A Disney Dream Come True

Our true highlight of the trip was taking the Amtrak AutoTrain. We live in NJ and had to drive to Lorton, VA, to load the train. We arrived the night before and stayed in the Comfort Inn, Lorton (one light away from the train station and only cost for the night).

The train left at 4pm on Friday and arrived in Sanford, FL, at 8:30am the next day (28 miles from the Sheraton Vistana Resort in Orlando).

Quick Tips:

Best advice: when taking the autotrain, do not book your sleeping car room ahead of time. If you book in advance, the sleeper car can cost up to each way. The day of your trip, arrive at the station at 11am (when they start accepting cars) and go to the counter and ask for an upgrade to a sleeper car. It will only cost you each way. Unfortunately, you can only book at this price the day of the trip.

Upgrading to a sleeper car allows you more privacy, cleaner bathrooms, and a terrific meal (served on china versus paper for the coach riders).

Best Way To Get Around:

The best part of taking the autotrain is that you can bring your own vehicle. We chose to drive to Disney (less than a mile away from the Sheraton Vistana Resort) and Sea World (one mile away).

The shuttle from the resort would have cost per person (a little steep). Whereas parking only cost for the whole car.

Best Things Nearby:
This resort is in the center of numerous shopping centers, restaurants, and activities for everyone.

Our favorite food store was Goodings, although it is expensive. Joe's Crab Shack is a great place to go for crab cakes (I guess you knew that by the name). Within minutes you can be at Disney, Sea World, Universal, and much more.

Best Things About the Resort:
There are seven pools to choose from (our favorite was the "Lakes and Fountains" pool because they were less crowded). Our only dislike was that they did not have enough towels to accommodate the guests, so make sure to bring your own.

Resort Experience:
The resort has so many activities for families to enjoy that you don't want to leave. For the kids there are arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, games and much more. Adults can have just as much fun at Bingo, casino night, Mary Kay makeover classes and water aerobics.

Before our trip, we purchased a four-day pass to Disney and tickets for Sea World. Since we had so much fun at the resort, we only used two days of Disney and one-day at Sea World. The rest of the days we spent soaking up the sun (between 80-90 degrees) at the pool while our friends in NJ dealt with snow.

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Fair

Visit Disney''s website prior to booking a trip to Orlando and make sure you make reservations for the Character Breakfast at the Contemporary Hotel.

My four-year-old son had a blast choosing his breakfast items from a buffet that puts most restaurants to shame. The food was delicious, pretty to look at, and simply enjoyable.

During the breakfast, Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Goofy, and much more stopped by each table to say hello to the little tykes and of course my husband too (he really enjoyed it).

Reservations were required, but you never felt rushed to leave. You could stay as long as you wanted and eat as much as you could stomach (my husband did well in this category). The breakfast buffet had everything you could think of...crispy creme donoughts, pancakes, bacon, various types of eggs, cereal, peanut butter and marshmallow pizza, french toast sticks, a fruit bar,and much more.

This dinner show was one of the best that we ever attended. The performance was intriguing and really kept our little one involved.

The food, however, outdid the show--it was fantastic. Our family was seated at our own table and we were served a huge bucket of salad, a bucket of fried chicken (probably the best that I have to date), a bucket of ribs, vegetables, and much more. The dessert was a strawberry shortcake--enough to fulfil anyone's appetite. And, to me, the best part was the endless supply of beer, soda, and my favorite, sangria.

I highly recommend that you make reservations at this Ft. Wilderness Dinner Show--even if your plans don't involve Disney.

We really enjoyed this park. It wasn't crowded (probably due to the way our country is right now), it was very clean and had lots of shows for families to enjoy indoors (which helped to get out of the heat...it was 90 degrees that day).