The Island of Lakeville
Posted on August 4th, 2008 – 9:32 AMBy Kay Krhin
I took Ben to see Thomas the Tank in Lakeville yesterday. I’ve mentioned before - he’s pretty obsessed with that very useful engine.
We heard the familiar “Peep Peep!” and then Thomas came down the tracks. Just to witness him seeing Thomas live and in person was beyond cool. The reaction alone was worth the ticket price. I thought he was going to burst out of his skin with giddiness.
The trains move right on schedule - there is certainly no confusion and delay. Sir Topham Hatt would be very proud. (you can also get your picture taken with that marmalade loving man). Included in the admission is a 25 minute trainride (I never knew the Island of Sodor had so many cornfields. Who woulda thunk? ). The conductor comes through in his pinstriped overalls and says hello and all the kids get a little engineer certificate. As train rides go it’s nothing spectacular - but for a kids first trainride it is. And just knowing that Thomas is the one pulling them makes it even more special. You would think that fact would cause the tots to be a bit unsettled - after watching the shows. There is typically some sort of catastrophe happening, an avalanche, a bridge going out, a rockslide, a crash into a chocolate factory or one of the engines needing to be pulled of a cliff. But rest assured - none of that happens on this ride.
There are also a multitude of fun things engineered for the toddler set to do. A ball pit, sand boxes, bouncy slides, train tracks and trains to play with, a cool Lego Thomas, tot tats, videos, storytelling, the requisite cheese curds, and photo ops galore. I thought we would be bombarded with Thomas things to buy - but you can choose to go in or avoid the “Thomas store” for the merchandise. Ben was more excited about the ball pit than the balloons to buy so we were good there.
All and all a grand day out with Thomas. Will we do it again next year? Probably. Unless Lightning McQueen comes to Canterbury or something. We’ll see what next toddler obsession is around the bend.
Have you gone to see Thomas? What did you think?
6 Responses to "The Island of Lakeville"
My wife and I brought our two year old to see Thomas on Saturday as part of his birthday present. When we came around the corner and our son saw Thomas I swear he began vibrating with excitement. Every thing was going great until my poor son came face to face with Sir Topham Hatt. After a lengthy meltdown and some convincing that Harold had flown in to take Sir Topham Hatt back to the station he allowed us to get on the train and continue our day.
All in all it was a good day.
We had fun with that last year in STillwater…I agree with you, Kay, that it’s the perfect first train ride for a really little one.
Had to laugh at your Lightning McQueen comment, too…Will enjoyed the Thomas stuff but he would positively wet his pants over a real-life Lightning McQueen. : )
We took our 2 year old saturday morning. My husband groaned when he found our I booked us on the 9 am ride, until we where leaving and he saw how busy it was. Our son had a lot of fun but would have enjoyed it more if his cousins hadn’t been over the night before and he had gone to sleep on time. By the time we got on the train, he wanted a nap!
Second year in a row for us! Our daughter about passed out in amazement last year when Thomas came puffing along. She just stared with her mouth open. This year she was older and wiser, having one year under her belt, sort of saying, “I know what I’m doing. There is Thomas. He just left the shed where he slept. His friends are still in the shed because Topham Hat said they had to stay there. Now we get to ride his passenger car. It’s cool. What me give the conductor a high five!”
It is such a fun event.
Oh I’m bummed that we didn’t take Ben to see it… he would have been SO excited! Glad that you guys had a good time, good to know for the next time Thomas comes to visit!
We went last year, and this year too. Lots of fun for our son both times(now 3).
There are still tickets available for this coming weekend:
http://www.silhouettellc.com/body.html
