Day Out With Thomas

You know how when you're really excited and looking forward to something and you build it up in your mind about how great it's going to be and then its a let down? That's my opinion of Day Out With Thomas. Don't get me wrong, we had a pretty good time. Collin's face when he saw it was actually Thomas pulling the train was worth the trip, it just wasn't quite as great as I had thought it would be. They tell you to get there an hour before your train departs, there's a reason for that. You have to park in the middle of a corn field (I'm not kidding, you're literally in the middle of a corn field) and take a cheese wagon to the train station. The signs were a little confusing and we missed the turn for the corn field and took the next turn into a parking lot; we weren't the only ones. Fortunately, someone told us that we needed to go back and turn into the corn field or we never would have made our train. So we catch the bus and make it to the train station at 12:30 just in time to board our train which is scheduled to depart at 12:45. The train ride is only 25 minutes and it goes by in a blur. You don't really see Thomas except when you're watching the train arrive and depart for the other people's rides. Still, Collin enjoyed the train ride and I think we'll take him back to the railroad again sometime for a longer ride. Kids 3 and under ride free. However, to ride Thomas kids over 2 have to pay as well. It was $16 per person, no discount for kids. Also food was expensive too. Lunch for the 3 of us was $25. We ate in the little diner to get out of the sun but it would have been just as expensive to eat the fried crap they were selling in the tents. There were some other little train rides that you could go on, but Collin was a little small for a lot of that stuff. The giant tent filled with nothing but Thomas books, toys, movies, etc was a nightmare. Collin wanted to buy everything! We ended up with a new Percy DVD that came with a train and a cheap wooden train whistle. Overall, not a bad outing but I think next time we'll just go to see the trains and avoid all the crowds. Nicholas could not have been better behaved on this trip by the way. I think he enjoyed the change of scenery and the stimulation.