White Pass Railway and Trail Camp

[seanieboy]

Was hoping to find out anything about the Trail Camp portion of this excursion. The train ride is pretty self explanatory but can anyone tell me a little more about the gold panning and entertainment. Thanks!

 

[EeyoreIsMyName]

Here is what the Port Adventure Guide says about that portion of the trip:

"Arrive in Fraser, British Columbia, where you'll embark a deluxe motor coach and travel down the spectacular Klondike Highway, takin in the sights of Tormented Valley and Pitchfork Falls during the approximate 30-minute trip. Discover Liarsville Gold Rush Trail Camp, enjoy the waterfall and the authentic exhibits of Liarsville or browse for souvenirs in the Fancy Good Gift Shop. Learn the art of gold panning, and then be set free in the Liarsville gold fields, where you are guaranteed to find the precious metal that drove men and women wild with gold fever! You are guaranteed to find gold in every pan! Gather at the Liarsville Hippodrome, where a cast of sourdoughs and dance hall girls will entertain you with a ahilarious melodrama and a poem by the "Bard of the North," Robert Service. Take time to enjoy hot cider and cookies or wander through the camp and visit the general store, saloon, and laundry tents to view the antiques and vintage clothing left behind by the miners and dance hall girls concluding your approximate 75 minute visit. Reboard the motor coach and travel back to the pier."

Here is a link to my trip reports to Alaska. I wrote about the port adventures in 2011. It has a report about panning for gold at the Klondike Gold Dredge that would be very similar to this experience at Liarsville:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=49148678#post49148678

Hope that helps.

 

[seanieboy]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Grumpymom73]

We did this back in 2012 and really enjoyed it. We being myself, DH, DS18, DS 13. There really isn't much to do at Liarsville but there was plenty to keep you busy for the short time you are there. Got some really great pics too. We found it a very nice excursion and would do it again. Good luck and enjoy your cruise!!!

 

[MJDisFamCruisers]

We did this excursion back in 2012. After the train ride and bus back down you head to Liarsville. We then watched a short skit from the people of Liarsville (kinda cheesy) about life back then. We then got to pan for gold. It was interesting but my daughter didn't find any. I found some "flakes" and then we were able to take it with us. My family didn't really like the "Liarsville" part of the excursion but I guess it all depends if you have kids or not. My daughter was 23 at the time and she thought it was silly.

 

[edith76]

We did this in May. The Trail Camp portion was not worth the stop. The skit was just a woman reciting a poem - not sure what age group it was even aimed at. The gold panning was not as described - they just handed you a pan with a little dirt in it and pointed toward the tables of filthy water to rinse it in. Most of the people on our tour didn't even bother. They did have bathrooms which is about the best thing I can say about it. And of course, a store.

 

[LACruise]

We did this tour in 2011 and for the boys on the trip - 6, 3, 3, 2 the gold panning was a highlight and they loved the train ride. At liarsville, the kids really enjoyed the singing and dancing as well. We even saw a grizzly bear from the train.

 

[AMB1]

We did this last year when our kids were 7 and 4. We didn't need as much time in Liarsville as they gave us and the show was a bit cheesy, but the kids enjoyed it. The train ride was great, but the kids would have been bored had we taken the train back down. This excursion allowed them to stretch their legs, take a quick bus ride down and burn off some energy in Liarsville. It was a good combination for young kids.

The train ride is spectacular.

 

[Donna3271]

We did this too. The drive back was simply beautiful, and made us glad we got a different perspective than coming back the same route on the train.

My kids loved it. There was a beautiful malamute there that my girls loved.

It was cute, and the actors put on a good show. You are not there all that long. I am very interested in the gold rush, so I wanted to see the EXACT place the press camped out.

Hope this helped. My family loved it, but to each his own.

 

[edith76]

The reviews of this were decent for past years so I booked it. I don't know if they changed it or the staff was not too into things yet because we were the first cruise of the season but no one seemed to enjoy it on our bus. Maybe someone on the last few cruises can tell you if things got better.

 

[EeyoreIsMyName]

I would recommend the Klondike Gold Dredge and White Pass Railway excursion instead of Liarsville. I had heard that Liarsville wasn't very good. At the Gold Dredge, two of us found gold pretty quickly, but one person did have difficulty. They had "characters" (individuals dressed to the time period) down at the gold panning area and they were very helpful. We were a party of three adults and we all took home gold flakes (no nuggets-darn it!). You do the train portion of the trip first and motorcoach down to the Gold Dredge. The Gold Shack will weigh your gold and they also sell gold nuggets and jewelry. I have written about this excursion in my trip report (look under the 2011 excursions though). Here is the link again:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=49148678#post49148678

 

[seanieboy]

We did this last year when our kids were 7 and 4. We didn't need as much time in Liarsville as they gave us and the show was a bit cheesy, but the kids enjoyed it. The train ride was great, but the kids would have been bored had we taken the train back down. This excursion allowed them to stretch their legs, take a quick bus ride down and burn off some energy in Liarsville. It was a good combination for young kids.

The train ride is spectacular.

My kids will be exactly those ages when we go so i'm glad to hear they enjoyed it. My logic was exactly that, the kids would be good for a one way trip but probably wouldn't make it all the way back on the train. I'm ok with cheesy, that's what kids that age enjoy! I'd heard from a friend that the train was not to be missed so we booked this tour so as to have an opportunity to ride and also have other activities included. Thank you everyone for the info!!!