McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park Holiday Lights 2026: Tickets Open Oct. 27

"This event sells out every year." That line sits near the bottom of the Holiday Lights page on McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park's website. It's the park's own claim, and it's printed under a schedule that opens on November 27. The date that matters comes a month earlier. Wristbands for Holiday Lights 2026 go on sale Tuesday, October 27, at 8 a.m., through the City of Scottsdale's ActiveNet system.

For anyone who lives near 7301 E. Indian Bend Road, that changes how the park's holiday season works. The lights used to be something you could decide on the same evening. Now you choose your December night in late October, while the Halloween event is still running on the same tracks.

October 27 is when you get your night

Here is what the park has posted for Holiday Lights 2026:

• Dates: November 27 through December 30
• Hours: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• Closed: December 24 and 25
• Price: $15 per person ages 3 and older, free for children 2 and younger
• Included: train and carousel rides, with a wristband required for every rider
• On sale: October 27 at 8 a.m. via ActiveNet
• Members: $5 off tickets

That works out to 32 evenings of lights, and every one of them goes on sale the same morning, a full month before the first one. November 27 falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so the season opens on the holiday weekend and runs to the night before New Year's Eve.

The park suggests creating an ActiveNet account ahead of time to speed up checkout. One thing to check when tickets go live: the 2026 page lists the dates under a "Holiday Lights 2026" heading, but a line in the event details still reads "November 27 – December 30, 2025." The headline dates match the park's usual pattern, but confirm your date in ActiveNet before you pay. Questions about tickets go to [email protected].

How a train ride became a reservation

The October on-sale date is the latest step in a format the park has been tightening for years. The record shows how it changed.

2018. ABC15's holiday lights roundup that year listed Holiday Lights at the Railroad Park from November 30, 2018, to January 6, 2019. Train rides were $5 each, with a $15 fast-pass option. You paid per ride, and the season ran past New Year's. A city ActiveNet notice from that period warned that the park's lot filled quickly and pointed visitors to extra parking across Indian Bend Road.

2024. The city's 2024 ActiveNet listing described "limited capacity and staggered entrance times," with three entry slots at 6, 7 and 8 p.m., and said the park would be "exclusively for ticket holders during their designated time slot." Tickets were $15, with a $10 offer on select weeknights in the 8 p.m. slot. Registration that year opened November 1.

2025. The 2025 listing set the season at November 28 to December 30, with four entry times: 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Price stayed at $15 for ages 3 and older. Registration moved up to October 27 at 8 a.m. The listing described timed entry as a way of "ensuring comfortable crowd levels."

2026. Same price, same October 27 on-sale date, and a November 27 opening.

Over that stretch the season got shorter at the back end, from early January to December 30. The on-sale date moved from November 1 to October 27, and admission went from paying per ride to one wristband, sold for timed entry slots in 2024 and 2025. The 2026 page doesn't list entry times, so timed slots aren't confirmed for this year. The four slots above are from 2025, and the $10 weeknight ticket is from 2024. Neither has been announced for 2026.

The on-sale date lands during Spook-Track-Ula

This post publishes the week before October 27, and Spook-Track-Ula, the park's Halloween event, runs every night through October 31, 6 to 9:30 p.m. That puts the Holiday Lights on-sale date in Spook-Track-Ula's final five nights.

The Halloween event uses timed entry this year. Entry times are 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30 and 8 p.m., with check-in opening 10 minutes before each one. Tickets have been on sale through ActiveNet since September 1. The price matches Holiday Lights: $15 per person, free for age 2 and younger, $5 off for members. The wristband covers unlimited train and carousel rides.

Spook-Track-Ula has two new attractions this year:

• A haunted walk through the train cars. The park lists jump scares, eerie lighting and sound effects. It calls this the most intense part of the event and says it's best for older children and adults.
• A Storybook Train Ride on the River Rambler. A kid-friendly story with Engineer Bones and Choo Choo Charley, riding through the front of the park. It loads near the Roundhouse, with warm apple cider and a sweet treat for the ride.

The park warns that the Halloween event uses fog, haze, lighting and sound effects, with displays that include spiders, clowns, witches and aliens. That's useful to know before you bring younger children. If you already have a Spook-Track-Ula slot for late October, you'll be at the park around the time Holiday Lights tickets open.

What the wristband covers, and what isn't announced yet

The Holiday Lights wristband gets you onto the Paradise & Pacific Railroad for the ride through the lights, plus the carousel. The rest of the evening costs extra or is free:

• S'more Land: a fire you can sit beside while the train passes and holiday music plays. S'more kits are $8 each.
• Food and drinks: sold at Hartley's General Store and from food trucks.
• Model Railroad Building: open during the event for the miniature train displays.

Some details aren't out yet. The page says "Santa is back this year!" but lists his meet-and-greet dates and times as TBD. The Grinch is also scheduled for dates TBD. The park says to check back for a calendar of extras such as live entertainment, characters and activations.

That means you buy your night on October 27 before you know which nights have Santa.

Why the park books its busiest season a month ahead

The bigger reason is attendance. KTAR, in its August 2025 report on the park's reopening, said the park serves about one million guests and brings in about $2.5 million a year. It also said the park's biggest draw is from October to April. Holiday Lights and Spook-Track-Ula fall inside that peak, at night, on a property with one entrance and a parking lot the city has warned fills up.

That KTAR story also covered what changed last year. Scottsdale voters approved the renovation in 2019, and $13.1 million went mainly to a 5,000-square-foot splash pad, which the city called "the most requested enhancement," and an indoor playground. The entrance got new seating, restrooms and trees. It also got a three-dimensional mural by Arizona artist Kristine Kollasch: a desert scene with a 9-foot cactus and an overhanging light that serves as the divider of a bench.

The renovation finished in summer 2025. This fall is only the second Halloween and holiday season since then, and the park is filling those months with more. Spook-Track-Ula added two new attractions this year, and Holiday Lights has Santa, the Grinch and a calendar of extras still to be announced. With more to see during the busiest months, wristband-only entry and the early on-sale date matter more.

What to do before 8 a.m. on October 27

1. Set up your ActiveNet account this week. The park asks buyers to have one ready before checkout.
2. Choose a few possible nights ahead of time. There are 32 nights between November 27 and December 30, with no event December 24 and 25.
3. Count your under-3s separately. Children 2 and younger get in free. Last year's listing said they didn't need to be registered, so check this year's checkout for the same rule.
4. Check the date on your confirmation against November 27 to December 30, 2026, since part of the park's page still shows the 2025 dates.
5. If you're a member, look for the $5 discount at checkout.
6. Check the park's page again later for Santa and Grinch dates, both still listed as TBD.

The lights come on November 27 at 5:30 p.m., and tickets for every night go on sale October 27 at 8 a.m.

Living a few minutes from Railroad Park means its calendar shapes your year, from the Halloween train to the December lights. Knowing how the neighborhood around McCormick Ranch actually works is part of what Sue Shapiro brings to every conversation, whether you're settled here for good or thinking about what comes next. Let's Connect.