Scottsdazzle brings a public tree lighting and a live nativity to Scottsdale’s Old Town, while Christmas at the Princess turns a northern resort into a ticketed lights attraction. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park offers a train-led evening, and Talavera serves holiday meals at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North.
Choose your outing by the date you will actually be here. The wider Christmas season offers more choices than Christmas Eve and Christmas Day themselves, and the Old Town celebrations and northern resorts call for different evening travel plans.
Christmas dates and advance planning
- Christmas holidays
- Christmas Eve: 24 December. Christmas Day: 25 December.
- Scottsdazzle season
- Late November through December
- Princess season
- November to early January
- Free celebrations
- Scottsdazzle tree lighting and Old Adobe Mission live nativity
- Paid outings
- Christmas at the Princess and railroad park Holiday Lights
- Railroad ticket release
- Online on 1 November at 8am, through ActiveNet
The holiday dates are fixed, but the celebrations extend beyond them. Scottsdazzle’s organiser sets a late-autumn festival programme, while the Princess offers a longer light-display season. Choose a seasonal event for its own evening rather than assuming it will happen on either holiday.
For a double room, useful holiday budgets per night are:
- Simpler hotel: roughly $150–$300.
- Old Town or an upscale property: roughly $250–$450.
- Luxury northern resort: roughly $450–$900 or more.
Room standard, location and holiday demand move those ranges, and resort fees and tax can add to the bill.
Stay near the celebration you most want to attend. An Old Town base suits the public events, while a northern resort base is more convenient for a resort meal or light-display evening. Reserve accommodation once you have chosen that focus.
Scottsdazzle tree lighting and live nativity
| Celebration | Recurring date | Hours | Venue | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jingle & Jazz Tree Lighting Spectacular | Opening Saturday after Thanksgiving | 7–9pm | Scottsdale Waterfront Canal Bank | Free, no ticket |
| Live nativity and choir concert | A December Saturday during Scottsdazzle | — | Old Adobe Mission | Free |
Choose Scottsdazzle for a public celebration in Old Town. The Jingle & Jazz Tree Lighting Spectacular combines the lighting ceremony with music and marks the festival’s opening. Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, so its opening Saturday is two days later. This is an early-season gathering rather than a Christmas Eve ceremony.
Gather at 7135 E Camelback Road for the tree lighting. Make the canal-side celebration the centre of that evening, with time for a meal nearby rather than a second distant attraction.
Old Adobe Mission’s live nativity and choir concert offers a different focus: the Christmas story and choral music, rather than a large light-display walk. The chosen evening need not fall on the same numbered weekend each year. The mission is a historic church in Old Town, distinct from the Waterfront gathering.
- Name
- Old Adobe Mission Scottsdale
- Location
- 3817 N Brown Ave, Scottsdale, AZ 85251 Maps
Find individual programme listings in the official Scottsdazzle Events calendar at Scottsdazzle.com. For a longer attraction-led evening instead, the Princess offers a resort light walk, while the railroad park puts train rides at the heart of the outing.
Christmas at the Princess
Christmas at the Princess at Fairmont Scottsdale Princess suits an evening built around walking through illuminated resort grounds and lagoon displays. General admission includes the Princess Express trains and the Enchanted Plaza’s musical tree and video show.
The Nativity Garden, The Village, Winterland and Twinkle Town are also included attraction areas. Ice skating, Santa photographs and private fire-table or igloo rentals cost extra, so choose those additions separately from the light walk.
- Name
- Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
- Location
- 7575 E Princess Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85255 Maps
The usual opening pattern is 5–10pm Monday–Thursday and 4–11pm Friday–Sunday. From 17 December, the attraction runs 4–11pm daily, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That makes it a holiday-evening option as well as a seasonal outing.
You can attend without staying at the resort, but you need an admission ticket, and parking is separate. Budget starting prices of roughly $25–$35 per person, with early advance offers at the lower end and ordinary starting admission at the upper end. Extras increase what you spend.
The official Christmas at the Princess website publishes the programme under “Activities in Scottsdale” and on individual activity pages, alongside its online ticketing options. Decide whether your evening is mainly about the included displays or an extra activity before buying, and leave room to enjoy the grounds rather than trying to fit every paid addition into one visit.
Holiday Lights at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
Holiday Lights at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park is the choice for a lights outing centred on train rides. The Paradise & Pacific Railroad takes you through the displays, while the carousel and the Model Railroad Building’s miniature trains offer different ways to enjoy the railway theme.
- Name
- McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park
- Location
- 7301 E Indian Bend Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85250 Maps
Santa and special characters make appearances, and S’more Land adds another seasonal stop. Hartley’s General Store provides food and drinks, so you can pause for refreshments without turning the outing into a seated dinner.
The usual evening window is 5:30–9:30pm, with ticketed sessions of 6–7:30pm and 8–9:30pm. Your ticket includes unlimited train rides within your session and carousel rides. Budget roughly $10–$15 per person aged 3 and older, with the lower price for members. Children aged 2 and younger enter free.
Create an ActiveNet account to buy a specific time block online. The park publishes the programme on its official Events page and dedicated Holiday Lights page, with access to ticketing. Arrange arrival around your reserved session rather than treating the evening as an untimed park visit.
Christmas meals at Talavera
Talavera at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North offers a Christmas Eve set-price dinner and a separate Christmas Day brunch. Choose it for a seated resort holiday meal, rather than the snacks and drinks available at a lights event.
- Name
- Talavera
- Location
- E Crescent Moon Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85262 Maps
You can reserve the Christmas Eve dinner without staying at the resort, through OpenTable or by calling 480-513-5085. The resort publishes its festive dining announcement on the Four Seasons Scottsdale news pages.
For Christmas Day brunch, allow roughly $180–$190 per adult and $60–$70 for children aged 12 and under, excluding tax and gratuity. Those additions matter to the final bill, particularly for a family meal.
Reserve the meal before fitting an evening attraction around it. Talavera is in the northern resort area, so allow for a separate journey if you plan to continue to Old Town afterwards.
For casual event refreshments instead, budget around $5–$10 for a hot drink or snack and $15–$25 for a simple meal with a soft drink. Alcohol, larger portions and buying several treats move spending upwards. This is a lighter food stop, not an equivalent to the resort brunch.
Christmas transport and choosing an evening outing
Choose one principal evening outing, then arrange the outward and return journeys around your admission session or meal reservation. The Waterfront and Old Adobe Mission belong to the Old Town celebration area. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park lies farther north, while the Princess and Talavera take you into North Scottsdale.
A car, taxi or ride-hailing journey is more practical than treating the northern resorts as an extension of an Old Town walk. Decide where you will be collected after the event and keep the return arrangement with your ticket or restaurant reservation details.
Sources & fact-checking
Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, and opening hours.
- Christmas at the Princess — service
- McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park (City of Scottsdale Parks & Recreation Department) — service
- Transit System
- Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North — fares and charges
- Celebrate The Season at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale with Festive Dining Options and Spirited Offerings
- Festive Season at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
- Experience | Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
- Activities In Scottsdale AZ | Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
- FAQs | Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
- Fairmont Scottsdale Princess — fares and charges
- FAQ | Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
- City of Scottsdale Parks & Recreation Department — opening hours
- City of Scottsdale Parks & Recreation Department — service
- Scottsdazzle official website
- Up to 30% Off Rooms | Christmas at the Princess
- Jingle & Jazz Tree Lighting Spectacular
- Events | Scottsdazzle
- City of Scottsdale — opening hours
- City of Scottsdale – Case Info Sheet: Scottsdazzle Tree Lighting Event
- Old Adobe Mission — opening hours
