Thomas Land features a very cute Thomas & Friends themed amusement park that makes for a fun family trip. It’s located within the Edaville amusement park complex which includes lots to do. It was a great day out for the children and a very pleasant experience for the parents, we enjoyed our time there.
The Journey
Edaville is located at 5 Pine St, Carver, MA 02330. Travel time to the Edaville took us 5 hours, even though the GPS stated 3.5 hrs. Taking children anywhere is an adventure and a bathroom break / lunch break / stretch later the journey quickly turned into a 5 hr trip from the NY/NJ border. Hey the ride is half the fun right?
From Jersey you can take I95 North pretty much the entire way past Stamford till you get to RI but the drive is hectic and very stressful. But if you take I-287 to Ct-15 to I-91 on up towards Worcester MA and follow signs for Cap Cod, the drive is wooded and much more pleasant. Traffic moves on this windy mostly two lane route and it’s really a beautiful drive. When you get close to Edaville you’ll know because you’ll be thinking, are we going the right way?? You need to drive through the sticks just a little to get to the parking lot.
We decided to make it an overnight stay so the children didn’t need to deal with the added fatigue and could be fresh to enjoy a full day. The TownePlace Suites by Marriott Wareham Buzzards Bay was our choice for hotel which included a full kitchen, free internet, indoor pool and a breakfast buffet. The staff were polite and friendly, the room was clean and so was the pool. The buffet breakfast set us up with waffles you make yourself with the two large waffle irons, coffee, juice, fruit, cereal, yogurt, milk, muffins were offered.
Costs and Overview
We planned for the weather but hoped for the best, luckily we hit a bright beautiful sunny day. Our visit was on a non-holiday during the week to avoid any large crowds. Tickets are fairly reasonable $37 anytime or $34 for a date specific admission and $29 for ages 2,3 and seniors 60+. For a typical family of 4 $136 for entry.
The parking lot is very large and it is free; bonus you’re allowed to exit and return so you can eat lunch at the car or have dad run back and grab a cooler etc. There’s no additional cost for rides so the only extra you spend is on food, drink and Gift Shops or the Arcade. You also have the option to visit during special events and meet and greets with Curious George, Berenstein Bears, Pete the Cat, Santa and more. Check the Edaville calendar for specific date ranges.
Just Thomas Land alone is a 11.5 acres section of the Edaville amusement park. Edaville also includes Cran Central and Dino Land. To get to Dino & Thomas Land you’ll need to walk through the Edaville/Cran Central portion of the grounds. There’s plenty of real estate and nicely maintained grassy areas, some of which have picnic tables so bring a cooler and eat outside.
Beautiful place to take a stroll around with the kids.
Admittedly we did not spend much time in the Cran Central portion of Edaville but it’s quite large. It includes lots of rides, things to do and see so its a nice alternative area to go to if you’re spending the entire day or returning for repeat visits.
The scenery is absolutely beautiful and on a nice sunny day with a breeze just makes the day perfect. There are two large bodies of water to add to the pleasant surroundings. The first lake resides at the front of the Edaville park, the second is a cranberry farm/lake located next to the Thomas Land section of the park.
Our only complaint, a ride attendant in the Cran Central section of the park who was eagerly speaking with a female employee seemed to be politely very pushy and visibly annoyed that we were disturbing his flirtatious conversation, we were the only ones there.
Why is it called Edaville and Cran Central?
Edaville initially opened in 1947 and was built by Ellis D. Atwood (EDA) on his cranberry plantation in Mass. The park was originally built to give tours of Mr Atwood’s sprawling cranberry plantation and morphed into a family park eventually adding in the Thomas Land & Dino Land sections of the park.
Thomas Land Experience
Our time at Thomas Land was very nice. The children were so excited as we walked up to the arches of Thomas Land. As we entered the park the kids began yelling out the train names as they identified each by their specific toots.
The park is pretty immaculate, well kept and the character rides are all bright & cheery, new looking. There is a height requirement for the rides, some of which you can ride on with your child, others they can go in alone.
There were only two of the rides we were not able to take the children on, Cranky Crane Drop (similar to Six Flags Acrophobia but smaller and milder) and Troublesome Trucks Runaway Coaster (similar to Runaway train at Six Flags if that one is still around), a height requirement of 36″ and 42″ height requirement respectively.
Other highlights included Winston’s Skyline Express is an elevated car ride, Diesel Derby which takes you on a mini train tour of Ffarquhar Quarry, Bertie’s Bus Tours and Toby’s Tilting Trackers were rising spinning rides. There isn’t a ton of rides, but there’s enough to keep your kids interested for a 2nd visit or even more.
We also got a chance to visit the Sodor Play Zone which was an indoor climby structure with plenty of levels and a ball pit to give parents a few minutes break.
Tidmouth Sheds
The Tidmouth Sheds show is a delight for the children and features a narrated interactive experience at Tidmouth Sheds featuring animatronic faced Gordon, James, Emily and Percy.
The show runs about 20 min or so and the kids get to interact with the story line and help out building a giant pie (not a real pie). You won’t want to miss this one, it’s definitely one of the key attractions.
We would love to see the park really expand on this experience. The children really enjoyed it and loved getting involved. The animatronic train faces and familiar voices are a hit with the kids. Shows run every hour on the hour.
Ride with Thomas
Another main attraction is the ride with Thomas. You can’t actually ride on Thomas but you can ride on the cars he pulls. The scaled steam engine takes a nice 20 min ride around the park grounds, a couple of cars that resemble Annie and Clarabelle, 1 open car and complete with caboose. The caboose needed a little TLC but other then that the train seemed relatively well maintained. There’s a picture station right in front of Thomas where a professional park photographer can snap a few pictures for you to purchase at the park. The photographer was very nice and so was the photo.
The gift shop unfortunately didn’t seem to offer much in the way of toys that you couldn’t purchase at any Toys R Us or online.
Edaville Complex and Cran Central
We’re referring to the entire park of Edaville as a complex because it’s huge. Though there’s no actual area called Edaville, the Cran Central section of the park includes lots of age appropriate amusement rides, Ferris wheel bumper cars, arcade, spinney rides, indoor play area with ball pit, gift shops, eateries and even an Edaville Diesel Excursion Train ride (which appears to be the same scaled size as the Thomas train ride).
The town’s facade is appropriately themed and there’s lots to explore and do over all of the different sections of the Edaville amusement park. It’s also a very large area in acreage, plenty of space to roam around so bring your stroller if you have infants.
Dino Land
The Dino Land portion of the park is a smaller portion of the park that is right next to Thomas Land. Walk your little ones through the winding path to discover the large dinosaurs spread out along the path. The park features 23 life sized animatronic dinosaurs which the children seemed to like. The dinosaurs weren’t all working and some were just silent or had some audio issues. Beware of mosquitoes if you plan on going on this self guided tour. We were getting attacked by those mutant MA mosquitoes in there. It takes just about 10-20 min so it’s not a super long walk but worth a look around for the kids.
Wrap Up
The Thomas Land theme park located within the Edaville amusement park is a fun day out for young children and pleasant day out for parents, we highly recommend it. The park is clean, large and beautiful. You have access to plenty of open manicured real estate, grassy areas, nicely paved walkways, cobblestone sidewalks, picnic tables etc. The single admission price gives you access to the entire Edaville complex (Thomas land, Dino Land, Cran Central) Parking is free and prices are reasonable with a few good hotels in the immediate area to make your trip more comfortable. You’re also right next to Cape Cod in case you want to head out for some incredible seafood afterwards.
Thomas Land @ Edaville
