Grand Opening of Thomas Land™ at Edaville USA
***My family and I received admission, lunch, and a small gift in exchange for attending the media preview event at Thomas Land. All opinions expressed and pictures are mine.***
If you have a little boy or girl that loves Thomas the Train you definitely need to make a trip to Thomas Land™ at Edaville USA! Edaville USA and Mattel teamed up to bring the first ever Thomas Land™ to North America.
Tickets to Edaville USA include all of the original rides and both Thomas Land™ and Dino Land for $29 per person (2 and under are free). Find more information to plan your visit by clicking the link below:
Our Experience
Thursday we headed out from Central Maine on the roughly 4 hour drive to Carver, Massachusetts. We spent the night as the media event for the Grand Opening started with check in at 8:30am.
The entrance to Edaville USA is a work in progress – it is a sidewalk lined by a construction site as they are putting up a lot of buildings. I’m not sure what they are building at the front of the park but my initial impression of the day wasn’t very high. We walked along the front pond and were greeted with Thomas Land™ banners and my excitement level (and the kids) started to climb!
We walked to the media check-in tent and received our VIP lanyards.
After we checked in we were directed to a tent to await the start of the event. We had a bit of time to kill so we took a bunch of pictures!
The first highlight of the day was the band playing and the arrival of Thomas! We joined the line to board the train and go on a 20 minute train ride around the Edaville USA park. I think it was pretty interesting to see the cranberry bogs. Buddy was very excited to see Thomas!
After the train ride we walked as a big processional to the front of Thomas Land™ for the ribbon cutting ceremony. After the ribbon cutting we got to what the kids had been dying to do – test out some rides!!
We spent most of our time in Thomas Land™ enjoying the total experience. After lunch we did walk through Dino Land and go on a few of the original Edaville rides. We finished out our day with a stop in the meca of all Thomas the Train stores! If you have a Thomas fan plan to spend a decent amount of money or avoid the gift shop!
The Rides
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Bertie’s Bus Tours
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Cranky’s Crane Drop
We didn’t ride this – neither kid was super interested and Buddy wouldn’t have met the height requirement.
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Diesel Derby
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Firefighting Flynn
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Harold’s Lift-Off
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Rockin’ Bulstrode
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Sodor’s Cranberry Carousel
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Sodor Windmill
The kids chose not to ride this either – it was a mini Ferris wheel and didn’t really catch their attention. It would be great for smaller kids.
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Toby’s Tilting Tracks
We rode this one right before we left and I didn’t get a picture unfortunately.
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Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster
This coaster was great – Boo Boo and I rode it by ourselves as Buddy was too short (much to his great chagrin). We enjoyed it but didn’t get a picture as Hubby was distracting Buddy in the gift shop so he didn’t know we were riding!
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Winston’s Skyline Express
This is coming soon – check back on the Thomas Land™ website for updates on when it will open. I think this will be fun to sit and look down on all of Thomas Land™.
Additional Areas
- Explore Tidmouth Sheds (Hubby and Buddy checked this out) and see Thomas’ friends
- Knapford Gift Co. – the biggest Thomas & Friends store I’ve ever seen (as I said before plan to avoid or spend a lot of money!)
- The restrooms are still under construction – while we were there they had the portable bathroom facilities
What to know before you go:
- For summer visits
- Put on sunscreen and bring it with you to reapply (not much shade available)
- Stay hydrated (bring in water or purchase as needed)
- Plan to arrive when the park opens to enjoy as much time before it gets really hot
Final Verdict
The park was awesome. My kids both have grown up with Thomas on TV. Buddy has more trains then a store (not more than Knapford Gift Co. though!!). We had a great time as a family. The kids enjoyed running from ride to ride to see some of their favorite characters coming to life.
I love that you pay one price and have admission to all that Edaville USA has to offer. I definitely see us returning in the future and I plan to tell anyone that listens how much we enjoyed ourselves.
It will be great to see the park as it matures and the landscaping and buildings get finished. As is I would definitely return, when everything is finished I think it will be exceptional.
***My family and I received admission, lunch, and a small gift in exchange for attending the media preview event at Thomas Land. All opinions expressed and pictures are mine.***