crew changeover.\u00a0 I don’t know quite what happens, as we have always been asleep.\u00a0 In the morning, you can make your way back to the dining car for a continental breakfast, which features juice, coffee or tea, fresh fruit, cereal, bagels, and muffins with butter, cream cheese, and jelly. Once that is done, you can return to your compartment that the attendant will have changed back over into its seating configuration.<\/p>\n

At about 10:00 AM, your train should be approaching its destination.\u00a0 Once the train has stopped, everyone will be instructed to disembark the train and head inside the station, while the vehicle unloading process begins.\u00a0 The vehicles will be offloaded and the numbers will be called out on the loud speaker.\u00a0 We’ve been one of the first cars offloaded and we have also been the last car.\u00a0 I believe there is now an option to pay to have your car be one of the first to be offloaded, but we’ve never tried that.<\/p>\n

Travel Disruptions
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

One disadvantage of the Auto Train is that it is subject to random disruptions. We had our trip canceled one year due to a hurricane coming up the east coast. Amtrak\u00a0called a day or two beforehand to let us know, so we decided to get up early and drive. We manage to miss the storm and had an easy drive because there wasn’t much traffic.\u00a0 Additionally, the Auto Train can experience delays due to disruptions on the Amtrak corridor.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ve taken the Auto Train numerous times and have greatly enjoyed it. It usually ends up costing about the same as flying and renting a car. We consider the Auto Train to be part of the vacation, which is good since it takes about 22 hours from when you arrive at the station to when you get your car at the other end (Noon to 10 AM).\u00a0 If you enjoy train travel and Disney, this is a great way to combine those loves!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Part 3 of our series on the Auto Train.\u00a0 Visit Part 2 here. Arrival for Loading Once you Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-planning","category-travel-cost","no-post-thumbnail","no-read-more-tag","no-sticky","use-excerpt","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":566,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/auto-train-part-1-booking\/","url_meta":{"origin":725,"position":0},"title":"Auto Train Part 1: Booking","author":"Joseph","date":"February 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One of our favorite ways to get to Walt Disney World is Amtrak's Auto Train.\u00a0 The Auto Train runs between Lorton, VA (outside of Washington, DC and close to our home) and Sanford, FL (very close to Orlando).\u00a0 The train accommodates passengers and their vehicles to make the trip up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning"","block_context":{"text":"Planning","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/planning\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Amtrak Website","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1-auto-train-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1-auto-train-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1-auto-train-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/1-auto-train-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":723,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/auto-train-part-2-accommodations\/","url_meta":{"origin":725,"position":1},"title":"Auto Train Part 2: Accommodations","author":"Joseph","date":"February 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is Part 2 of our series on the Auto Train.\u00a0 Visit Part 1 here. Amtrak's Auto Train has reserved seating for all passengers.\u00a0 This can be in lower or upper level Coach seats (all of the passenger cars have two levels to them) or sleeping accommodations.\u00a0 There are three\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Planning"","block_context":{"text":"Planning","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/planning\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Superliner Roomette Description","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/10-superline-roomette.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/10-superline-roomette.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/10-superline-roomette.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/ways-to-get-to-orlando\/","url_meta":{"origin":725,"position":2},"title":"Ways to get to Orlando","author":"Joseph","date":"May 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Transportation is one of the first things you will want to plan when you've settled on Orlando as a destination.\u00a0 There are two things to think about with regards to transportation: getting to Orlando from your home or original destination, and traveling around Orlando once you have arrived. There are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flight Cost"","block_context":{"text":"Flight Cost","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-cost\/flight-cost\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4532-e1449019070290-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4532-e1449019070290-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/IMG_4532-e1449019070290-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4734,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-part-7-summary\/","url_meta":{"origin":725,"position":3},"title":"Last Minute Trip \u2013 Part 7 Summary","author":"Joseph","date":"November 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | 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