Florida Dinner Train Rides (2026): A Complete Guide

Last revised: September 24, 2026

Florida’s plated dinner train is the Seminole Gulf Railway Murder Mystery Dinner Train at Colonial Station in Fort Myers. The kitchen cooks a five-course meal on the train while a live mystery plays in the aisles. The railroad’s 2026 trip is a 3½-hour round trip. Regular tickets are $129 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, and $135 on Saturday, plus tax and gratuity. The show on the calendar through November 15, 2026, is Murder on My Mind.

Seminole Gulf Railway F7A 502 with an excursion

The Seminole Gulf Railway was the original murder mystery dinner train experience. Seminole Gulf photo.

At a glance

Host	Town	2026 meal	Page
Seminole Gulf Railway	Fort Myers	Five-course Murder Mystery Dinner Train, cooked onboard. 3½ hours. Wed/Thu/Fri/Sun $129, Saturday $135, plus tax and gratuity. Departs 6:30 p.m.	Mystery page

Those regular fares are the numbers on the 2026 show page. The railroad’s FAQ dates them to April 4, 2024, for trains on or after May 22, 2024. Confirm semgulf.com for your night. American-Rails.com does not sell tickets. Information compiled September 24, 2026.

Seminole Gulf Railway

(Fort Myers): Colonial Station is the coral-colored depot at 2805 Colonial Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33966, west of I-75 Exit 136. Reservations are (239) 275-8487. The dinner train has run from Fort Myers since 1991, on a freight short line that still switches local cars. Trains leave promptly at 6:30 p.m., and at 5:30 p.m. on Sundays and on certain holidays. The railroad asks you to check in 45 minutes early. The 3½-hour round trip heads north from Colonial Station, crosses the Caloosahatchee River, and runs into rural Lee and Charlotte counties before it comes back to the same station. The railroad names the cars Pine Island, Sanibel, Marco, Gasparilla, and Captiva. The kitchen is in Marco.

The ticket is the ride, the show, and five courses. The menu page opens with a cheese spread and fruit, a potato-and-leek soup, a greens salad, and pretzel rolls. The three entrées listed there are prime rib, poached salmon, and chicken francese, with whipped potatoes and haricot vert, and a dessert after the last scene. You order on the train. Coffee, tea, and iced tea come with the ticket. Soft drinks, beer, wine, and cocktails are extra, on a credit card. The suggested meal gratuity on a regular night is $10 a person. Parties of nine or more prepay that $10. Parties of 24 or more call Laura Fay at (239) 989-3053; the contract includes a $500 deposit. Bring the railroad’s own ticket. Its page says coupons from other sellers are outside this fare. The mystery write-up, separate from this dinner guide, is the Fort Myers mystery page.

2026: Murder on My Mind runs Sundays and Wednesday through Saturday through November 15. The dinner train itself is a year-round Wednesday-through-Sunday schedule, with holiday extras (Sweetheart, St. Patrick’s, Ghost Trains, Christmas Eve, and the New Year’s Eve Gala) on semgulf.com/events. An extra passenger on the December 31, 2026 gala is $169 plus tax and gratuity on the railroad’s getaway page. Hotel packages from September 1 through December 30, 2026, are sold by the railroad and include the Courtyard by Marriott at 4455 Metro Parkway. Daytime scenic rides are the Florida scenic guide.

The other Florida tickets

The Florida Railroad Museum in Parrish runs a murder-mystery dinner as a 30-minute ride to Willow and a plated show outdoors at the stop. Ages 16 and older. The plate is at Willow. Dates and the pre-order entrées are on frrm.org.
The Orlando & North Western, also called the Royal Palm Railway Experience, closed in April 2019 after the Florida Central stopped keeping the Tavares–Mount Dora track to passenger standards. Its predecessor, the Tavares, Eustis & Gulf Orange Blossom Cannonball, had already left that line, and with it Florida’s last standard-gauge steam in public excursion service, Baldwin 2-6-0 No. 2. Public trips ended with that April 2019 shutdown.

Florida Dinner Train Rides (2026): A Complete Guide

At a glance

Seminole Gulf Railway

The other Florida tickets

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