“They’re two, they’re four, they’re six, they’re eight…” Have I got you singing the Thomas the Train song yet? I find myself singing it more often than I care to admit. I can’t help it, it’s so catchy! We live pretty close to the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania and a few times a year a Day Out With Thomas comes to town and you can take a ride on the useful blue engine himself. We took the kids this past weekend and had so much fun!
In our neck of the woods Thomas is in town for about a week. Of course you’ll be better off in terms of avoiding huge crowds if you can swing a weekday visit versus going on Saturday or Sunday. We had to go on a Sunday and the train runs so frequently that it really wasn’t too bad. I definitely recommended ordering your tickets early and picking them up at Will Call. Mine were waiting for me and I didn’t have to stand in line to buy tickets. We got right on the train, but we got lucky! It was just about to leave the station so try to get there a little bit early and allow time for parking and walking to the station.
The train ride itself was so much fun! The kids loved it and enjoyed looking out the windows and seeing the train conductors coming around to collect tickets. It’s not an incredibly long train ride, so it’s perfect for little kids who might get antsy. I’d estimate it’s about 15 minutes or so.
As soon as you get off the train and while they’re loading up the next batch of passengers you can get your picture taken in front of Thomas. This is cool since you really don’t get to see him while you’re on the train ride. They have this down pat, moving families in and out quickly so as many people as possible get a turn to get their picture with Thomas before he pulls out of the station again.
After that we went to see Sir Topham Hat! This guy is a big deal and we waited in line for quite a while to see him. How often do you get to meet Sir Topham hat though? We got a couple of pictures and the kids were given some coloring books before we said goodbye to him.
There are a bunch of fun little rides on the grounds, too. We saw some small train rides (more like an amusement park train size, not a real train size), and my kids had fun with this hand crank ride. There are also a bunch of food vendors if you want to grab lunch or a drink, too. It was extremely hot the day we went so we enjoyed a few activities and then hit the road to cool off.
There were tons of toy train sets set up in tents for kids to play with, too! You can definitely make a day out of a Day Out With Thomas. There’s a lot more to do there than just ride the train…though that’s definitely the coolest part!
Find out when a Day Out With Thomas will be in your town and take the kids for a great day of family fun! We had a blast!
I was provided with complimentary tickets in exchange sharing this review with my readers. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
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