You guys, this has been on my bucket list since before I had kiddos. When I was teaching (you know in my past life) a student took a trip to the one they do at the Grand Canyon and that’s when I knew that I had to take my kids someday. When I did have kids I realized that drive to Arizona was less than ideal with the ages they were. Then this year I saw that the same location we did A Day Out with Thomas was hosting the first ever Southern California location of the Polar Express Train Ride. Now, this is the legit version not some one off, hokey experience. It truly felt like we were on the real Polar Express, the experience is something I will never forget.

From the moment we arrived the magic started with our Golden Tickets. Just like the book and movie, each passenger got their own ticket that was punched during the ride by the conductor! Speaking of the conductor, he looked just like the cartoon and was 100% in character.  Each train car had their own set of characters that performed the entire story from the book and movie. They sang songs and even read the actual book The Polar Express. I think my kids had two favorites parts. The first had to have been the hot chocolate song that ended with their own cup of (absolutely delicious) hot chocolate and a snickerdoodle (probably the best I’ve ever had!). The other part that got them super excited was the arrival of Santa. He even brought each passenger their own silver bell from his sleigh. The perfect souvenir to remember the trip!

 

  

We went with our best friends and their kiddos and it made it about 1,000 times more magical! I’m not kidding when I say that everyone from our 1 year olds to us 30 somethings had a BLAST! We will for sure be making this a family Christmas tradition. I’m already dreaming about getting to go next year! If you want to snag tickets, there are multiple rides a day through the 29th of December in both Perris and Fillmore! You can find more details here.