Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway - (Bolton Abbey Station) — Attraction in Halton East

I went on The Polar Express from Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway on the 20th December with my family.

I would like to start by saying how good The Polar Express was. From the car park attendants to the performance in the tented area (which was amazing!) it was run very good and I was so impressed.

In the lead up to the night, I was so excited for my children to experience The Polar Express as it’s our first time doing something like this. I was telling everyone I work with about it and how excited I was for my children.

It was so enjoyable until we got on the train. The only thing I can say is that I had paid a lot to be insulted!

It started off great, dancing and so enjoyable. Then when one performer came to talk to us at our table, they did not like it because I (an adult) would not play along with sarcastic insults, I was bubbly and I really wanted my children to enjoy it, but apparently this was not enough.

The focus on the performer seemed to be on me, instead of my children! They came to our table and straight away they said to us that “I can’t deal with you” (me an adult), I was asked “are you a shy person” and then said, sarcastically, to my family “are you a shy family”, this confused my young daughter as she didn’t know what to say. I was dreading for them to come to our table again.

I was trying my best to make sure my children were happy, but every time the performer came to the table, I dreaded it. It was like I could not see to my children as I should have focus on them at all times. It made me that uncomfortable that I contemplated getting off when the train stopped and making our own way back to the station.

My wife recalls the performer saying “I feel at home making him uncomfortable”. From my understanding of other people’s experiences online and other people’s videos and also how other families on the carriage was being treated differently to us (engaging with the children) I did not expect it to be like this.

From the one performer there was no interaction with my children, like there was for the other families on the carriage, the performer just seemed to take a dislike to me and ignored my children throughout the experience. After being on the experience people have asked me if we enjoyed it, my response was “it was brilliant, but it was ruined by one performer”.

I would like to stress the other performers were brilliant and very professional and the rest of the experience was amazing however we was really let down by the above and felt it ruined it as a whole for my family, to the point I would never pay for this...

Took my grand daughter with my Sister to the Hey Duggie Themed Event Sunday 4th August. Train ride to Embsay from Bolton Abbey was fine, crayons & hey duggie colouring sheet given to granddaughter at ticket office, though no Hey Duggie decoration or signs on the train to build excitement. Arrived at Embsay and ushered to a marque with metal chairs in a row and Duggie character stood there waiting waving and having photos taken with the children. Also a guy wearing a microphone headset with a speaker on the floor. AND THAT WAS IT!!!!!!!!! The guy read a Hey Duggie story from an actual book whilst Duggie made hand gestures. AND THAT WAS IT!!!!!!!!!!! Bye Everyone!!!!!!!!! No atmospheric lighting, Duggie theme tune playing or squirrels props/cut outs & scout hut etc etc. Guy should have memorised the story, and remember where he was - Embsay, not Embassy as he said. Why couldnt Duggee have waved hello and good bye on the station as we pulled away?This was utter, utter rubbish and complete rip off and severely disappointing. It said on the information bring your teddy for the story but never asked to get them out. My sister and I had reorganised the event with how we would have done it better on the train back. Embsay Railway I think you need to be having SERIOUS words with this event organiser before it ruins your lovely reputation. You guys were lovely at the stations, but...

We took our 2 little boys 7 & 4 to the Polar Express experience last night at Embsay Bolton Abbey Railway. We also went with close family, my niece of 9. It took us just under 2hrs to get there from our home so we were hopeful for a great experience and it’s fair to say it exceeded our expectations!! We arrived with 20 minutes to spare, it was very busy as a Saturday evening and 4.45pm train ride. Given that there were lots of families, parking was easy and organised well. Before we boarded the train, there is a shop, cafe (drinks for the adults! 😊) and entertainment starting the show. I don’t want to spoil it for others, but when they announce the train was arriving - from the conductor of course - to see my kids faces was a moment and I actually had tears watching…. We boarded the train in Coach G, having tables 7 & 8, with Premium tickets. From the start the Conductor, Chef, waiters were excellent. They stayed in full character for the whole time. The chef and waiter were so engaging with the kids and adults! Really funny and kept us well entertained. The conductor was fabulous, Santa arriving on the train was epic for our kids (and for us!) Would highly recommend this experience, it’s well worth the money. To see our boys, who love the film, indulge in the whole atmosphere and believe, is something we won’t forget. Thankyou for bringing The Polar Express to life...