Auto Train With Kids: A Trip Plan for Every Stop
Most trip plans on this site are about where to get off. The Auto Train has nowhere to get off: two stations, 855 miles, one night, and your own car riding along in a sealed carrier behind you. So this page is shaped differently. The two stops get the hours around them, the morning before check-in at Lorton and the morning after the car comes off at Sanford, and the rest of the page is the night itself: loading, the Family Bedroom, dinner at five or seven, the dark through the Carolinas, breakfast in Florida. My dad drove us to Florida every spring, two days of I-95 and a cooler. I put the kids on this train instead and we wake up there. He would have thought that was cheating. He would also have booked the Family Bedroom.
By Kelsey Lizee Cecil. Times are from the fall 2026 timetable; checked against Amtrak and each attraction in October 2026. Hours change; read the "know before you go" notes.If you only have one day
- With a toddler: the Family Bedroom, straight through.Lunch at Occoquan, the car in by 2, the 5pm dinner seating, pajamas in the room by 7, and a palm tree at breakfast. Start in Lorton.
- Ages 4 to 8: a Washington morning first.Mount Vernon or the Marine Corps museum on the way to the station, count the autoracks on the platform, sunset in the lounge car, the Florence stop slept through. Jump to Lorton.
- The arrival: a slow day in Sanford before the parks.Priority Offloading, the splash pad at Fort Mellon Park or the manatees at Blue Spring, a hotel pool by noon, Disney tomorrow. Jump to Sanford.
Read this before you go
Four things to know. First, the car goes first: check-in opens at 11:30am and closes at 2:30pm, or 2:00pm if you bought Priority Offloading, and nobody gets an exception, so eat lunch before the gate. Second, you will not see the car again until morning, so every diaper, pajama, charger and stuffed animal rides in your carry-on. Third, book the Family Bedroom early for a family of four; it is on the lower level, spans the width of the car, has two windows and four bunks, and sells out months ahead in winter. There is no toilet in the room, so the 2am trip is down the hall. Fourth, dinner seatings (5, 7 and 9pm) are chosen at check-in, first come, so arrive early if you want the 5. Alerts are on the Auto Train page on Amtrak (opens in a new tab).
Fares, the car rules, the rooms, what to pack and how the bathrooms work with a three-year-old are all in our Auto Train parent guide. This page is the shape of the day: the hours before, the night, and the morning after.
Departure at 4pm, with the sun setting during the first dinner seating. The lounge car sells drinks and snacks until late and is the best place for sunset; Amtrak has shown movies there in the past, but do not count on it, so download the shows. Rooms get made into beds whenever you ask the attendant, usually 8 to 9pm. The only stop is Florence, South Carolina, around 1am, for a crew change and fuel; passengers stay on, and most kids never notice. Breakfast is served from about 6 to 7:30am, and arrival is scheduled for 8:59am, though the train is late more often than it is on time.
Stop 1 of 2LORTrain 53 leaves 4:00pm daily; Train 52 arrives about 9:00am; car check-in 11:30am to 2:30pm
Lorton, Virginia Auto Train Station
The whole southbound day happens here before the train moves. The station is a glass-walled building off I-95, half an hour south of Washington, with a 1,480-foot platform, 450 seats, a sundries shop that sells sandwiches, and a small playground out front, which tells you Amtrak knows who rides this train. You drive in, hand over the car, and have two or three hours with the kids and a backpack before boarding. Plan those hours; the station is pleasant for one of them, not three. Everything near Lorton is a short drive, so the trick is to do it on the way in, before the car disappears.
Hand the keys to the loader and watch your car drive up the ramp into the autorack. Then walk the platform and count the car carriers; a full train has 23 or more.
Right off the platform
- at stopThe station: a waiting room with 450 seats, restrooms, a sundries shop with sandwiches and snacks, Wi-Fi, a ticket counter and a kids' playground outside. No vending machines, no checked bags.
- at stopOccoquan Regional Park, 5 minutes by car on the way in: a riverfront playground, trails, an old brick kiln and the Brickmakers Cafe for lunch.
- at stopThe Workhouse Arts Center, 5 minutes: galleries in a former prison, a cafe, lawns, and the Lucy Burns Museum about the suffragists jailed here in 1917, for older kids.
- at stopHistoric Occoquan, 10 minutes: a one-street river town with a toy store, ice cream and a footbridge.
- at stopPohick Bay Regional Park, 15 minutes: mini golf, pedal boats, and the Pirates Cove water park in summer.
- at stopMount Vernon, 20 minutes: Washington's house, the farm animals, and a lawn that runs to the Potomac (admission). The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, 20 minutes south, is free and has planes hanging from the ceiling.
Before you board
- Morning: Mount Vernon or the Marine Corps museum by car (2 to 3 hours).
- Lunch at Occoquan Regional Park's cafe, playground after.
- Check in the car by 2:30pm (2:00pm with Priority Offloading), pick a dinner seating at the counter, then the playground and the platform until boarding.
After you arrive
Northbound you arrive at about 9am with the car back by 10 or 11. That is a Washington day: Mount Vernon on the way up, or straight to the Mall for the Air and Space Museum and the carousel in front of the Smithsonian castle, or the Udvar-Hazy annex near Dulles with the space shuttle. Alexandria's waterfront is 25 minutes if everyone is too tired for museums.
Snack stop: The station shop's sandwiches are fine but the line is long after 2pm. Eat a real lunch at Occoquan or Mount Vernon before you check in, and bring the snack bag aboard; dinner is at 5, 7 or 9.
Out the window: Leaving Lorton at 4pm you cross the Occoquan River, pass Quantico and the Marine base, then Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock, with the sun setting on the right side somewhere in southern Virginia. Richmond goes by at dinner.
Check-in is strict: 11:30am to 2:30pm for cars, 2:00pm for motorcycles, oversized vehicles and anything booked with Priority Offloading. Take the roof rack off, turn off the alarm, and move everything you need for 17 hours into a carry-on before you reach the gate. There is no parking for the night, so a second car cannot wait here.
Stop 2 of 2SFATrain 53 arrives about 9:00am; Train 52 leaves 4:00pm daily; car check-in 11:30am to 2:30pm
Sanford, Florida Auto Train Station
You wake up in Florida and the train is already slowing through Sanford's yard, where the train is so long it unloads on two tracks and a road crossing runs through the middle. Then you wait for your car. With Priority Offloading it is 10 or 15 minutes; without it, it can be an hour or two, and this is where the playground page and the last snacks earn their keep. Sanford itself is a small lakefront town with a brick downtown, a zoo with a mini train, and a park with a splash pad, all within 10 minutes, and that is worth knowing because the first stop after the train should not be a theme park.
Southbound: the first glimpse of a palm tree out the window at breakfast, then the long wait at the yard fence for your car's number to be called. Northbound: watching the car go up the ramp.
Right off the platform
- at stopThe station: a waiting room, restrooms, a ticket office, a cafe and gift shop, Wi-Fi, and a long two-track platform. Station hours are short; the waiting room opens at 8:30am.
- at stopFort Mellon Park on Lake Monroe, 5 minutes: a big playground, a splash pad, and the Riverwalk along the lake.
- at stopHistoric downtown Sanford, 5 minutes: brick streets, a toy shop, ice cream and breakfast places, and the Sanford Museum at the park's edge. A free city trolley runs from the station to downtown 1 to 3pm except Sundays.
- at stopThe Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens, 10 minutes: giraffe feeding, a mini train, and a splash ground for hot days (admission).
- at stopBlue Spring State Park, 20 minutes: manatees by the hundreds in the spring run from about November to March, seen from a boardwalk (park fee; it fills early).
- at stopWekiwa Springs State Park, 25 minutes: a swimming spring at 72 degrees year round, canoe rentals and a shaded picnic lawn (park fee).
Before you board
- Northbound morning: breakfast downtown or a swim at Wekiwa, then the zoo until lunch.
- Fort Mellon Park's splash pad to wear them out.
- Check in the car by 2:30pm, pick a dinner seating, and board for the 4pm departure.
After you arrive
Southbound you have the car by 10 or 11am and Orlando is 30 minutes down I-4. Disney World is about 45 minutes to an hour, Universal 40, Kennedy Space Center an hour east, and the beaches at Daytona or New Smyrna 45 minutes. Our rule after a night on a train: a slow first day. Fort Mellon's splash pad or Blue Spring's manatees in the morning, check into the hotel at noon, the pool, and the parks tomorrow.
Snack stop: The station cafe for coffee while you wait for the car; downtown Sanford has breakfast places on First Street and an ice cream shop. Pack a breakfast backup for the car wait, because the train's breakfast is early and small.
Out the window: Arriving southbound after dawn: pine flatwoods, then cattle pasture, then the St. Johns River marsh and Lake Monroe on the left as the train curves into Sanford. Northbound at 4pm you get the same lake going the other way, then Jacksonville at dinner and Georgia in the dark.
The train runs late more often than not, so do not book a park ticket or a tour for the arrival morning. Breakfast is served from about 6 to 7:30am, which means you are up before Palatka. If you buy Priority Offloading, your car is among the first 30 off; otherwise plan on an hour or more.
Fall asleep in Virginia, wake up in Florida
The Auto Train is the only Amtrak trip where I do not tell the kids to look out the window. There is nothing to see after Richmond, and that is the point. We eat dinner at a table with a cloth on it, we put on pajamas in a room with a door, and I lie in the lower bunk listening to the wheels and the kids breathing. In the morning there are palm trees and the car is waiting. My dad's two days of I-95 turned into a night's sleep. I think about him at breakfast every time.
Next in this series: the Silver Meteor, the New York to Miami train that stops in Orlando itself, and the Floridian, the Chicago to Miami train through Washington. Every route is on the Train Trips With Your Kids page.
Auto Train trips with kids: questions parents ask
How long is the Auto Train?
About 17 hours, one night. Both trains leave at 4:00pm and are due at 8:59am the next morning, Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida and back, with no passenger stops between. Add an hour or more at the far end to get your car back.
What time do we need to be at the Auto Train station?
Car check-in is 11:30am to 2:30pm, and 2:00pm for motorcycles, oversized vehicles and anyone with Priority Offloading. Amtrak does not make exceptions. Plan lunch and a playground before the gate, not after.
Is the Family Bedroom worth it on the Auto Train?
For two adults and two kids ages 2 to 12, yes. It sleeps four in two lower and two upper bunks, has windows on both sides of the car, and dinner and a hot breakfast are included. It has no toilet; the car's restrooms and showers are down the hall. Book early; winter dates sell out.
What is there to do near Lorton before the Auto Train?
Occoquan Regional Park has a riverside playground and a cafe five minutes away; historic Occoquan has ice cream; Pohick Bay has mini golf and a summer water park; Mount Vernon and the free Marine Corps museum are 20 minutes. The station has a small playground and a snack shop.
How far is Sanford from Orlando and Disney World?
Orlando is about 30 minutes down I-4, Disney World 45 minutes to an hour, Universal about 40 minutes, Kennedy Space Center an hour east. Sanford's own downtown, the zoo and the splash pad at Fort Mellon Park are 5 to 10 minutes and make a gentler first morning.
Should we buy Priority Offloading on the Auto Train?
If you have kids and anything planned before noon, yes. It puts your car among the first 30 off, usually within 15 minutes of arrival, instead of an hour or two. It costs an extra fee per vehicle and moves your check-in deadline to 2:00pm.
Sources and how I checked
- Amtrak Auto Train route page, timetable (Trains 52 and 53) and vehicle check-in requirements, fall 2026; Amtrak Superliner Family Bedroom page
- Great American Stations pages for Lorton (LOR) and Sanford (SFA): station facilities, hours and check-in procedure
- Visit Fairfax, NOVA Parks (Occoquan Regional Park, Pohick Bay), Mount Vernon, Central Florida Zoo, Florida State Parks (Blue Spring, Wekiwa Springs), City of Sanford: hours and admission as posted October 2026
- Wikipedia articles on the Auto Train and its two stations for platform lengths, the Florence stop and Priority Offloading history, cross-checked with Amtrak
Hours, prices and bus routes change. I update this page when they do; if you spot something out of date, tell me.