Day Out with Thomas, Connorsville, IN, 2013

  People ask me if there is enough to this event to justify the admittedly high cost.
  It depends.

Boarding Line

  For little kids there is definitely plenty to do, all included with the price of a ticket to ride.  The particular activities seem to vary from year to year, and probably different sites have different ones, but putt-putt, petting zoo, and pony rides have been included with the ticket price, in addition to those mentioned in the FAQ link.
  There's even, new this year, i believe, the possibility for All Day Tickets exists.  That is, for an additional $12, you can ride multiple times.
  It's been suggested that we take Max on more "grown up" train rides.  We thought about doing the Caboose Train during the Day Out With Thomas, feeding the obsession but not so much, but that option has too many chaos possibilities: 

• A Caboose Train runs every other Thomas run, but the schedule doesn't say which Thomas runs.  
• You can't buy those tickets in advance.
• Therefore, you don't know what time to aim for.  May not be a problem if you truly make a day of it, but Max rides, shops and leaves.   
• A Caboose Train is usually less crowded than a Thomas Coach, but that's not the sort of thing you can count on.  
• While this ticket price is not posted on Whtewater Valley Railroad's website, it is MORE expensive than a Thomas ticket.

  Of course, if your kid is as obsessed as Max, the cost may not make much difference.  He starts talking anxiously about it in February. . . .