Hello - Just wanted to jump on here and give a mini-review of our first Amtrak experience. We took the Amtrak to Chicago, not Disney World, but I used this thread to get a lot of useful tips....thank you! We boarded the train in Sandusky Ohio. This is a very very small station, with no one manning it. This made me nervous, especially since I didn't know what to expect. I'm used to an airport, where you check in, someone is there to announce boarding and keep you posted of delays etc. However, I didn't need to worry. We just waited in our car and used the Amtrak App to keep us posted an an estimated arrival. Five minutes before it was supposed to arrive we got out of the car and the train pulled up literally 20 feet away from where we were parked. They didn't even ask for our ticket. We just gave them our name, and they told us where to sit. We didn't even get to our seats before the train was pulling away. That was fast!! The train was stopped for less than 2 minutes. We had seats in coach. The seats were comfortable and provided much more space than an airplane. It was early around 5am, so my kids (ages 6 and 8) were able to take a little nap. We brought blankets and pillows. Then when the sun came up we went to the dinning car to have breakfast. The kids thought it was so cool to get to eat on the train. The food wasn't the greatest, and the coffee was bad. But it was more about the experience and a great way to pass the time. The rest of the time we read, colored, and played with our electronics....before you knew it, we were in Chicago! The trip was supposed to take 5.5 hours, but it was around 6 hours with a small delay....so not too bad! On the way home, we boarded the train at Chicago's Union Station. This train station is huge and the boarding experience was more like an airport where they checked your tickets and let us board first because we had kids under 10. We boarded around 9:30pm and traveled through the night. The kids were comfortable and able to sleep most of the time. My husband and I could not really sleep. We had ear phones but I could still hear people snoring and coughing. People getting on and off at various stops, etc. Also, I was a little worried we would miss our stop and not be ready because we had the kids and all our stuff. I knew they didn't stop long, so I wanted to be ready. Of course, I didn't need to worry because they came around and gave us a 1/2 hour warning and again at 5 minutes. They also counted as we got off, so I don't think they would of let us miss it. Being this was our first time, I just didn't know that ahead of time. Going home we had delays and were almost 2 hours late. Needless to say we were exhausted when we got off. Overall we had a great experience. We would take the Amtrak again to Chicago! We loved not having to deal with a car in the big city and it was a relaxing way to travel. The kids thought it was exciting! Between gas and parking cost downtown Chicago the train ticket paid for itself. However, this was a fairly short distance. I'm not sure I'd go on a longer trip without getting a sleeper car, especially if we were traveling overnight again. I just couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep with others sitting around me. And it seems the cost for a sleeper car is just as much or more than a plane ticket.
I have never rented one before and I'm just a little worried about all the traffic. My DD(23) unfortunately can't help with the driving.
