Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the Polar Express train rides popping up all around the country around Christmas. There are a couple around here, but the one we’ve personally heard the one about most is the Great Smoky Railroad’s Polar Express in Bryson City North Carolina.
We’ve had several friends go and really enjoy it, so we were eager to take our two girls once the youngest was older (she’s now three). We did however, balk slightly at the price.
For our family of four, tickets alone were a bit over $200. That didn’t include the fact that we’d need to get a hotel, as the train station was over 4 hours away, and not an easy day trip with two kids.
But…as I’ve mentioned before I’m a former elementary school teacher. Chris Van Allsburg just happens to be my favorite children’s author and Polar Express one of my favorite books of his. I also enjoyed the movie and watch it every year with my girls, usually several times. So this was high on my list of things to experience with my family.
I managed to convince my husband it was worth the price and we booked our tickets in October. Despite my excitement over our adventure it remained to be seen if this pricey investment was truly worth the money.
