Has anyone done the Ultimate Yukon & White Pass Railway in Skagway??

[Bailey0930]

Hello Everyone,

 

We want to the the train but have been back and forth about which one to choose. We also want to do something with the dogs. This includes both and seems to have a little bit of everything. I have a 3 1/2 year old and think just the train will be no fun for him. He loves animals and think he will love to get his picture taken with the dogs and puppies. I am taking my mom and she really wants to do the train as we missed it the last time we did the cruise.

 

I did post in the Alaska board but seem to get more info through here.

 

Please help:confused: thoughts :confused:

 

Thanks for your help!:D

[amattiucci]

We did and it was awesome...can be a little long for a youngster, but there were a lot of them on the train with us and seemed to be ok. I really wouldn't miss doing this!

 

Also, we did the Mendenhall Glacier river raft ride...that was awesome! Not sure a 3 year can do it though?

 

Did not do the dog sled thing, but heard that was pretty cool too.

 

It was so hard to pick what to do, there is so much! The best thing to do is to get on the web and look these places up beside the cruiselines website. It will give you a better idea of what to expect.

[Bailey0930]

Thank you for your reply:) ...have a couple of questions. How long did you interact with the dogs/puppies? It says you get to see them and take pictures. He will really love that. He has done a 14 hour tour in Egypt with no problems so I'm not worried about the long day. I just like to make sure that there is something in the tour that he will enjoy. Was the bus ride long on the way up? Were you able to get out and take pictures. It says all of this but I've been on many cruises where they say one thing and do another:rolleyes: sorry for all the questions....

 

Thanks!:D

[Jaslynn]

I just did this last week. Personally I think it would be too long for a young child. I'm 30 and even I was getting a little antsy at the length! You know your child best though, if he's taken a long plane ride and done well than he might be just fine.

 

Would your Mom be willing to do this by herself? It's the type of excursion that you don't necessarily need a traveling companion to enjoy the ride.

[Bailey0930]

There is a group going (14) and some of us are splitting up, but wanted to do something with my mom and she really wants to do the train, but I wanted to do something else with it. So I thought we could do this to have a little bit of everything. :rolleyes:

 

Can you give me details about the tour, why were you antsy? I am 34 so in the same age range...

[garycarla]

If you visit the ALASKA boards under PORTS OF CALL you will find even more folks that have done these and other tours.

 

Click on BOARDS at the top left of this page, the PORTS OF CALL

[Jaslynn]

 

Can you give me details about the tour, why were you antsy? I am 34 so in the same age range...

 

The scenery was nice, but it was really nothing new to me. I live an hour away from mountains and my Husband and I do a lot of road trips through them. We drove to Vancouver for the cruise and 10 hours of that was through the mountains and over beautiful mountain passes.

 

I've got a lot of pictures from the train ride if you want to see: http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?UV=875882367651_266372788111&collid=712267488111.535397488111.1211556151457&photoid=223108488111&folderid=0&view=1&page=&sort_order=&albumsperpage=&navfolderid=2008

 

That picture through picture 341 I took from the train.

 

For me, I would have preferred if the ride was about half as long.

[mypleasure]

Bailey,

 

as you know we are on the same cruise as you and your family.

 

Tony and I are booked onto this as it sounds right up our street. Your Mom would be very welcome to tag along with us if she wanted to.

 

Mog

[truckerj1]

There are tour companies in town that do a van trip on the road that runs right along side the train tracks. What was nice about the vans is they stopped at an old cemetary, at all the waterfalls, and all the lookout points. The train just goes right by all of these. It is a lot cheaper also.

[Bailey0930]

Hi Mog,

 

That is very sweet of you;) I think we have decided to just do it! I think my son will be fine as he has been on many long tours in the past and I've had no problems. Are you going with the cruise line or Chilkoot Charters?

 

Hope we get to meet:D

 

Bailey aka (Annette)

[arpie05]

I'm currently on the STAR and did the Ultimate 2 days ago. A waste of time and money. The puppies were all grown dogs and I think all the barking would frighten a young child. They were barking to be picked for the sled - an extra $30. The gold panning was an extra $10. My 12 year old was turned off by the dogs noise. All you do is eat and then walk around doing nothing for an hour. The emerald lake was beautiful and crossing 2 canadian provenices was nice but probably could have rented a car done the same things that I liked and saved money and had time in the neat town of Skagway. This tour leaves no time in town.!

[Bailey0930]

Thanks for the great pictures!

[electricron]

As the conductor, steward on the train will say.

 

Those in the buses and vans stop to take photos of the train, but we will not stop so you can take photos of them.

 

The scenery of White Pass is what makes this a great port, not the train. The buses and vans traveling at 60 mph have to stop so you can take photos. The train traveling at 30 mph, if that, doesn't.

[andychester]

We did this tour last august from the Pearl. the coach trip and train journey were brilliant. However the dog sleding and panning for gold stop was very poor. We did see the puppies and they were cute and we did go on the sled ride. However they the adult dogs weren't cute huskie dogs and there was an extra charge for this. The whole place looked like something cobbled together in someones back yard. I would do the tour again but don't expect much from the dogs.

[electricron]

White Pass summit is 2860 feet, the train travels 20 miles to reach.

 

The grade over 20 miles is

Math: 2860 ft / 20 miles = 143 feet / mile

 

That's 14 stories up per mile. That's a steep grade.