THE POLAR EXPRESS
MAINE NARROW GAUGE INITIATING SERVICE TO THE NORTH POLE

"Well, are you coming?" asks the conductor.
"Where?"
"Why, to the North Pole, of course. This is The Polar Express!"

Pajama clad passengers will board trains bound for the North Pole at more than twenty railroads nationwide this holiday season! This year, Portland’s own Maine Narrow Gauge plans to be one of those trains once again!

Portland’s own Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad (MNGRR) will be one of a select number of railroads nationwide this Christmas season to transport pajama-clad passengers bound for the North Pole! And this year, the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine (CMTM) has come on board as partner and will bring its own theatrical, children-friendly talents to the event. Tickets are available now via PortTix.

The Polar Express will come to life with some exciting changes when it begins its schedule of trips from Portland to the North Pole, a run that will begin at Thanksgiving and go right up to Christmas Eve.

Decorations along the trains’ route will still light up the night. But this year there will be several enhancements that will make the experience even more magical.

Santa will be joining guests on the ride back to the train station from a special outpost of the North Pole. During the ride, Santa will give out the special bell to guests. In addition to Santa, guests on The Polar Express will also meet the conductor, have hot chocolate and cookies, watch a theater reading of the magical story and sing carols.

This year will feature the addition of a First Class Coach, with limited seating, in which guests will drink their hot chocolate in official Polar Express mugs, which become theirs to keep. The MNGRR and CMTM also plan on featuring other activities and entertainment for guests to enjoy while they await their turn to ride on The Polar Express and after the trip is over, for those who accompany Santa back to the Train Station for pictures.

The Polar Express schedule starts the day after Thanksgiving and includes Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for three long weekends, then runs for seven straight days from December 17 through December 23 for a total of 18 days and as many as 67 excursions leading up to Christmas Eve.

MNGRR and CMTM are pleased to partner with Rail Events Inc., through Warner Brothers Consumer Products, to bring the officially licensed Polar Express event back to Portland this year! The holiday film, The Polar Express, originally released in 2004 by Warner Bros. Pictures, is an inspiring adventure based on the beloved 1985 children’s book, by Chris Van Allsburg.

Based on THE POLAR EXPRESS™ book and characters TM & © 1985 by Chris Van Allsburg. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s09)

For tickets, call PortTix at (207) 842-0800, or go online at www.PortTix.com. (Telephone and online orders are subject to a service fee). Tickets can also be purchased at the PortTix window in Merrill Auditorium at City Hall in Portland. Learn more about The Polar Express Train Ride Event by calling the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine at (207) 828-1234 ext. 233, the Maine Narrow Gauge at (207) 828-0814 or by visiting www.mngrr.org or www.polarexpressride.com.

Schedule:
•     Friday, Saturday, Sunday: November 27, 28, 29 pm, 4:00, 5:15, 6:30, 7:45 (No 7:45 on Sundays)
•     Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, December 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10, 11, 12, 13:
      (No 4:00 and 7:45 trains on Thursday or 7:45 train on Sunday)
•     Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, December 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23: December 22 & 23 will be wait-listed until the week before for rescheduling cancellations (see cancellation policy below).

Prices:
•     $26/Adult, $24/Child;
•     Child pricing is for children 2-12
•     One-year olds and under are free.
•     First Class: $40 for both children and adults

First Class:
      Our coach #15, a newly-restored combination passenger-baggage coach will be First Class. There will be 20 seats/tickets in that coach; they will cost $40 for both children and adults. For this, riders receive their hot chocolate in a special mug not available for sale, which they get to take home with them.

Cancellation policy:

Cancellations will be broadcast by the usual media outlets, no later than noon the day of the cancellation. They may also be posted on our website by noon that day.

In case of cancellations because of weather or equipment failure, the last two days of the event, December 22 and 23, have been set aside to re-book cancelled parties. This event supports Portland’s two premier nonprofit children’s venues, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum (MNGRR) and the Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine (CMTM). Therefore, if you are unable to reschedule cancelled tickets to the two days held for that specific purpose, we are able to give you a tax receipt for the donation of the ticket price to our institutions instead of refunding those tickets.