The Southern California Polar Express Train Ride

About this event

Step inside a holiday classic! The Polar Express Train Ride is a magical re-creation of the classic children’s story on board a real train. Have your golden tickets ready for the Conductor. Guests are served hot chocolate and shortbread by dancing chefs, enjoy a reading of the classic book, and get a gift from Santa.

The train follows a route through the neighborhoods surrounding Perris during its trip to meet Santa. The on-board experience is approximately 1 hour, the whole experience (including the museum and train) runs around 2 hours. Note: this year’s event does not feature an outdoor North Pole set.

Families are encouraged to wear warm pajamas just like passengers from book and film. Passengers spend time on an unheated platform as they board and disembark from the train, so appropriate winter attire is also recommended.

There are two sensory friendly rides on November 24.These are the same as other performances, but with modifications to meet the needs of sensory sensitive guests, including softer audio levels, limited startling audio effects, limited strobe and flashing light effects, and some dialogue changes.

There are three tiers of departure: Value, Standard, and Premium. The only differences between departures are the dates and/or times of the rides. Lower demand departures are priced lower to offer those on a budget options and higher demand departures are priced accordingly. The event functions exactly the same on all departures and passengers enjoy the same experience .