Choo choo, Christmas is coming! I’m sure you’ve heard of the movie “The Polar Express,” starring my favorite actor Tom Hanks. The book upon which it was based tells the story of a boy on a magical Christmas Eve train ride. The movie shows roller coaster-worthy adventures along the way to the North Pole, where he receives, then loses, then re-receives a bell from “Mr. C” that only rings for those who truly believe in Santa.
My four-year-old son, Cameron, recently got into the movie and has been singing those songs non-stop (especially “Hot, hot, hot – HOT CHOCOLATE”) around the house lately.
So Cameron was thrilled when we got to experience THE POLAR EXPRESS™ in Miami, Florida. For fans of the movie – or even just parents who are searching for fun family activities during the holidays – this is such a fun way to make special memories for the season.
The round-trip train excursion brings the movie truly to life as the train departs the Brightline Miami station for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole.
The experience is set to the lively sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, and we especially enjoyed the warm cocoa and cookies while we listened and read along with the magical story.
Cameron had even more fun because his buddy, Rhys, joined us. Rhys loves trains so this was not his first experience with THE POLAR EXPRESS… and his mom, my friend Stephanie, reassured me that it’s been amazing and worthwhile to go every single year.
The climax of the experience is when Santa himself came on board the train! He greeted each child and presented them with a special gift as in the story: their own silver sleigh bell.
I do recommend if you do this activity, that you wear matching PJ’s as a family if you can. I had bought Cameron new pajamas for the occasion – but I was so discombobulated at work that day, I completely forgot to bring them in my car on the way there and I was disappointed in myself about it. Pretty much everybody else was in PJ’s, so it’s legit a thing… but we still had a good time (and Rhys was wearing his POLAR EXPRESS authentic conductor hat, sold on site).
In summary, this was a wonderful time for us all – and I will definitely be doing it again next year. I was fortunate enough to ride the Brightline train to the Miami station and back from West Palm Beach, so I highly recommend doing that to make the experience even more full. Just be sure to budget your time accordingly.
If you’d like to book your experience, visit: https://miamithepolarexpressride.com.
These experiences were complimentary. All opinions are my own.