You may have read about the fantastic day out we had at The Watercress Line at The War on The Line Event back in June. It was such a fun day and so I was thrilled when we were invited back to review a Day Out With Thomas. The Watercress Line is one of the few places in the country where you can still ride on Steam Trains all year round. Once a year they hold a very popular event called a Day Out With Thomas which is totally centred around the ever popular Thomas The Tank Engine. We went along on Thursday and we weren’t disappointed! Darcie didn’t really know about Thomas the Tank Engine prior to the event but by the end of the day she was excitedly yelling for Thomas every time he came into the station. If you have a little Thomas fan at home, this isn’t an event to miss!
The event this year ran from the 4th and finishes on the 12th of August so you still have time to go tomorrow! It opens at 9.30am and doesn’t close until 5pm so it really is a full day out and a great way to keep the kids entertained.
So what is there to do?
The main attraction at The Watercress Line will always be the steam trains and you get unlimited travel on the line for the day. The trains all had faces on them like the trains in Thomas The Tank Engine which was a really nice touch for the event. There is also the main blue Thomas train which runs as a shuttle, back and forth, throughout the day. You can take a pram onto the main trains but we were advised it wouldn’t fit onto the Thomas train so that’s something to bear in mind when planning your day. If you have someone else with you then you can always take it in turns to wait with the buggy and take the kids onto Thomas. There is a designated Buggy Park at the event which is also helpful.
The main station for the event is Ropley (also where the main parking is!), here they had vintage fairground rides -which we spent a lot of time at, an imagination station, unlimited rides on Thomas, Diesel and Toad, a miniature railway, Thomas Story Corner, a Thomas Gift Shop and The Cookie Bus. Yes, you read that right, a cookie bus! There were also different events happenings throughout the day such as story time and a magic show, neither of which we actually made it to, but if they were anything like the rest of the event then I’m sure they are great!
There are also attractions at each of the other three stations to see as well. We spent a while at The Imagination Station in Alresford which was a room full of trains that Darcie loved! There was also colouring activities and a screen playing Thomas The Tank Engine too.
It was lovely to go to an event that was totally geared towards Darcie and things that she enjoys. Her favourite part of the day was definitely the vintage fairground rides. The rides are included in the price of your ticket so I happily let Darcie alternate between the carousel and the swings to her hearts content. We also went on the miniature railway which she loved although I had to hold on tight to stop her from excitedly launching herself out of our little carriage.
The weather wasn’t great on the day but that didn’t stop us from having a lovely time. A lot of the activities are indoors and you could easily spend a few hours in The Imagination Station which is nice and dry! We finished off the day with cookies from The Cookie Bus, which were absolutely delicious, I’d highly recommend the White Chocolate and Raspberry! We then headed home with one very happily exhausted toddler in the car, and her baby brother who basically slept through the whole thing!
To find out more about the event and to book tickets you can visit the website here.
*we were kindly gifted our tickets in exchange for this review, but all opinions are my own.