Day Out With Thomas Review

About a year ago, a dear friend gave me advice that I should have taken.  Over brunch, she looked at me and said, "Whatever you do, keep him away from Thomas the Tank Engine.  You will spend money on Thomas stuff like crazy if you don't." 

I laughed off her warning, dismissing her good intentions as a joke.  It was no joke.  I have a basement to prove this point.  Thomas the Tank Engine is the greatest marketing scheme deployed on the toddler market.  They are cute, fun and entertaining.  It also doesn't hurt that my husband's side of the family has historically worked as engineers.  His grandfather drove trains in WWII and did it when he returned stateside.  His father just retired last year from his rail career.  Thomas was something that we couldn't have hidden from if I'd have thought to listen to her anyway.

My oldest son has since grown to love Thomas.  We have his trains, hat, shirts, pajamas, toychest, watch, books and yes, even underwear.  When I happened upon an advertisement for Day Out With Thomas, I thought that it would be a great family event that my husband's family could enjoy with us.   I was right.

Day Out With Thomas is held in locations around the nation.  You can go to the website at the end of this review for a list of locations.  Basically, you purchase tickets for the day and time of the train ride.  However, the day is not over after the train ride.  The event includes different activities you can enjoy as well.  For example, there is an Imagination Station that allows you to play with Thomas trains (as if you don't do this at home enough) or create a picture of Thomas.  They also have stations set up for sing-alongs, temporary tatoos, moonbounce, straw maze, and other activities including meeting Sir Topham Hatt. 

I do have to mention that we encountered two things that were upsetting.  First, lunch was a disaster.  We had bought extra tickets to ride a paddleboat.  Before the boat, we decided to get lunch.  We nearly missed our paddleboat time because the lunch line took 20 minutes to get through and another 35 minutes before we were given food.  When the food did get to us it was cold.  Second, there was no way that I was waiting to meet Sir Topham Hatt in a line that had a wait of an hour with a toddler.

However, the rest of the day was great fun.  The most amazing spectacle to behold was the gift shop.  This arena was the size of my house and had any item you could imagine that had Thomas imprinted on it.  We broke down and bought a few things including a Thomas Scrapbook for me.  It was at the gift shop that we learned that the day is actually created by the toy companies.  You could look at this as a bit of economic education for the kids as well. 

Also, I would plan to go as early as you can.  This event attracts families with younger kids.  Around two o'clock the park turned nasty as swarms of toddlers converged on their parents without naps.  Because we had gotten there for the 10:00 train, our day was done and the kids fell asleep in the stroller which made for a graceful exit.  However, please be aware that the time you purchase the train ride for is prompt.  They begin boarding the train twenty minutes early and it leaves at its time.  Some parents were upset because they had arrived at the park thinking that was time they would board.  They missed the ride and were told there was no refund.

The tickets were a bit pricey; $18 for each ticket.  This includes children 13 months and up.  (This was the first time I had encountered a month age limit.)  The other rides at our event were priced individually.  Lunch was priced on a special Day Out menu.  The gift shop, however, was no worse than a trip to the toy store and my scrapbook was well priced.

We attended the event in Flint, Michigan.  Overall, it was organized (except lunch) and a great deal of fun.  My husband's grandfather loved being on a steam locomotive again and the rest of the family enjoyed a mini-vacation together. 

http://www.thomasandfriends.com/usa/parents/dowt.html