Medina Railroad Museum
Medina Railroad Museum
4
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
98 reviews
Excellent
46
Very good
21
Average
10
Poor
4
Terrible
17
Debi M
1 contribution
Dec 2021
What to Expect on the Polar Express
Dress in your favorite pajamas and capture the memories on the Polar Express ride! On the trip, you and your family will enjoy hot chocolate and cookies, music from the Polar Express movie, story time reading from the book and singing Christmas carols. When the train arrives at the North Pole, Santa will join the train ride and will hand out a bell to each child, just like in the movie! What you really get is to sit is a railcar that you cannot really tell is moving unless you catch a glimpse of the lights out the window. There was NO SOUND on the car so we could not hear the music, we could not hear singing... we got a hot chocolate and a cookie.. Santa did hand out a bell... but there was nothing at all special or magical about this ride. Staff were commenting about how they were pleased it was the last ride of the night they were tired and wanted to go home (yes we heard these comments) A staff person walked down the isle at one point with a book open to a page and said I know you cannot hear it but this is the story they are telling.. When I complained she said I don't know what is going on with the sound it has been this way all day. Well that is not acceptable when you are charging people for a "magical" experience. We drove over an hour for this "magical" family experience and were very disappointed. If the sound was not working the staff could have read the book aloud or spent an hour singing Christmas songs with the kids... something would have been better than just sitting in a railcar doing nothing but talking to each other. NOTHING magical about this adventure. I guess maybe if 1st class you might have had a better experience but for coach very unimpressed.
Dress in your favorite pajamas and capture the memories on the Polar Express ride! On the trip, you and your family will enjoy hot chocolate and cookies, music from the Polar Express movie, story time reading from the book and singing Christmas carols. When the train arrives at the North Pole, Santa will join the train ride and will hand out a bell to each child, just like in the movie! What you really get is to sit is a railcar that you cannot really tell is moving unless you catch a glimpse of the lights out the window. There was NO SOUND on the car so we could not hear the music, we could not hear singing... we got a hot chocolate and a cookie.. Santa did hand out a bell... but there was nothing at all special or magical about this ride. Staff were commenting about how they were pleased it was the last ride of the night they were tired and wanted to go home (yes we heard these comments) A staff person walked down the isle at one point with a book open to a page and said I know you cannot hear it but this is the story they are telling.. When I complained she said I don't know what is going on with the sound it has been this way all day. Well that is not acceptable when you are charging people for a "magical" experience. We drove over an hour for this "magical" family experience and were very disappointed. If the sound was not working the staff could have read the book aloud or spent an hour singing Christmas songs with the kids... something would have been better than just sitting in a railcar doing nothing but talking to each other. NOTHING magical about this adventure. I guess maybe if 1st class you might have had a better experience but for coach very unimpressed.
Written December 19, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rhonda P
Adams Basin, NY138 contributions
Oct 2021 • Friends
Thought this would be fun. From having to wait out in the cold for an hour to the lack of food vendors right at the start it was awful. Lots of elderly and nowhere heated to wait. Promised food vendors there was 1 and they only had 2 people in the booth. No coffee!! Cold and rainy and no coffee! On the train in first class broken bathroom. Had to go to next car and it was literally the worst bathroom I’ve ever been in. No sink water, no toilet paper, filthy! To top it they ran out of refreshments so only pop to choose from. Then just when it can’t get worse they have solder couple playing the guitar and singing. Unreal! I don’t want to hear that! I will never recommend this to anyone. Very very poorly done. Disappointed that something I thought would be fun and different was spoiled by a poorly run event. Should refund everyone. First class? What a joke.
Written October 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jessica H
7 contributions
Dec 2022 • Family
We were SO excited about this!!! We drove 3 hours to get here. What a HUGE disappointment!!!!!! For $43 per ticket I expected way more. The staff could care less to be there and was not even the least bit enthusiastic. You got a half cup of barely warm hot chocolate and a cookie.. In the seats you are knee to knee with people and it is so uncomfortable. There was no sound and you couldn’t hear any of the music. The whole ride is nothing but looking at peoples trashy yards full of junk. We will never come back. So disappointed. The North Pole was a joke. There is a an old boat with a tarp on it and it was just all trashy. The Santa was so creepy. He seemed to be under the influence of something as he was shaking.. he scared my daughter when he said “it’s ok I’m a good Santa” so creepy. This whole thing was awful. I am not one to complain but this was just awful!
Written December 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Diane F
1 contribution
Oct 2021
The museum was very interesting, the train on the other hand was dirty inside, no cleaning was done , the bathrooms on the train were filthy. No water to wash hand or even hand sanitizer. the seats on the train were covered with hair ( looked like dog and cat hair. ) They were certainly never cleaned. The floors were covered in dirt and looked to never have been vaccumed. Not worth the price we paid.. Never again.
Written October 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lisa T
1 contribution
Dec 2023 • Family
This experience was so terrible my husband and I actually can't stop laughing about it. The only Pro was the museum itself. Very cool. Other than that, the Polar Express was a complete waste of time and money. If you or your kids have ever seen the movie, you will be incredibly disappointed. Our train car was a little beat up, with pictures of 3 random scenes from the movie scotch taped to one of the walls like rubbing salt in the wound. The conductors were friendly gentleman, but the rest of the staff could not have been more unenthused. The ride was basically a tour through the ruins of Chernobyl... the scenery horrific. Thank God we were the first ride of the day though. The seats were covered in cookie crumbs and spilled hot chocolate at the end of it, and the next ride was lined up to board as soon as we got off (clearly no intention of cleaning in between). Santa was, by far, the worst I've ever experienced. Billy Bob Thorton would've been an upgrade. I still can't believe we drove an hour for this. At least we got some good laughs out of it.
Written December 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JACKIE
1 contribution
Dec 2022
DO NOT waste your money on this!!!! You will have a better "Magical" experience seeing Santa at the mall. You sit on a train for an hour driving behind peoples backyards that look like a third world country. The "North Pole" was terrible and run down from what you can even see of it. You could not hear anything over the speakers on the train. The "Chefs" walked up the up and down the isle holding a book and were very uninterested in being there. The way the website made it sound, I was expecting way better. The whole experience was terrible and a waste of time and money.
Written December 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
octdancer
Charlotte, NC29 contributions
Nov 2023 • Family
1. Speakers were useless so we never heard the story. North Pole is a joke. We did take a train ride but no reason for my child to understand we were part of polar express! After coming an hour ahead of time as suggested only to have only one food and no place to sit down to east it. I do not recommend.
Written November 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kathleen S
Elma, NY2 contributions
Dec 2013 • Family
I purchased 11 tickets (entire family) for my children and grand kids based on a report I seen on channel 2's morning show. Everyone came in their pj's excited to experience the train ride to the North Pole! For over $300 this was terribly disappointing! We were given half cups of cold hot chocolate and a cookie. The cookie was good. You could not hear the polar express story because the sound system is terrible. The North Pole was a stop in front of Ace hardware?? Could they have at least decorated the area and had a North Pole sign?? Santa's quick appearance was ok. Oh, and dress warm because the train is freezing!! Will never do it again and would not recommend for the price they are charging! Very, very over-priced. Shame it is so difficult to find family activities that are priced fairly.
Written December 16, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pixierose65
Tonawanda, NY1 contribution
Dec 2013
We took our son and elderly mother-in-law to ride the Polar Express train on December 14, 2013. We sat in coach 4, and it never warmed up. I was so cold and we even had blankets with us! The outside temperature was 14 degrees. We could see our breath inside the train car for the entire trip. I felt really bad for the children who were dressed in their pajamas and robes. We anticipated the hot cocoa only to b disappointed once again. The cocoa was only Luke warm, although it had good flavor. The cookie was delicious. I thought the Polar Express story was going to b read aloud, however, we never heard a thing. Last year, Mr. and Mrs. Claus came to visit each child, posed for pics, and spent a couple of minutes with the kids. This year, it was only Santa without Mrs. Claus, briefly asked my son what he wanted for Christmas, responded with a "we'll see", handed him a bell, said merry Christmas and off he went, after less than 1 minute with us. The Conductor was very friendly and courteous. Last year, it was absolutely wonderful, magical even. This year was not the same, sooo disappointed. Will not be doing the tour again.
Written December 17, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SilpadaGirl
Spencerport, New York46 contributions
May 2015 • Family
Huge disappointment. For the amount of money we spent for 4 adults and one child ($21 each) we could have gone to the zoo AND had lunch. Boarding process was a nightmare - if it had been managed or seating assigned in advance it would have been much more efficient. I'm sure it's a huge fund raiser for the train museum - but there's tons of room for improvement. We won't do this again for sure.
Written May 11, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Can you please describe the difference between the first class and coach seats and experience for the Polar Express Train Ride?
Written December 2, 2017
We chose the coach seats because we wanted it to feel more like an actual train ride for the children. If the children have been on a train before, the. It probably wouldn’t matter.
Written December 2, 2017
daschultzy
Buffalo, New York
will there be a polar express this year and what will the cost be?
Written October 31, 2016
Yes, tickets are on sale now and have been since July 1st. See our website for info and to buy tickets.
Written October 31, 2016
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