THE POLAR EXPRESS™ Train Ride — Local services in Santa Cruz

We booked our tickets before reading all the bad reviews. And I am glad we did because we might have missed out on a very special holiday memory if we had listened to the bad reviews. We have a 1 year old and a 3 year old who loves all things Polar Express. We have had the polar express book in the family since my childhood, and we love the story. They gave us four $10 boardwalk coupons when we picked up our tickets and we had time to go take a ride (covered completely by the $10 coupons) on the carousel before boarding. It is a vintage train, and you feel like you are stepping into the train scene in White Christmas (for the grown ups). The train rocked a little (not unreasonably), but it seemed to rock to the beat of the Christmas Carols we were singing, so it felt like it added to the experience, not detracted. Our car had two dancing chefs, and they tried to make everyone feel welcome. They danced and sang as best they could in a very confined space in the aisle on a moving train. I think the staff could have known the lyrics to the songs a little bit better than they did, but maybe that is because I have listened to the soundtrack with my son to and from preschool everyday for the past month, so I knew all the words to all the songs. (Did I mention my son loves polar express?) The hot chocolate was probably Swiss Miss, it tasted okay. Not great, but it was the appropriate temperature for my kids and they were very happy with it. My 3 year old son said the favorite part of the train was the hot chocolate the chefs gave him. My son has a peanut allergy and they don't guarantee anything as allergy safe, so we brought a thermos with our own Abuelita mexican hot chocolate and homemade chocolate chip cookies. I don't know what the cookies were like because we didn't let them drop them off at our table, just to be safe. (FYI, they let everyone bring whatever food they want on the train, not just allergic kids, so if having your favorite cookies and hot chocolate on this ride is important to you, you can bring it yourself, and they will give you cups and napkins.) They read the polar express story on the train ride (over the PA system) after singing songs, and they have an enormous book that the chefs carry around so the children can see the pictures. We wrapped our family version of the book up and let our 3 year old unwrap it on the train, which he enjoyed, and then we had the book on our table as well. They also sell a wrapped book at the gift store, if you want to purchase it. To be honest, it was hard to pay attention to the book with everything else that was going on, so if you are waiting to hear the story for the first time on the train, you probably miss parts of it simply from the distraction of caring for your children, looking out the windows, etc.... But if you already know and love the story, it's perfectly fine. My boys loved receiving their bells from Santa and the visit from the doubting hobo. The North Pole was a little lame, but the kids didn't care. The whole purpose was the journey, not the destination. If you are only riding this train to get to the North Pole, you have missed the purpose of this ride and should not buy tickets. Overall, this was a great experience for our family. If you go into it for the experience of riding the train, singing carols and recreating a Christmas story you already love, you will have a great time. But if the Polar Express is not something particularly special to you, this may not be worth the...

We rode the 11/26 @ 5:30 pm train and were extremely disappointed with the experience. It was definitely "not as advertised!" I had high hopes based on what we'd heard from others who had ridden the Polar Express in different locations in CA and other states and we were willing to pay the $$ for that experience, but came away from the Santa Cruz experience very disappointed and upset that we paid so much $$ and got so little.

The Polar Express website said to come at least 45 min early to pick up your tickets for the train (tickets are Will Call only). We arrived at 4 pm so we would not have to stand in a long line to get our tickets and were told (unapologetically) that they weren't ready and we would have to come back at 5 pm to pick them up. All 100+ people on the 5:30 train were told this, so you can imagine the line when everyone showed up at 5 pm. since all tickets were will call. As a result, the ride was delayed by 1/2 hour which was challenging for the young kids who were so eager to get going.

When we finally got our tickets in the parking lot across the street from the actual train, there was no one to direct you or even tell you where to go to board the train. (It was dark and raining so it was hard to see where to go) When we got on the train, there was no Christmas music playing. There were no dancing elves, only one "chef," the hot chocolate was watered down, not hot, and had a funny taste, the cookie you got was paper thin. The one "Chef" was complaining that they were understaffed and about her long hours.

When Santa did show up at the very end, he couldn't even interact with the kids because the train was rocking so violently from side-to-side almost the entire ride that he was about to fall over. The rocking of the train from side-to-side was for almost the whole hour long train ride. It was not just a slight rocking, but so much rocking that you physically had to hold onto the table to not crash into a window or your kid. It was uncomfortable and not worth the amount of $$ we paid.

I was expecting much more based on what others who have experienced the "Polar Express" brand in other locations had told us they had experienced. I really don't recommend wasting your money on the Santa Cruz Polar Express...... but it may be worth checking it out at one of their...

It was pouring down rain, but that did not deter the staff at the Polar Express. When we arrived, we saw the tent was convinently located in the parking lot- easy to spot. Upon entry, every staff member was warm, helpful and inviting. Each person took a moment to exchange a few kind words with my son. My son is 3 years old and he was equally shy as he was excited. So, when the Polar Express conductor approached him, he was awestruck and speechless. We made our way to the train and boarded easily in the rain. Mark (one of our dancing chefs) made sure we were situated and comfortable before we were off to the North Pole (in no time). Our car was a vintage car with modestly tasteful holiday decor. And, yes, it rocked as a vintage car should. It added to the nostalgia. As we made our way, The Hobo walked through and greeted all the passengers. Our dancing chefs were Mark, Allison, Ashley, and Sasha. The reason why we took the time to ask for their names is because they were that amazing. They were dancing, singing, but most of all, they were engaging my son, as well as the other children and passengers, the entire ride. They told the story of the Polar Express while holding huge books for the passengers to see. They even took the time to point out pictures for my boy- not an easy task on a rocking train. They made the ride feel personal for each passenger. I know my son felt quite special- as did we. Of course, my son was in awe when Santa gave him his bell, but he was beside himself when the conductor punched his golden ticket. The icing on the cake was when the conductor came back to take a picture with him on the train. As a side note: the hot chocolate was the perfect temperature for the little ones and our cookies were soft and fresh. Thank you Polar Express staff for a truly...