I was really excited about it because I've read the book and have seen the movie. Both are so great and just give you a warm fuzzy inside. I couldn't WAIT to ride the train, drink thick, rich hot chocolate and listen to wonderful Christmas carols. Yeah, well...I guess my expectations were WAY too high because the North Pole Express was NOTHING like the Polar Express! :)
We got there and were seated in a huge tent with the other 100 anticipating passengers. We were lucky enough to be seated right next to one of those big outdoor heaters...too bad it was 70 degrees outside! We were entertained by a 9-year-old singing Christmas songs until it was time for us to board the train.
The line to the train was a winding path of Christmas trees and signs all pointing to the North Pole. As we walked through, 'snow' was falling everywhere (foam that was blown by a fan). Little did we know at the time that this would be the highlight of the trip!
We got on board and settled in our seats and the train took off. These are some pictures of us as we anxiously awaited for our trip to the North Pole to start! :)
As soon as the ride began, a lady came over the loud speaker to lay out all of the 'rules'...stay in your seats, no standing on the chairs, no talking while the story was going on because your voice could possibly echo through the microphone, etc...
Next, some story about Santa began playing over the loud speaker. That's about all I can tell you about the story because we were too busy trying to keep Truett from standing on the seat or getting out of his seat, or talking so that his voice wouldn't echo through the microphone...FUN.
Once the story was finished, we were ordered to sing. Notice I used the word ordered'...yeah...dead serious! This lady said, "Now we're going to sing some Christmas songs. Sing." She didn't use a friendly fun voice. It sounded as though she has been doing this since trains were invented and has lost that 'loving feeling' for her job. A few times during the song, we were ordered to clap, too...FUN.
After the singing was over, Santa made a quick appearance, shaking hands with each kid as he raced by each seat. Notice I have no pictures of this. By the time we realized Santa was on the train, there was not enough time to get the camera to take a picture. But, Truett was still pretty excited to shake hands with Santa.
When the train ride was over, there were different displays set up outside for photo ops and I think there was a place where the kids could do a craft or something.
We didn't check it out because Truett wanted to play in the Thomas the Train bounce house/maze. After about 15 minutes of Truett running around in the thing, Jay spent 10 minutes trying to coax Truett out of the thing when we realized that he had taken off his socks somewhere in there! After failed threats and bribes, Jay finally outsmarted Truett and caught him as he ran by the opening at the front of the maze.
When Truett came out, I had to make a deal with him about getting his socks because we were going to have to send him back in to get them. So, Truett crawled in, got his socks, and crawled right out. We put on his boots and headed back to the Praytors'.
Emma was even excited to go home! :)
When we got back to the Praytors, I kept my end of the deal and Truett got to eat not one, but TWO cake balls for lunch!As for as riding the North Pole Express next year..."I think we'll pass. I think we'll pass. I think we'll pass." We'll stick to the movie and the book and let our imaginations run wild!
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