The Polar Express!

The Polar Express is a train ride on the Grand Canyon Railway that is based on the book and the movie The Polar Express.  Caden loves trains, so we knew that he would be super excited to ride the train!

 

 We got there a few hours early because it said online that there were some things to do at the train station plus we wanted to make sure that we didn't have any issues with traffic or weather since it's a 40 minute drive from Flagstaff.  Well we were there early enough to see the train ride before ours leave.  Caden couldn't wait for it to blow the whistle and "start to chug" as he put it.

 



It turned out that there wasn't really much to do, and it was freezing cold outside.  The train depot is right next to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, and we spent most of the time enjoying the fire in the hotel lobby. 

They did have some fun Christmas decorations outside. 

When we finally got on the train Caden was so happy!  He loved watching out the window.  After the train started going we were served chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.  My only complaint really about the whole thing is that the hot chocolate was awful.  It tasted like water.  In the book it is described as rich as a melted chocolate bar, and it really did not come even close to that! 

The conductor read the book The Polar Express over the loudspeaker while the Chefs came around and showed the kids the pictures in the book. 

Then we made it to the North Pole!  The kids could look out the window and see the North Pole which was a little town all lit up and looked like a magical place especially because of all of the snow.  There was also a sleigh with reindeer, and they waved to Santa Claus out of the window.  Well the train stopped to go back the other way.  The kids all wanted to wave at Santa again, but when we passed his sleigh he wasn't there.  The chef called the conductor to find out where Santa was, and it turned out that he got on the train!  Caden was so excited waiting for Santa to get to our car, and everyone sang Christmas songs while we were waiting.

Finally Santa got to our car, and gave everyone a bell just like in the movie.  Caden was a little nervous of Santa as you can see from his expression in the picture.    Overall we had so much fun.  It was a really special trip, and we could definitely feel the magic of the holiday season!