Thursday, December 6, 2018

Polar Express Train at the B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore

The B&O Railroad Museum has a Polar Express Train ride event every year that sells out. I've been thinking about it for a few years now but I always think about it too long and it ends up being sold out. So, this year I bought tickets the moment I noticed they were on sale. It isn't a cheap event but one I thought would be fun since the kids love the story/movie. It's based off the book The Polar Express which is an amazing story about a boy who takes a magical train ride to the North Pole to meet Santa and make his Christmas wish. 

Since the story takes place overnight while all the adults are sleeping the kids are all in their pajama's on this magical train ride. 


We got to the train station a little earlier than our start time and had to hang out outside until our entry time. Some of the trains outside were pretty neat looking!




Inside the waiting area there were some games set up to keep the kids busy while waiting to board the train as well as some snacks and drinks. They allow you in exactly one hour before boarding the train and since we didn't know better, we were there the full hour beforehand. (If you go, 15-20 minutes is all you need to let your kids play the few games they have set up.) There was a station for the kids to make Lego cars and a ramp to race them on. A spot to take photo's, a "snowball" toss and a ring toss game. It wasn't much and it became very crowded very quickly as people arrived. 




After playing the games and then standing in line for about 45 minutes the show officially began when the train conductor came out. He said a few things and then we all started making our way outside to the awaiting train. 


We passed a hobo outside playing his guitar:



As we boarded the train we were given golden tickets (just like in the movie) and then found our seats. We were able to get a spot for the four of us to sit together which was nice and once everyone was on board, the show began. The chef's did a song and dance as the train began to pull away from the station and then handed out hot chocolate and cookies to everyone. 




While the kids sipped their cocoa and ate their cookies the chefs walked around with over-sized books showing the pictures while the story was told over the speaker system. 



As the story was being read the conductor came around to punch everyone's ticket. 


When the story was over Santa Claus began making his way down the aisle...the kids were so excited! As Santa passed by he handed everyone a beautiful silver bell. 







The train ride portion of the event lasted just over an hour or so and then we got off and walked into the roundhouse.








We spent about 20 minutes doing things in the roundhouse including taking a family photo which means the whole event from top to bottom was around 2 hours. Would I pay to do it again? No. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, it gets a 4. There wasn't much to it and it really lacked in the excitement department. (I will say though that the women who danced as chefs seemed to really know their part and performed with gusto! They really put effort into their parts which I appreciated!)

Things that could have made it better:
  • more to do upon entry while waiting for the train ride even if activities were held outside under tents. 
  • more live action storytelling rather than listening to a storybook being read. Even silent acting as the story was read would make it more entertaining.
  • more face time with Santa per child, more meaningful exchange when given the silver bell
  • add to train garden area, make interactive in some way
Of course I realize this is for kids but with the price of tickets and limited times offered it'd be nice to feel like we had a true "experience" rather than endured a lackluster performance. 

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