rev:text
| - We really enjoyed our ride on the CVSR. We are 36 and 39 years old, couple. After reading mixed reviews, we decided to take the ride and forumulate our own opinion. BOTTOM LINE: if you enjoy trains, and have three hours you'd like to spend chillen' out, this is a very relaxing, and neat little ride. Here goes:
Upper Dome vs. First Class:
We took the 4:25PM scenic train out of Rockside Station in Independence. We splurged for the Upper Dome seating in the Emerson car. Our experience was great because the later train was not as crowded. As many reviews suggest, the seating on the Upper Dome IS in fact tight. Because we were on the later train, we had two of the four seats empty in our section. If they had been habited, it might have been very uncomfortable with someone else's knees touching ours. We were also able to switch directions for the ride back as to not sit backwards. One con: it gets cold on the Upper Dome due to the AC. Easy fix, bring a sweatshirt.
I tried out the seating in the First Class section and the leg room was better and the seats comfier, but in the Upper Dome you definitely get a much better view of the scenery as you can see above you and higher all around. First Class is like that of a normal train ride.
In the Upper Dome, you get complimentary water, tea, coffee, snacks.
Staff:
Excellent. Pleasant, knowledgeable, friendly, seem genuinely happy to be there.
Scenery: Not amazing, but definitely pretty with some cool parts along the way. Definitely use the headphones with the audio guide! The narrator tells you about each part you pass on the way and makes you feel like you're back in the time when the river was used for transporting goods. Pretty cool. The headsets themselves are brand new for each traveler.
One con: the audio gets fuzzy at times and it helped to place the transmitter on top of our seats as it gave better reception.
All in all, a very pleasant experience. We are both glad we took the ride.
|