by William Bartholomew

Created on: June 02, 2008   Last Updated: January 21, 2009

What is the best form of travel? Well, in general I would say flying but really the answer depends more on your individual wants or needs. There are plenty of people who are afraid to fly and also you may be the type of person who enjoys a long ride or the scenery. My preference is usually getting to my destination as soon as possible within my budget. My family and I just returned to Maryland from a trip to Disney World in Florida. My wife is afraid of flying so we decided to get to and from Disney a little differently this year. On the way down we took the Auto train which departed out of Lorton VA. This was my first trip on the Auto Train and I found it to be a very nice experience. The trip included dinner and breakfast as well as a "wine tasting" (which was more like 2 wine choices with some snacks). There was also a choice of 2 movies and 3 show times. The movies were shown in the lounge car where some free snacks were available and the was a cash bar. There was also free coffee and water available both in the dining area and in the car with our roomettes. Each sleeping car had a couple bathrooms and a shower. While these are shared by whomever stays in the sleeping car I never had an issue with waiting. The train ride was fairly smooth but would rock a bit from side to side. Although this rocking sometimes made it difficult to walk on the train it seemed to provide us with a bunch of laughs. We had 3 roomettes to stay in and while they are quite small you should really compare them to the amount of space you would have in a seat of a plane or your car. Also, keep in mind you're not stuck in those seats either. While the Disney's transportation system is pretty useful (specially once you truly start to understand some of the tips and tricks) it was very nice to have our own vehicle available during the week. The scenery was a nice change from a typical road trip. At one point (not sure where we were) the train actually goes through a town and right down what appears to be Main street. If you book early the price isn't bad. That being said driving would be a little cheaper and flying even a bit better. Since we have a Suburban the cost for transporting our vehicle is a bit more than say a mid-sized car. For information you can go to the Amtrak website and click on the Reservations tab and then click on the Auto Train link below Reservation Options on the left side of the screen (or try this direct address http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak/autotrain

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