St. Louis Union Station
Having not grown up in the St. Louis area, I can see how this would be a big draw for the city. It is a very cool area. Although it was a little cold out when we went there, the large roof covering their main area is a big help. It’s also just nice to have some additional cover from the elements. Rainy and snowy days would be no problem here at all. Parking does tend to be a little bit of a problem especially when it gets real busy. We were lucky enough to get a covered spot near the front. Still, I would expect to walk a fair distance.
Outside, they have a number of things to do. There is a large Ferris wheel which is $15 per adult and $10 per child. It looked pretty cool, but not for the prices they wanted. There is also a miniature golf area which is $10 per person. Once again, looked fun but it seemed squeezed into a pretty small area. And, for $10 per person it just wasn’t worth it for a family of four. Same thing goes with the carousel they have there. It looked cool but we have one where we live and we figured why pay $5 per person to ride something that we can ride at home for free.
St. Louis Union Station Ferris Wheel
One thing that we discovered that was a huge hit with the kiddos was a small train playground. No cost for this one, it’s just there off to the side of all of the other attractions. But it’s a small enough play area that even the younger kids had a blast running and climbing around on it.
After a while we decided we were getting a little chilly, so we went inside to check everything out and warm up. There was one thing inside that we did pay for though. Braden and Lizzie wanted to try the rope course. For those unfamiliar with this, it’s an obstacle course built above the ground. You are fitted with a heavy duty harness attached to a rail system. Up a short flight of stairs are many different types of ropes and bridges and platforms to walk and climb around on. At $15 per person, it’s a bit on the high side. The nice part is you can stay on this obstacle course for as long as you want. Unfortunately the zip line wasn’t open to use but it should be open soon. It is a two part zip line that goes 3 levels above the main walkway.
All the same, the kids had an awesome time and spent over 40 minutes doing all of the different obstacles. That is my opinion is money well spent. As opposed to, say, $10-$15 per person for a 10 minute or so Ferris wheel ride.
Climbing on the Ropes Course
We decided to eat at the Soda Fountain for lunch. One piece of advice if you are planning on eating here: put your name in early as it can be a rather long wait. We had a little over an hour wait but the nice thing is they get your cell number and you can walk around and check your place in line and they will text you when your table is ready and you have five minutes after receiving that message to check in. This restaurant is on the pricey side but, at for the desserts, it was so awesome. The main food was good, not amazing, but good diner style food. Plan on getting one of their Freak Shakes (the menu is shown below), it may be expensive but it is so worth it.
The Soda Fountain treat
Afterwards, we went outside to watch the fire and light show that was out on in the main outside area. A little disappointed to hear normal top 40 music rather than Christmas music accompanying this show, but it was awesome to see all of the lights and pyrotechnics involved.
Overall, it was a great experience and although construction was a bit of an issue (a lot of the area was still being built), there was still plenty to do and made for an awesome afternoon and evening spent with family.
St. Louis Union Station
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