Taking A Train To Disney & Why I Won’t Do It

There are, of course, multiple ways to travel around the United States. Most people opt to fly when traveling; others prefer to drive. There are other options, however. One such option is to travel by rail.

Traveling by rail, or taking the train, is one of those transportation options that I’d imagine most Americans overlook. It makes sense. The rail system in the United States is many things, but efficient and particularly affordable isn’t it. Nevertheless, our goal at 2 Foolish Mortals is to give you information on what options might work the best for you and your family. . . . . so here we are.

Believe it or not, I’m a huge fan of the idea of traveling by rail. The way I see it, here in the United States, traveling by rail is an alternative that sits somewhere between flying and driving. Like flying, you don’t have to be behind the wheel yourself. Like driving, it’s going to take you a considerable amount of time to get to your destination; although it’s still less than if you drove yourself. . . . usually. . . . maybe. As you’d imagine, it’s a give/take and you’ll have to weigh your options when deciding if it is right for you and your family.

The challenge when trying to do this, at least in my opinion, is the wide range of variants and long list of unknowns. Remember the top of this discussion when I said the rail system in the United States isn’t efficient? This isn’t just because it’s not as quick as a Japanese bullet train. Unlike airlines, or even rail systems in other countries, trains in the United States are often difficult to book, slow to get where they’re going and very unpredictable. In fact, according to an article in The Washington Post [Oct. 2019] only 46% of Amtrak trains arrive on time. That’s less than half! The other 54% arrive an average of 49 minutes late with 1 in 5 trains arriving more than 2 hours late according to Amtrak’s own data. That’s a considerable amount of time to show up behind schedule, especially if you’re needing to catch a connecting train to continue on your journey.

There’s also the matter of availability. On the most basic level, train stations and service is not available in all parts of the United States. There are some states that do not have any train service at all and others that do, but only in specific areas. This can mean potential passengers have to drive hundreds of miles before so much as arriving at their nearest station. Having a station nearby doesn’t mean that there will be a train headed in the direction you’re hoping to go either. My current location is actually a good example of this. Though there is a station only 28 miles from where I live, the nearest station offering service to Florida [at this time] is 500 miles away in Chicago. There’s no doubt that this would be a deal breaker for most, but for the sake of discussion. . . . . that’s a 6 to 8 hour drive, $150 flight or $80 Greyhound bus ticket. All of those numbers being before taxes, fees, tolls and the price for long term parking [in the case of driving].

All of this aside, the next issue or challenge that needs to be addressed when it comes to taking a train is the price. Contrary to popular belief, traveling by train is not a particularly budget friendly option. In fact, depending on how you intend to travel, it can be outrageously expensive. For example, a round trip train ticket from Chicago to Orlando in coach is $560.00 at the time of writing this. A ticket on a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Orlando is $306.00 for a seat in coach. If the idea of being seated in coach for 48 hours [as would be the case from Chicago to Orlando] doesn’t appeal to you there are sleeper cabin options which will give you the opportunity to rest in a cot/bed versus in a seated position. Currently, a shared sleeper cabin [shared with other passengers who are not in your party] will set you back $1719.00 per person and you can expect to pay $2935.00 for a private cabin. [Note: This price for the private sleeper cabin is based on single occupancy. The price will increase based on the number of passengers in your party.] To put this in perspective, a fully refundable [$200.00 upgrade] first class ticket on Delta from Minneapolis to Orlando is currently $996.80 per person. . . . . and will arrive 44 and a half hours sooner than the train [assuming the train arrives on time].

Of course, it goes without saying that prices and availability will vary. This is always the case when it comes to looking for prices related to travel, but it’s especially the case now. As most of you are well aware, it’s currently March of 2021 and we’re still not quite back to “normal” or something that resembles it. Prices for pretty much everything related to the travel industry reflect that. Even the way that the travel industry functions reflects the drastic changes made over the past year in an attempt to navigate the current landscape. This is something that you should keep in mind if you’re planning on traveling in the near future. It’s also something you should keep in mind when looking at the price points I’ve mentioned today. Are they accurate? Right now, for the date I selected. . . . yeah. Could they change by the time you’re reading this? Absolutely! This is why it’s so important to take the time to do your own research with your specific wants and needs to ensure you get a number that is most accurate based on what exactly you’re looking for.

At the end of the day, will I take a train to Walt Disney World? It’s not likely.

Look, I’ve considered taking a train to Florida [and other parts of the United States] in the past. Then, after having one of our happy haunts summon me about taking a train to Walt Disney World, I actually considered it all over again. In fact, if conditions were right, I may have very well been on my way down to give Mickey Mouse a socially distant high five as we speak! Obviously, that’s not the case and it probably won’t be the case any time in the near future. Though the idea of traveling via train is something that appeals to me and I spent a lot of time doing while living overseas, the price and lack of efficiency are major points against taking a train for me at the moment. Not to mention the lack of trains leaving from my nearest station. Whether or not I would consider taking a train in the future to travel to Florida or elsewhere in the United States is yet to be seen. For me to consider taking a train seriously, given all Amtrak’s shortcomings, the price for a ticket would have to be comparable or less than that of an airline ticket. Whether or not that will be the case in the future, I’m not sure. I suppose we will just have to wait and see.