North Pole Limited — Attraction in Chattanooga

Very cute experience! Would recommend booking a night trip. We went on the 6:30-7:30 ride, so it was dark the whole time. Then, it feels more like the North Pole, even if it’s not snowy. They do a good job of explaining the reason it doesn’t look snowy, or like what you’d expect from the North Pole. It’s because Santa uses another area of the North Pole for his workshop. The North Pole has lots of different locations that aren’t snowy. Santa needs a place where the train can come in without trying to get through mountains of snow. If the kids are young enough, they will run with it. You also go through a “magic tunnel” that warp speeds you to the North Pole and the kids will believe that, too, if they are still into magical thinking.

When you arrive, you are greeted by lots of light displays as you drive in. Someone is there to help direct traffic/parking. You walk past some old trains that have Christmas lights on them. Train Depot office is cute and “old timey,” with a fireplace and tree to take photos near. They have a gift shop but we didn’t go in. At the depot, there was a long line for the bathrooms. I’d recommend going before you head to the train station. It did appear there were bathrooms on the train. Train conductors look real and punch your tickets.

Even though you pick seats when you buy tickets, it’s open seating when you get on the train, or at least in our car it was. We were able to fit a party of 9 (5 adults, 4 kids) in seats directly across the aisle from one another. They were cushion seats, but could be used more like a bench if you put the armrests up. It’s not like you have to have one person per seat.

There’s stuff to see out each side of the train, but our party switched sides for the ride back (you go back on the same track). They have more light displays on the right side of the train than the left. But the left is where you can better see the buildings they have decorated as “Santa’s Warehouse” and some other little departments. That’s very cute and feels authentic.

As you are riding there, you will see regular neighborhoods, streets, etc down the hill from the train tracks, but we explained to the kids those were the elve’s homes, cars, etc. and they believed it. They looked smaller being down below the train and it was dark, which helped.

When you get to Santa’s train depot (you aren’t going to Santa’s Workshop….that’s in the snowy part of the North Pole like you imagine it to be), there are people and kids dressed up like elves who wave and play outside the train. They toss packages back and forth and do dances. Mrs Claus holds up a big long scroll (presumably the “Naughty or Nice” list) and gives you the thumbs up that you are Nice! All of this happens on the right side of the train. (Basically, when you board the train, the direction the train is going would be front, so you use that to figure out right and left).

On the way there, pretty soon into the ride, they pass out a chocolate chip cookie, a gingerbread cookie, and hot chocolate, which is perfect temperature for drinking, with a lid. The car attendant will read the story about the train. It’s not the polar express story it’s a different train, which is why you don’t go to Santa’s Workshop, you go to his train station. It explains in the story about the purpose of the train, but I wasn’t listening very much to it. It would probably be beneficial to buy their book ahead of time and read it if you really want to get into the full experience. The kids probably aren’t listening much while on the train either.

When you get to the North Pole, Santa boards the train and stops and speaks with each family and takes pictures. At this time, you can give Santa your “Wish List.” Do the list before arriving because I didn’t see any opportunities to write a list while we were there. You can also put letters in a Santa’s mailbox at the depot. Santa didn’t have time to ask every kid what they wanted, so a letter is good! You get jingle bells and tree ornaments after Santa leaves and you sing songs on...

Our family was a party of 11 on the Silver Star, first class car. The experience was so much fun! The staff engaged with everyone making this train ride so much enjoyable and relaxing. Puddin' and Sweets were our attendants and did an amazing job at keeping everyone entertained. We were greeted with chocolate bars, cookies, and hot cocoa, which was delicious! I highly recommend this experience to anyone, adults or kids. We did the night ride, but will be back for a ride in the day time. The Polar Express train ride should be a must...

Really fun experience! We rode the 3:30 with our 2 1/2 year old and she really enjoyed it. The daytime was fine, I'm sure night could have looked cooler but it was still fun. Holly and her mom in car 5 were terrific! They made it really special. Santa spent quality time with every kid/family and the hot chocolate, printed ticket, ornament, cookies and bells were all very nice touches. Only thing to mention is we ended up spending a lot of time waiting for other trains to pass which was kind...