These tickets are so hard to get! They were available online on 10/01, and I forgot to check right at opening time. Later that evening, all the weekend tickets were already sold out. I had to go solo with my son on a weekday morning since the options were limited. Surprisingly, the train wasn't completely full. There were about 4-5 rows that were empty because people no-showed.
I didn't want to run into the hassle of finding parking and then walking a long distance to North Pole Express. We parked at the Grapevine Library located at 1201 Municipal Way for free shuttle service. The parking lot was clearly marked, so you won't miss it. Once the shuttle dropped us off, we just had to walk a short distance and cross the railroad track right into the boarding zone.
There were different vendors leading up to the boarding area. The line to take pictures with Santa at the General Store filled up quickly. Luckily, we arrived early so it was quite a short wait. We received 1 free complimentary printed photo. I was a little disappointed that the carousel was not up and running before and after our ride. At least they had cute photo-ops with a huge bear, gnomes, etc.
Mrs. Clause did a great job making us feel welcomed. She said hello to my son, and even waved bye to us while we were on the train. The chocolate cookie from Mrs. Clause was soft and delicious. You know it's good when my son ate the entire thing. The hot chocolate provided was actually cold chocolate milk. Make sure to bring water because they don't give you a lot of liquid for hydration after downing the cookie.
Since our ride was at 10am, the sun rays were bearing down on us. It would probably be more magical if it was in the evening to see the Christmas lights better. The elves did their best to sing and entertain, but my son was not paying attention whatsoever. His favorite part was the fake snow that drifted down as we exited the train.
Overall, I expected a little more out of this given that it's so popular and hard to get tickets. This is definitely a fun experience for kids to dress up in cute holiday attire, but pretty boring for the adults. The joy is in watching the kiddos have fun and capture some beautiful memories. read more