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Old 09-14-2011, 07:43 PM
 
890 posts, read 1,853,439 times
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My 3 year old loves Thomas the train and we are considering traveling to Burnet from San Antonio next weekend for the Day Out With Thomas event. Has anyone ever attended one of these events? What is it like? Is it worth the time (for the kids)? Any tips or suggestions?
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Old 09-14-2011, 08:14 PM
 
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I used to take my son (at the time around your kids age) to the "Day Out With Thomas" but when it was in Austin next to the convention center. At that time it was definitely worth it because they had the big life-size Thomas (which was kinda lame but cool for the kids) but more importantly, they would have a bunch of Thomas related stuff going on inside the convention center (track setups, coloring, videos playing, of course Thomas stuff to buy, face painting, etc, etc).

Now, we stopped going when they moved it to Burnet (I think they skipped a year due to the light rail construction and by the next year my son had moved on to cars), so I'm not entirely sure what it's like these days. IIRC, they also used to have a separate train event out in Burnet that had various setups (real O/HO/N gauge) and you could walk around/through some real train cars as well (e.g. a real caboose). I don't know if these two events have now been merged? If so, then I would say yes, it's worth a drive out to Burnet, it's not too far away and if your kid's into Thomas/trains, then they will likely have a grand ole time (my son always enjoyed both events).

As for suggestions, none really other than the obvious "bring sunscreen" and wear comfortable shoes. The exhibits are kinda spread out in Burnet so you'll likely be spending some time outside and doing some walking. Also bring water and maybe snacks or lunch. Be warned that they'll be plenty of stuff for sale. If your vehicle has a dvd player, bring along some Thomas vids and really get the kid wound up And finally, make sure you have a camera, lots of photo ops (e.g. standing next to the life size Thomas).

Oh, one thing to consider is driving up to Austin and taking the Hill Country Flyer out to Burnet (if they haven't sold out already). You can stop by the cool train shop across the st from the station in Cedar Park, take the train up, take in the event, and then take the train back. I don't know if your kiddo is specifically into just Thomas or likes trains in general, but if it's the latter, then they'll be "trained out" by the end of the day.

Have fun ...
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Old 09-14-2011, 08:19 PM
 
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Thanks for the information! He loves trains.....period. When we went to the San Antonio Zoo, we spent more time watching the little train than inside the zoo itself. I'll look into the Hill Country Flyer....Thanks again!
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Old 09-14-2011, 08:37 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbbd View Post
My 3 year old loves Thomas the train and we are considering traveling to Burnet from San Antonio next weekend for the Day Out With Thomas event. Has anyone ever attended one of these events? What is it like? Is it worth the time (for the kids)? Any tips or suggestions?

we have done it before, it is pretty fun. They have a "real" thomas that you can ride which is short and not that fun, but was fun for the kids. (not sure if we did it in burnet). You basically go out for like 5-10 minutes then reverse and come back. There are other activities as well. My daughter was 2 at the time and they had some kids live music that she absolutely loved.
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Old 09-15-2011, 06:38 AM
 
Location: Broomfield, CO
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Took my kids there ONCE, and vowed to never return. Moderator cut: off topic We goto the Thomas show up in Dallas now. YIKES, it's enough to give you nightmares!!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by dbbd View Post
My 3 year old loves Thomas the train and we are considering traveling to Burnet from San Antonio next weekend for the Day Out With Thomas event. Has anyone ever attended one of these events? What is it like? Is it worth the time (for the kids)? Any tips or suggestions?

Last edited by Bo; 09-15-2011 at 11:59 AM.. Reason: Since the OP isn't moving to Burnet, the commentary on Burnet is off topic.
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Old 09-15-2011, 07:17 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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Went to see Thomas the Train in Burnett with my son a couple of years ago and it is really not that impressive. The train ride is like 10 minutes and there's nothing to do except snap a few photos of Thomas and Sir Topham Hat. Inside there is very little to see. It was a big disappointment overall. Never again.
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Old 09-15-2011, 09:24 AM
 
3,091 posts, read 3,279,770 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbbd View Post
Thanks for the information! He loves trains.....period. When we went to the San Antonio Zoo, we spent more time watching the little train than inside the zoo itself. I'll look into the Hill Country Flyer....Thanks again!
Sounds EXACTLY like my son at that age, he was a train nut. We would watch "I Love Toy Trains" dvd's _all_ the time, man were those things annoying

From some of the other responses (eepstein excluded), I don't know exactly how they have things set up out there. I hope it still has some of the fun that it did when it was here in Austin. Might be worth a go anyway, after all, you never know, one persons waste of time could be another persons trip of a lifetime (esp if you're a 3yo). Esp if you go the HC Flyer route.

BTW, if you haven't already, you should check out the train museum at Fair Park in Dallas and then head over to the Tarantula Train in Ft Wth. While you're up there you can hop a ride on their metro/light rail.
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Old 09-15-2011, 08:19 PM
 
890 posts, read 1,853,439 times
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Originally Posted by austinnerd View Post
Sounds EXACTLY like my son at that age, he was a train nut. We would watch "I Love Toy Trains" dvd's _all_ the time, man were those things annoying

From some of the other responses (eepstein excluded), I don't know exactly how they have things set up out there. I hope it still has some of the fun that it did when it was here in Austin. Might be worth a go anyway, after all, you never know, one persons waste of time could be another persons trip of a lifetime (esp if you're a 3yo). Esp if you go the HC Flyer route.

BTW, if you haven't already, you should check out the train museum at Fair Park in Dallas and then head over to the Tarantula Train in Ft Wth. While you're up there you can hop a ride on their metro/light rail.
That's just it - it's about the kids, and a chance to take a ride to place we wouldn't normally go. We're going to go up early Friday - maybe the crowd will be a little smaller.

I called about tickets and was told the $18 was just for the train ride, that there were other things to do (the pictures, play areas, etc) that didn't cost anything. My son is touch and go with actually getting on the train - he got on the one at the zoo once, and didn't really care for it the 2nd time. But he'll sit there and watch it all day.

I have heard from other people that that have gone to multiple DOWT events that the Burnet event wasn't the best Thomas event to go to, but this is as close to SA as it's going to get and have to take the chance while I can.
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