- Joined
- Jun 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9
Hi everyone.
I think I've posted before about this trip before but I do think it will finally happen.
There are three of us. Our daughter will be a freshman in high school. We can travel from December 17 to about NYE.
We want to leave from New Orleans and return to New Orleans.
We need to spend three days or so in Anaheim as our lodging there is paid for due to being Disney Vacation Club members. We can't reserve the rooms until seven months out but should be able to get three nights at that point. We are huge Disney lovers and this is a big, big part of the trip for us.
We have never been further west than Texas. We have done Amtrak many times so we know what to expect. We don't like to fly at all - and our daughter's high functioning autism pretty much rules it out anyway. She won't do boats or planes. She's game for anything else though. Super smart kid who still really enjoys vacationing with her parents. We've never been to a national park and take most every vacation to Orlando. We have been to San Antonio and Chicago as well as Memphis and New Orleans multiple times.
Money is somewhat of a consideration. That means different things to different people of course.
My first thought was west on the Sunset, then up on the Coast Starlight, then back east on the Zephyr before going down on the City of New Orleans.
That being said, the low bucket fares on the Zephyr seem really high to me. The Empire seems more reasonable for some reason. Rooms are pretty much a necessity unless we can break the trip up.
I guess I'm looking for suggestions on a route that will allow us to show our daughter "some things she's only seen in movies" (her words) - with a stop in Anaheim and maybe one or two other places. I don't want to live on the train but I know we're up against time as well. I've thought about maybe just confining things to California. I want our routes to be scenic and interesting. I know the City of New Orleans won't be (we've done most of that route before).
Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks.
I think I've posted before about this trip before but I do think it will finally happen.
There are three of us. Our daughter will be a freshman in high school. We can travel from December 17 to about NYE.
We want to leave from New Orleans and return to New Orleans.
We need to spend three days or so in Anaheim as our lodging there is paid for due to being Disney Vacation Club members. We can't reserve the rooms until seven months out but should be able to get three nights at that point. We are huge Disney lovers and this is a big, big part of the trip for us.
We have never been further west than Texas. We have done Amtrak many times so we know what to expect. We don't like to fly at all - and our daughter's high functioning autism pretty much rules it out anyway. She won't do boats or planes. She's game for anything else though. Super smart kid who still really enjoys vacationing with her parents. We've never been to a national park and take most every vacation to Orlando. We have been to San Antonio and Chicago as well as Memphis and New Orleans multiple times.
Money is somewhat of a consideration. That means different things to different people of course.
My first thought was west on the Sunset, then up on the Coast Starlight, then back east on the Zephyr before going down on the City of New Orleans.
That being said, the low bucket fares on the Zephyr seem really high to me. The Empire seems more reasonable for some reason. Rooms are pretty much a necessity unless we can break the trip up.
I guess I'm looking for suggestions on a route that will allow us to show our daughter "some things she's only seen in movies" (her words) - with a stop in Anaheim and maybe one or two other places. I don't want to live on the train but I know we're up against time as well. I've thought about maybe just confining things to California. I want our routes to be scenic and interesting. I know the City of New Orleans won't be (we've done most of that route before).
Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks.
), stay in Sacramento a few days, and take the California Zephyr to Chicago. Sacramento is the capital of California, and the California State Railroad Museum (which I and many others think is the best) and Old Sacramento are only a few short blocks away. And the California Zephyr thru Donner Pass and the Colorado Rockies are among the most scenic trips in the country! 
