Drive or take train???? About This Page:

[tdhc]

We are heading back to our happy place in December and were considering taking the training. A little over 12 hours from our area in NC. Driving is about 9 hours and would include an overnight stop in Jacksonville, FL. Wanting to know which one you would recommend......drive or take to the train? Would also love to hear your experiences if you have taken the train. Thank you for your feedback.

[tinker_me_happy]

I've never taken the train because there isn't one from where I live. Here are my thoughts though. If you take the train, you will need to rent a car. If I remember correctly the train stops in Sanford. So factor that into your cost. Upside of the train is you can enjoy the ride, and again, if I remember correctly, you can book a time to leave around supper time, eat and sleep on the train and arrive in the morning. To me that sounds like a perfect trip for traveling! Less wear and tear on the car, and less wear and tear on the body! The upside to driving is you get to see the country, take your time and you don't have to be on any schedule. You have your own car down there and you don't have the hassle of renting.
With the price of gas tolls and paying for over night lodging (though if it were me I'd just drive straight through), I would do a cost analysis against the price of tickets and rental car. Factor in the stress of driving vs the stress of time tables and renting and decide which one of those would be less of a problem for you. If the price is close, then go with the stress indicator. If money is an issue go with which ever is less. If adventure is what you want, you have to figure out what type of adventure you are looking for, because they are both an adventure of their own accord.
I think for me, if I lived by the train, I would want to do it at least once, as long as the price wasn't too ridiculously out of whack vs driving!

[queen2]

I see both sides of a coin, there are pros & cons both ways. I rode a train years ago from Wilmington, De to Fayetteville, NC. we had great seats going down. Coming back you had to take leftovers. Although the ride is nice & relaxing it was a long ride. It is hard to walk in a moving train. Take your own food, & drinks as they are costly on the train. If you drive you can take breaks when ever you want.

[Dave Marx]

A car rental is not necessarily required. The Auto Train stops in Sanford, but regular passenger service is available to Orlando and Kissimmee. Other than getting a shuttle, taxi, or towncar to/from the resort, all other travel can be accomplished without a car.

The issues for me would be economic and environmental. Amtrak fares for a family could easily be higher than the cost of gas and lodging for a car trip. Rail is certainly the "greener" alternative.

Comfort? Trains are at least as spacious as most cars, and although walking on a moving train can be a bit of a challenge, it's a skill I learned a very long time ago (on the NYC Subway), so it doesn't bother me at all. If I feel the need to stand up and stretch my legs, it's not a big deal.

As long as there are two drivers, a 9-hour drive isn't all that tiring, but it's nicer still when nobody has to do driving duty - you can concentrate on your traveling companions instead of the road.

For some destinations a car is a definite requirement, so all this can go out the window, but I've traveled without a car to many destinations and had no problems at all. Walt Disney World is definitely one of those car-free places.

[Sue M.]

I never use a car at WDW, and prefer to use the WDW transportation. Even if I happen to have a car, because I get a rental in Ft. Lauderdale for that part of my trip, it stayed parked at AKL. We did a mid trip get away to WDW that year, and had to get back down to Ft. Lauderdale.
So for me- it would boil down to economics. I'd go the cheaper route. 9 hrs isn't a bad drive. I'd prob. drive straight thru with a few breaks.

[tdhc]

Thanks for the feedback. We usually drive and leave the day before we check in at WDW to make the most of our entire stay there. Thus the usual stop in Jacksonville. Looking forward to more feedback. Thanks!

[cdnmickeyfan]

I say drive. I love a road trip. We drive from Toronto almost every time we go and we are leaving in a couple of weeks!!!!!!!!!

[dolphin041599]

I've never taken a long train ride. I hate long car rides and since I'm the only driver, 9 hours is too much for me. Of course, from Ohio, we have a much longer drive (20 hours approx.), so wasting that much time driving makes me crazy.

For me, 9 hours would be better on a train than driving. However, it just depends on how you travel.

[JerseyDad]

....drive!! 9 hrs drive time is a hop-skip & a jump. We have about a 16 hr drive from NJ to WDW...and (to me)...it's a breeze...and I do all the driving (12.5 hrs one day...stop in Ga....little over 3 hrs next morning)

....I've priced the train....every which way...(Auto-Train and / or plain passenger service...from NYC or Philly) and it's FAR more expensive than driving...and much less convenient (getting to and from train).

....until the US finds it important to have reliable high-speed rail service up/down the east coast....I'll be driving

[yalibrarian]

....until the US finds it important to have reliable high-speed rail service up/down the east coast....I'll be driving

Well, like THAT will ever happen!

I love trains and could go either way on this. We drive from near D.C. every year and have considered the Autotrain. The cost is primarily what has held us back, but regular trains can be much cheaper since you aren't paying for a car to be transported too. There are many discounts available, such as AAA, student, military, and senior, plus often you can find deep discounts for kids (half price, for example.) The trains stop in both Orlando and Kissimmee; Orlando will have more services, I think. Autotrain only stops in Sanford. If you are happy to stay in the Disney bubble, you wouldn't need a car. You could take a cab if you needed to go off site, of course.

You can price out a potential trip on www.amtrak.com and compare it time and cost-wise to driving.

[Butterbunkins]

To me a 9 hour drive is nothing. But DH and I like road trips and when we go to Disney we drive from Chicago. We make it part of our vacation however. We makes stops and see sights. On our next trip we are camping one night where we got married in Southern IL and staying with relatives the next night near Knoxville TN. Plus we have a few stops planned and making a few scenic detours.

I have been on Amtrak twice. It was back and forth to my SIL house and each way was under three hours. I found the seats to be uncomfortable and would not have wanted to be on any longer than that. Incidently I am no stranger to trains. I take take the commuter train from the suburbs into the city every day for work and have done so for 9 years so it was not the train experience I wasn't comfortable with.

I do like having my car at WDW. I will always sing the praises of their transportation system, but since we do drive down, having our own car is much more convenient to us.

[jimmymac]

Definitely drive. And I'm an Amtrak Select Member

[JerseyDad]

Originally Posted by yalibrarian

Well, like THAT will ever happen!

...probably not

...it really bothers me....from a, "I don't like to see things pass into oblivion" viewpoint, that the passenger train service in this country almost went to the point of extinction....and now...isn't anything to cheer about. At one time it was the affordable alternative to driving...but when I priced round trip tickets from Philadelphia to Kissimee / Orlando...it was in the $1400 range for 4 "adults" (over 16 yrs old...and that's coach seats).....and...of course....it's a 22 hour odyssey each way. (not including the 1.5 hr drive to / from Philly)

[DisneyDaddy]

We checked it out once from New England. It was almost as expensive to take Amtrak as flying. If the choice was to drive or take train, I would drive.

But as I have little vacation time, I value each moment off so we fly
Got flights on JetBlue sunday morning for $155 each!!!
It's worth it.

[tdhc]

Thank you all for your feedback.