Brightline Miami-Orlando Disney trip

[thully]

I’m spending a couple months in Miami to escape the Michigan winter. While I ended up flying to Miami (I thought of doing the new Floridian from Toledo to Miami, but wasn’t going to pay $1400 for a roomette on that), I definitely wanted to do a full Miami-Orlando roundtrip on Brightline at least once. My parents and brother’s family were going to Epcot before a Disney cruise, so I figured I’d go up and do that (though I’m planning a second day at Disney’s Hollywood Studioes as well).

Anyway, I ended up getting a Premium (first class) seat in both directions - originally bought the standard “smart” seat, but saw I could upgrade for $29 on the way there and $5 on the way back. That brought my cost to $89 each way ($178 round-trip) - not bad for premium given that I’ve paid close to that for coach on the Wolverine. I was planning on getting some food on the train anyway, so the cost to upgrade ended up being negligible. It also included a $10 Uber voucher - unlike when I got Premium from Miami-Fort Lauderdale on my last trip, you request the Uber yourself. Which is much better - the Uber never came when I pre booked it with the reservation previously. To get to the Miami station, I ended up just walking from the place I’m staying in downtown Miami to the station. I was hoping to get there a bit early to check out the premium lounge, but my duffel’s strap broke right as I prepared to leave and I had to move everything into my large roller bag. As I result, I got there only 30 min before departure, and found myself waiting in the baggage line to see if I needed to check the large bag (and if I even had time to do so for the next train or had to take the one after).

Fortunately, they told me I could carry on the bag, so I went upstairs to security. This ended up being a few minute wait, and I did have to put my bag through the X-ray. When I was here previously for the short trip to Fort Lauderdale I just walked through in seconds, though I didn’t have a bag. Still not as bad as airport security, though - I’d say it was on par with pre-TSA airport security. I did have a few minutes to head to the premium lounge, but they had no regular coffee (which is what I wanted) and they called everyone for boarding a few minutes later.

 

[thully]

After we made our way up the escalator to the tracks, I found my way to the premium car (which was car 1). Some of the Brightline cars were confusingly labeled - it seems some of them had multiple car numbers on them, and only one of them was correct. Eventually went to the end and boarded the car at the end - even though it didn’t say car 1 on the outside, it was in fact car 1. Got on and then remembered I wanted to snag a picture of the car - though it was too late, as the door had already closed 5 minutes prior to departure.Left Miami on time, and the attendant soon made their way through the car and offered drinks and snacks. I got coffee and orange juice but didn’t grab any snacks (I wasn’t hungry yet). I was sitting on the window seat of a two-seat pair - wanted one of the single seats, but the only one available was a backward-facing seat in a table pair. The neighboring seat was empty, but became occupied at Aventura (the first stop after Miami).

That station is intended to provide access to the Aventura Mall, but is next to a highway with no pedestrian access across. The pedestrian bridge across was evidently delayed until next fall - Brightline did have a shuttle to the mall, but apparently discontinued it before the bridge was finished. I had thought about using the train to access that area, though the apparent lack of pedestrian access/shuttle convinced me not to (and seeing the highway confirmed that decision). Brightline is apparently providing shuttles to Hard Rock Stadium for special events though - that is nice to see, as when I looked at going to the Orange Bowl a few years ago there was no way to get there from Miami without a car/taxi/Uber/Lyft aside from infrequent regularly scheduled local buses that would take hours.

Anyway, we then made our stops at Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, at which some passengers got on and off. While Orlando is the focus, people still do use it as a South Florida regional train (though I’ve heard the fares for that have gone up to save more seats for Orlando passengers). Tri-Rail has started running service to MiamiCentral to serve this crowd better, though with only one express train in each direction per day there (and slow local trains+shuttle trains to MiamiCentral at other times), Brightline still offers way more frequent (and more comfortable) express service on this corridor for those who can afford it. During this stretch, we were offered salami or hummus (I took the salami) - seems this is the standard offering in the South Florida segment.

 

[thully]

After West Palm Beach, we began the long non-stop stretch to Orlando. While we had a few slowdowns during the Miami-West Palm Beach stretch, most of the trip north of West Palm Beach was at higher speed. It does seem a bit weird to have no stops on this two hour stretch - I do get that there are a couple in the works (at Stuart and Cocoa), though it seems strange to not have any built before opening. I guess this is Florida.We were also offered a meal, which consisted of one vegetarian offering and one meat-based option. I took the meat-based option, which was a small Cuban sandwich (basically the size of a slider) with a bag of chips, lemon dessert, and a small chocolate bar. I ate the sandwich and chips with the salami and cheese they brought earlier - nothing special, but it was sufficient for a quick lunch.

As for scenery, after going through the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro areas. the most notable thing I saw was going over the bridge in Stuart - after that there wasn’t much aside from the various smaller towns we went through. After going through Cocoa, we then paralleled the toll highway into Orlando, and arrived at the Orlando Airport only a few minutes behind schedule. Which surprised me given our timing around Cocoa - though then I remembered that the Cocoa-Orlando Airport was the newest, fastest segment of track, built specifically for Brightline. Ended up using the $10 Uber voucher towards the ride to my hotel at Disney - was going to try out Lynx’s 311 express, but would have had to find the stop over in the airport proper, and the ride after the Uber voucher was only $17.

Overall, I found I had a pretty good experience with Brightline in Premium class. The cost of the ticket ended up not being too bad, and they seem to have fixed the issues I had getting a discounted Uber with the Premium ticket (by just giving you a voucher to book your own ride). I’d say Amtrak definitely has better food in both Acela first and on long-distance trains in traditional dining (flex may be a closer call depending on your preferences). What Brightline offers is more comparable to what I got on the VIA corridor, with cart service for snacks/drinks and a couple options for meal.

One thing that Brightline still doesn’t offer is refundable fares - even the more-expensive Smart (non-saver) and Premium fares only offer Brightline credit for cancellation/changes. Which was a bit annoying when I wasn’t 100% sure I’d do this trip - held off booking for that reason. Though unlike Amtrak, it seems they offered better prices/deals closer to departure, with my upgrade to Premium being purchased only a couple days before the trip (it cost significantly more when I initially booked).

I will say I look forward to Brightline expanding their service in the future - adding an infill stop at Cocoa would be useful for Port Canaveral/Space Coast, as would adding stops closer to Disney/Universal and Tampa (as has been discussed). Would be nice to be able to go to Disney/Universal and connect to Central Florida beach destinations without a car…

 

[thully]

After spending two days at Disney (Epcot and Hollywood Studios) and experiencing some of their transportation options, including the water taxi to both parks from my hotel as well as the Skyliner gondola, it was time to head back to Miami. I ended up using the $10 Uber credit they gave for Premium passengers again.

While I had thought of trying the Lynx 311 bus service, timing that with a bus from my hotel to Disney Springs plus traversing the terminal would add a bunch of time and I didn’t want to get up too early after being in the parks all day. Also, there is a chance the bus to Disney Springs may not take my luggage - while my hotel (the Swan) uses its own buses instead of Disney (who has a published no-luggage policy), I did have a large roller bag thanks to my small bag breaking right before I left. Would have considered Uber to Disney Springs and then bus, but the credit wouldn’t apply to that…

Anyway, I arrived with enough time before the train left - was hoping for more, though the Uber took a little longer than estimated to get there and to get through the Brightline pickup area. Got into the station nd to the security area, and two lines were forming. Didn’t see any difference between them and stood in one, only for them to call for all passengers on the 11:50am train to go to one line and everyone else the other. As I had 12:05, I moved to the other, only for them to direct everyone for 12:05 back to the first line after waiting a while. It seems they use that first line for the next train to depart, which makes sense.

Went into the Premium lounge, and had just enough time to grab some cheese, coffee, and a Pepsi can before being called to board. Had to pull up my e-ticket for scanning again (after doing so in the security line), and then found my seat. I had a single, forward facing seat this time, but it came with one unfortunate unadvertised feature - a wrapped window (or as Miles in Transit would call it, DOTS). That was annoying - I’d probably prefer to pay more to avoid that, or take a two-seater without those over a one-seater with.

After I was seated, the attendant came around to offer snacks and drinks, followed shortly after by the meal service (offering the same options as before). The rest of the trip was fairly similar to the last one - we really flew through the Orlando-Cocoa segment, went fairly fast to West Palm Beach, and slower for the rest. The attendant also brought the same salami/hummus options I had on my way up right before West Palm Beach, though it seemed like it took quite a while to get a second drink service after that. Before too long, we arrived in Miami, and I quickly found the Metromover to take me back to where I’m saying.

A few observations from this trip - for one, it seems very strange that Brightline operates a 11:50 and 12:05 train when they’re usually close to hourly. On Amtrak, you usually only see this when they are different types of train (ie Acela/Regional/LD train). Guessing they’ve found there is lots of demand for noonish trains and can’t run a significantly longer train. Secondly, it seems like they need some better transportation options to/from their station in Orlando. The extension towards Disney/Universal makes a lot of sense - as long as you have shuttles that accept luggage providing last-mile connections - as would some kind of Sunrail transfer. Though in the meantime, a bus/shuttle hub on the Brightline side could help.

As for Premium vs Smart - I’d probably do Premium when it was $30 or less more, though not a ton more than that. I actually liked some of the for-purchase food options I saw on the Smart menu more than the Premium menu, and prefer the flexibility when ordering (or just bringing my own food if convenient).

 

[jiml]

Very informative reporting. It's a lot more "down-to-earth" than some of the glowing Brightline reviews out there, with the perfect blend of good, bad and "meh".