Ty Swartout is a non-verbal autistic teen who loves the book and film “The Polar Express.” So the 18-year-old’s parents were overjoyed when they finally got the chance to take him to the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel’s Polar Express in Williams, Arizona this year.

Dressed in plaid pajamas, Ty made the 4-hour drive with his parents and service dog. But it appears the trip was simply too much for him and the overstimulated teen had a meltdown on the train platform.

In a Facebook post, Ty’s mom Angie Swartout described the scene:

“He was so excited that he became overwhelmed and had an atomic size meltdown. He beat me and his dad up pretty badly. A wonderful woman helped us by holding our stuff while we tried to keep Ty from smashing his head on the bricks. The staff of the Grand Canyon Railway tried so hard to help. They even held the train. Finally, I had to say let’s go back to the room. I cried all the way back. My heart was shattered. I wanted this so badly for my son. He loves trains and he loves the Polar Express. This was a dream come true. But it didn’t happen.”

Even though staff offered to seat the family in a quieter space and tried to hold the train until the teen settled down, the family had to let them go.

“They weren’t going to leave until we got him on there,” Swartout told CNN. “We made the decision at that point to go ahead and let them go … It’s not fair to everyone else that’s on the train.”

Lucky for the Swartout family, the train and hotel’s staff knew how to make Christmas dreams come true.

A police officer and staff member stopped by the room to make sure all was well and then told the family they were invited back – on the house! They even helped Ty’s dad reschedule a new trip.

Already in tears from the ordeal, Angie cried yet again at the show of generosity, which didn’t end there.

Once Ty was fully calm and in bed, Angie curled up with her son and read him The Polar Express. When she was done, her husband returned with a special guest.

“I had just finished when my husband came back in and he said that there was someone special that wanted to visit. Ty and I shook our head yes and in walks the train conductor. He sat next to Ty’s bed and chatted with him. Ty was star struck. He was so excited and happy. Then the conductor gave Ty his pocket watch!” Angie recalled in her Facebook post that’s now been shared over a quarter of a million times.

And the family did, indeed, return to the hotel and the train – and this time Ty had a wonderful time.

The staff went far out of their way to make his second time special, setting up dinner for the family with The Conductor and taking Ty on a special private tour before his ride.

Ty got to check out the train in advance as well as get seated before the commotion of the rest of the guests began, so this time it was a lot less overwhelming for him.

He also settled down upon a reading of his favorite book by The Conductor himself.

Ty’s return trip was capped off with a greeting from Old St. Nick himself and Ty and his parents were thrilled at the generosity of the staff and the wonderful evening they provided for their special needs son.

Be sure to scroll down below to see Angie Swartout’s original, now-viral viral post.

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Source: Western Journal, CNN, Angie Swartout via Facebook