My family and I, my mom(who is 70), my son(12) and his friend(13) boarded the Amtrak thruway in Denver to Raton on May 21st. I was anxious for this trip to see how my mother would do riding in coach for this trip. I had finally convinced her to ride the train with me. I knew the boys would do fine.
The thruway was the same as always. This time had a driver who, when we stopped at Trinidad, told us we might want to get a soda and snack as the Raton station does not have anything available.
The train was on time in Raton, the car attendant gave us our seat numbers and up we went. Found our seats but there was a woman in one of the seats. We told her the attendant told us to take the seats, she was not moving. <_< So I ran down to the attendant, she said, I told her she could only have that seat for a little while and I will make her move. The attendant came up, woman still would not move. So the attendant gave us seats of someone who was not in their seat, moved the items from the seat and the overhead bags. So we sat down, boys in seats in front of us. Pretty soon here comes the guy who seats we were in. We told him what happened and he was very nice about it but it didn't sit well with me. The non-moving woman really should have been made to move.
We settle in and I really take notice of where our seats were, which are directly across from the stairs
I realize it would not be a quiet seat and that the light over the stairs would probably be left on all night. But I thought, at least we have seats by the boys.
We asked about an upgrade, conductor said they were full and there might be a no-show but it did not happen. He said if one was available it would be around $200.
When night came, my mom went in to her mode of, she was not going to sit in that seat all night long and she was going to get her way. After listening to this for a while, I became annoyed. My mom caught the attendant and told her, she had to have a different seat away from the light. For some reason I sort of snapped at the attendant.
The attendant came back and told my mom that when she and her trainee went to bed, my mom could have their seats until they came back in the morning.
The next morning as I hopped off at a smoke stop I pulled out a $10 and gave it to the attendant, thanked her for giving my mom the seat and apologized for snapping at her. She was alright with the whole situation, she was very sweet.
With all of that, the train ride was enjoyable, ate lunch and dinner(steak, yummy!) in the dining car. The boys were good and kept themselves busy with their electronic toys. My mom read and I watched the scenery. Mom seemed to be ok with the train ride and said she slept pretty good in the two seats.
Getting off at Fullerton was a first. There were taxis waiting at the station. It was $20 + tip to our Disney hotel on Harbor across from the maingate at Disneyland.
In between train trips, we did Disneyland for 4 days, deciding that 4 days was too long. Stayed at a hotel across from the maingate which we loved. The location of the hotel was great and they offered free breakfast and a light dinner which was plenty of food, this saved a bunch of money.
We also went to Universal Studios which was fun. I will have to say those escalators which go down the to lower lot freak me out, I took the handicap shuttle back up to the upper lot.
Spent a day at a relatives house, they have a pool which the boys loved.
I had found a recommendation of a hotel in Long Beach on another board and at first we were a little leary of the location. But the hotel was great, the boys swam some more.
Then we embarked on our cruise. The cruise was wonderful, good food and relaxation.
After the cruise we took a shuttle to L.A Union Station. It was fun to see the addition of food offerings in the station. We walked over to Olvera Street, after being in Mexico and seeing the same thing, it was a repeat but still enjoyed it. Ate on the patio of one of the restaurants. Enjoyed a Starbuck's before boarding. I got in the seat check in line early, was able to get the first four seats in a car which was wonderful. We skipped dinner in the dining car as the fist seating available was 8:45. We ate in the lounge car, I had pizza and it was good.
Ate in the lounge car again in the morning, missed the french toast in the dining car. Did eat lunch in the dining car, I had the burger.
Our overnight in coach was ok for me but my mom whined and griped pretty much the whole night through. The next day she kept giving me reasons for not riding the train, uncomfortable, takes to long, expensive and so on.hboy: So I think this will be my mom's only trip on the train with me. I will say though, I am sure at 70 it was probably very uncomfortable for her in coach. While it is uncomfortable for me, I would rather be on a train than on a plane or having to drive for miles and miles.
We had a conductor who was all business, no smiles, an assistant train conductor was friendly. Dining staff was pleasant and our coach attendant was pleasant enough. Lounge car attendant was very nice. On our way to our trip the gal in the cafe was not friendly at all until I told my mother about a wonderful cafe attendant on one trip, then the gal perked up.
All in all a wonderful trip. Next train trip will be most likely by myself, again.
One thing to make note of, while our choice to eat in the cafe, we did notice for not much more money you could have a meal in the dining car. This is with buying an entree, chips, drink and candy bar.
The thruway was the same as always. This time had a driver who, when we stopped at Trinidad, told us we might want to get a soda and snack as the Raton station does not have anything available.
The train was on time in Raton, the car attendant gave us our seat numbers and up we went. Found our seats but there was a woman in one of the seats. We told her the attendant told us to take the seats, she was not moving. <_< So I ran down to the attendant, she said, I told her she could only have that seat for a little while and I will make her move. The attendant came up, woman still would not move. So the attendant gave us seats of someone who was not in their seat, moved the items from the seat and the overhead bags. So we sat down, boys in seats in front of us. Pretty soon here comes the guy who seats we were in. We told him what happened and he was very nice about it but it didn't sit well with me. The non-moving woman really should have been made to move.
We settle in and I really take notice of where our seats were, which are directly across from the stairs
I realize it would not be a quiet seat and that the light over the stairs would probably be left on all night. But I thought, at least we have seats by the boys.We asked about an upgrade, conductor said they were full and there might be a no-show but it did not happen. He said if one was available it would be around $200.
When night came, my mom went in to her mode of, she was not going to sit in that seat all night long and she was going to get her way.
After listening to this for a while, I became annoyed. My mom caught the attendant and told her, she had to have a different seat away from the light. For some reason I sort of snapped at the attendant.The attendant came back and told my mom that when she and her trainee went to bed, my mom could have their seats until they came back in the morning.
The next morning as I hopped off at a smoke stop I pulled out a $10 and gave it to the attendant, thanked her for giving my mom the seat and apologized for snapping at her. She was alright with the whole situation, she was very sweet.
With all of that, the train ride was enjoyable, ate lunch and dinner(steak, yummy!) in the dining car. The boys were good and kept themselves busy with their electronic toys. My mom read and I watched the scenery. Mom seemed to be ok with the train ride and said she slept pretty good in the two seats.
Getting off at Fullerton was a first. There were taxis waiting at the station. It was $20 + tip to our Disney hotel on Harbor across from the maingate at Disneyland.
In between train trips, we did Disneyland for 4 days, deciding that 4 days was too long. Stayed at a hotel across from the maingate which we loved. The location of the hotel was great and they offered free breakfast and a light dinner which was plenty of food, this saved a bunch of money.
We also went to Universal Studios which was fun. I will have to say those escalators which go down the to lower lot freak me out, I took the handicap shuttle back up to the upper lot.
Spent a day at a relatives house, they have a pool which the boys loved.
I had found a recommendation of a hotel in Long Beach on another board and at first we were a little leary of the location. But the hotel was great, the boys swam some more.
Then we embarked on our cruise. The cruise was wonderful, good food and relaxation.
After the cruise we took a shuttle to L.A Union Station. It was fun to see the addition of food offerings in the station. We walked over to Olvera Street, after being in Mexico and seeing the same thing, it was a repeat but still enjoyed it. Ate on the patio of one of the restaurants. Enjoyed a Starbuck's before boarding. I got in the seat check in line early, was able to get the first four seats in a car which was wonderful. We skipped dinner in the dining car as the fist seating available was 8:45. We ate in the lounge car, I had pizza and it was good.
Ate in the lounge car again in the morning, missed the french toast in the dining car. Did eat lunch in the dining car, I had the burger.
Our overnight in coach was ok for me but my mom whined and griped pretty much the whole night through. The next day she kept giving me reasons for not riding the train, uncomfortable, takes to long, expensive and so on.
hboy: So I think this will be my mom's only trip on the train with me. I will say though, I am sure at 70 it was probably very uncomfortable for her in coach. While it is uncomfortable for me, I would rather be on a train than on a plane or having to drive for miles and miles.We had a conductor who was all business, no smiles, an assistant train conductor was friendly. Dining staff was pleasant and our coach attendant was pleasant enough. Lounge car attendant was very nice. On our way to our trip the gal in the cafe was not friendly at all until I told my mother about a wonderful cafe attendant on one trip, then the gal perked up.
All in all a wonderful trip. Next train trip will be most likely by myself, again.
One thing to make note of, while our choice to eat in the cafe, we did notice for not much more money you could have a meal in the dining car. This is with buying an entree, chips, drink and candy bar.
