Denice P.
Yelp
My husband and I did this in the fall of 2022 and had a great time. My stepfather is a huge train enthusiast and really wanted to do this - but the previous company had closed down.
We were thrilled to see a new company take over and immediately booked for the 4 of us while we were in town.
I wish I could say it was worth it, but for the cost, which is similar to what it cost us before - this experience was far far different.
First, my stepdad is handicapped and they used to load right there near the parking lot so I didn't think it would be an issue. This is not where they load any longer - even though there is NO signs telling you where to go. No one there to greet you - nothing. It wasn't until my mom found someone way at the other end of the platform that we had any idea. I had to grab his walker from the car and it took us some time to get to the correct area.
The email says they will leave at 1:30 promptly and not to be late. So we got there early - 1:00 - as I remember it taking some time to get loaded and go over the procedures before. My stepdad needed the restroom and that was all the way back by the parking lot where we just came from. So we rushed him back and I was so stressed watching the time. Got back to the loading area just before 1:30 - to have nothing happen - with no one saying anything - for the next 15 minutes. There was only 1 guy and he was making sure that you signed the waiver. It was kind of bizarre. My mom was getting impatient and aggravated. The email said THEY MUST DEPART ON THE EXACT TIME. It was cold and no one was there to tell us what the hell we could expect. So very different than the last time.
Finally, they started loading people on the cars at 1:45. They were very helpful getting my stepdad on the car and adjusting seats etc. No one offered to take our photo, no one got us excited for the ride, it was all pretty bland compared to the last time. We finally pushed off around 1:55. We were the last car to go - out of 3. Right away, we knew something was wrong. We were peddling like crazy and hardly moving. The pedals on our car were not engaged. It was a quick fix, but with all that time that we sat waiting .... why was this not checked?
We get going just to have the 2 cars in front of us at a complete stop. The batteries on both of them apparently were dead. So we had to sit and wait for the batteries to be changed out. This took about 10-15 minutes. Don't know why this wasn't checked ahead of time.
Now, I have my mom & stepdad who are 78 and 80 years old. We told them last time it took us 35 minutes to get to the breakpoint. It's now 45 minutes into sitting in the car and we haven't even hit half way yet.
Now, the lead car was going so slow, stopping constantly - I don't know why - and there's nothing you can do. You're stuck behind them. So you have to stop. This was not covered as it was when we rode before - you do not stop unless it's an emergency. Be courteous of those behind you. And when we passed a check point where they could've been addressed, they were not.
So it took over 1 hour to get to the breakpoint where I have to get an 80 y/o handicapped person up the gravel hill to the porta potty. The weather was bad, he was cold (it was 50 degrees and not sunny) and I feel like it was way too much time out in the cold (more than 2 hours at this point - outside all this time) and there's nothing you can do.
I asked someone at the breakpoint if we could be the first car out. My husband and I knew we could pedal hard and get us back fast so my stepdad could get warm. (he had gloves, hat, winter coat, but it was so long already). They let us have the front car, but everyone behind us was connected to us. I have no idea why. I was so bummed. It was very hard for us to enjoy the ride under the circumstances.
It was not an inexpensive afternoon for us. The weather was crummy - but by time we knew this, it was too late to cancel and change dates. To me, this was all the more reason to take care of your customers under those circumstances. There should've been someone there to welcome people, maybe have the firepits at the breakpoint actually lit, or have heaters at the waiting platform. I feel like so many things were better before and could've been better now.