A Day Out with Thomas? Next Time, We'll Pass!

For a couple of years now Benjamin has wanted to go to an event called A Day Out with Thomas--which is advertised as a day of family fun where children get to meet the Hero of the Rails, Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as the director of the railway, Sir Topham Hatt.

I had been reluctant to give in to this request, mostly because of the cost (tickets for our family would cost almost $100--even little Janae needed a ticket!), and the event was so far away (about a 2-hour drive from here). But this year the Day Out was scheduled for the weekends surrounding Benjamin's birthday, and Ben had seen a brochure at the library, so I thought maybe it would be a good birthday present for the little guy--who is growing up quickly and may not be interested in things like Thomas for too much longer.

The drive up went well--the kids were excited, and the ocean and mountain scenery was more beautiful than I could have imagined. The new highway was really nice to drive on, we had lots of good snacks, and the anticipation of seeing Thomas was building.

 

Unfortunately, the drive was the best part of the trip (unless you count the dinner and visit we had with our friends on the way home afterwards!).

Although the brochure says, "I spent a day out with Thomas . . . and Thomas spent a day out with me," THIS is as close as we got to the blue engine. Yes, we had a "ride" in one of his passenger cars (we actually just backed up and pulled forward through a gravel parking lot two or three times), but we were loaded onto the car at the back, far away from the actual engine. I don't think Janae even realized we were supposed to be on Thomas, especially since the inside of the passenger car looked (and smelled) strangely similar to an old, run-down Greyhound bus!

 

This was Ben's reaction at the end of the ride:

 

He said, "THEY TOLD US A LIE," explaining that we'd been told we were going to join Thomas on an adventure, and I guess pulling back and forth was not my 5-year-old boy's idea of an adventure at all! No tunnels, no bridges, no acceleration, and none of Thomas's friends--what a disappointment.

Janae and I were both about ready to pass out from heat stroke, but we thought we'd wait in one last line to meet Sir Topham Hatt. Although the children tried to wave and talk to him, he was most unresponsive--and Ben let me know on the way home that he wasn't fooled--that was definitely NOT the real Sir Topham Hatt.

 

After meeting the impostor, we went into the big tent, also known as the Imagination Station, where Ben played with trains on a Thomas table (which the tables set up at Toys R Us put to shame). Janae couldn't take anymore of the Day Out with Thomas, so Jason took her for a quick trip to pick up some more overpriced bottled water, then we all walked back to the car--over a hundred dollars poorer.

The saddest part to me was that it all could have been SO much better! I guess we won't be doing that again. . . .