A mom was left disappointed after she took a trip with her two sons to experience the Polar Express to meet Santa Claus.

Gina Rawling Jones, 34, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said she paid $195 for an “expensive laugh” after taking her two boys on a festive Christmas Trip on the Polar Express train ride at Telford Steam Railway in Shropshire.

The mom-of-two said her sons Harley, 12, and Jonas, 9 got more than they bargained for when Santa made his way through the carriage. Gina’s children burst out laughing when Santa began walking down the carriage to hand out bells like in the 2004 movie, The Polar Express.

The mother had to say that Santa had to get his brother to step in for the event due to how little the character looked like Santa Claus. The rest of the one-and-half-hour experience was filled with reenactments from the Polar Express.

She took to Facebook the following day and warn the other parents on the said experience, writing: “When you pay $195 to see Santa then have to explain to your child that it must be his brother helping out tonight, as I’ve heard he straightens his tash.”

The said post has attracted over 4,400 likes and more than 2,600 comments from amused social media users. One person commented: “Maybe he was being Covid secure, so he couldn’t go to the barbers, and maybe Mrs. Claus had to stand in as a barber.”

A second commenter said: “I would have been disappointed with the whole situation as the carriage doesn’t look great either. What a ripoff. Where was this just so I don’t make the mistake for next year?”

“Their faces. This is the thing; you pay all of this money and then you get someone who is young dressed as someone who is supposed to be old. We’re going to end up having kids not believing earlier purely because of how badly dressed the “Santas” are”, the third added.

Another said: “That’s one creepy Santa. I’m traumatized for life now. I can’t possibly imagine how any of the kids felt when his face met theirs, and at $195 too. Literally daylight robbery.”

It appears that Gina’s train ride may have not been a one-off thing as another parent posted an image of the Santa that her children met on another Polar Express train ride, complete with a bushy beard.

Gina said: “We got hot chocolate and cookies, as we went up and down the railway line. The actors dressed as cooks and danced up and down the walkway, then Father Christmas arrived and my children burst out laughing.”

She continued: “I turned around and couldn’t believe his mustache. We got back to the station and went home $195 poorer. It’s the most expensive laugh we’ve paid for.”

“Luckily, I’ve always said “I wonder if we will see the real-deal Santa tonight, or if it will be a stand-in as he gets busy” this eliminates too much disappointment,” she added.

Another mom, Melissa Evans, 35, from Staffordshire, is demanding a refund from Telford Steam Railways’ Polar Express experience as she claims their Santa turned her daughter and niece into “non-believers”.

She also shared an image on Facebook along with a scathing review declaring that the actor “looked nothing like Santa”, with his trim figure and short grey beard.

She accused Telford Steam Railways of “ripping people off and making a killing on a very shoddy show”. She launched a formal complaint and is now hoping to receive at least a partial refund.

She spent $180 on tickets for her partner Adam Evans, 31, her nine-month-old daughter Mylah-Jane, four-year-old stepdaughter Amelia and seven-year-old niece to attend the “disappointing” Polar Express train ride.