Williams Station, Grand Canyon Railway — Attraction in Williams

Our family of 9 went on the round trip adventure from Williams to the Grand Canyon. It was snowing outside and quite chilly. The whole process from beginning to end went pretty smooth. Bathrooms are always a tricky issue on trains, especially when one of your kids wants to go like every 30 to 45 minutes. PSA folks, aka the speakers/story tellers, were friendly and kind and showed their appreciation towards us all and offered excellent insight on where to eat and etc. We were in the dome observation car on the way up, a fairly nice upgrade, and the coach car on way back(simple no frills seats). One speaker who stood out, was Tarryl. She thankfully spoke about G.e. Kincaid, who also, from my own prior research, deserves much more accolades than he receives in relation to the Grand Canyon and the endless mysteries it holds. The guitar player was wonderful, the wild west holdup lol was ok but kinda scared the kids at first but eventually they came around and were nice and funny. The train goes about 25 to 30mph the whole way...so bring some things for the kids , like Highlight magazines, coloring books, snacks etc Because its about 2hours 30 min one way.

Constructive criticism...when one speaker is speaking and finishes, please don't have another person come on right after. That really kills the mood and is exhausting for the audience, imo. For example, Tarryl just finished talking for 20 min after some very interesting but exhausting stories on ge kincaid and more... and then within a min or two of finishing, the guitar guy comes on. Give the audience some breathing space. It gets monotonous listening to a speaker for so long and then singing and then outlaws doing their thing right after that and then a speaker again. It's not "bad", it's just one after another.

Finding ones cab...can people be out sooner holding up cards showing what cab you need to go on? it can get stressful when you only have a few minutes. If you bought your tix months in advance, pay attention to time zone changes when you go and double check at ticket window pickup for the right times.

As far as the Grand Canyon goes, we were in a group of nine so...yeah, it was going to be slow moving and alot of complaining within our group no matter what we did or went. We went up the stairs to the el Tovar, hung out, went to some shops a few minutes down the sidewalk from the el tovar, ate 4 sandwhiches, went back up the sidewalk to the El Tovar and by that time our 2.5 hour block of time was about up...it goes quick. My suggestion with kids...know where bathrooms are and try...

If you've read over the other reviews for this event, the ones with 4-5 stars pretty much sum up our experience was well. I Googled our highlights...

THE WAIT: I recommend arriving an hour before the train leaves; there's a huge gift shop and things to look at and little events the kids can participate in while waiting. We had the 7:30pm train..it didn't snow (until after the day we left) but yeah. Lots to do while let the "antici....pation" builds up.

THE TRAIN RIDE: Decked-out with lights and faux presents, it was great! While the many versions of Tom Hanks are not included, the actors who represented the ticket-takers and chiefs did their job well. Sing-a-longs, dancing in the aisles, warm hot chocolate, big cookies, Christmas bells, book reading and Santa Claus...nicely done. We had a newer train car, so there were no seats facing one another, just forward. I had a party of 5 so I shared a seat with another dad...no worries.

Tips...

We booked the trip 3 months in advance, on a non-weekend night.

The "golden ticket" is $10 a pop...given on a lanyard in a plastic holder. I have 3 girls, but my teen said she was good, and didn't need one....Thank you, teenager!

We rented the book and movie from the library...watched the movie at home and brought the book on the train to read along.

We dressed in our pj's over warm clothes...added to those good holiday vibes.

We kept the hot chocolate cups and napkins as cheap but cool souvenirs.

My kids enjoyed it (I told the older kids not to feign "being happy" but also not to roll their eyes and ruin the experience for their younger sister), but they'd enjoyed it more they were 5-6 years younger.

Overall a great time. Consider Googling the hotels and eateries before booking,...

Overall this was a negative experience.

We purchased these tickets online for 2 adults in coach. We put in our parks pass code when we ordered. They charged us for 1 adult. My husband and I are both listed on the pass!! We asked for a refund for that charge when we picked out our tickets and the cashier acted like she was going to put it never hit our account. Weird huh?

They force you to take photos on the ride. When you come back they hand them to you like it’s complimentary. When she comes back she asks if you have any questions and informs you the packet is 60 dollars. I picked out the smallest item in the packet and she said that’s $30! I took a picture of the QR code to purchase the online photo - she said that wouldn’t work either that I needed to purchase the picture that came with the code. This is the REAL robbery. We just paid over 200 dollars for a round trip. Crazy for them to do this.

They are constantly trying to get people to eat in the cafe cart. Stop nickeling and diming us to death.

I’ve been to the Grand Canyon many times in my life. This train ride is not better than driving. The seats are uncomfortable and the entertainment is lame. They are also begging for tips!! I live in AZ and I hear people wanting to try this out. I’m telling them all to stay away.

Just drive! The FREE shuttles are next to all the parking lots. The food is better at the National Park anyways.

PS “Stephanie” and Oklahoma Jake was lovely but she’s not worth 100 dollars a person. If you are going to have entertainment then pay them people instead of having them beg for...