As a travel editor, few things make me prouder than taking my three-year-old daughter, Olivia, with me on the road. For someone her age, she’s spent an exorbitant number of nights in hotel rooms, and recently completed a two-week road trip across central Mexico with more composure than most American adults would be able to muster. Often, though, our travels aren’t solely focused around her, so it was with great excitement that my wife, Alisha, and I brought her four hours south of our home in Palisade, Colorado, to ride The Polar Express train in Durango. Running nightly from late November through early January, the experience is centered around the kid’s Christmas tale – and it does a fantastic job of bringing it to life. Here’s what to know about The Polar Express including what it’s like, how long it takes, and how much it costs.
I Took My Toddler on The Polar Express in Durango, and It Made a Believer Out of Us Both
What to know about The Polar Express in Durango
The “Hero Boy” gives a performance before the crowd boards the train. Photo: Tim Wenger
The first Polar Express train departs the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad station in downtown Durango in late November each year, with the 2024 season kicking off November 22 and ending January 4. Trains depart nightly at 4:55, 6:30, and 8:00 PM, with fares ranging from $39 to $93, depending on whether you book early, peak, or late season, and on which cabin you reserve (Coach, Deluxe, and First Class tickets are available). Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Passengers in all classes are served hot cocoa and cookies, and receive a commemorative Polar Express mug to take home.
Many kids, including Olivia, arrive in pajamas (some adults do, as well, though Alisha and I Scrooged out on that). The attitude is quite casual, but Santa hats are common and many people take the experience quite seriously – not just the kids. Nostalgia runs deep, we learned.
We arrived at the station about 15 minutes before boarding to pick up our tickets. Coffee and refreshments were available for purchase, and the D&SNGRR gift shop was, of course, open. After grabbing our tickets we headed out to the platform, which was packed with revelers awaiting the start of the show. Spirits were high – and not just because we’d just come from dinner and drinks at Steamworks Brewing Company a few blocks away – a festive and appropriately train-themed place to gather before the ride.
Getting into the Christmas spirit
The Big Guy himself was, of course, the star of the show. Photo: Tim Wenger
I often maintain a drab outer shell when it comes to festiveness, but come December a minor spritz of holiday spirit bursts through. It happened early this year, the exact moment being when a character portraying the “hero boy” from the Polar Express book (oddly enough, none of the book’s primary characters are actually named) took to a makeshift stage in front of the train. There, he belted out his reluctance to board the train that had parked in front of his house, or in this case, the downtown Durango train station.
By the time the Conductor joined him on the stage to nobly proclaim that, “Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see,” I was in full-on Christmas mode.
Olivia was, too. I hadn’t seen her this visibly enchanted since the first time I took her on public transit following weeks of her pointing out, “There goes the BUS!” each hour as it drove past our house. Olivia tends to go silent but wear a broad smile when she’s super excited. This was the case as we boarded the Polar Express and took our seats.
We sat in a Deluxe Class train car. The car was staffed by two young actresses, one dressed as a chef and the other as a steward. Over the ensuing 65 minutes they’d break into song some half-dozen times, accompanying each with a dance through the aisle. The journey began with a reenactment of the iconic scene where the “Hero Boy’s” train ticket is punched repeatedly, causing a flurry of snowflake-like shards of paper to fall upon him as though the roof had suddenly burst open amidst a blizzard. Olivia’s experience wasn’t quite as profound, but she did find herself covered with little bits of paper and refused to let go of the hole-punched ticket for the remainder of the night.
What it’s like to ride the Polar Express train in Durango
She spotted Santa before I did. Photo: Tim Wenger
Christmas carols dominated conversation throughout the trip. Iconic lines from “The Polar Express” echoed over the loudspeaker, in the voice of the Conductor himself. Hot chocolate was served as the train steamed slowly north through town, reaching the North Pole in Hermosa about half an hour later. As we approached, the stewardess instructed the kiddos to look out the windows opposite our seats. Sure enough, there was Santa, waving among a pack of elves. Chaos nearly ensued in the train car as the kids scrambled to get a glimpse of the “Big Guy.” Fortunately, the train pulled on past Santa’s home, maneuvered itself to head back the other direction, and passed Santa again, this time out the window on our side.
It slowed down momentarily. A dozen or so elves performed a dance in front of a Christmas-light-illuminated facade of Santa’s home and workshop. We then kept going, the kiddos screaming with delight as it was announced over the PA that Santa himself would be joining us for the ride back to the station. He delivered the iconic silver bell to each passenger, signifying the “first gift of Christmas.” The bell, along with the opportunity to take a photo with Santa, proved to be the highlight of the train ride for many of the kids on board, including mine.
The reindeer made for a memorable end to the night. Photo: Tim Wenger
We pulled back into the station in downtown Durango shortly over an hour after we’d departed. It felt as though we’d be gone a day, however, as the mood inside the train was exuberant. The kids rang their bells and sang along to the Christmas carols, the lyrics to each being presented to each party in a booklet. After disembarking from the train, we witnessed two young reindeers feeding in an enclosure, which instantly caught Olivia’s attention. Passing through the D&SNG Museum on our way out, there was one final opportunity to take a photo with Santa while perusing the historic train memorabilia and the most epic model train display I’ve ever seen – it covered a living-room-size space and necessitated a set of bleachers for the kids climb on in order to take it all in. Olivia was nearly overwhelmed with fascination at the entire experience.
“You know what this means,” Alisha said as we walked out of the station and into the night. “We’re going to have to come back every year.” 