We paid $3,100 to book 2 family rooms and bring our car on the Amtrak Auto Train. Next time, we'll save hundreds by reserving something else.

• My family of 5 stayed in two family rooms on the Amtrak Auto Train from Florida to Virginia.

• Our 17-hour trip, which included bringing our car on board, cost us $3,100.

• The rooms were spacious, but we were split up, and I think we can travel for cheaper next time.

Summer road trips are a tradition for many families, including mine.

Our usual drive from our home in central Florida to visit family in Pennsylvania takes us at least two or three days because we break the trip up and stop at sights along the way.

This time around, a friend suggested we skip the driving and save time by taking the Amtrak Auto Train from Sanford, Florida, to Lortan, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. The trip would take about 17 hours, and we'd be able to take our car with us to drive the final few hours of the way to our destination.

Once my kids heard they could sleep on a train, they were in. I was a little hesitant, but figured it would be a unique adventure that my children would remember.

Choosing which seats or rooms to book was a bit complicated

When we booked the train, the most affordable option was coach class, at just under $430 a seat. There, passengers sit all together, similar to airplane seating. We knew we wanted our own space, so we opted to upgrade to a personal cabin.

But the smallest cabin, a roomette for $795, only fits two adults. The other options were a family room or a bedroom. The bedroom has its own bathroom, but it also only sleeps two adults.

That left the family room, the most expensive option, at $1,423 per room. It sleeps two adults and two children, but the bathroom is in the car instead of in the room itself. It should also be noted these were the prices when we took the train; prices vary depending on the day and time of year.

We called Amtrak and asked a representative to help us decide what to book for our family of five. Ultimately, she advised us to book two family rooms. We also paid $255 for our car to travel on the train, so our trip came to just over $3,100.

We had to be at the train station in Sanford, about 45 minutes from Disney World, no later than 3:30 p.m. with the train set to depart at about 5 p.m.

The vehicle-drop-off process was super easy. We pulled up to the station, got out with the small amount of luggage we needed for the train ride, and left everything else in our car. An attendant took care of everything from there.

Our family was split into two rooms and we used the communal bathroom in the train car

Though we may have been able to tell by inspecting the info on our tickets, we didn't realize our family rooms would be in different cars until we checked in for boarding.

We were in adjacent cars, but our family had to split up. My husband and two older children slept in one cabin while my little one stayed with me in the other. It was a massive pain going up and down stairs and from one car to another to get from cabin to cabin.

Fortunately, the rooms were pretty big. Our family rooms felt spacious — they were the width of the train with large picture windows on both sides.

We all spent some time on our devices — the onboard WiFi was better than I expected — and we also enjoyed the views. The sunset and sunrise were both spectacular.

We didn't have private showers, sinks, or toilets in the rooms, but there were communal bathrooms nearby in our train car. We used the toilets and sinks to wash up and brush our teeth, but we opted not to use the showers. It was a super tight space, and we figured we could survive the 17-hour trip without a shower.

While we were at dinner, our room attendants came to each cabin and transformed them into sleeping areas.

The couch became a bed, which felt slightly wider than a twin. The chair became what I thought was a bed suitable for a child under 12 and an identical bed was pulled down from the ceiling as a bunk bed of sorts.

The top bunk also has straps to keep the person sleeping from falling off — the ride was pretty bumpy, so I definitely found them to be necessary.

I didn't sleep well with all of the bumps and sounds, but all three of my children slept through the night.

Our booking also included a dinner and a breakfast

We went to the dining car together to eat dinner, which was included in the price for our family room.

Some of our meal options included flat-iron steak, braised barbecue pork, cod fillet, pan-roasted chicken, and baked manicotti. My kids chose between chicken tenders and mac and cheese.

In my opinion, the meal was on par with mediocre airplane food, but my children loved the complimentary hot chocolate we received.

Before disembarking, we also went to the dining car and grabbed breakfast. We got bananas and prepackaged muffins.

We pulled into the train station in Lorton, Virginia, at about 10 a.m. From there, we waited about 45 minutes for our car to be pulled around.

I'd consider doing this trip again, but I wouldn't book 2 family cabins, and I'd spring for priority off-boarding 

Overall, I'd consider doing this trip again. It was nice not to have to drive really far but still have our own car while on vacation.

Our $3,100 train trip was more expensive than what we'd have spent on gas, hotels, and food during a road trip from Florida to Virginia. Still, this was an adventure — and we arrived at our destination faster by train than we would've if we'd driven the whole way.

In hindsight, we should've paid extra for priority off-boarding so our vehicle was one of the first off the train. We also should've skipped the second family cabin.

Next time, we'll book one family cabin and an adjacent roomette, a move that would've saved us about $630.

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