The Husband and I have been planning this HUGE trip to Baltimore MD to do the whole Day Out With Thomas adventure.
Insert yet another Thomas Marketing Ploy here.
But we knew The Toddler would love it…and we had never been to Baltimore…so why not?
We purchased the tickets TWO DAYS before The Husband got the notice of this Deployment.
Guess which weekend he wasn’t going to be available…Go ahead...bet you can't guess.
You guessed it…the weekend we had just freaking purchased.
So I called, and begged them to change our tickets.
Pulled the whole 'military family' card...
And those lovely people did…without much hassle at all.
Thank you!
We didn’t tell The Toddler at all…it was a BIG SURPRISE.
This past Wednesday I told him that the Surprise was going to knock his socks off…
He proceeded to chew that over a moment then informed me ‘Mom…I wanna keep my socks and shoes on for my Surprise’
All righty then…
On Friday, we drove north…I hate our GPS.
It kept wanting to take us out ‘unnamed roads’.
Yeah…I want to go on an ‘unnamed road’ in an unfamiliar area. No.
I know Baltimore is north of me…via I-95 N…we’re good.
Arrived at hotel without much drama…checked in…got in room…settled in.
Toddler proceeds to have fit of all fits to keep from going to bed. He actually fell asleep while I was reading him a story.
He was tired.
We all slept in thankfully.
We wandered around The Inner Harbor area…which I find to be a tad overrated but I am not huge into chain restaurants and bars. The shops were not on our side of the water, and we have the same ones back home anyway.
The ships were cool…the Aquarium (for the three hours we were there in ONE section) was pretty amazing. My son was the most thrilled by the diver in the tanks cleaning the windows.
$70 in admission tickets later, he is still talking about the girl diver getting her regulator hose hung on a rock.
His daycare teacher heard about that FIRST this morning.
Then it was time to head back to the Hotel to get to Thomas.
The Toddler was beside himself with joy…not really.
Until we gave him the stuff we had ordered with the tickets. His engineers hat, his Thomas Train Whistle, his Thomas badge on a rope (whatever that is called).
Out the door we went…to the B&O Railroad Museum.
And we arrived…and there were a million gazillion little boys with their hats, and whistles, and Thomas stuff…
The Toddler knew then what having his socks knocked off meant…and I got all choked up.
Yes…I did. I’m a sicko like that. I like seeing my kid thrilled…and he was THRILLED.
I waved like an idiot on crack as the conductor rolled by…and it was AWESOME.
We checked in…and started our fun.
Sir Tophamm Hatt was the first stop. SCORE. We only waited a few minutes in line.
The Toddler stood nicely next to the poor guy in that big fat suit with the solid head (The Toddler noticed that he wasn’t real…but that occurred to him much later in the day). While in line, I got to talking to the nice gentleman that was keeping the line in order. Apparently, the day before…Sir Tophamm Hatt passed out.
And had to be wheeled out by the EMTs.
In front of all the kids.
One…I hate that I missed that.
Two…I’m glad that I missed that.
Three…WOW.
Explain that one to your two or three year old.
Once he posed for his photo…we went and found other fun.
The model train yard…The bounce houses…
The pony rides….
The petting zoo…
The train tablesssssss....yes...tablessssssss. All covered up with the Under Four Foot barely producing Testesterone Crowd.
Everything was awesome. Lots to do...lots to see...a comfort station for changing diapers and feeding the babies.
The staff was super friendly and helpful...and very kind.
And each one took the time to make The Toddler feel super special.
Everything was awesome. Lots to do...lots to see...a comfort station for changing diapers and feeding the babies.
The staff was super friendly and helpful...and very kind.
And each one took the time to make The Toddler feel super special.
Then there was the store…the Thomas Threw Up Over Here Store.
But I was really impressed.
They didn’t gouge on the merchandise. I paid what I would have paid at Target or Toys R Us.
However, I was not in any need for Thomas The Train hand sanitzer…nor was I needing a Thomas the Train ice pack.
The Toddler picked out Diesel 10 as his prize.
We get outside…he opens Diesel 10…Diesel 10’s claw doesn’t extend.
Duh…I could have told you that…but to a three year old…that has been so good all day…this was the breaking point.
So back into the Thomas Threw Up Over Here Store to buy another train.
The Husband is a Sucker.
He bought a boat instead…Bulstrode I think. I have no idea. Swear…they put the character in ONE show and make a whole marketing theme on that ONE character.
He was happy.
We milled around a bit more…and then it was time to RIDE THOMAS.
Goodie.
A few things here:
One….when standing in line, and a family asks me to take their picture, I do the best I can.
I count to three...I line up the photo...I do good.
Why in the hell can’t any one give me the same damned courtesy?
Why do I always get the half assed attempt at someone attempting to take a photo when I have put plenty of effort in theirs?
Really?
Because seriously…it took us five different attempts at a photo…and it still sucks.
We are standing in FRONT of Thomas…yes, we want THOMAS in the PHOTO.
Damn.
But I digress.
We sit down.
We wait.
We wait.
Then we start slowly backing up and they start playing Thomas music.
And we back up for ten minutes.
Past junk, some more junk…oh look, there some junk with graffiti painted on it.
People standing by tracks…
More junk…
More odd people….
More odd people probably getting ready to tag some more junk when we are out of eye sight.
Then the train pulls forward….
Past junk, some more junk…oh look, freshly graffittied junk.
Here is where they could have done ONE small thing and made this a lot more fun, and distracted us all from the ‘view’.
Sing alongs!
If you are going to play the music…have a sing a long…its easy...invite the kids to sing along.
Do some trivia for the kids to answer (shout at).
Some interaction.
Cause this was a snoozer.
The kid behind us went to sleep.
His parents spent $60 on tickets, for him to doze off.
Uh huh.
So much he had to be carried off…because he didn’t want to leave.
He screamed…he kicked…he pouted…he sat down.
He threw himself across the bench in front of Thomas and refused to have his photo taken…
On his sixteenth birthday, I’m going to share everyone his tail sticking up in the air in front of Thomas the Tank Engine…having a meltdown.
And I had to laugh….it was just too funny.
My poor child…
2 comments:
OH the timeliness of this post! I just put my credit card in my wallet after paying $120 for "Thomas Saves the Day" LIVE at Jones Hall (normally where plays and ballets are held). Miles is going to be beside himself. I can't believe the hype of a talking train!
Can we at least see the picture?
I may just have to post that when I get home tonight...its pretty classic. Good luck with the show...a coworker took his son and they had a great time!
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