I have only ......... days/months till I go again.

[Amy]

56 days from right now I'll be on a northbound train approaching Okeechobee on my way north.

Our little train traveler! That's coming up pretty quick

[jmenjes]

56 days from right now I'll be on a northbound train approaching Okeechobee on my way north.

Our little train traveler! That's coming up pretty quick

Nothing like a relaxing 4.5 hour train ride to start a Disney vacation.

And when the new All Aboard Florida service starts in 2014, it'll be just over 3 hours from Miami to Orlando.

[Amy]

56 days from right now I'll be on a northbound train approaching Okeechobee on my way north.

Our little train traveler! That's coming up pretty quick

Nothing like a relaxing 4.5 hour train ride to start a Disney vacation.

And when the new All Aboard Florida service starts in 2014, it'll be just over 3 hours from Miami to Orlando.

Is the All Aboard Florida more of a speedy bullet-type train? 3 hours to a Disney vacation sounds much better than 4.5 hours!

[jmenjes]

Is the All Aboard Florida more of a speedy bullet-type train? 3 hours to a Disney vacation sounds much better than 4.5 hours!

Not a bullet train, just a passenger train.

A bit of information; Down here, Amtrak runs on the CSX freight line (Miami north to West Palm Beach, northwest to Sebring, north to Winter Haven, northeast to Orlando, then to Jacksonville and eventually ending in NYC). CSX has control of the rail line Amtrak runs on in much of Florida, and have at times given Amtrak low priority, holding Amtrak up trains to let CSX trains go by before allowing Amtrak to proceed (a problem Amtrak has on other rail lines across the country).

All Aboard Florida will run on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks (the FEC built the railroad to Key West that ran from 1912 to 1935). The FEC owns their own rail trackage, and thus would have no problems running their passenger service on their freight lines. AAF would run along the east coast from Miami to Cocoa, then follow the Beach Line Expressway west to near Orlando International Airport.

Amtrak: max speed of 79 mph, 10 stops from Miami to Orlando.
AAF: will be able to reach 125 mph in some segments of the route, 4 stops (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando). AAF could eventually be expanded west to Tampa and north to Jacksonville.

[Amy]

Nice! That's great that you will have some better options for travel

[cousininmiami]

56 days from right now I'll be on a northbound train approaching Okeechobee on my way north.

Sounds kinda cool! However I have never been a train traveller and have a couple questions:

1. How much does it cost now, and how much will the faster train be?

2. Where do you get on the train in Miami?

3. Important question, where does it leave you in Orlando, and how do you get to Disney from there?

I know what the costs are to drive from Miami; About 300 miles up and back, that's 600 miles @ 20mpg = 30 gallons x about $4.00 per gallon is $120 in gas. Tolls are about $15 each way, so $30 total there. The total to drive is then about $150.00, not that bad! However, if the train was convenient it could fun!

What I'm looking for is some kind of teleporting to Disney World... maybe some Pixie Dust to get me there faster!

[Amy]

...What I'm looking for is some kind of teleporting to Disney World...

No, no, no ~ didn't you learn how many things can go wrong with teleportation from Alien Encounter??

[duggett]

Great questions, CousininMiami. You asked all of mine, plus some. Thanks.

[jmenjes]

Sounds kinda cool! However I have never been a train traveller and have a couple questions:

1. How much does it cost now, and how much will the faster train be?

2. Where do you get on the train in Miami?

3. Important question, where does it leave you in Orlando, and how do you get to Disney from there?

1. The fare for this trip is $78 round trip (for the last few trips I've taken the fare has been around $70-75). There are two trains daily that leave from Miami going north: The Silver Meteor has a scheduled Miami departure at 8:20 am, and has a scheduled arrival time in Orlando at 1:23 pm, and makes 8 other stops between Miami and Orlando. The Silver Star had a scheduled departure time of 11:50 am, and a scheduled Orlando arrival time of 7:08 pm, making 10 stops before arriving in Orlando (this train makes a stop in Tampa, where the Silver Meteor does not). So it's about 5 hours to Orlando on the Silver Meteor, 7 hours on the Silver Star, depending on other traffic on the rail line.

2. The Miami Amtrak station is just off 79th street and 37th avenue (if you know where the Tri-Rail Metrorail Transfer station is on 79th, the Amtrak station is about two blocks north of there). It's recommended you get to the station about 30-40 minutes early to take care of checking in baggage.

3. The Orlando station is in downtown Orlando off of I-4 and Kaley Avenue. From there it's about a 20-25 minute ride from the station to WDW.

Both trains stop in Kissimmee (which would be a slightly shorter trip to WDW), but the towncar service I use doesn't pick up in Kissimmee, so I use the Orlando station.

It's coach seating on Amtrak. Most coach seats have a power outlet nearby. There's a lounge car serving food and drinks.

[cousininmiami]

Thanks for the info, so detailed I love it!

[mindflipper]

...What I'm looking for is some kind of teleporting to Disney World...

No, no, no ~ didn't you learn how many things can go wrong with teleportation from Alien Encounter??

Well, maybe if somone invents one, cousininmiami could be the...lucky volunteer...to test it...

[Amy]

...What I'm looking for is some kind of teleporting to Disney World...

No, no, no ~ didn't you learn how many things can go wrong with teleportation from Alien Encounter??

Well, maybe if somone invents one, cousininmiami could be the...lucky volunteer...to test it...

Then we'd have to start calling her Skippy Jr.

[jmenjes]

Thanks for the info, so detailed I love it!

And so I have done my good deed for the day.

55 days to go.

[figmentaholic]

Due to some very unforeseen (and terribly sad) circumstances, it is almost positive that our yearly trips to Disney are on hiatus.. possibly permanently.

[Amy]

Due to some very unforeseen (and terribly sad) circumstances, it is almost positive that our yearly trips to Disney are on hiatus.. possibly permanently.

I hope things will be looking up for you all soon!