Nasha W.
Yelp
Posting to hopefully help shed some insight on the Brightline train, with kids, from South Florida to Orlando. We booked coach seats. If you book early you can get great rates too. Booking the brightline was easy. In fact, the entire process was swift.
Our train was scheduled to depart at 12:50. It departed promptly at 12:50 (we arrived at 12:30 to the station and even though I thought I needed to rush, it was plenty of time). We each had a small carry on rolling bag, and a back pack each, a stroller, and a carseat (because we'd be Ubering on the other end). The stroller and carseat did not count against our allotment. You're allowed 2 carryon and 1 personal item each.
When arriving at the station, we simply scanned our tickets and went through the electronic gate, then we put our bags in an xray machine and walked through the metal detectors. The stroller strolled right through with my child in it (disney style). There was no hassle. The entire process took less than 10 minutes. After all this, we were standing in a lounge area, and when our train was ready, they announced it (10 minutes prior to departure). It announced what track it would be on, and we hopped on board. They also had elevators to get to the platform in case your have a stroller or wheelchair.
The train was clean, neat, and the bathrooms were spacious and clean as well. I want to say the bathroom was large enough to be wheelchair accessible and there was also a diaper changing station that comes down from the wall. Lots of space that I was able to comfortably bring my two kids in there with me. They have food and beverage service, but I had packed an entire cooler backpack with sandwiches and drinks and snacks. You can pretty much bring anything you want to eat and drink. If you're a family of 3 or 4 I highly recommend getting the seats that show up as a compartment because even though it's not a private compartment it's basically 4 seats that face each other with a table in the middle and makes a great table for sharing meals or playing games.
The entire ride was quiet and everyone is encouraged to talk quietly and have headphones. If you need to make a call there's a little hallway compartment between cars (by the restrooms where you can make a phone call). There's plenty of outlets at your seat with 2 outlets and 2 USB between each seat, and if you have a table, there's also more outlets and USB ports on that too. We only had carry on luggage and we basically put it overhead. There's also extra space near the ends of each car.
The train ride was comfortable, and overall a smooth ride. We briefly stopped at Aventura, Ft Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and West Palm Beach. Each stop was not long enough to step out (maybe 2 minutes each). Once we hit West Palm Beach it was a straight shot to Orlando.
When you arrive at the Orlando station you can take an Uber or Lyft to the resorts or if you plan it ahead you can schedule MEARS connects brightline and they have their prices on their site. If my memory serves me it would've been close to about $60 for us to get to the resorts through MEARS since our 3 yr old would've been free but we opted for UBER so that we could be on our own time.
Overall, the only stressful parts were having to meet a schedule and make it to the train station on time and keeping our kids quiet enough that they wouldnt disturb others. Everything else was a breeze. We arrived promptly as scheduled. I will say, it is more cost effective to drive (as a family) but if its 2 people or less it can be cost effective when you factor gas and sunpass tolls.
Also adding, if you need to modify your train In our case, we missed our first train on a different trip and it was very easy to modify and grab another train (as long as you do it 10 min prior to departure of your original ticket.
