Edaville Polar Express Review – Part Two
In Part One of our Edaville Polar Express experience (that you can read here), we thought the time was finally right for our kids to enjoy a Polar Express experience. We chose to go to Edaville Polar Express and enjoy all of the Festival of Lights activities that are included in the Polar Express admission. So here is Part Two of our Edaville Polar Express Review thanks to the complimentary tickets we received.
Edaville Polar Express Review Continued
After we explored Edaville and got in a festive mood with all of the amazing lights, we boarded our Polar Express train. The signs were clearly marked to distinguish between the Holiday Train (general train) and the Polar express train. (Tip: You can do both – just make sure you time it right, so you don't miss your Polar express train.)
On board, we were first served hot chocolate. Note that it is not hot. More like, warm chocolate milk. I'm not sure if it was a one time thing, but the cups did not have a spout. You had to take the whole cover off, so it made for a very difficult thing to juggle with the kids. Plus the cups were styrofoam, which is not very eco-friendly. I hope Edaville makes a change. (Please let us know in the comments if they have!)
But I digress, the hot chocolate was dispersed quickly and efficiently, and tasted good. As the train pulled away, we all got to pick a wrapped cookie. (The kids loved it.) There is no gluten free, dairy free cookies, so you might want to bring your own if that is an issue. (Same with the hot chocolate above if your child has a dairy allergy.) Bringing those things along will make your child feel a part of the experience too.
You take the regular 'Holiday Train' track half way as if you were just on the regular Edaville Train experience. However, the Polar Express train then goes 'straight' to the North Pole.
As we pulled into the North Pole, Santa was waiting on the sleigh. He walked outside and waved to everyone on the train, going by each train car. Then he boarded the train and passed out bells to each child as the Polar Express Movie soundtrack played in the background. Then the train backtracked a ways, then turned to finish the rest of the half of the 'Holiday Train' experience.
In essence, the Edaville Polar Express experience is about $20 more compared to the regular admission for the Festival of Lights. The extra money gets you the hot chocolate, cookie, bell and visit with Santa, plus a bit of a longer train ride with the extension of the Holiday Train ride.
My kids enjoyed it. My five year old son got the most out of it, but his excitement got my two-year old excited too. Plus, at two-years old, my daughter now understands the concept of Santa and is not too afraid. So it is the first age grouping I think works for a Polar Express experience.
Then, they got to play with the trains in the red building and some great rides (and where we warmed up too), see all of the Edaville lights at Edaville USA, go on all the rides and have other snacks along the way!
It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season. Happy Holidays Mamas!
