Zilker Zephyr Miniature Train

Have you ever been one of the only adults riding on a kid-​size train through a park? I have and it was AWESOME.
The mini-​zilker train gives you a lovely 20 minute ride around the park. Your $ 3 ride will consist of excessively pleasant river views, friendly waving park-​goers, an overly cautious crossing over an appropriately sized mini-​bridge, and, of course, a finale consisting of a «spooky tunnel.» I would compare my enjoyment of this ride to my propensity for most disney/​pixar films released in the past 5 years; made for children, still (and likely more) appreciated by adults.
For parents– there really aren’t any safety precautions to prevent your child from jumping off the train… luckily the train moves slower than the average person walks giving you plenty of time to jump off, chase your child around the park, resume your seats and not miss much.

Looking for a quick cheap activity for the kids then look no further than the Zilker zephyr. The rude last ~25 minutes and makes an out and back along the spring and town lake. There isn’t much shade which could be rough on a hot Austin summer day, but the rest of the year it is fine.

I am at a loss as to how to base my rating. I mean, there is not exactly a proliferation of miniature trains weaving their way through parks and greenspaces for the express delight of children and their adults, here in Austin or anywhere else, is there? What is the standard against which you judge the Zilker Zephyr? The amusement train in your imagination? Do you ding the star rating because there is no bizarre concrete statuary/​yard art along the train route, as I would insist there be if I were a miniature train magnate? Or that all the children do not get conductor hats upon purchase of a ticket? Or the lack of a kindly lady pushing a cart of snacks, a la the Hogwarts Express? Give us some Bertie Botts every flavor jelly beans, Zilker Zephyr, and you’ll get your fifth star from me.
Seriously, though, I found this to be well worth the expense ($ 3 adult, $ 2 children) to spend 25 fairly scenic minutes with my family. My wife, my toddler, and I were all fairly enchanted!

We’ve lived in Austin for about 10 years now. We have loved the Zephyr train, the playground and Zilker park immensely. However, the last few times we’ve visited there has been a really bad bee problem. They hover around filled trash cans and they are close to the train station where you wait in line. Yesterday, my 3 year old was stung beside her eye. With most stings, the swelling increased over the day. Today she can barely open her eye and kinda looks like Rocky Balboa. I think it’s a good idea for the city to look at options for dealing with the bees. I know it happens and it’s no one’s fault. But we didn’t get a very good reception from the train’s management when we called to let them know. We’ll steer clear of there now unfortunately.

The train’s always a fun thing to do with the little ones. I think it lasts about 30 minutes.

I’m giving a 3 because while it can be fun and entertaining for the kids the day we went our ride was delayed 15 minutes because the train wasn’t ready so that made my kids ancy and once we got going it was great and fun until… The train broke down and the girl driving it looked like she wasn’t sure how to handle that but she got it up … Then we broke down again and she got it up at this point its starting to sprinkle and I started to worry about making it back to get my kids to the car so she got it up again and at this point it if stopped again I was done its raining and I have to get my kids to the car … Well it stopped again and started pouring so I got off and ran my kids to the car as fast as I could so I could avoid sick kids later and had my mother in law ask for a refund only to be told no you rode the whole way … Not wanting to argue we left … No we didn’t get to ride the whole way, we broke down numerous times, and we got stuck in the rain what started out fun ended up not fun and we got soaked

A must-​do with kiddos (and their visiting relatives). It’s $ 3 for adults and $ 2 for kids. Be aware that if you arrive to find that the next train ride is sold out you’ll have to kill time before buying tickets for the later train; they don’t sell tickets until the sold-​out train leaves the «station.» The good news is that kids will be happy to play at the playground while you wait.
My only advice is not to try to squish two adults and a kiddo into one seat. Hips don’t lie — ouch!

My daughter loooooves to ride this train. Whenever we are entertaining out of town guests, I always take them down to Zilker. The train is fun for everyone. Kids of all ages. Plus, you can’t beat the price.

Love Love Love to ride the train! Such a fun way to spend a nice day in one of Austin’s favorite attractions! If you can stand the heat while you wait for it to go the ride is breezy as it winds it’s way through Zilker park along the spring and Lady Bird lake. Austin’s downtown skyline lends a backdrop against lush trees that line the park. Don’t forget to tip the one man band that entertains the passengers as you roll by.

My kids love this ride. Honestly, I think it’s overrated. Barely anything to see and no comments from the driver of the train at all. At least, he could mention what we would see, the activities that go on around the area, good places to visit once the ride is over. I could walk and make this trajectory more interesting, saving me the money and the headache to wait in a table full of bees. But as I said in the beginning the kids love it so… I guess I will keep doing it until they realize how boring and uninteresting it is.

This is one of my favorite toddler (and probably, later on, big kid) activities. It gives me a bit to just sort of relax, while my daughter takes in the scenery and all the goings-​on of the train itself. She loves it in a calm, wide-​eyed, observing it all kind of way! On a nice day, this is a glorious way to kick back for a little while with some other mamas and babes.
The staff has always been very friendly and, in case you’re like me and never have cash, there’s an ATM so there’s no need to race around S Austin trying to find one in a convenience store 10 minutes away and nearly miss the train. Ah-​hem.

Calling out Sarah Z…
«…there are other places to ride the train with much less stress on the parents…»
So, now riding a train that moves 7mph through a nice park in one of the best cities in America is stressful? I don’t know what to say.
Take the kids here and enjoy the ride, or hate America like Sarah Z.

We loved the train ride! It was pretty cheap (Like $ 3 for adults and $ 2 for kids, if I recall) and my son had a great time. It is probably 20 or so minutes long and you get a great view of the park. Definitely worth the price paid.

This was a fun experience. My one year old enjoyed it, quietly staring wide eyes. There was a nice breeze and lots of friendly people waving along the way. My husband and I enjoyed it too. Nice break from running around!

26 minutes of fun for kids for pretty cheap — kept our 6 year old and baby entertained the whole way as we just stared out at the park and surroundings. The tunnels and going under the bridge are a nice touch if your kid is into trains at all.
Definitely worth it given the price. Just remember if you want to go the schedule may vary, so take a look at the posted sign on the «train depot» before you start your other plans at the park. We missed the first train we wanted and had to wait another 45 minutes — which is fine, we had other things to do at the park, but had we been paying attention it would have been easier :-)

I took my almost-​3 year old on the train a few days after Christmas and he loved it. He’s always been into trains so it was a good bet that he’d enjoy it. Plus, my boy loved playing on the playscapes next to the train depot as we waited for departure time.
It actually turned out to be the perfect time to go because the Trail of Lights displays were still up in Zilker park. So chugging by them all provided great entertainment during our ride. And without the hassle/​crowds that came with our trip to Zilker several nights earlier. Definitely worth the cheap price of admission — a total of $ 5 for the both of us. And best of all, I came out looking like Dad of the year to my son.

Little train.
Cheap.
2 Tunnels.
A toddler’s dream come true and for $ 2/​kid $ 3/​adult, it’s very doable. The track is simple and scenic and perfect timing. The trains left every thirty minutes on a Saturday so it wasn’t a terrible wait. I’ll be back!

First of all, it’s a mini train. You know you want to ride it. Not as spectacular of a ride as the train at Brackenridge in San Antonio (or at least what it used to be), but still a fun ride down Barton Creek to where it pours into Lady Bird Lake and back. I’ve been a few times where someone is standing at the end playing music. Not sure if they’re there by request, or hoping for someone to pitch money at them.
The only reason this doesn’t get 5 stars is what you have to go through to get on the thing. They should sell tickets for specific times so you don’t have to sit there like a vulture waiting to get on. It can get hard trying to keep the kids there, waiting.

It’s an easy fun few hour activity to do with the kids if you include playing on the playscape, which is a great distraction while waiting for your train to depart!
I’ve never had difficulty parking and I think the trains run on the hour during the weekends.

As part of little Rooster’s birthday week we took him to ride the train at Zilker. Sometimes he gets scared of moving machines like the forklifts at Daddy’s work; but no problems with the train.
He sat very still holding Jenny’s hand checking out the park and waving at folks as we passed by. I think in fact we’re going back this morning to do it again. Add in the nearby playscape and its kids heaven.
One star deducted for the lame answering machine with no information. We called several times only to find out we had 7 minutes to get there and we were at mopac and slaughter. We ran from the car down the hill just in time to get tickets for the first ride.