so fun and so interesting, its really a fun thing to do with the kids at Christmas time.
My husband, myself and his parents were pleased with the great food, conversation from the employees aboard and the entertainment.
Not very good food, the entertainment was awful and we were basically stuck there for 3 hrs. OK this was a nice gift to us but they total experience was awful. How they stay in business, I don't know. Are they federally funded?
As our granddaughter loves train rides, our family of six took her on the Christmas Train Ride. The staff was very friendly but we were crammed into a booth in a very warm train car. The two of us sitting on the end seats had one cheek hanging off the entire ride. The train car was very warm and with the cramped corners, it made for an uncomfortable ride. They served watered-down cocoa and cookies. You could order coffee and adult beverages for an extra charge. The entertainment was so-so. We enjoyed Fred who played guitar while we all sang Christmas songs. Santa was a very sweet man and so good with the kids. This is one of those do once only kind of activities. It is kind of expensive so we were glad we got our tickets through Groupon. The train is kind of run down too. The Christmas lights inside didn't work and valances on the windows were either broken or missing. The carpet was in sad shape as well. But our granddaughter enjoyed it and asked to go back. Next year we'll try the Sacramento Christmas Train instead.
The Sierra Railroad Dinner Train was a fun experience, and made us feel as if we were back in the gold rush days. Atmosphere was very nice...food was good...scenery great. A very relaxing trip. Spring is the best time to enjoy green, lush foothill scenery; summer and fall reflect why California is called the "golden State!"
My husband and I drove over 100 miles to participate in this dinner train ride this past Saturday. We were stuck in traffic and I had contacted their office to alert them of such. Their representative was really nice and said they'd wait for us. We got there at 4:56 pm. 4 minutes before departure and she was nice enough to allow me to get a mascot bear from the gift shop before the train started.We were promptly seated and the car was air conditioned, bread and butter and water were already on the table. The waitress then came to ask if we wanted other drinks as well. Fresh strawberry and watermelon with greens and feta cheese was served. It was decent. The dinner entrees we had were the Mediterrean Chicken and grilled Salmon, both were nice. Dessert was a cherry cream cheese puree in a flaky turnover shell. We had no complaints about the food. + One Dot for food and 2+ dot for service.The scenery was not exactly the best as it consisted old train junkyard, barns, cattles, horse stables, more like stalls (unpleasant to see), turkey farm, and some prairie as we went toward Warnerdale, of which the train turned around at that location. WE witness a young cattle being used as rodeo practice on the way back and IT REALLY DISGUISED me!Of course, when I eat and drink, I have to used the restroom and that's where I have a major problem!!!! We bought the "silver" ticket and our restroom had no lights and the commode was very dirty. I went into the next car where the "gold" ticket holders were and checked out their restroom and it was just as bad exactly it had lights! WTH? They need to renovate those restroom, no joke!If it was not for the dirty restrooms and lack of pleasant scenery, I would have given them a 4 dots because of the friendly staff/service/food. Would we go all the way to Oakdale to do this again, mostly like not. It is a one time deal for sure!
My husband and I have the same birthday. We were looking for something different to do this year. So we choose the Sierra Dinner Train, for a lunch time trip. We very much enjoyed our time on the train. Service was good food was tasty and presented well. Our train car was not even half full of people given this we felt the service could have been a little better. We had indicated it was our birthdays on our reservation and our dessert came with candle, which was nice. But no happy birthday song. We noticed several others on the train had birthday as well. So maybe a shout out and everyone invited to sing along would have been fun. We found the main car to be clean but not the lounge car or open air car. On the open air car the benches were dusty before the trip even started. In the lounge car the table were dusty and they were cobwebs. Cleaning those would not take much time.
There were ten of us total. We all had a good time with drinks and food. We had not seen each other in about eight years, that to was why we enjoyed the trip so much.
We treated ourselves to a day on the Sierra Railroad last year and had a very enjoyable trip. It is expensive, so not something we would do often.
Did this and it was a waste. Boring, sights were of people's farmland. Don't waste your money.