Website: Day Out with Thomas at Strasburg Railroad
Season: Thomas comes for a week-long vist, a few times each year
Costs: $18 for all for just Thomas, $25 for age 3 and up for combo (Age 2 and under can ride regular train free)
Estimated Length of Visit: Several hours
Recommended Ages: Any Thomas the Train fans would enjoy this.
This was a great outing for a 3 1/2 year old, which was how old my son was when we did this. There is nothing like watching the excitement on a little boy's face the first time he sees Thomas in the flesh. It was an enjoyable day and driving through Lancaster, it reminded me that there are probably lots of other fun activities in that area.
Thomas comes to Strasburg Railroad a few times each year, usually June, September and December. You can buy tickets just to ride Thomas (about a 20 minute ride) or get a combo pass and also ride a train to Paradise and back (about a 45 minute ride). We opted for just Thomas. You can also upgrade for a fee after you're there, if you show up with just the Thomas ticket.
The train was really beautiful. It was a short ride but it was pretty, inside and out. There were cows and school buses to be seen which are very exciting to a 3 1/2 year old. For some reason most of the parents on board looked miserable - it was actually comical to watch their faces. The staff all looked to be enjoying themselves.
Included in the ticket price are also rides on some of the railroad's other attractions - the small steam train ride, the caboose ride and the push cars. Your child can also pose with Sir Topham Hat and Thomas. They take pictures you can buy and they'll also take a picture with your own camera. They pictures they take are unfortunately very expensive (I bought one, a 5x7 for $18 in 2007). It's a shame they're so expensive because I would have bought more if they weren't. I only bought the picture with Thomas but we also had our picture taken on the train and my son had his picture taken with Sir Topham hat. They do allow you to use your own camera too.
They also have tents where they sell merchandise (which is not unreasonably priced for licensed merchandise) and they offer other free activities - tattoos, a small hay bale maze, a small push car ride, toy tracks set up (but no trains on them since they would probably have a tendency to 'walk away'), puzzles, jewelry making, musical acts, food vendors etc. Some of it was a bit rundown looking but we were there on the last day so that probably had something to do with it.
It does get crowded. We saw cars from several different states in the lot. Parking was free (although the property next door was charging $10 - I have no idea why as they seemed to have plenty of free parking). Refreshment prices were a bit high. Water in the vending machines was very expensive. I bought a large fountain drink for the three of us to share - it was $4! We opted to eat at Applebees after we left. There are plenty of restaurants in that area.
Thomas travels all over the country and I believe it's somewhat the same everywhere. It's definitely a good time for any Thomas fan. We've only done it once so far. I planned on going again but we just couldn't work it into our schedule. We'll definitely go back when the baby is ready to enjoy this.
Please add your comments regarding this activity or let me know if you have any questions about it that I might be able to answer.
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