For the Holiday Season I have been gathering a list of wonderful places to visit with my family to experience Christmas. One place that was recommended to me on numerous occasions was the Polar Express Train Ride. All I knew from the Polar Express was the animation movie staring Tom Hanks. However, because people have been telling me that this is must, I decided to take my chances. 1) Movie: Be sure to rent the movie prior to going on the actual Polar Express Ride. It will provide so much context and knowledge for not only you, but your children (ex. Meaning of the Golden Ticket). The entire ride is based on the movie and the book. I rented the movie from Amazon Prime if this helps. 2) Tickets: There are 3 different variations of ticket pricing. Value Pricing usually means off Peak, Standard Pricing is the normal Peak and Premium Pricing is Peak (usually on weekends in December). Value pricing is $10 cheaper than the Standard Pricing. Value pricing for adults is $50 and kids are $45. Value pricing usually occurs in dates before Thanksgiving. Also there are some value pricing tickets after Thanksgiving but they fall on Tuesdays. Additionally , there is an extra $5 coupon you can use for the month of November that is advertised on the website. Standard Pricing for adults is $60 and kids are $55. Premium Pricing for adults is $70 and kids are $65. 3) Locations: There are locations in Fillmore in Valencia, Perris in Riverside County and the original one is in Arizona. 4) Parking: If you come early I recommend parking on the street parallel to the train station and the polar Express tent. If not, you can park in the unpaved parking lot which is full of dirt and rocks. 5) Restrooms: They are small for the amount of people that attend this place. The Women's restroom lines are very long. Be sure to go to the restroom in the train prior to exiting. Also the restroom at the station is pretty dirty and unkempt. 6) Check-in: They open doors at 5:15 for Will-Call which is located inside the large white tent filled with holiday decor. The people at the counter will issue you your tickets as well as the golden ticket for the event. 7) The White Tent: This is where you hang out and wait with your family. There are places for you to take pictures with a snowman and Christmas trees. Also there is a place for your kids to write to Santa. 8) Attire: Almost everyone was wearing their pajamas, while others were wear their Christmas outfits 9) Polar Express : The conductor will announce to board the train and will showcase a small scene from the movie. Each train has a person greeting you, giving you high fives and ringing a bell. As you walk in, another person will personally walk you to your seats. I don't want to ruin all the fun but the entire one hour event is filled with constant entertainment, singing, dancing, as well as serving you with hot chocolate and cookies. Santa will definitely be there and will greet each kids and offer them a special gift :). I recommend sitting more up front as the majority of the commentary came from there. At the end of the Polar Express ride my family was extremely satisfied. We walked feeling happy and full of joy! As we drive home we listened to the polar Express sound track . read more