thank you Alan!
i'll start it here, and we'll see how much i rattle on as to whether you move it to trip reports
Traveling were myself, hubby, daughter (who turned 4 on our trip) and son (2 years old)... we had a deluxe sleeper, which i found wonderful for our kids. Well worth the cost to us. We traveled from Newark Penn Station, NJ to Orlando, Fl, and this was our first time on a train. We left Sunday around 11:30am and arrived around noon the next day.
We had brought a sheet to lay on the floor for our kids to play on, and it worked very well. I wiped down the bathroom and sink area and hard surfaces with lysol wipes, and wished i had brought a can of lysol for the rug and cushions (those of you who don't have children will think i'm a nut, anyone with small kids i'm sure will understand - hands and mouths touch *everything*)... the room was not dirty and was totally acceptable, i'm just a nut with germs because of the kids. Having our own private bathroom was wonderful for our small children too. again, very well worth the cost of the sleeper to us.
We were very happy with the dining car as well. The food was good with a nice selection for us all, and it was nice to get out of our room for the meals. I loved the linen cloths and flowers on the tables. They gave the kids take-out type cups with lids for drinks, which was great! The other passengers there were friendly, smiling, enjoying themselves a lot. Only one woman made a big "huff" and said "oh my goodness!" like she was the queen of england when our 2 year old son let out a little screech. The staff was split 50/50 as to who was "kid-friendly" and who was outwardly annoyed by kids. i'm assuming not too many families with little kids take the train by the reaction of some of the staff. not a big deal though. The wait staff's attitude towards adult passengers ranged from scarey and mean to extremely nice. One waitress actually yelled at a customer and told him loudly when he asked for something extra "I already took your order! I'll be back with you when it's your turn!" and he said something to the affect of "i've asked twice for xxx" and she replied "i'm NOT hearing you" with her head shaking side to side and her hand held out in front of her. she then ignored him and walked away. we felt like we were on candid camera a couple of times, her behavior was that unbelievable. we made a private joke of being "good" so she wouldn't yell at us. but we apparently weren't good enough, she snapped at us too... my husband was 5 minutes behind the kids and i for our dinner seating and wasn't at our table when i had asked her if they had chocolate milk & was told "no" (no biggie, got regular milk for kids), but when husband asked at the end of the meal if they had chocolate milk for him with dessert, she quickly turned to me and said in a very reprimanding voice "I already TOLD her we don't have chocolate milk!!" I had to bite my tongue to not laugh (i didn't want to get in more trouble
But another waitress was extremely sweet, nice and helpful, so it's just the luck of the dice who you get. The mean one provided us some entertainment, guessing who she would yell at next. Oh, and the nice waitress brought the kids their ice cream one time with smiley faces made from the whipped cream, which she said the chef did for them. very, very sweet of the chef! And she offered us her own anti-bacterial lotion when she saw we were wiping the kids hands and the bottle was almost empty. SOOOO nice of her!
We didn't venture around too much besides the dining car... i didn't like walking between the cars w/ the kids more than was necessary. And let's just say the lounge with it's smoking car wasn't my "cup of tea"... i've seen pics of much, much nicer lounge cars... i think we were in very old cars for the trip down (i believe husband asked an attendant, and he said it was some of the oldest equipment in service). But it was still totally fine and if it weren't for us having the kids with us, i wouldn't think too much either way about it. Our nice attendant also showed us the empty handicap-accessible room, which i would like to get for our next trip for it's size (anyone know the policy regarding booking them if you're not handicap?)... but husband is wanting the center deluxe room (which we had going and coming home) because of the side of the room the beds are on (the left), thinking if we got into an accident, you wouldn't get thrown on the floor, but into the wall instead. any thoughts on that, because i'd love to talk him into the other room if they're available.
Caution for kids: when the train sways a lot sometimes, the little ones can get thrown around a bit... my son fell 2x's and bonked his head into the door and cabinet in our room. we just had to be a little more careful with him when we felt it starting to sway a lot, which we got the hang of quickly. our 4 year old daughter was fine though - a little more steady on her feet.
the beds were very comfortable (husband slept on the upper, and kids and I on the lower... i put the kids feet to feet on the inside next to the wall and i slept on the outside (switching myself back and forth as to which way i was laying depending on who woke up wanting comfort) and we had enough room. i also had the pull out chair (it's folded up under the couch, we didn't discover it till the ride home - duh!) next to me so i wouldn't feel like i would fall out.
the tv in the room showed a couple of re-runs of Tool Time, Friends, and 2 movies. we had brought our portable DVD player which we only used 2 times i believe. the kids were so entertained just playing at the window with the vents (open, close, open, close, open, close... you get the idea), opening and snaping close the curtains, looking out the window, pushing the attendant button (opps... sorry! it only happened once, but watch out for that, parents) and with the toys/books we brought. it was really easy to entertain them to our pleasant surprise. just the novelty of the train helped a lot.
another tip to parents - the cars vary greatly as to how hot or cold they are. our sleeper was stuffy as can be on the way down, but the dining car was freezing. on the way home, our sleeper's vents and AC worked much better and it was comfortable, and the dining car was even colder than the ride down. so just layer the kids clothes (and definitely bring extra for when they spill stuff when the train sways... i hadn't really accounted for that and needed more clothes for the kids).
i actually looked forward to our ride home on the train (and leaving disney, that's saying a lot!) and we weren't disappointed. it was even better in a way than the ride down, just knowing what to expect, how to sleep the kids, to watch out for the mean waitress (who was working our train again and actually asked how our vacation was, and i was so surprised i stumbled over my words to answer her). The sleeper car also seemed like a newer car on the ride back home.
we all enjoyed our trip on the train a lot! we will definitely travel this way from now on (we won't fly, and any drive over 6 hours from now on, we'll take the train)... it's actually opened up a whole new world of travel for us because we won't fly, we felt sort of confined to not travel far away, but now we really would.
oh, and the bum who approached us at the Kissimmee station asking for 87 cents and asking us where we were going, etc, kind of ruined our "station" experience. to anyone traveling with kids, make sure you get a station that is staffed when you'll be there, which ours was so i wasn't really nervous, but i would have been if there wasn't staff there.
hope this wasn't too long... again, we really enjoyed ourselves and felt very relaxed arriving at our hotel, which is a big difference from driving or even flying. Liz
