Holiday Lights 2026 at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park runs November 27 through December 30, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., at $15 per person for ages 3 and older, according to the official event page. Last season, the City of Scottsdale sold that ticket by entry hour.
On the City's ActiveNet registration system, buyers picked one of four 2025 entry times: 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 or 8:30 p.m. The 7:30 p.m. slot on December 10, 2025, for example, had its own listing, its own one-hour session and its own registration window. So the real choice is an hour on a specific evening, and the hour sets how much of the park you'll actually get to enjoy.
The Entry Time Sets the Length of the Evening
The 2025 listing presented timed entry as a way to keep "comfortable crowd levels so everyone can fully experience the sights, sounds, and festive fun throughout the park." The same listing kept the event hours at 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Because the park closes at 9:30 p.m. no matter when you arrive, each entry time comes with a different amount of evening.
| 2025 entry time | Time before the 9:30 p.m. close |
|---|---|
| 5:30 p.m. | Four hours |
| 6:30 p.m. | Three hours |
| 7:30 p.m. | Two hours |
| 8:30 p.m. | One hour |
All four entry times cost the same $15, and each ticket includes the Paradise & Pacific Railroad train ride and the carousel. Wristbands are required for every rider. An 8:30 p.m. ticket and a 5:30 p.m. ticket buy the same rides. What changes is the time left over for everything else.
The rest of the evening takes time. The 2026 page lists S'more Land, a fire pit near the tracks where $8 S'more Kits are sold while the train passes and holiday music plays. Food and drinks are sold at Hartley's General Store and at food trucks, and the Model Railroad Building is open for its miniature train displays. The page also says Santa will return, with meet-and-greet dates and times still listed as TBD, and that the Grinch will make appearances on dates also still TBD. A family planning a train ride, a s'mores stop and a Santa photo in one evening is planning for one of the two earlier entry times.
What the 2026 Page Confirms, and What It Still Carries Over
The official Holiday Lights page was updated on October 8, 2026. These details are listed under the 2026 heading:
- Dates: November 27 through December 30, with no Holiday Lights on December 24 or 25
- Hours: 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Price: $15 per person ages 3 and older, free for children 2 and younger, with train and carousel rides included
- Sale: "October 27 at 8:00 AM" via ActiveNet
- Demand: "This event sells out every year"
Two lines on the same page come from last season. The Event Details section still reads "November 27 – December 30, 2025." The sale line doesn't give a year, and October 27 at 8:00 a.m. is exactly when 2025 registration opened on ActiveNet. The page doesn't yet describe 2026 entry times either. The four-slot setup above is last season's, and the City hasn't said whether it will repeat.
By the time this post goes up on Thursday, October 29, the October 27 date has passed if it applies to 2026. Either way, the live event page and ActiveNet are the sources to check. The page also suggests creating an ActiveNet account in advance to speed up checkout.
The sale date has already moved once. In 2024, registration for a December 13 evening opened on November 1, 2024. In 2025, sales opened on October 27. That puts the start of ticket sales about five days earlier in the fall than it was two seasons ago.
Thirty-Two Nights, Divided Four Ways
The 2026 calendar runs from the Friday after Thanksgiving through December 30. That's 34 dates, and taking out December 24 and 25 leaves 32 event nights. If the four entry times carry over from 2025, the season adds up to 128 separate sessions.
Seen that way, "sells out every year" covers a lot of separate time slots. One evening can have a sold-out 5:30 p.m. slot and an open 8:30 p.m. slot. In 2025, registration stayed open until the evening of the session itself. The 7:30 p.m. slot on December 10, 2025, took registrations until 6:59 p.m. that day. For a household a few minutes from the Indian Bend Road entrance, a late slot on a weeknight is a realistic fallback when the early slots are gone.
Children 2 and younger got in free in 2025 without registering. A family with a toddler needs tickets only for everyone ages 3 and up.
The Members Only Night Sits Outside the Public Sale
There's one way into Holiday Lights that skips the public sessions entirely. The park's annual membership is run through the Scottsdale Railroad and Mechanical Society, and it includes an invitation to a Holiday Lights Members Only Night along with $5 off Holiday Lights tickets.
| Membership | Covers | Annual price |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | One person | $125 |
| Individual Plus | Two people | $175 |
| Family | Up to four people | $275 |
| Family Plus | Up to six people | $375 |
The membership page also lists a year of unlimited train and carousel rides during daytime hours, 10 timed visits to The Roundhouse, 15% off food and souvenirs, $5 off Halloween Spook-Track-Ula tickets and lower member pricing for other paid special events. Memberships are sold in person at Stillman Station or online, and members have to show their cards to get the benefits.
Whether membership pays for itself comes down to the other eleven months. Entry to the park is free on regular days. Each train or carousel ride costs one $3 ticket, an eight-ticket book is $20 and an all-day ride wristband is $12. According to the visitor page, entering The Roundhouse takes two tickets. The City's proposed FY 2026/27 rate and fee changes list a Roundhouse fee of $6 per hour, under a pilot that has been in place since August 1, 2025. For a household that already uses the park for weekend train rides and summer play, the Members Only Night comes with something they're paying for anyway. For a family that comes only for the lights, four public tickets cost $60.
This Is the Roundhouse's Second Holiday Season
The park looks different from the way it did a few winters ago. Its renovation added The Roundhouse, a 10,000-square-foot, train-themed indoor play space built around a locomotive-shaped play structure, along with a 5,000-square-foot splashpad and a new entry plaza, according to City Sun Times. ABC15 reported that the multimillion-dollar renovation was finished by the end of July 2025, with a ribbon-cutting set for August 1.
That makes the 2026 Holiday Lights the second season held around the rebuilt park, with a new entry plaza at the front and The Roundhouse inside.
Holiday Lights is one of the evenings that make this part of Scottsdale feel like home. At The Matchett Group, we pay attention to how places like McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park shape daily life around McCormick Ranch, from the streets that border the park to the seasonal traditions that fill a December calendar. If you'd like to talk about your home in the neighborhood or what's happening nearby, Schedule a Free Consultation with Preston.
