Mom traveling with 4 kids

[CMMMom]

Hi! I haven’t ridden the train since I was maybe 6 years old and I am now embarking on a trip alone from DC to Orlando with 4 kids under 10. We are sitting in coach for several reasons but mainly because I am the only adult and the rooms available are too small for us all. How safe will we be in coach sleeping or should I plan an all nighter? I have no fears about my kids acting up or running away. I worry about others taking my kids. Maybe I am overreacting but any advice or kind thoughts would be a great help!

 

[pennyk]

I just finished a trip from DC to Orlando (in a sleeper). The train was sold out. Coach was sold out. Announcements were made that passengers had to wear masks at all times except when actively eating or drinking - even sleeping unless you are in a private room.
I would not travel anywhere with 4 children under the age of 6, so I am the last person to ask. I do not think I would be able to watch 4 children at the same time to make sure they did not get hurt. I would worry more about their safety than someone taking them. However, maybe someone with experience traveling with young children will chime in with suggestions.

There is an Auto Train that goes from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL. The Auto Train has Family Bedrooms which may provide enough room for your family. It will cost a lot more and you will have to bring a vehicle with you.

 

[CMMMom]

I just finished a trip from DC to Orlando (in a sleeper). The train was sold out. Coach was sold out. Announcements were made that passengers had to wear masks at all times except when actively eating or drinking - even sleeping unless you are in a private room.
I would not travel anywhere with 4 children under the age of 6, so I am the last person to ask. I do not think I would be able to watch 4 children at the same time to make sure they did not get hurt. I would worry more about their safety than someone taking them. However, maybe someone with experience traveling with young children will chime in with suggestions.

There is an Auto Train that goes from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL. The Auto Train has Family Bedrooms which may provide enough room for your family. It will cost a lot more and you will have to bring a vehicle with you.

Thanks! To clarify, the kids are all over 6 but hnder 10.

 

[Danib62]

I think you should be fairly safe, I don’t think you need to worry about someone snatching your kids off train and the conductors and other on board staff are pretty good at keeping tabs on things.

 

[pennyk]

Thanks! To clarify, the kids are all over 6 but hnder 10.

oops. Sorry. I saw 6 (when you mentioned last time you traveled). I think that would make a difference to me. I would worry more about kids under 6 than over 6.

 

[Cal]

I think someone kidnapping your kids should be one of the last worries about traveling coach

 

[Mailliw]

Getting 5 seats together will be hard, especially boarding in DC. Trains have been selling out. The conductor should try to accommodate you, but they'll likely have to move multiple passengers. A Bedroom can theoretically accommodate 3 adults; an adult & 4 kids under 10 might fit, but I don't think Amtrak would allow that. A Bedroom Suite would be ideal in your situation, but that would also cost a fortune. Maybe If 3 kids can share you could manage with 2 roomettes next door?

 

[caravanman]

I am sure you and your kids will be fine in coach. The Amtrak seats are huge, so once seats are assigned, you could always jam an extra kid or two into each seat, to keep them near you?
99.9999999% of people are decent human beings, and will look out for their fellow passengers...
Yes, there is a tiny risk still, but if we worry about such a remote risk, we loose all sense of fun and adventure.
Board the train, relax, see how it feels to you, and if all else fails, you could stay awake.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Getting 5 seats together will be hard, especially boarding in DC. Trains have been selling out. The conductor should try to accommodate you, but they'll likely have to move multiple passengers. A Bedroom can theoretically accommodate 3 adults; an adult & 4 kids under 10 might fit, but I don't think Amtrak would allow that. A Bedroom Suite would be ideal in your situation, but that would also cost a fortune. Maybe If 3 kids can share you could manage with 2 roomettes next door?

I believe there has to be an adult in a room with kids.

 

[Everydaymatters]

I'm trying to put myself in your place in thinking about this. I am a worrier and I would probably first have a talk with the kiddos about safety. The second thing I would do is get to know the passengers around me. Talk to them. Coach passengers are more inclined to help each other out than are sleeper passengers and tend to know who each person is traveling with. But when it comes right down to it, I think that worrying about someone taking your children requires some vigilance, but it would be the last on my list of things to worry about.

 

[MARC Rider]

I believe there has to be an adult in a room with kids.

How do they define "kids?" We once went to Chicago in roomettes. My wife and I used one, and our 16 year old daughter used the other. She was, of course, mature enough to hang out in a room by herself, but she was still a minor.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

The biggest problem is the seats are in pairs. Yes you can get four in a row, but with 5 people in total, someone is out of sight. No I am not worried about a kid getting snatched, I am more worried about not having direct sight with them. Trains are generally family, but everyone is a stranger, and you just don’t know. Can you travel with another (family member/trusted friend/trusted family)?

Can it be done, yes but I would recommend a bedroom suite payed with Amtrak Guest Rewards.

 

[joelkfla]

Can it be done, yes but I would recommend a bedroom suite payed with Amtrak Guest Rewards.

What Guest Rewards? The OP said she hasn't been on a train since she was a child.

 

[Barb Stout]

The biggest problem is the seats are in pairs. Yes you can get four in a row, but with 5 people in total, someone is out of sight. No I am not worried about a kid getting snatched, I am more worried about not having direct sight with them. Trains are generally family, but everyone is a stranger, and you just don’t know. Can you travel with another (family member/trusted friend/trusted family)?

Can it be done, yes but I would recommend a bedroom suite payed with Amtrak Guest Rewards.

If you the adult are in an aisle seat in the row behind the 4 kids, maybe that might work for this particular concern.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Maybe I am overreacting but any advice or kind thoughts would be a great help!

The vast majority of kidnappings are the result of bitter divorces and custody disputes rather than some random stranger who just met you.

Yes, there is a tiny risk still, but if we worry about such a remote risk, we loose all sense of fun and adventure.

As a kid I was granted access to all coach cars so long as I promised to stay on board. You'd probably risk arrest or jail time for allowing that today.

 

[TC_NYC]

Hi! I haven’t ridden the train since I was maybe 6 years old and I am now embarking on a trip alone from DC to Orlando with 4 kids under 10. We are sitting in coach for several reasons but mainly because I am the only adult and the rooms available are too small for us all. How safe will we be in coach sleeping or should I plan an all nighter? I have no fears about my kids acting up or running away. I worry about others taking my kids. Maybe I am overreacting but any advice or kind thoughts would be a great help!

The Amtrak seats are 2-2 (unlike airlines, which are 3-3). This makes traveling with 4 kids and only 1 adult tough, since one of the kids will probably be next to a stranger the whole ride (trains this summer are packed and a lot are sold out).

What dates are you traveling? Is this a trip next week or in December?

The issue with going from DC to Orlando is the Florida trains run New York-Miami and there's lots of people that get on at the origin and the destination of the train, which makes getting seats together tough at both ends (unfortunately Amtrak doesn't have assigned seating yet on the long distance trains). Where in the DC area do you live? I would strongly encourage boarding at Baltimore if you're in the Maryland suburbs, since that would let you get first grab at seats, ahead of the hundreds likely boarding in Washington.

I would strongly encourage you to consider the Auto Train, which runs non-stop from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, FL (about an hour north of Orlando). The auto train will nearly guarantee you will have seats together (since you're going from the origin to the final destination) and it includes meals on board, even if you're in coach. It also means you bring your car on board the train and won't have to get a rental car in Florida.

 

[me_little_me]

Maybe If 3 kids can share you could manage with 2 roomettes next door?

I believe there has to be an adult in a room with kids.

Besides, roomettes across from one another are much better than roomettes next to each other.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

What Guest Rewards? The OP said she hasn't been on a train since she was a child.

Only recently I have been on a train, after about a two year break. Something about a pandemic outbreak right before my vacation. Strange how my AGR account has grown so larger. Oh maybe it’s the credit card that I have link to it.

If you the adult are in an aisle seat in the row behind the 4 kids, maybe that might work for this particular concern.

That’s how I would be doing this, if I just had to ride coach.

 

[Danib62]

Only recently I have been on a train, after about a two year break. Something about a pandemic outbreak right before my vacation. Strange how my AGR account has grown so larger. Oh maybe it’s the credit card that I have link to it.

Kind of weird to expect someone who has never taken a train as an adult to have an AGR account and credit card just sitting around accumulating points.

 

[caravanman]

I am always astonished at how freaked out so many of the AU members are at anything other than cast iron certainty? Yes, something could go wrong, but how likely is that? Any reports in the last 50 years of kids being accosted or abducted from an Amtrak train? Don't frighten this woman just because you are of fragile disposition yourself..?
Yes, advice is sought, but lets get real...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Kind of weird to expect someone who has never taken a train as an adult to have an AGR account and credit card just sitting around accumulating points.

Not to mention casually banking the number of points required to book a bedroom suite.

I am always astonished at how freaked out so many of the AU members are at anything other than cast iron certainty? Yes, something could go wrong, but how likely is that? Any reports in the last 50 years of kids being accosted or abducted from an Amtrak train? Don't frighten this woman just because you are of fragile disposition yourself..?
Yes, advice is sought, but lets get real...

If you think AU is more paranoid about kids than the average American you still have a lot to learn about US culture.

 

[caravanman]

If you think AU is more paranoid about kids than the average American you still have a lot to learn about US culture.

What is this US "culture" that you speak of?

 

[Barb Stout]

As a kid I was granted access to all coach cars so long as I promised to stay on board. You'd probably risk arrest or jail time for allowing that today.

On a trip about 2 years ago, we met a family who let their daughter roam the cars without them. She looked like maybe 11or 12 years old. Her mom said that she liked seeking out other kids and hanging out with them because, as we all know, adults, especially parents, are boring.