TrainTastic formerly the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum — Attraction in Gulfport

THIS PLACE WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! WE ULTIMATELY OWE A MAJOR THANKS TO DIRECTOR SIMON FOR HOSTING MY FAMILY BY GIVING US A TOUR, COORDINATING THE SCAVENGER HUNT, AND FOR ALWAYS CHECKING IN ON US! Thank you, Dir. Simon (Director of Education Engagement) for all of your help, coordination, and for sincerely being a loving person. My family and I had an absolute blast thanks to you.

Overall - I would say you get out of this experience what you put into it. TrainTastic is a REALLY COOL experience, and if you're a big kid at heart, then you'll have fun seeing everything and playing with their interactive engagement features. I'd argue that even if you don't like trains, you will still be fascinated by their displays by how elegant, intricate, and unique they are. If you want to learn a lot about trains and model trains, then you can do that, but if you also just wanted to goof around and play, then you can do that as well :-).

Customer Service - ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!! I have already spoken on AWESOME Dir. Simon, so I'll bypass her in this section (honestly yall, she really was super nice and helped my family out a lot with our planning of our event to come and to make it fun for both adults and children - we had about 20+ people). However, the second person that comes to mind is Elijah (the train conductor outside)! We, as grown adults, had a blast riding the train lol. I know it sounds silly, but with the right people (it was an extended family event), it can make everything amazing (and the train had some speed to it too)! Elijah must have been adding some extra coal to the engine because we were MOVING, and he was willing to take us around in groups as many times as needed. Yes, it was his job, but he did it with a smile and joy. Thank you, Elijah, for helping make that family day special!!!

Price - The price is very affordable. My family hosted one of our group events here, and it was $20 or less per person. I was not the one that organized the payment to attend, but the person that collected the money didn't request for more than $20 per couple. There is also reduced pricing for children and possible military personnel.

Food - If you're hosting an event, then you will have to order from Dominoes if you wish to eat in the venue. They are partnered or sponsored by Dominoes, so they are contracted to have them require guests to order from them. This was no big deal for my family, and the pizza was really good! However, if you're not a fan of Dominoes, I'd recommend coordinating food either before or after attending the venue. Contact customer service if you have dietory health concerns, I cannot speak on that.

Great memory takeaways - Time based scavenger hunt challenge, riding the outside train, playing in the jungle gym indoors, and laughing and smiling with family while eating pizza.

Parking - No issue, and the venue is ramp, walker, and...

As model railroad fans we were eager to visit, as this place has appeared in local news cycles as far away as the Florida panhandle, where we live. I will say that TrainTastic is much larger than any of us anticipated. There was a fair bit of variety in the displays, from vintage O gauge Lionel, to modern N scale, to Lego trains, to obscure S scale American Flyer, to HO scale comprising the bulk of displays. One thing I am not quite sure is how they are claiming to be the "world's largest", as Miniatur Wunderland (Germany) and EnterTrainment Junction (Ohio, USA) are both larger model train exhibits.

I am merely speculating, but it looks like most of the displays here are actually just the local Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Club members' personal displays moved into this new TrainTastic space. There is a large scale children's railroad outdoor for children to ride, a children's play area, STEM area, birthday rooms, and various empty areas for expansion. The two big takeaways for me are: 1) There is a lot incomplete; particularly the large main area display where the main exhibit modeling Gulfport is incomplete, and, 2) There is actually a lack of working/moving train models on the model layouts. While there were a few moving models, it was usually just one locomotive and a car or two. There were no models of actual long trains with at least a half dozen cars. I think the longest train models on display were actually the older Lionel O-gauge (unsurprisingly the most reliable). I would definitely have liked to see some more model trains of full length. Almost half of the model displays were just stagnant on our visit with no moving trains.

For the price, I definitely think the visit is worth it. We spent over an hour here, even without any children to ride the large scale train or play in the play areas. The gift shop was pretty big, although I would have liked to see actual model trains for sale other than ready-to-run kits they sell (individual cars or locomotives for sale would have been cool, and also would be compatible with the ready-to-run kits already for sale). We purchased our tickets in advance, although the ticketing machine had trouble reading them, so the ticket attendant had to manually lookup our order. Maybe in due time I could see ourselves coming back if we find ourselves in the area (or if Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Club ever decides to hold a model train show again - particularly utilizing all this new event...

Update to new TrainTastic location: The new location really is traintastic! They still have an entire half of the building filled with tons of model trains and Lego structures, as well as another half with even more things for kids to do.

The new exhibit when you first walk in is incredible! It's all local structures - the Mississippi Aquarium, Jones Park, the Seabee base, Domino's pizza, Gulfport airport, etc. with informational boards lining it, as well as buttons you can press to make things happen on the model (the dolphin jumps out of the water, people inside Domino's begin flipping pizza, etc.)

There is also an indoor climbing structure with two slides, ride on Thomas trains + tracks, and large Legos to build with in the back play area. There is a specified toddler area for ages 4 and under, and wooden train tracks. Moving forward, there is an Imaginative play area (sized where children can get in them) with a caboose, dining car, crane to load/unload cargo, & the front train with controls. There is a green screen area, an area where kids can build and test their own train tracks, and a STEAM room where they have scheduled activities for kids.

They still have the outdoor ride on train as well, with scheduled rides on the half hours. It looks like they are working on getting the pedal cars set up, as well as some other indoor things. It's already incredible with lots to do and we look forward to seeing the new additions!

This is a really neat place to bring the kids! Obviously, they have tons of model trains. They also have train tables and an outdoor area with a train the children can ride on. Admission is free though they do ask for a donation since they depend on donations to keep running. I wasn't sure my daughter would be interested at only 15 months but she loved watching the trains! It was interesting for adults also. It's truly fun...