Silver Meteor Washington to Florida

Hi, folks. First post. I was lucky enough to ride in a roomette in the Southern Crescent shortly before Southern gave it up. But lately, my only long distance ride was Vancouver to Toronto in a bedroom (free upgrade!) on the Canadian last winter, which I loved.

Now I'm planning my first Amtrak overnighter in about 40 years. I'll be going RT between Winter Park, FL, & Washington DC, probably in an accessible bedroom, and trying to decide between the Star & the Meteor southbound.

I see the Meteor departs Washington at 7:25 pm. Assuming it's on time or within 15 minutes (seems to be the average delay), will I be able to get dinner in the diner? (Love that phrase!) And if I arrive at Winter Park, FL, at 12:26 pm, will I have time for lunch in the diner?

The fare is the same to Winter Park or Orlando, and my home is equidistant, so it might be worth booking to Orlando if the 12:49 arrival will get me an extra lunch. But if the only meal I'd get is breakfast, it hardly seems worth the extra cost, even though I prefer the Meteor's later departure.

I've read that the 1st class lounge at Washington is no great shakes, but it does let me store my carry-ons in an unattended room. Is it safe to do so? And can I drop them in the morning and leave them all day?

On the Star, is my room the only place I'm allowed to eat food I've brought aboard?

Thanks for any help.

Welcome to AU!

I also live between the WPK and ORL stations.

Yes, if you board in WAS, you will be provided dinner. If the train is considerably late, the attendants in the Club Acela, likely will pass out $$ to sleeper passengers so that you may purchase dinner in the station.

I usually book to ORL from WAS, but often I detrain in WPK (depending on SunRail and depending on my ride). I have always had time to eat lunch whether detraining in WPK or ORL. If the train is early or on time, I try to be first in the dining car and make sure that the server knows I will be detrainig in WPK.

I prefer the Meteor to the Star, because of the meals. The one time I took the Star from ORL to WAS, I brought food with me (after eating dinner at home). I did eat my own food in my own room, however, I did purchase some snacks from the cafe car and sat there while eating. Amtrak discourages passengers from bringing their own food into the cafe car.

I routinely leave luggage in the Club Acela while walking around DC or the station. I have never had a problem with my luggage being secure.

I would definitely take the Meteor, simply because of the dining car experience. They take care of you very well in a sleeper!

Thanks, pennyk. Good to see you're in the same neighborhood.

Do you happen to know what the long-term parking situation is at WPK? I've seen conflicting reports. I suspect the city may have tightened up on parking since Sunrail came in.

I'm in Ocoee. I would prefer to drive, but I'll Uber if I can't depend on free or low-cost parking being available for 5-6 days. I'd hate to get there an hour before departure and find no place to park.

I've read that there's no long term at ORL, & it's not a neighborhood you'd want to leave your car in anyway.

The Winter Park station has a small long term lot. I am not sure I would depend on finding a parking space there. Before SunRail, the Winter Park City lot did not have parking restrictions and one could park their cars there overnight. I used to live closer to the WPK station and used it exclusively, but never left my car there overnight. However, I know many people who had no problem. Now that there is a time limit for the city lot (maybe 4 hours or so), I would not risk living a car there overnight.

There are more spaces in the Orlando lot. However, as you know, the neighborhood is not as good. I have left my car there overnight a few times. However, once I noticed about 6 cars in the lot had been vandalized. The few times I left my car there, I arrived early enough that I could drive home if there were no spaces and return via Uber or bus. I live in downtown Orlando and pretty much could walk to the Orlando station if I wanted to (and have a few times). I walked home from the WPK station once (without luggage).

joelkfla said:

I see the Meteor departs Washington at 7:25 pm. Assuming it's on time or within 15 minutes (seems to be the average delay), will I be able to get dinner in the diner? (Love that phrase!) And if I arrive at Winter Park, FL, at 12:26 pm, will I have time for lunch in the diner?

Click to expand...

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each to buy food.

joelkfla said:

The fare is the same to Winter Park or Orlando, and my home is equidistant, so it might be worth booking to Orlando if the 12:49 arrival will get me an extra lunch. But if the only meal I'd get is breakfast, it hardly seems worth the extra cost, even though I prefer the Meteor's later departure.

Click to expand...

Since you'll almost certainly be getting three meals on the Meteor, I would definitely say it's worth the extra cost.

joelkfla said:

I've read that the 1st class lounge at Washington is no great shakes, but it does let me store my carry-ons in an unattended room. Is it safe to do so? And can I drop them in the morning and leave them all day?

Click to expand...

IMO, the Washington ClubAcela, while not particularly huge or impressive, is a very nice place to wait for a train, and I think it's perfectly safe to leave your bags there for a day.

OK, sounds like Uber is the way to go, Thanks again.

pennyk said:

The Winter Park station has a small long term lot. I am not sure I would depend on finding a parking space there. Before SunRail, the Winter Park City lot did not have parking restrictions and one could park their cars there overnight. I used to live closer to the WPK station and used it exclusively, but never left my car there overnight. However, I know many people who had no problem. Now that there is a time limit for the city lot (maybe 4 hours or so), I would not risk living a car there overnight.

There are more spaces in the Orlando lot. However, as you know, the neighborhood is not as good. I have left my car there overnight a few times. However, once I noticed about 6 cars in the lot had been vandalized. The few times I left my car there, I arrived early enough that I could drive home if there were no spaces and return via Uber or bus. I live in downtown Orlando and pretty much could walk to the Orlando station if I wanted to (and have a few times). I walked home from the WPK station once (without luggage).

Click to expand...

The safer long term parking with reasonable amount of space and a reasonable chance of getting a space in the Orlando area is at the new Kissimmee Station. Amtrak has its own Parking Lot Section on the city side. I am not sure what the rules are for the SunRail Parking Structure on the lake side of the tracks.

If you are coming from the north though, Uber may indeed be the best choice.

I come from the East on US192, and I have used Kissimmee, which is right off US192, several times, until they tore up everything to build SunRail. I have not used the new and much better parking lot yet.

cpotisch said:

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't see those times listed on the Amtrak.com. On the Canadian, meal times were kind of loosey-goosey depending on when the train arrived at stations. But then, we were about a day behind schedule by the end of the trip.

joelkfla said:

cpotisch said:

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't see those times listed on the Amtrak.com. On the Canadian, meal times were kind of loosey-goosey depending on when the train arrived at stations. But then, we were about a day behind schedule by the end of the trip.

Click to expand...

Hopefully the train won't be that delayed when you take it. But then again when I was on the northbound Meteor in January of this year, we derailed in Savannah and ended up arriving in NYC 20 hours late. So anything is possible!

joelkfla said:

cpotisch said:

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't see those times listed on the Amtrak.com. On the Canadian, meal times were kind of loosey-goosey depending on when the train arrived at stations. But then, we were about a day behind schedule by the end of the trip.

Click to expand...

On the southbound Silver Meteor, in my experience, lunch begins somewhere between 11:30am and noon, depending on whether the train is running late. Since many passengers detrain in Orlando, the crew attempts to make sure all who want to eat lunch are able to do so. Depending on the passenger count, lunch may or may not be by reservation.

jis said:

The safer long term parking with reasonable amount of space and a reasonable chance of getting a space in the Orlando area is at the new Kissimmee Station. Amtrak has its own Parking Lot Section on the city side. I am not sure what the rules are for the SunRail Parking Structure on the lake side of the tracks.

If you are coming from the north though, Uber may indeed be the best choice.

I come from the East on US192, and I have used Kissimmee, which is right off US192, several times, until they tore up everything to build SunRail. I have not used the new and much better parking lot yet.

Click to expand...

Yes, I've looked at Kissimmee. but it's a 15 minute longer drive and an extra hour on the train. I like the idea of departing from WPK because it's such a nice place to wait, what with the park and all the shops on Park Ave.

cpotisch said:

joelkfla said:

cpotisch said:

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't see those times listed on the Amtrak.com. On the Canadian, meal times were kind of loosey-goosey depending on when the train arrived at stations. But then, we were about a day behind schedule by the end of the trip.

Click to expand...

Hopefully the train won't be that delayed when you take it. But then again when I was on the northbound Meteor in January of this year, we derailed in Savannah and ended up arriving in NYC 20 hours late. So anything is possible!

Click to expand...

LOL! It was the dead of winter in Canada during a cold spell. Word going around on the train was that we had to wait for a rail to be replaced after it snapped due to the cold! And I hear VIARail is infamous fro freight train delays. But everything was good. We didn't run out of food, and VIARail had a country-folk duo on board providing entertainment in the lounge car.

joelkfla said:

Yes, I've looked at Kissimmee. but it's a 15 minute longer drive and an extra hour on the train. I like the idea of departing from WPK because it's such a nice place to wait, what with the park and all the shops on Park Ave.

Click to expand...

I agree with your assessment.

The again, some us us crazies here would view that extra hour on the train as a positive rather than a negative though

I was on a 2 hr late Meteor from WAS last month and everyone got $20.00. And the Acela lounge is just fine.

joelkfla said:

cpotisch said:

joelkfla said:

cpotisch said:

If the train is running roughly to schedule, you'll get dinner after you board and lunch before you detrain. From Amtrak.com, dinner is served from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM, and passengers can board as late as 8:30 PM for service. Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM. As Penny said, if the train is running so late that passengers boarding in WAS will miss dinner, they usually give sleeper pax $25 each.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't see those times listed on the Amtrak.com. On the Canadian, meal times were kind of loosey-goosey depending on when the train arrived at stations. But then, we were about a day behind schedule by the end of the trip.

Click to expand...

Hopefully the train won't be that delayed when you take it. But then again when I was on the northbound Meteor in January of this year, we derailed in Savannah and ended up arriving in NYC 20 hours late. So anything is possible!

Click to expand...

LOL! It was the dead of winter in Canada during a cold spell. Word going around on the train was that we had to wait for a rail to be replaced after it snapped due to the cold! And I hear VIARail is infamous fro freight train delays. But everything was good. We didn't run out of food, and VIARail had a country-folk duo on board providing entertainment in the lounge car.

Click to expand...

While The Canadian onboard experience isn't as good as it once was (is anything?), it is way better than 95% of any experience you'll have on Amtrak. Rolling stock much better maintained, onboard staff more courteous and knowledgeable, and the cuisine superb. Even with the train 13 hours late arriving in Vancouver last year, the chef and kitchen staff came up with some filling and tasty entrees for the last three meals using available supplies and a lot of ingenuity.

If CN could just get its act together to help The Canadian stay on schedule. Oh wait. They can't. They took out most of the tracks that were once used to put freights in the hole, while making freights a mile longer. Only shorter pax trains fit in the hole.

Sauve850 said:

I was on a 2 hr late Meteor from WAS last month and everyone got $20.00. And the Acela lounge is just fine.

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How and when did you get a $20.00 refund?

Dakota 400 said:

Sauve850 said:

I was on a 2 hr late Meteor from WAS last month and everyone got $20.00. And the Acela lounge is just fine.

Click to expand...

How and when did you get a $20.00 refund?

Click to expand...

This seems to be standard practice in D.C. for sleeper passengers who miss a meal because their train is late. They give each passenger $20 to $25 to buy their own meals, and have them sign a thing which says they won't try to get further compensation.

cpotisch said:

Dakota 400 said:

Sauve850 said:

I was on a 2 hr late Meteor from WAS last month and everyone got $20.00. And the Acela lounge is just fine.

Click to expand...

How and when did you get a $20.00 refund?

Click to expand...

This seems to be standard practice in D.C. for sleeper passengers who miss a meal because their train is late. They give each passenger $20 to $25 to buy their own meals, and have them sign a thing which says they won't try to get further compensation.

Click to expand...

The lounge attendant distributes the cash based on a list that she or he has. A signature is required in order to receive the money. Sleeper passengers who choose not to wait in the Club Acela are not offerered the cash.

The few times that I received the money ($25 each time) for dinner, we were told that it would be OK to bring our dinner into the lounge and eat it there, even though they have a no outside food rule.

Thanks to cpotisch and pennyk for their informative posts. I originally mis-read the post to which I responded. I thought the poster was arriving at WAS and not departing from WAS. Thanks to this Forum, I am aware of this "benefit" that I ought to expect when my Silver Meteor trip starts should the train be very late.

pennyk said:

The few times that I received the money ($25 each time) for dinner, we were told that it would be OK to bring our dinner into the lounge and eat it there, even though they have a no outside food rule.

Click to expand...

This only happened to me once, and it was at the Philly 30th Street Acela lounge.

I thought it was pretty nice and accommodating.

jis said:

joelkfla said:

Yes, I've looked at Kissimmee. but it's a 15 minute longer drive and an extra hour on the train. I like the idea of departing from WPK because it's such a nice place to wait, what with the park and all the shops on Park Ave.

Click to expand...

I agree with your assessment.

The again, some us us crazies here would view that extra hour on the train as a positive rather than a negative though

Click to expand...

I've been thinking it over about KIS, and maybe I fall into that group after all. I see there's a highly-rated barbecue joint around the corner from the station which sounds good for dinner; and also a couple of $20-range restaurants nearby that have good reviews. And I'd be able to enjoy my coming home lunch on the train without rushing through it.

The Amtrak site says there are 400 long-term parking spaces! At first I thought it was an error, but I'm thinking Amtrak must have some arrangement for that garage across the tracks. I emailed the city, and the lady said that Amtrak might have long-term permits, but she didn't know about it.

Are the long-term slots in the station lot usually empty? How do they keep commuters out; does the station give out a dashboard permit?

Before the larger parking lot was built, I had no problem finding a ling term space from among the 20 or so that were available. They were marked clearly as Amtrak space. I don’t know how or if they are identified now.

Amtrak long term parkers had to fill out a form with info about their car and plans and give to the station agent who apparently coordinated with local police in some way to ensure that stray cars were not left in the parking lot.

I have not used the lot yet after the SunRail station was built. My impression is that the Amtrak long term slots are not in the multi level parking structure but in the ground level lot on the Amtrak station side.

Maybe I’ll go out there one day this week, check out the situation and post what I find.

Thx.

Don't go to trouble, but if you're in the area, an update would be appreciated.

I drove over to Winter Park to have a look at the parking situation with my own eyes. There are exactly 8 spaces signed "Amtrak Customers Only", When i arrived around 3:30 pm, 2 were available. When I left an hour later all were taken -- which is rather suspicious as no trains are scheduled until 7:49 pm. I was able to change my return ticket to terminate at WPK with no fare change, thanks to a very helpful Amtrak phone agent. I'll drive to get there around 3, and just hang around Park Ave. until the evening (I'm retired so I have the time.) If the spaces are full, I'll have plenty of time to drive back home (about 30 minutes) and get an Uber.

I had a long conversation with the station agent, who was very friendly and helpful. She said she was told that the SunTrust Plaza Garage 3 blocks south of the station does allow overnight parking, and that she had sent other passengers there and not gotten any complaints. So I took a stroll down there and talked to the Rollins student working the booth. He said it was OK to leave the car there, but the fee would be $15 a night. So at $75 for 5 nights, I'll probably just drive back home and do Uber if I can't get a space at the station.

She also called the agent at KIS for me. He said they don't have 400 long-term spaces like the web site says they do, but he confirmed that he's never heard from a passenger who couldn't find a space down there. It's too late to change this trip (fares have gone way up), but I'll make it the base for my next trip.

Anyway, i just wanted to share what I learned about parking at WPK & KIS.