Amtrak Travellers

[squeakcat]

I've booked us on a Disney Magic cruise in February 2006. We will be travelling to Orlando by train from Chicago and Washington, DC. I will book the train trip to arrive in Orlando the day before out cruise departs, to hopefully avoid any Amtrak lateness fiascoes. My plan is to cab it from the Amtrak depot to a hotel, shuttle or cab to the airport the next day, and take the Disney transfer to the pier. As Disney is far more punctual than Amtrak, and our train north leaves in the afternoon, I would plan to use the airport transfer from the pier to the airport upon our return, then cab it to the Amtrak depot.

For those of you who may have done this before, is this plan workable?

Will Disney allow us to use its airport transfer service if we are not flying?

For this plan, what would be recommended hotels? I'll want to be pampered after 2 nights on the train. Not that I want the Ritz, but I would like a hotel with room service, bell service, and a swimming pool. I want to keep hassle to a minimum. I don't want to rent a car and drive. "Us" is middle-aged woman and 2 little girls, and I want us to be as safe as we can be.

I've been on 2 previous Disney cruises, in 1999 and 2000, but have flown into Orlando in the past.

[squeakcat]

Anyone here ever taken Amtrak to Florida to catch a cruise? Surely I am not the only one?

[LibertyBelle]

Anyone can use Disney transfers so to answer that question no you don't have to fly in to use the transfers. You would just need to call DCL (or have your TA call depending on how you booked) and tell them you want to add transfers and from where (airport or a Disney Hotel) they will ask you about your arrival information, just tell them you are coming the day prior. Depending on which Amtrak station you are coming into (Orlando or Kissimme) will make a difference as to where to stay. Both stations are about 30-45 minutes from the airport (maybe a little less). Have you thought about staying at one of the Disney hotels and booking your transfers from there? That is also a possibility for you. There are also a lot of hotels around the airport as well that you could look into booking (and perhaps find one that has an airport shuttle).