Christmas At The Princess Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

The annual Christmas at the Princess is back again and it’s celebrating its tenth magical December.

Guests from all over the Phoenix area and the U.S. are coming to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess for one of the most festive places “this side of the North Pole.” The five-week festival begins with a public tree lightning on Nov. 26 and goes through New Year’s Eve.

Some favorites are back this year like the four-story musical tree, Desert Ice skating rink, Princess Express trains, Lagoon Lights, holiday characters and Santa’s Secret Headquarters.

Three new experiences are also being introduced:

• Winterland
• Mrs. Claus’ Corner
• The Biggest Little Office Party

Rides and attractions include photos with Santa, s’mores, an ice slide, a Build-A-Bear pop-up shop, and more.

From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., the resort’s Christmas tree, with 70,000 LED lights, will “twinkle and dance” to 18 holiday songs. Also, a high-definition, one-of-a-kind animated video will feature five holiday scenes set to music and projected against the resort’s facade. The five-minute show starts on the hour, every hour from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Desert Ice skating rink is a 6,000 square-foot rink open to the public nightly. It is $25 per person and $7 for skate rentals.

The Princess Express Trains have two trains that operate nightly around the Lagoon Lights, with 4.5 million lights. Overnight hotel guests get priority boarding and non-hotel guests require general festival wristbands to ride.

General admission with parking is $55 per vehicle for self-parking and $65 for valet. This includes ride and attraction wristbands for up to six people in the vehicle. Ride and attraction wristbands for non-hotel guests via rideshare, walk-ins or additional vehicle occupants above six is $30 per person.

If you book an overnight stay at the resort, you will receive general admission, self-parking and VIP express wristbands. You can also spend $75 per vehicle at any of the resort’s dining outlets and receive general admission, valet parking and ride and attraction wristbands.

The holiday tree lighting ceremony will take place on Nov. 26. The tree lighting event is open to the public and the price for admission/self-parking is a required donation of $25 to Cox Charities benefiting the #LoveUp Foundation for children in foster care.

On Dec. 1, a photo experience will take place at Santa’s Headquarters. All spectrum of special needs are welcome with a photo environment supportive of their sensory needs. The event is from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A nightly menorah lighting accompanied with latkes and applesauce takes place in the resort lobby through Hanukkah at 5:30 p.m. from Dec. 22 to Dec. 30.

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is located at:
7575 East Princess Drive, Scottsdale, Arizona 85255

Click here to learn more about Christmas at the Princess.