Halloween Eerie Express Ride & Fun House — Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum

On Friday, we attended the Halloween Eerie Express Ride and Fun House at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN.  It was our third event at the Museum and our first time on the Eerie Express Ride.  We had quite the adventure on the way up to Chattanooga.  Normally, we can leave the house and be at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in about an hour.  We left two hours early to give the kids plenty of time to ride ponies, play in the petting zoo,  and pick a pumpkin. What we forgot is that it was Friday and it was time for everyone to get off work, so due to traffic and bathroom breaks, we finally arrived without a single second to spare.  The train was loaded and they were *thisclose* to pulling out.  I wish y’all could have saw me trying to sprint on  my crutch.  LOL  Moral of the story?  Give yourself plenty of time to navigate Chattanooga traffic, especially it it’s getting-off-time on Friday.

After boarding the train, we traveled down the tracks. The train goes farther than at Day Out with Thomas and we even went through a tunnel before arriving the Halloween Fun House.  As we entered the Fun House, everyone gathered in for story time.  Much to Bryson’s delight, the first story was Big Pumpkin!  We’ve read it a lot lately and he loves that book, knows the story, so it was fun to hear it and see the images projected on the wall.  The second story was The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything and the kids stood to do the movements and get out some wiggles.  After that, they had a costume contest and then we were free to explore the Fun House.

The folks at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum went all out and did a fantastic job bringing the “fun” to the Halloween Fun House.  It was perfect for younger children and I could tell they put a lot of thought and effort into making sure it was an enjoyable experience for the entire family.  The kids sat at tables, enjoyed a few treats, colored with the provided crayons and coloring pages, then we explored.  Hot Apple Cider was available as well as ice water.

Temporary tattoos are always hit with my kids, so we each chose one- even me.    Bryson chose a skeleton, Bella got a witch tattoo, and I am still sporting a cute jack-o-lantern.

The Fun House consists of 22 rooms- all with different themes.  We went through twice and could have gone again and again.  In one room, there was a person covered and “sleeping” in a bed.  The kids could press a button and listen to that person snore.  There was nothing scary about any of the rooms- it was all fun and as I looked around, I could see that all the other children were having a great time too.

Some of the rooms included:  a bubble room, disco room, creepy-crawly room with bugs on the walls, a bedroom, a maze, a forest/ cemetery, an office, bedroom, dining room- I could go on and on.

I loved that everyone could go at their own pace- there was no rushing or reason to be in a hurry.  We had about an hour at the Fun House to explore and enjoy as we pleased.  When you reach the end, there is a large room with black lights to play mini-golf with the kids.  They had plenty putting greens so there were no lines or impatient kids.  The place was so laid back and with so much to do, everyone was scattered all throughout the Fun House doing their own thing.

Since we were so late arriving to the event, when the train pulled back into Grand Junction Station, the kids visited the petting zoo and picked a pumpkin from the little pumpkin patch.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum Eerie Express Ride & Fun House is perfect for families with young children and I would highly recommend attending the event.  You’ll come away with so many fun memories and an awesome experience.  We had such a great time that I’ve been brainstorming ideas about how I could build a Fun House geared toward younger children in our small community.

Find the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum online and on Facebook.  For more info or to order tickets, visit the Eerie Express page or my previous Eerie Express blog post.

We received complimentary tickets to attend the event.  All thoughts and opinions remain my own, as always.