Southern California might seem the furthest place from the North Pole (especially with its 70 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures in December), but every year since 2019 the Southern California Railway Museum has partnered with Rail Events Inc. to take thousands of passengers on a magical journey from Perris, CA to Santa Claus’ sleigh.
Families dress up in pajamas, conductors hand out golden round-trip tickets, and chefs dance while serving hot chocolate. That’s right–guests can leave the palm-tree-laden, strip-mall-filled suburbs of California’s Inland Empire for the hot-cocoa-and-cookie-laden, holiday-spirit-filled Polar Express!
“Our goal is to make it feel like you’ve actually stepped into the pages of the Polar Express book or the scenes of the movie,” said Jamie Ryan, director of marketing for Rail Events Inc., the company that organizes The Polar Express Ride. “If you’ve read the book or seen the movie, you’ll see a lot of familiar things, including little easter eggs to make the experience feel special.”
“This year we’re going to host over 60,000 guests at the Southern California location,” Ryan added. “And around the world this year, we are hosting 58 holiday events that will serve 1.7 million guests in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia.”
But running trips to the North Pole for thousands in Southern California and millions worldwide takes a lot of work. Ryan noted that for the Rail Events Inc. team, Christmas really is everyday.
“As soon as the Christmas season of one year concludes, we’re already getting ready and prepared for the next one.We live and breathe Christmas all year round,” Ryan said. “For the Southern California location alone, it usually takes about a week to set everything up on the property.”
Ryan detailed how much preparation and equipment is needed to fully develop the atmosphere and immersive theater of the Polar Express.
“We are essentially trying to perform a play onboard a moving train,” Ryan said. “We have a production manager and stage manager to make sure the show goes on. In each car, there’s different things happening at the same time for different guests, but they all add up to create the same story.”
“We also have 56 actors that work aboard the train,” Ryan continued. “Each year they have to audition for the role, and we need to make sure that we’re getting the best available entertainers in the area, so we have a really incredible cast.”
“There’s also a lot of lighting and sound equipment that has to be brought in for the event,” Ryan said. “We have a full semi-truck that rolls in with all the different lighting and sound that we need, not only onboard the train but also on the museum grounds.”
“Often we have to deal with different weather events, too,” Ryan added. “In Southern California where we don’t get a lot of snow (at least at lower elevations) we’ve had to deal with torrential rain.”
“But at events in other parts of the country we have had to deal with large amounts of snow. A little bit of snow can really make the event feel magical and inviting. But when we get more than a little, it can create some operational challenges for the train and challenges for people trying to get to the event. Luckily, in Southern California we don’t have to deal with quite as much of that.”
“In addition to hosting over 60,000 guests in Southern California, though, we also have to make over 60,000 cups of hot chocolate,” Ryan said. “It takes a lot of coordination to keep everything running on schedule and delivering a really memorable experience.”
Yet Ryan emphasized that the challenging work to plan, set up, rehearse, and run the Polar Express is worth it to see the positive impact on guests.
“The most rewarding part is getting to see the families spend time together,” Ryan said. “I’ve rode the Polar Express hundreds of times. And I would say my favorite part is just getting to see kids and families’ faces light up when Santa appears for the first time.”
“All children get an opportunity to talk to Santa,” Ryan explained. “Instead of going to the mall to wait for Santa, Santa comes to you. So each child receives the first gift of Christmas, a silver sleigh bell from Santa himself. And Santa spends a nice moment with each family, interacting with each child.”
“A really high percentage of our attendance is repeat attendees, too,” Ryan said. “We’ve had a lot of guests come back year after year, and they make it a family tradition. We’ve also had a lot of guests use it as an opportunity to celebrate a special occasion. One example that sticks out in my mind is that each year we generally have at least one or two marriage proposals. That’s always a really heart-warming, life-changing moment to see.”
Ryan made clear, too, that the Polar Express is intended to be an inclusive and interactive experience.
“We encourage all of our actors and onboard staff to interact with guests as much as they can,” Ryan said. “There’s different songs and activities where the staff will reach out with a microphone and ask each passenger to give their best Santa impression with a big ‘Ho, ho, ho!’ And there’s parts where they encourage the kids to get out in the aisles and dance or participate in some fun holiday games.”
“We have also worked with experts specializing in the autism spectrum and other sensory conditions to offer a Sensory Friendly Departure on December 20th,” Ryan said. “We make a lot of adjustments to the show for those performances, such as bringing the sound level down, muting some of our lighting effects that could be jarring. We are really just trying to create an environment that is welcoming for everybody. We are really proud to be able to offer those accommodations and keep expanding them.”
Many Polar Express guests shared similar sentiments to Ryan’s about their excitement and enjoyment of the ride.
Julieanna Sosa, a first-time and far-traveling guest, shared why she brought her family this year.
“This is our first time on the Polar Express,” Sosa said. “We live in Central California out by Fresno. My sister lives down here so we kind of made it a family trip.”
A returning guest to the Polar Express, Paula, also explained why she and her family keep coming back.
“We started watching Polar Express with our son Oliver when he was two. Then he’d want to watch it again and again. It has become one of our favorite Christmas movies,” Paula said.“We came last year and it was really magical so we thought we would come again. Plus, we are always excited for the hot chocolate.”
Jenny Farmer, a first-time guest, echoed Paula’s words.
“We are also excited for the hot chocolate,” Farmer said. “My kids love the movie, so doing this is really exciting for them.”
“A lot of people think that it’s just a train ride with some hot chocolate,” Ryan concluded. “But it’s much more than that. It’s a fully scripted show that’s completely immersive. We really encourage everyone to come out and experience it for themselves.”
