New Disney Lionel trains hit Disney Store, from Mickey to Darth Vader

Disney Store’s new Lionel trains include a 2026 Mickey Christmas set, a reindeer sleigh train for your tree and a Darth Vader engine. It all goes back to a $1 Mickey toy in 1934.

Lionel trains are back at Disney Store for the holidays, and a lot of them are new.

We counted eight new Lionel train pieces, and a 2026 Mickey Mouse Christmas Tree Train set.

There are about 20 Lionel pieces and sets in total at the Disney Store right now.

Prices start at $79.99 for a train that circles your Christmas tree and go up to $574.99 for a full Star Wars freight set.

The partnership goes back to a wind-up Mickey and Minnie toy that helped keep Lionel afloat in the Great Depression.

What’s the new Disney Lionel Christmas train set?

The Mickey Mouse and Friends 2026 Christmas Train Set is $99.99 at the Disney Store.

It’s a 38-piece, battery-powered set with a General-style steam engine marked “2026,” a coal tender carrying a little Christmas tree, a gondola with three gift crates, and a caboose, according to the listing. A removable Mickey figure in a Santa hat rides along.

The engine puffs water vapor “smoke,” has a working headlight, and plays a bell, a whistle, and Disney announcements from the remote. The track makes a 50-by-73-inch oval.

Rated for ages 3 and up, this is the one for little kids. Batteries aren’t included, and the engine alone takes six C cells.

It landed at Disney Store in mid-September, Mousesteps reported.

For comparison, Lionel’s 2016 Mickey Mouse Express set had a similar setup and a list price of $119.99, Laughing Place reported at the time.

What’s the Mickey and Minnie reindeer train?

It’s the Mickey and Minnie Mouse Christmas Tree Train, and at $79.99, it’s the cheapest Lionel piece in the search.

Mickey and Minnie ride a red sleigh pulled by two reindeer. The track attaches to the center pole of most artificial Christmas trees, so the sleigh circles above the branches. It lights up and plays Christmas music on two AA batteries, the listing says.

Here’s Lionel’s own video of it:

What other Mickey Lionel trains are new?

Two more holiday cars have the “New” tag:

• Disney Christmas Hopper with Present Load ($149.99): A red hopper car with Mickey, Pluto and Chip ‘n Dale, “Season to Shine” lettering and a pile of removable wrapped gifts.

• “Sweetheart Holiday” Thomas Kinkade Studios boxcar ($109.99): Mickey, Minnie and Pluto in Kinkade-style holiday art on both sides.

Are there Nightmare Before Christmas Lionel trains?

Yes, there are two new ones.

The Zero Aquarium Car ($160.99) has movie scenes that circle around inside the lit-up car when the track powers it. Jack and Sally are on the outside.

The Lock, Shock & Barrel Chasing Gondola ($149.99) makes the trick-or-treating trio look like they’re parading around the car as it moves. Oogie Boogie and “Happy Haunting” are painted on the side.

What new Star Wars Lionel trains are at Disney Store?

Star Wars makes up half the lineup, 10 of the 20 listings. Three are new:

• Darth Vader Phantom LionChief Locomotive ($259.99): A black streamlined engine with a red glow underneath, movie sounds, and Bluetooth control through Lionel’s app. Disney’s listing calls it the Phantom engine’s return to the LionChief lineup.

• R2-D2 Walking Brakeman Boxcar ($159.99): R2-D2 scoots back and forth on the roof using track power. Open the doors, and there’s Princess Leia on one side and Darth Vader on the other, straight out of the opening of “A New Hope.”

• Lightsaber Series boxcar ($172.99): Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn’s duel from “The Phantom Menace,” and the car lights up.

What do you need to run these Lionel trains?

Most of these are O gauge cars and engines rated for ages 14 and up. The single cars run on Lionel’s three-rail FasTrack behind a powered Lionel train, and the track and engine are sold separately, the listings say.

The 2026 Christmas set and the tree train are the easy ones. Both come with their own track.

How did Disney save Lionel in 1934?

With a $1 Mickey Mouse toy.

Lionel went into receivership on May 7, 1934, to avoid bankruptcy, according to the Walt Disney Family Museum. About two months later, Disney’s merchandising agent, Kay Kamen, brought Lionel the idea of a wind-up handcar with Mickey and Minnie pumping the handle.

It sold for $1. More than 253,000 sold within four months, the museum says, and Lionel paid off its debts by Dec. 31, 1934. Some 100,000 more orders went unfilled because there wasn’t enough product, American Heritage reported.

D23 calls Lionel a Disney licensee in the 1930s and says it became one again in the 1960s. Lionel brought back a wind-up Mickey and Minnie handcar in 2023, Disney’s 100th anniversary year, with a circle of track just like the original, according to Lionel’s site.

Did Walt Disney have a Lionel train?

He did. For Christmas 1947, Walt bought himself a Lionel electric train set and kept it in a room next to his office, the Walt Disney Family Museum says.

Walt wrote to his sister Ruth that he’d bought himself “a birthday Christmas present, something I’ve wanted all of my life.” It was an electric train.

Animator Ollie Johnston remembered seeing Walt’s full Lionel layout in December 1948. Walt told him, “I didn’t know you were interested in trains, too,” the museum notes.

The hobby kept growing. Walt’s backyard steam train, the Lilly Belle, was running by spring 1950, and his dream of a train circling a park helped lead to Disneyland, according to the museum.

What are some fun facts about Lionel and Disney?

Lionel is older than Disney. Joshua Lionel Cowen founded it in 1900, American Heritage reported, and Lionel celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2025, The Toy Book noted.

Mickey had a Lionel circus train, too. D23 says Lionel’s Mickey Mouse circus train set is now among its more valuable collectibles.

Pixar and “Frozen” are on board. The same search turns up an Incredibles boxcar ($119.99) and an Olaf LionChief set ($479.99).

Ninety-two years after a $1 handcar kept Lionel running, Mickey’s still pulling holiday duty.

Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.

Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Hat Tips:

• Disney Store: search for “lionel” and the product listings for each train set and car, checked Oct. 12, 2026 (our count of 20 listings, eight tagged New, 10 Star Wars)

• Mousesteps, Sept. 14, 2026: Mickey Mouse and Friends 2026 Lionel Christmas Train Set arrives to the Disney Store

• Laughing Place, Nov. 9, 2016: Lionel continues Disney legacy with two new train sets

• Lucas Seastrom and Keith Gluck, Walt Disney Family Museum, Jan. 30, 2015: The famous Disney Lionel train

• Joseph Titizian, Walt Disney Family Museum, Oct. 17, 2011: Riding the rails with Walt Disney

• David Lander, American Heritage, November/December 2006: Lionel Trains

• D23 Disney A to Z: The Lionel Corp.

• Lionel: Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Handcar, Red (2023)

• James Zahn, The Toy Book, Oct. 1, 2024: Lionel Trains celebrates 125 years

• Lionel Trains on YouTube: 712140 Disney Mickey and Minnie Christmas Tree Train

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