My son went to a fifth birthday party and an hour in, this train showed up in the parking lot, from a business called Trains on the Move. It was a colorful mini train with a driver in the engine trailing two train cars with two rows each, just big enough to fit a dozen small children. The kids went nuts for this train. There were too many of them to ride at once, but they took turns for the first few rides until some of them started to get bored and returned to the rest of the party. The remaining die-hards, including my son, kept the train full for the remainder of its contracted time. I think it was there for one hour, and my son was on board for more than 45 minutes. The parking lot was small, and the train had a tight route: two loops followed by a dizzying finale of mini-train donuts. The driver moved fast, swerving and accelerating to delight the children. They were all buckled in, with the driver checking himself before each departure, but it did feel a little bit dicey. I am not shocked that this Yelp page is mostly 5-star reviews, with a smattering of 1-stars due to child endangerment. (There appears to have been an incident in September 2017.) My boy and his friends had a blast, though, and no one was harmed by this hour of Trains on the Move. If you have little thrill seekers and moderate risk tolerance, your kids are guaranteed to love the speedy baby train. read more

We've used Trains on the Move in the past, and the actual service itself is great. The staff who come out are on time, friendly, and wonderful with the kids -- everyone always has a great time. My issue isn't with the train or the event day at all, but with the communication and management behind the scenes. After submitting an online inquiry for an upcoming date, I was immediately overwhelmed by the number of follow-ups -- within just a couple of hours, I received at least 7-9 phone calls, six emails, and multiple text messages. I wasn't ignoring anyone; I was simply in a meeting and unable to respond right away. It got so excessive that I eventually texted back asking them to please stop contacting me so much, as I had received all their messages and would respond once I was available. When I did reach out the next day ready to move forward and asked for the payment link, I was met with complete silence. I called twice to follow up and never got a response. This same kind of unbalanced communication happened during my first experience as well -- overly pushy at first, then unresponsive once I was ready to book. Another ongoing issue is their payment policy. They insist on payment in full upfront, which I've told them before I'm not comfortable with. Like most vendors we use, I prefer to pay a deposit to reserve the date and then pay the remaining balance on the day of service. They were not flexible with this, which makes the process unnecessarily stressful. I really wanted to give them another try, assuming my first experience might have been a one-off situation, but unfortunately it seems to be a consistent pattern. Whoever is running their office or handling bookings is highly unprofessional, and it's disappointing because the on-site team and service itself deserve better representation. read more

So I write this review as a cautionary tale. I have never in my life been so furious with a business. I inquired about Trains on the Move for my sons 5th birthday party. I inquired about the rental on May 12th. Between May 12 and 25th I received roughly 8 phone calls with voice mails from Pauline. I was hesitant because the quote was a bit out of my budget. I had found another place less expensive but wasn't sold on that place either. Finally after 8 calls and 6 voice mails over 2 weeks another lady calls with Pauline on the line. I'm guessing she was the ringer. She was so abrasive over the phone and at first I was like this is weird. I told her the price was bit high and was considering another company. She assured me I should book with them and adjusted the time and price to something comparable. So I finally felt safe sending the balance on the invice invoice. I was told I HAD to pay the invoice that day to secure them. So I sent them 645 dollars for Sun May 25th for 3 to 430 pm. So Sun May 25th comes and I don't hear from them. I figure that's OK they'll show we have a fully paid invoice. My appointment was at 3pm. Come 345pm I have received a call from no one. So I finally call around 345 pm. I call the lady and tell her what's going on. Instead of even knowing why I'm calling because she has no record of who's booked she has to ask me for the invoice She then asks "When is your time" I tell her it was for 3pm! She proceeds to tell me she will call me back. She calls back 10 mins later with some story that they guy broke down on the road and won't be able to make it and there is no other driver to dispatch. This was the most unprofessional call I ever had. After literally begging me for my business they don't even have the decency to call and say any of this. Had I not called literally no one would have shown up. It was almost an hr into my reservation. How is this even possible that a lapse like this exist. My full refund is still pending. If I do not have it within the next week I will be calling my bank with receipts. I am just so mad. Yes I get my money back but I worked hard to curate an amazing party for my son and the kids and they pull this the day of. Everything about their approach screams scam. Please please DO NOT book here. If you do book here I have 3 suggestions: 1. Do not allow them to tell you to pay in full, I would ask to pay as soon as the driver comes. 2. Pay only a deposit no matter how close to the party 3. Pay with check and don't give them your card. They're approach was so scammy. My kids still enjoyed their day without this but the stress and disappointment will always stick. Its the fact they didn't even have the decency to call. I had to do all this work. They also had the audacity to try to get me to book their other services. Please be careful and go with first instinct. Update: Someone added a wonderful review of another "5th" bday after mine posted. Please use caution. read more

Trains On the Move - The multiple calls I received almost daily for a week from Pauline - Kids Activities Near Me

I would unequivocally not use this vendor. We used them a few times and each time there were significant challenges. The last time the train driver was also the owner of the company and he was incredibly rude and condescending to our guests. He was also reported to have swerved into crowds of children. An absolute and utter nightmare. read more

What do you do when your kid turns 3 amid a pandemic? No really what do you do? Well I'm not sure of the right answer for you but for us it was to get Trains On The Move to come to our house and have a big choo-choo take our kid (and a few other kids (all masked and a train car apart) for some rides. The whole experience was top notch. Booking the train was easy and Bruce answered all my questions. He called prior to the event to go over any last minute questions and even texted me the day of, to tell me the train was a few minutes out. A few COVID notes: 1) the conductor is masked 2) they can sanitize between rides if you want 3) it's up to you how you want the train boarding to go...if you want one family per car, that's an option or if you want a train car in between left empty, that is doable as well. We booked an hour and a half. For only four kids this was more than enough with two kids plus a parent trading off. And console had a whole train driving up and down our street, it was surprisingly affordable. I can't say enough how great this company is! read more

We used Trains on the Move for our school festival. They were professional, on time for setup and just wonderful. Emil was a wonderful conductor who really focused on making sure all of the kids had a good time. I highly recommend using them for school events or parties. read more

Sketchy like the worst carnival ride I've ever seen. Beware , my child almost got hurt and the owners / people there were combative over the whole situation. Not a safe or professional experience read more

AMAZIIINNNGGG experience with Trains on the Move!! Bruce was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. He answered emails / texts / calls promptly and professionally...and always so personable. Everything planning-wise was so smooth. Rhon was our conductor and he was absolutely incredible. Kindest guy you will ever meet. I was expecting a nice train ride around the neighborhood. But Rhon didn't do just the bare minimum. He literally rang the bell so many times to get our kids excited. He waved to every single neighbor we passed who was out on the street or driving by. He made our experience one we will never forget. During this crazy pandemic time, this kind of experience is priceless. We will absolutely be returning in the future to have more amazing rides with this company! Neighbors were already texting to inquire about this adorable train. What an amazing idea, everyone says. Literally cant say enough good things about this company or our experience. Thank you Bruce & Rhon for everything!! read more

I hired them for my son's 4th bday party. He is infatuated with trains. My son and all the kids went crazy over the train. Had a great time on it. Was nice and clean and made all the whistles and choo choo noises. My son was in heaven. The adults also had fun riding the train...:) I would definitely recommend them.. A few of my friends have already requested their number..:) The only reason i didn't give them 5 stars, was that they arrived late. They were suppose to arrive at 12:30 to setup.. they didnt arrive until 1:20. i lost a few kids since they had to leave. The owner was also having trouble reaching his employee..so we were in the dark for a while...She finally arrived and the owner was very apologetic and agreed to a discount. Also the lady who was driving the train was going very fast. I had to tell her several times to slow down, since there were 2-3 years olds on the train and also the area where she was going was tight around the corners... but overall it was a great train, and my son had a great time and loved it.:) read more

Trains On the Move - Kids Activities Near Me

The train was a great success. The kids were so happy. The driver was very nice and kid friendly. Price is reasonable. I highly recommend it for birthday. It was a hit. I also recommend creating train tickets with ride numbers. You hand out the tickets for each ride so the kids don't have to push and worry of not going on board. read more

Trains On the Move - Kids Activities Near Me

TODAY THIS TRAIN FLIPPED OVER ON ITS SIDE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET WITH MY TWO CHILDREN ON IT. Not only was this the most painful and scary experience of my life as I watched this train holding my two precious children and children of my loved ones swerve down a steep hillside street and flip over. The train operators (who looked very young) were GROSSLY NEGLIGENT WHILE DRIVING. The driver was wearing flip flops, perhaps they didn't test the brakes properly, no safety concerns were implemented, no care was given to the road they were on. NOTHING. Besides that, after the train flipped on its side, the employees showed zero ounce of sympathy, did not check any of the children for injuries and who were scared and traumatized from this experience, didn't talk to the parents, packed up and fled as fast as they could!!!!! Unfortunately for them, not only is this incident on video, I am an ATTORNEY and a MOTHER. Thank god nothing worse happened to our kids on board. But rest assured, if you value your children's LIVES then DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT HIRE THEM. This will not be the last they hear of me. read more

We found trains on the move at the MB farmers market several years so we reached out to them for our kids birthday party and they were a HIT! They charged $250/hr and compared to a lot of the kids birthday party venues this was comparable. We booked them for an hour and a half. They were right on time, took 15 minutes to setup and gave 15 rides around the block with each ride lasting up to 10 minutes. All of our friends kids loved the train, it was such a great addition to the birthday party and can't wait to use them at our next event! read more

We decided to hire "Trains on the move" because its different than the same ol jumper. Kids and adults had so much fun!! I will recommend to friends and family. read more

Trains On the Move - Kids Activities Near Me

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We hired a trackless train for my son's 2 year old party and it was a hit. Bruce was generally easy to communicate with. I was concerned by some of the previous posts about the train flipping over but when I asked Bruce about it, he was honest about the situation and explained the circumstances in a way that I still found comfortable hiring them. read more

Bruce was very accessible to speak with and plan our party. We hired one of the trackless trains and the Thomas and Friends train party. The train was beautifully decorated in a Christmas theme which added to the festivities. They arrived on time and our guests had an absolute ball riding the trackless trains and playing with the train sets. I highly recommend this company. read more

Highly recommend. I had a Thomas theme birthday party for my sons 3rd birthday and the train topped it off! Thank you so much. We will let everyone know about your wonderful service! read more

THIS SO CALLED BUSINESS SHOULD NOT OPERATE ONE MORE DAY!!!!! It's one thing running a business but it's another running a business that is centralized around kids. This company has no RULES, CONCERN or REGARDS for SAFETY! We were at a 1 year old baby's birthday party where this company was setup to run their train outside of the house. Might I add that the house was on a hill. All it took was the first ride and I KID YOU NOT, THIS TRAIN STARTED GOING DOWN HILL, LOST CONTROL AND FLIPPED OVER ON ITS SIDE WITH MINE AND OTHER KIDS ON BOARD!!!! THIS WAS THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!! My kids were helplessly screaming and scared and all we could do is rush to them, pull them out and try to comfort them with their hysteric cries! Not one sorry was uttered nor was there any comfort brought towards the people effected by this from the unprofessional, unethical and inexperienced staff. The so called employees just scrambled to pack up and leave. Might I add that the operator of the train was in flip-flops so who knows what went wrong...... DO NOT BOTHER TAKING THE RISK WITH THIS COMPANY NOR ANY OF ITS SERVICES!!!!!! WORDS JUST CANT DESCRIBE THE ANGER THEY LEFT US WITH!!!!! read more

Customer service was NOT in their vocabulary! We were at Shawn's pumpkin patch in Culver City, having a great time. We purchase tokens to ride the Trains On The Move train. We waited for a round and even let people go in front of us so we would be the first on the next train. We wanted to sit in the front with our toddler twins. Just as the train was cleared from the riders before, a woman, claiming to be the owner, let a family of four get on before everyone else and let them sit in the front where we were waiting to sit. We asked why they were allowed to get on without waiting. First, she lied and said they were just sitting there to take a picture. When they didn't get up we again asked about sitting in the front. She then said they were her family and she was letting them ride there. We asked why that was OK when we, and a whole line full of others, had patient waited. She said,"because I'm the owner and I can". She offered to let us wait until the next train to sit in the front. Mind you, she had a snotty attitude the whole time. We told her, "NO THANKS". At $3 per person including our toddlers who aren't even 2, we were not going to stand in line for another 15 minutes! If that wasn't bad enough, she made the other riders wait as she walked around to the other vendors complaining about us. Really?!!! We were actually considering hiring this company for our kids upcoming Birthday party. If she is truly an owner or if this is a reflection of how the owners allow their workers to treat customers we will not be giving them our money. The good news is that the people at Shawn's Pumpkin Patch were apologetic. They said she was contracted and that they had problems with her that day. They comped us entrance into a section of the patch that was run by them. We were really happy with our experience at Shawn's. read more

I am compelled to right a review for this company after reading Honest O's Review. I have hired this company in the past for my sons birthday and recommended them to my nephew for his sons birthday. We were both very pleased with their service and professionalism. The Train operator went over all the safety instructions and checked every person in their seats before operating the train before every ride. My take on Honest O's review Consider accidents do happen. I am very sure the operator did not come to work that day and said to himself; I am going to tip this train over with all the people in their seats. If this is the worst thing that has ever happened in your life as you mentioned in your review then you may want to step back and look at the world around you. Just because of an accident that occurred you want to take away someones livelihood and put them out of business. Considering your tone of review if I was the train operator I would have wanted to get the hell out of their also. Honey This guy hit my car today with our children in it. I think we should ask for the death penalty. Oh did i also mention he was wearing flipflops. read more

I have hired Trains on the Move for many events and have recommended them to a few friends. They have been great to work with and kids as well as adults love riding the train. read more

Excellent customer service to say the least. I was going to book a train themed party for my son and the owner was so helpful and honest. He told me the train would not fit in our backyard. He referred me different vendors and he was extremely helpful. I would definitely do business with them. I have heard great things about this company. Honesty and integrity is hard to find. Thanks for being one of a kind. read more

Horrible horrible horrible. The train flipped over while my niece and nephew were on it. Thank god nothing worse had happened but this traumatic event should not happen to anyone. This company should not be in business and should be closed down IMMEDIATELY. read more

We hired Trains On The Move for our twin toddlers 2nd birthday party. They were recommended by a friend of ours who said they were good and reliable. I filled out the online form, received a confirmation email and also a phone call a few days before the party. They showed up early and everything went smoothly. The kids loved it and even the adults. I would hire them again! read more

Hired him 2 hours before my party since my other train guy cancelled on me... and thank goodness they did!!! The train guy was super helpful in processing my last minute reservation. He showed up on time and was a success. The kids and adults loved it!!! And the driver was soooo nice. Would totally recommend this train 100%. Train looks cute and makes the cutes realistic train noises. read more

I wanted to do something different for my two boy's birthday party and instead of getting a jumper I hired Trains on the Move and they did not disappoint. Bruce was just great on the phone and after I filled the online application he called a few days before to confirm date, time and location. The train arrived an hour early and it was set up pretty fast. My boys (1 and 5) loved the train and many of my guest teens and adults got on it too. The train does go a bit fast so make sure everyone buckles up and holds on tight. It was a great experience and I will definitely hire them again in the future. read more