North Pole Express
To get in the Christmas spirit, I purchased tickets about a month ago to take a ride on the North Pole Express last weekend. I thought it would be a cute way to kick off the holiday season, especially since we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday, and I’m a stickler for putting Christmas on hold until after Thanksgiving.
Even though I bought the tickets early, I wasn’t able to get the premium, or “Candy Class” tickets. If you want these tickets, I’d recommend booking as soon as you see tickets become available. I went with the second best option, and got “Coco Class” tickets in the Rudolph car. The cost for Candy Class tickets was NZ$91 while the cost for Coco Class was NZ$81. As far as I could tell, the extra $10 got you some extra time with Santa, a balloon, and some extra treats. And I’m not 100% certain, but it looked like the Candy Class cars were more Christmas-y in their decorations and decor than the regular car.
We were instructed to arrive 20 minute before our departure time, and we rushed out to do so. I was worried about not being there early enough, so we didn’t spend time looking for free or inexpensive parking near the Strand Station in Parnell. We ended up paying NZ$16 for parking at the train station and made it with plenty of time to spare. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a waiting area prior to boarding. All of the festivity-goes waited on the blacktop outside. There was one small patch of shade, and the sun was HOT. I’d recommend bringing hats, wearing extra sunscreen, and not showing up too early to keep from roasting and getting sweaty before getting on the train. It was another reminder the Christmas is a little different in the southern hemisphere!
Before too long, Sparkles, our glittery elf with a penchant for blue, winged eyeliner, welcomed everyone to the North Pole Express. Carriage elves in white chef’s coats, came out holding reindeer named banners so everyone could find their carriage. We quickly found Amy with the Rudolph banner. She checked our names versus her reservation list and handed me four tickets to hold on to. Then our whole group followed her to the appropriate carriage, where we boarded and sat in groups of four. The boarding process was quick and efficient, and before long, we were settled and getting a quick explanation by our two carriage elves (Amy and Sparkles) on how to get the train moving. (I won’t spill all the beans, but lets just say we needed to demonstrate that we believe in Santa…)
Our two hour train journey began. The elves led the car in carolling, they made pass after pass with a bucket of candy canes to load the kids up with sugar, and then they encouraged them to start dancing to the music that was constantly pumping into the carriage. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it would’ve been better if the music was louder. There were times when the train noises overwhelmed the carolling.
Before long, we pulled into the Orakei Station, where an elf ran along the track into an arial, then Santa boarded the train. A few minutes later, the elf and Santa were in the Rudolph carriage, distributing silver North Pole Express bells and taking photos with the families. The bells added to the fun and noise, and then got really loud when Amy and Sparkles distributed giant cookies and mugs of “iced cocoa” aka chocolate milk. I was very thankful they didn’t try to serve real hot cocoa because, while not unpleasant at all, the train was definitely on the warm side. At one point Sparkles came by with a portable fan to give everyone a cool moment. (And he got the kids to goof around and speak into the back of the fan so their voices sounded silly.) Later in our voyage, the conductor came by to stamp our tickets. It was cute how the train experience mimicked the storyline of the book.
By the end of the two hour trek, the kids were hopped up on sugar and dancing like crazy. They were jumping on the seats, standing on the armrests, and before we landed back at the Strand Station, standing on the back of the seats and practically bouncing off the ceiling. The jingle bells were jingling, and our final carriage carol, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was sung at the top of their lungs. It was amazing what the power of Christmas/too much sugar could do.
When it was time to leave the train, a good photo opp area was set up with Santa. The kids were beyond crazy at this point, so we rushed off to the car before having a total meltdown. (I was immensely glad for the close parking and totally fine with the exorbitant cost at this point.) The kids continued to jingle there bells as they clutched their red souvenir mugs and tried to hide the extra candy canes they’d snagged.
I’m 50/50 on whether or not I’d do this again. If the kids express interest in going next year, I will get tickets without hesitation, but I’m not sure if this is the sort of thing that once you’ve done it, it loses its magic. I also think that 7 will be on the top end of ages that will find this amusing, but a year is a long time, and maybe I’ll be wrong. With that being said, we all had a blast and are ready for more Christmas festivities!
