The Santa Claus Special departs at 2:00 PM on the following Saturdays and Sundays:

Boarding begins at 1:00 PM each day and all guests are requested to be aboard by 1:45 PM. The train will depart promptly at 2:00 PM and return to Parrish approximately 3:30 PM.

Be sure to allow extra travel time for traffic, parking, ticket pickup and boarding.

Tickets are valid for round-trip travel from Parrish. Children under 1 traveling without a ticket must ride on a lap.

The Party Caboose is available for exclusive charter and accommodates up to 16 guests with one flat charge. Find out more about the caboose.

Group and reciprocal program discounts are not valid during special events.

A ticketing fee applies to online and telephone purchases. The fee is based on the ticket price and ranges from $2.00 to $2.50, per ticket.

All children ages one and up must have a ticket for the Santa Claus Special.

Children under the age of one ride ride with our compliments, no ticket is required. Children traveling without a ticket must ride on a lap. If you wish to secure a seat for a child under the age of one, simply purchase a child ticket.

The Santa Claus Special features two classes of service and the Party Caboose.

First Class

• Location: Car 5416
• Assigned seats at time of reservation.
• Enclosed coach with air conditioning and heating.
• Large, comfortable, upholstered seats that recline.
• Lots of leg room and a foot rest.

Excursion Class

• Location: Car 821 - Refurbished Seats!
• Assigned seats at time of reservation.
• Comfortable, newly upholstered seats with foot rest.
• Open-window coach.

Coach Class

• Location: Cars 3518, 3572, 6324, 86902 & 91982
• Seats assigned by coach car at time of reservation.
• First come, first served seating at boarding.
• Cars 3518 & 3572: Open-window coaches.
• Cars 6324, 86902 & 91982: Open-air covered coaches.

Party Caboose

• Private caboose for your exclusive use.
• 16 passenger capacity, including adults and children.
• Bring your own food, non-alcoholic drinks and decorations.
• Caboose has tables, restroom and running water.
• Open windows, doors and fans for ventilation.
• Museum host provided for safety and to assist in boarding/detraining.

Step-free boarding is available via ramp into Car #86902. Guests with difficulty walking long distances should choose Coach Class seating in Car #3518 or Car #86902 to minimize walking through the train.

Wheelchairs can only be accommodated in the open-air Car #86902. Space is extremely limited and reservations for wheelchairs are only available through the Ticket Office.

Please contact us if anyone in your party has other special needs. We will do our best to ensure everyone has a great trip with Santa Claus.

This website is the fastest and easiest way to make reservations with an American Express, MasterCard or Visa credit/debit card. Reservations may also be made over the phone and on weekends at the Museum’s Parrish Ticket Office.

Wheelchair space is available in very limited quantities and may only be reserved by calling the Ticket Office.

The Ticket Office telephone number is 941-776-0906.

If you choose to call on September 5^th, please expect hold times as our volunteers will be handling many calls that day.

The Museum is happy to exchange tickets to another date and time at no charge. Ticket exchanges are subject to inventory availability.

If you are no longer able to use your tickets for the time purchased please contact the Museum immediately by telephone or in person at the Parrish Ticket Office to preserve the value of your tickets. Exchanges must be completed at least 48 hours prior to the ticketed departure time. Within 48 hours of departure, tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded.

If the tickets have been picked up, please bring them to the Ticket Office to complete the exchange. Tickets reserved but not picked up may be exchanged over the phone.

When exchanging tickets, the value of each original ticket will be applied towards each new ticket. The difference in fare will be collected if the new ticket has a higher fare; no refund or credit will be issued when the new ticket has a lower fare.

Tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE. Ticketing fees are NON-REFUNDABLE.

All tickets are held at the Parrish Ticket Office for Will-Call pickup on the day of departure. The Ticket Office opens two hours prior to train departure.

The Ticket Office closes for Will-Call pick up 20 minutes prior to departure. Tickets not picked up by this time are subject to cancellation.

Plan to arrive at the station at least ONE HOUR before departure. This will allow time for unexpected traffic, parking, ticket pick up and boarding. The train will depart on-time and cannot be held for late arriving guests.

Parking is free. Please do not leave valuables in your vehicle. The Museum is not responsible for theft, damage, or loss from any parked vehicle.

Boarding for the Santa Claus Special begins at 1 PM.

Coach Class seating is first come, first served within your assigned car. Excursion Class guests have reserved seat assignments in Car 5416.

Accessible parking and restrooms are available at the station. The boarding ramp to Car #6 is adjacent to accessible parking.

The entire station area is a fairly level grass field. Please use extra caution with wheelchair and mobility impaired guests in your party.

We regret the Ticket Office/Gift Shop is not accessible at this time.

There are accessible restrooms available at the Parrish station. Due to very limited facilities on the train, please use the station restrooms prior to boarding.

Your safety is our first and foremost responsibility. Please take a few moments to pay special attention to the safety announcements at the beginning of your journey.

Keep the following in mind while riding our trains:

• Use both hands and provided hand holds when boarding, walking between cars and leaving the train.
• Accompany children at all times.
• Wear shoes at all times.
• No running on the train.
• Keep all parts of your body inside open windows and do not extend hands, arms, feet, legs or heads over the edge of open-air cars.
• Do not stand on seats or sit on ledges.

The open-air and window coaches are not climate controlled. The open-air cars are directly exposed to weather and wind from the train’s movement. The windows in the open-window coaches will be adjusted according to the weather, but these cars are not heated or cooled. Excursion Class is fully enclosed with heating and air conditioning. Please check the weather and dress accordingly.

With the exception of baby, special dietary and allergy requirements, outside food, beverages and coolers are not permitted onboard the train.

Light snacks and cold soda, juices and water are available for purchase in the gift shop and onboard the train.

Due to limited space, strollers and coolers are not permitted on the train. Small soft-sided coolers are permitted in conjunction with the food exceptions listed above.

If you need to bring a bag, please pack a reasonable size that will comfortably fit on your lap. The train will be full and not all cars have sufficient overhead or underseat storage. The Museum reserves the right to deny boarding of oversized items.

Please use the restrooms available at the station prior to boarding the train. There are only two restrooms available on the train and they shoud be considered for emergency use only given the sold out nature of the train. We regret the onboard restrooms are not wheelchair accessible.

Smoking is prohibited onboard the train including the restrooms and vestibules.