"Christmas Carol" Train Tour

[Sorsha]

Hi all!
We got to see this yesterday. I was soooo excited! Nothing fun ever comes to little ol' NW Montana! And its Disney, to boot!! So, how was it??

Well, lets see. We waited in line about 1/2 an hour, in the blazing heat. They had some mister fans set up, so that helped keep us cool. It's very hard to feel appropriately Christmas-y in July, though. 4 carolers wandered up and down the line, singing Christmas carols. They were in period Victorian costumes, and even my youngest child commented on how HOT they must be. At one point, a CM came and offered the children in the line Christmas-y temporary tattoos, and helped them to apply them then and there.

When we finally got to go into the train, I was a little disappointed. The exhibits seemed like they would be fascinating to see, and there are flat-screen TVs showing documentary bits on how the movie was made. There wre exhibits on the models and mock-ups for the movie, and exhibits from the Dickins museum; actual handwritten books and letters and such, even a quill pen he wrote with. The problem? No time to see them! There are so many people, and the confines of the train are so small, that we felt like cattle being herded along. No time to stop and enjoy anything. The exhibit where you can morph your face into one of the characters was horribly crowded, and when you finally got a chance to try it, the results looked terrible! The pictures didn't end up looking like you, or a character, but some horror-movie hybrid. IMHO the crowd situation was very poorly planned. The exhibits needed more room (impossible in a train, I know) or less people crowded in to see them.

Next you can go into a small theater (blows up like one of those inflatable bounce houses) and watch a 3-D preview of the film. This was very cool, but really not very good for those with small kids. It's VERY loud, and the scene they show when the ghost of Marley appears is pretty intense for the little ones. My 6 year old was scared.

Would I do it again? Probably, but I surely wouldn't wait in line much longer than I did... it just isn't worth the wait. Yes its free, but it IS still just glorified advertising. And if you are looking for a wonderfully themed Disney experience, this ain't it. It was in a train station, with all the attendant noise, sounds, and smells. The theater was set up on a vacant lot next door, and for all they tried to make it nice, it was still just a bumpy, weedy, vacant lot.

Glad I saw it, but definitely not what I had hoped for.

 

[rw_hadley]

Thanks for posting this! We're probably going to go see this later this week when it comes to St. Paul.
We're going to be in the neighborhood of the train station that day anyway, so it won't be like we're going out of our way to see it. We'll just try to take it for what it is, and not build up any expectations.
We also have a six year old who can be kind of sensitive, so I appreciate the alert on that part of it as well.

 

[Sorsha]

Thanks for posting this! We're probably going to go see this later this week when it comes to St. Paul.
We're going to be in the neighborhood of the train station that day anyway, so it won't be like we're going out of our way to see it. We'll just try to take it for what it is, and not build up any expectations.
We also have a six year old who can be kind of sensitive, so I appreciate the alert on that part of it as well.

Hope you enjoy it!
Have fun!

 

[minniecarousel]

I really wanted to see this when it was in Oakland a few weeks ago, but we already had a jam-packed weekend and just couldn't fit it in.

I love Christmas....I love the Christmas Carol....I love Disney - it seemed perfect. (darn!)

Glad you got to see it.

 

[Sheree Bobbins]

Sounds like an adventure for your family.

 

[Meriweather]

I really wanted to see it when it was in Seattle....but it was here July 4th weekend
In Seattle....no way. That was a 1 1/2 hour drive, way too busy.
Sorry we missed it though.