Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as Ashley and her family were invited for a ride. All opinions expressed are her own.
This past weekend we were lucky enough to attend the “traintastic” Chuggington event at the Catskill Mountain Railroad. My boys LOVE Chuggington, so I knew we would have a blast… and perfect timing as a birthday celebration for my oldest!!
We started our day with a quick hour and twenty minute ride straight up the thruway to Kingston, praying for sunshine the entire trip. When we arrived parking was ample, and quickly noticed there were porta-potties easily accessible (there is also a grocery store in the same parking lot with clean bathrooms and a changing table). The parking lot is also connected to the lot of a strip mall with a Blimpies, Bagel shop, and a pizza restaurant.
As we picked up our tickets, we were also handed Catskill Mountain Railroad dollars to be used at specific local restaurants, as well as our trainee name tags. Right behind the ticket tent was a shop to buy Chuggington merchandise, and the photo booth to purchase any of the professional photos taken throughout your visit.
There was lots of food available – hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, french fries, chips, and even a local pizza shop set up ovens and had fresh pizza cooking! Of course, don’t forget ice cream, which we couldn’t resist!
Since we had some time before our train departed, we decided to take a stroll through the tents they had set up. WOW! There were 3 main tents – one for each of the main characters in the show. Within in each tent the kids were challenged to complete a challenge to earn a “badge” (a bracelet ) and a sticker. Just like badge quest on the show!
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In Wilson’s tent, there were train tables, and a big mat for the kids to build their own train tracks. The challenge was to knock down the flames with bean bags. Since this was our first activity, my boys were intimidated so I took the lead to earn our bracelets.
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In Koko’s tent, it was a race! The boys quickly filled buckets with ‘coal’ and ran to dump the buckets and fill up the train carts earning a green bracelet and KoKo sticker.
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In Brewster’s tent there was a big sandbox filled with trucks, trains, buckets and shovels. The challenge was to build a tower putting blocks in number order. This earned each kid a a blue bracelet and Brewster sticker.
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In addition to the main character tents, there was also a tent with free face painting, temporary tattoos, coloring, and small band playing kids music.
We heard the whistle of the train rolling in, so we headed over to get in line. We were slightly disappointed when the train got closer and we didn’t see Hanzo, as advertised. But the disappointment switched quickly to excitement when the boys saw it was a steam train just like Old Puffer Pete! Phew.
We were able to get great seats on the train, on one of the open flats so the boys could see everything going by. The ride was a serene 30 minutes, through the town and along a wooded area.
The train cars were decorated with blue and white streamers and flags, to symbolize Hanzo. Over the loud speaker they played songs from the show, and the voice of Hanzo was sharing all of the information about Chuggington and events that were coming up next. They had ‘train workers’ (dressed like the characters on Chuggington) coming around interacting with the kids and singing along with the songs. Towards the end of the ride, each child was given a party hat and party blower to use at the next event – a surprise party for KoKo!
As we exited the train we were guided to tent for a show. There, we found Eddie with Brewster and Wilson gearing up for KoKo’s surprise party. The show encouraged the kids to dance, and sing along. After the show, all were welcome to come up to take pictures with the trains. As we left the show the boys were each given a certificate to color showing that they are Official Chuggington Trainees!
After the show, the boys couldn’t wait to get back into the 3 activity tents and do the challenges all over again! Also, we couldn’t miss our turn in the bounce house!
We spent a good 4 hours exploring and having a traintastic time! There are still tickets available for this Saturday and Sunday! They have trains running on the hour from 10am until 4pm. Check out catskillmtrailroad.com for tickets.
