Englewood Holiday Express: Worth the Ticket Hunt in 2024

Every December I start getting questions about what to do with little kids around Christmas in Denver. There's no shortage of options, but most of them either cost a small fortune or underwhelm once you're actually there. The Englewood Holiday Express kept coming up enough times that I finally made it out, and I get why people keep talking about it.

The short version: $12 gets you unlimited train rides, pictures with Santa, s'more stations, and enough Christmas atmosphere to satisfy even the most hyped-up five-year-old. That price point alone made me curious. Most comparable holiday experiences around Denver are two or three times that before you factor in parking and whatever overpriced hot cocoa they're selling near the entrance.

Getting Tickets Is the Hard Part

I'll lead with the one real friction point here — tickets sell out every year. That's not marketing language, that's just reality. If you're reading this in mid-December thinking you'll grab some for this weekend, there's a decent chance you've already missed your window. The move is to set a reminder for when they go on sale and actually act on it. Families who've done this a few years in a row know the drill.

It's the kind of event where the demand has clearly outpaced the capacity, which is a good sign for the quality of the experience but an annoying logistical hurdle for anyone coming in without a plan. Worth checking availability early if you have kids in the right age range for this.

What the Experience Is Actually Like

Once you're there, the unlimited train rides are the centerpiece. For small kids, riding a train is already a win on its own. Add Christmas lights and holiday decorations and you've got something that genuinely holds their attention in a way that a lot of holiday events struggle to do. The repetition isn't a bug — kids want to ride again, and with unlimited rides, you don't have to be the parent telling them no.

The s'more stations were a solid addition. There's something about making s'mores in a cold December that just works, and it gives families a natural pause between rides without the whole thing feeling like it's dragging. Pictures with Santa round out the experience, and having that included in the base price rather than sold separately is a nice touch. At a lot of these events, the Santa photo is where they get you for another $20-30 on top of everything else.

Who This Is Actually For

This is squarely aimed at families with younger kids — I'd say roughly two to eight years old is probably the sweet spot. If your kids are older and too cool for Santa, this probably isn't their scene. But for the families with little ones who are deep in the Christmas magic phase, it's a pretty easy call if you can get tickets.

The Englewood location makes it accessible from most of the south Denver suburbs without much of a haul. It's not a downtown destination, which honestly works in its favor — parking and logistics are less of a headache than they'd be if this were happening in the middle of the city.

Final Take

At $12 with unlimited train rides, Santa photos, and s'mores included, the Englewood Holiday Express is one of the better values in the Denver area holiday activity landscape. The experience is straightforward and well-suited for what it's trying to be. The only real downside is the ticket availability situation, which requires some planning ahead.

If you've got small kids and you're looking for something that won't require much convincing from them or much money from you, this is worth getting on your radar before next year's tickets drop. Put the sale date in your calendar and actually follow through — the families who've been doing this annually clearly figured that part out already.