First, I know that Yellow and Gold look about the same here, but I never introduced a Yellow itinerary Gold, yes. I think that the reference to the southern portion of the Texas Eagle would mean the Orange itinerary.
Of all presented thus far, I feel the most bang for our buck (no backtracking) would be the Orange itinerary, and from the comments so far, those responding would concur. I think we can eliminate the Brown option at this point (City of New Orleans). Orange is better than the Gold itinerary in that it avoids the bus ride.
My concern however, is how we can make the Orange itinerary work.. given the short overnight turnaround in San Antonio. Besides the red eyes this will cause with minimal sleep (if any), there is another issue for those who might find a way to get a few hours sleep while briefly in town -- as I mentioned in the parent note. Most of us are loyal to the Hilton brand, and prefer its portfolio of properties. There are none within walking distance. I do not know if any of the Hilton family properties listed in the city of San Antonio have shuttles, nor whether they operate in the post midnight & early morning hours. The answer might be derived from someone volunteering to work the phones and calling some of the properties listed on the website. I simply don't have the time for that. At first glance I did not see any that mention they have a shuttle (or they would have made it to my own hotels page), but I could be wrong. If not bound to Hilton, there are a Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Grand Hyatt and Best Western Plus within a few blocks. Just beyond the Grand Hyatt is Hilton Palacio del Rio, but that is already about 6 blocks that one might not wish to walk that time of night.
As Chris alluded to, the Austin part with regard to hotels should be a lot easier, given the daytime arrival and departure in town. We'll find our way whether walking or getting a ride to where the hotels are. And yes the hotels are closer to the MetroRail Red Line. In fact its Downtown station is adjacent to the Hilton Hotel.
So again let's share ideas how we can get through what would be the roughest part of the week. The rest of it, riding streetcars in New Orleans, light rail in Houston, MetroRail in Austin, and trips on the Crescent, Sunset Limited, and Texas Eagle, should work out fine.