G
Guest_msierk_*
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This forum was so useful in planning our first ever Amtrak trip - that I wanted to post a report of our trip to help any other newbie moms traveling with kids!
We travelled from Chicago to Lamy NM (24 hours on Southwest Chief) over the Christmas holidays. We had 4 coach seats for our family of 4 (boys aged 4 and 7). Overall it was a wonderful trip and the kids are still talking about the train trip - 2008 will forever be known as the 'train trip Christmas".
Overall a great experience. Don't listen to all the Rich and negative people on this forum - travelling via coach with kids is very doable and was a good experience for us! I am sure the rooms are wonderful and nice, but if we could afford them we would take a plane (no offense train-lovers)
Quick Tips:
bring travel surge protector and extra battery packs for DVD players
bring kids their own blankets and pillows (worth the space in an extra carryon suitcase)
go to the sightseerer lounge! (bring card games)
Bring a cooler full of food and snacks to supplement snack car food
Don't count on finding a redcap in CHicago - be able to carry/pull all suitcases - no carts/dollies that we could find either
LONG VERSION STORY:
On the way to NM we had a new superliner with plugs at every seat. The kids loved the reclining seats and footrests. They loved that there are "NO seatbelts" on the train and we could swap seats among ourselves. Walking downstairs to use the bathroom was a fun experience too. We spent a lot of time in the sightseer lounge car ~ I was surprised that we were able to get a booth everytime we went up there, even though the train was packed FULL. It was great for a change of scenary, playing cards and other games and eating family meals.
We brought a cooler full of food with frozen water bottles that stayed cool the whole trip. We splurged and had breakfast in the dining car - no reservations needed for breakfast so we could walk up when we were ready and had no trouble getting a table even as 'coach' passengers. (~$35 for our family w/tip). The other meals I let the kids get a 'hot' item from the snack bar (hamburger, hotdog, mini frozen pizza - reminded me of gas station food - decent but nothing great) and we added yogurt, fruit, juice boxes, cheesesticks, etc. from our cooler. Snacks from cooler were necessary too.
Storage was not a problem on the train - we kept our backpacks above the seats and stored the cooler and carryon suitcases downstairs in the train - were we had full access to them (we had checked 6 big suitcases for our 10 trip & holiday gifts - thank goodness for no baggage check fees on the trains!).
The kids did change into PJs for bedtime - one of the bathrooms on each superliner had a 'dressing' area attached that was great. We brought fleece blankets, a sheet and travel pillow for everyone - the kids slept under the seats with no problem (the conductor gave me a wink and a smile and told me he 'did not see anything' after I crawled out from checking on them). It is pretty tight under there and my 7 year old says he bumped his head a couple of times - but lying flat they slept great and slept through the night - only the 'long' stop in Kansas City at midnight were lots of people got on was loud - at the other stations they must have boarded passagers onto different cars.
The lights were dimmed around 9pm and everyone on the car was very quiet - even in the morning it was amazingly quiet until 9am. (My husband who is 6'6" had trouble sleeping on the train but managed to doze some)
The train was ideal for traveling with kids - lots of freedom of movement. We watched DVDs, played cards, read books, colored, watched scenary, did trivia cards, etc.etc. Everyone was very friendly. It was relatively quiet in the cars, but I did not get the feeling anyone minded when we read outloud or the kids laughed at movies, card games. I let me 7 year old go downstairs to the bathrooms alone, but would not have let them travel between cars alone.
The trip home was a little rougher - ALL the coach cars were older and had only one outlet per car. The first car we were on the footrests did not work on 3 of our 4 seats and 2 of the 4 did not recline and we were not seated together. Eventually after a couple of polite and respectful requests we were allowed to move back to another car where we were together and all the seats worked. (they had been trying to leave that car empty for the large groups getting on the next morning in Kansas City).
Thank goodness for our travel surge protector - we were able to share the one outlet in the car with the family sitting there (once they realized it would give them more outlets they were more than happy to share ) - we used it to recharge the DVD player and my husbands computer a couple of times and the rest of the time let other passengers on the train use it.
For whatever reasons the bathrooms were not keeped very clean and were pretty stinky by the time we arrived in Chicago.........
WE do NOT live near Chicago........we drove into Chicago the day before. Amtrak phone reps had said we could check our bags 24 hours ahead of time, so we went first to the train station and went in to check bags, the lady there said 'no way, they Never check bags a day early, unless we arrived via train she could not store.....but then proceeded to check all of my big suitcases and they arrived in Lamy NM with us the next day....?????
anyway - we then stayed at an airport hotel were we could park our car free for 14 days ($98 for a hotel room, breakfast and parking is a good deal). We took free hotel shuttle to O'hare (20min), the El to downtown (15 min to board then 45 min to ride) and then walked the 2 blocks to Union Station (10 min). The walk was very cold and the kids complained about their bags - but it was very doable. Coming home we were too tired for the long commute and had ALL of our big bags, so squeezed into a taxi - about $55 for the ride out to the hotel - still cheaper than parking for 11 days though!
Chicago Union station was insanely crowded on Dec 22nd (lots of delayed and late trains) - but we stayed out in the main area away from Amtrak area until boarding time and it was not too bad. We arrived in NM 2 hours late (2 hrs on 24 hour trip is only 10% late - like arriving 5 min late on 50 min flight I figure) and arrived in Chicago on time (okay maybe 15 min late)
When you get on train it is an immediate turn up steep stairs to seating area and we tried to lug our bags up - and the kids were in front and unsure where to go.........next time would leave bags in lower area of train until we got settled and put an adult in front of line.
One other thing I was unsure of before travelling - when you get on train they tell you which coach car to board based on which station you are getting off at......then you can pick your seat and the train attendant marks the seats with the number of you and were you are getting off - so you do not have to be in your seat at every station - if you are somewhere else the seat is marked.
It was a great experience - hope this long narrative helps another mom planning a first time trip!
We travelled from Chicago to Lamy NM (24 hours on Southwest Chief) over the Christmas holidays. We had 4 coach seats for our family of 4 (boys aged 4 and 7). Overall it was a wonderful trip and the kids are still talking about the train trip - 2008 will forever be known as the 'train trip Christmas".
Overall a great experience. Don't listen to all the Rich and negative people on this forum - travelling via coach with kids is very doable and was a good experience for us! I am sure the rooms are wonderful and nice, but if we could afford them we would take a plane (no offense train-lovers)
Quick Tips:
bring travel surge protector and extra battery packs for DVD players
bring kids their own blankets and pillows (worth the space in an extra carryon suitcase)
go to the sightseerer lounge! (bring card games)
Bring a cooler full of food and snacks to supplement snack car food
Don't count on finding a redcap in CHicago - be able to carry/pull all suitcases - no carts/dollies that we could find either
LONG VERSION STORY:
On the way to NM we had a new superliner with plugs at every seat. The kids loved the reclining seats and footrests. They loved that there are "NO seatbelts" on the train and we could swap seats among ourselves. Walking downstairs to use the bathroom was a fun experience too. We spent a lot of time in the sightseer lounge car ~ I was surprised that we were able to get a booth everytime we went up there, even though the train was packed FULL. It was great for a change of scenary, playing cards and other games and eating family meals.
We brought a cooler full of food with frozen water bottles that stayed cool the whole trip. We splurged and had breakfast in the dining car - no reservations needed for breakfast so we could walk up when we were ready and had no trouble getting a table even as 'coach' passengers. (~$35 for our family w/tip). The other meals I let the kids get a 'hot' item from the snack bar (hamburger, hotdog, mini frozen pizza - reminded me of gas station food - decent but nothing great) and we added yogurt, fruit, juice boxes, cheesesticks, etc. from our cooler. Snacks from cooler were necessary too.
Storage was not a problem on the train - we kept our backpacks above the seats and stored the cooler and carryon suitcases downstairs in the train - were we had full access to them (we had checked 6 big suitcases for our 10 trip & holiday gifts - thank goodness for no baggage check fees on the trains!).
The kids did change into PJs for bedtime - one of the bathrooms on each superliner had a 'dressing' area attached that was great. We brought fleece blankets, a sheet and travel pillow for everyone - the kids slept under the seats with no problem (the conductor gave me a wink and a smile and told me he 'did not see anything' after I crawled out from checking on them). It is pretty tight under there and my 7 year old says he bumped his head a couple of times - but lying flat they slept great and slept through the night - only the 'long' stop in Kansas City at midnight were lots of people got on was loud - at the other stations they must have boarded passagers onto different cars.
The lights were dimmed around 9pm and everyone on the car was very quiet - even in the morning it was amazingly quiet until 9am. (My husband who is 6'6" had trouble sleeping on the train but managed to doze some)
The train was ideal for traveling with kids - lots of freedom of movement. We watched DVDs, played cards, read books, colored, watched scenary, did trivia cards, etc.etc. Everyone was very friendly. It was relatively quiet in the cars, but I did not get the feeling anyone minded when we read outloud or the kids laughed at movies, card games. I let me 7 year old go downstairs to the bathrooms alone, but would not have let them travel between cars alone.
The trip home was a little rougher - ALL the coach cars were older and had only one outlet per car. The first car we were on the footrests did not work on 3 of our 4 seats and 2 of the 4 did not recline and we were not seated together. Eventually after a couple of polite and respectful requests we were allowed to move back to another car where we were together and all the seats worked. (they had been trying to leave that car empty for the large groups getting on the next morning in Kansas City).
Thank goodness for our travel surge protector - we were able to share the one outlet in the car with the family sitting there (once they realized it would give them more outlets they were more than happy to share ) - we used it to recharge the DVD player and my husbands computer a couple of times and the rest of the time let other passengers on the train use it.
For whatever reasons the bathrooms were not keeped very clean and were pretty stinky by the time we arrived in Chicago.........
WE do NOT live near Chicago........we drove into Chicago the day before. Amtrak phone reps had said we could check our bags 24 hours ahead of time, so we went first to the train station and went in to check bags, the lady there said 'no way, they Never check bags a day early, unless we arrived via train she could not store.....but then proceeded to check all of my big suitcases and they arrived in Lamy NM with us the next day....?????
anyway - we then stayed at an airport hotel were we could park our car free for 14 days ($98 for a hotel room, breakfast and parking is a good deal). We took free hotel shuttle to O'hare (20min), the El to downtown (15 min to board then 45 min to ride) and then walked the 2 blocks to Union Station (10 min). The walk was very cold and the kids complained about their bags - but it was very doable. Coming home we were too tired for the long commute and had ALL of our big bags, so squeezed into a taxi - about $55 for the ride out to the hotel - still cheaper than parking for 11 days though!
Chicago Union station was insanely crowded on Dec 22nd (lots of delayed and late trains) - but we stayed out in the main area away from Amtrak area until boarding time and it was not too bad. We arrived in NM 2 hours late (2 hrs on 24 hour trip is only 10% late - like arriving 5 min late on 50 min flight I figure) and arrived in Chicago on time (okay maybe 15 min late)
When you get on train it is an immediate turn up steep stairs to seating area and we tried to lug our bags up - and the kids were in front and unsure where to go.........next time would leave bags in lower area of train until we got settled and put an adult in front of line.
One other thing I was unsure of before travelling - when you get on train they tell you which coach car to board based on which station you are getting off at......then you can pick your seat and the train attendant marks the seats with the number of you and were you are getting off - so you do not have to be in your seat at every station - if you are somewhere else the seat is marked.
It was a great experience - hope this long narrative helps another mom planning a first time trip!
