Even though I find some of the characters to be incredibly scary, like the ghost hobo living atop the train who just disappears into snow particles as they go through the tunnel, The Polar Express has always been the movie I watch the night before Christmas. It’s the reason I want a miniature train under my tree and I’m in my 30s. I haven’t woken up to that just yet, but I found the next best thing – surprising my daughter with the Charlotte Polar Express train ride in 2017.
Where is the Charlotte Polar Express Train Ride Actually
Okay, in fairness, it’s in Spencer, at the North Carolina Transportation Museum, rather than it really being in Charlotte, but I definitely still consider it a Charlotte Polar Express train ride because Spencer is a hop, skip, and a jump away. Even with that being the case, we stayed the night in Salisbury to take advantage of a great deal Rowan County offers where you receive a child and adult ticket when you stay in one of the partner city hotels overnight.
What to expect
We arrived to the characters standing near the train, interacting with guest as everyone waited to board. After a while, they boarded the platform and began to sing some songs from the movie. It started “snowing”, which added to the magic of the moment for this Maine native because who doesn’t love snow even if it’s faux snow.
On the train, we were entertained by the waiters who provided us with hot chocolate and a dance, the Conductor hole punched our tickets, and we rode past the Christmas decorations before reaching Santa at the North Pole, where his elves also made an appearance. It was all very much like the movie.
How was it?
It was great! From the amazing deal that actually made the trip a lot better by enabling me to stay the night instead of driving home in the dark to the experience as a whole, it was so much fun and my daughter had the time of her life feeling like we were aboard the Polar Express. It made watching the movie that year, that much more special.
One note about the stay over – we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Salisbury, which was extremely clean, the staff was very friendly, and if you’re Hilton regular, you know breakfast is provided in the morning. The hotel room was $86 with tax and the tickets would have been $66 plus tax if I’d bought them outright. Given I got to skip the late night drive home, got breakfast I didn’t have to pay for, AND got tickets for the experience, it really was a no brainer.
Have you taken the Charlotte Polar Express train tide or any Polar Express train ride for that matter? What did you think? Please, let me know in the comments and, while you’re here, check out yesterday’s Blogmas post. As always, thank you for reading!
