The marketing genius that is the Walt Disney Company is at it again, and this time it’s a unique tie-in to the upcoming Robert Zemeckis-directed 3D digital CGI extravaganza, A Christmas Carol. Maybe you’ve heard of it? I don’t see how anybody can’t know about it – Disney has been pushing this movie hard since the beginning of summer at the Cannes Festival and followed it up with a good showing at Comic-Con.
To help mass-market A Christmas Carol, Disney teamed up with Amtrak and HP to help bring a train full of goodies to 40 cities. It all started back in May in Los Angeles and so far, the special train has stopped at 37 cities including my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida. I went with my family today thinking it was going to be a whole lot of fun and the kids would get a kick out of seeing the train, because what kid doesn’t like trains?
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Click the image for a larger view
This event was a full-out Disney project from beginning to end. They do what only Disney can do; that is make you feel like you having a true Disney experience. There is no mistaking it! Oh sure, it starts all whimsical enough with the signs and decorations leading up to the entrance, but I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy of a trip when I had to park one mile away and walk. Yes, everything about the experience was truly Disney related, right down to the long lines, park characters and multitudes of strollers parked outside the train.
So, let’s jump right into the pictures. I’m going to take you on the same journey I had to go on so that you can make up your own mind on whether you want to try and experience A Christmas Carol train. There are still three stops – Charleston, Philadelphia, New York – and if you get a chance and don’t mind standing in long lines for very little return, then go out and take your kids; just don’t expect them to have a fantastic Disney experience.
Here’s where I’m headed. It’s actually a great advertising wrap job done by HP and they make sure you know it. It could have used a wash but that’s neither here nor there.
And off we go (yes that’s me)…
Annnnd then we stop. This is typical for everything Disney does. What was this line for? Well after ten minutes of standing in it like sheep, we find out it’s just for registering to win a pair of gold-colored Disney ears and information on the Disney Vacation Club. Well played Disney.*sigh*
Finally, we have an idea of how long we will be in line and whoever put this up was either a liar or very bad at estimating because we were in line for almost 2 hours. And here is the reason why it took us 2 hours:
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19 Comments
The amount of money Disney blows on movie promotions sickens me…
Sorry to be a first post downer but sheesh man I can’t drive down the street without seeing 19 homeless people begging for a dollar.
Can anybody possibly see this movie being good? I mean really? Have a look at the trailer, things like a little tiny Scrooge sliding along the snow, hitting icicles? Do any of us feel these little action beats are going to serve the story at all? Doubtful, considering it’s A Christmas Carol, and pretty much everyone already knows the story to it. I’ve seen this story be re-enacted by actors, muppets, mickey mouse and Bill Murray (not saying he’s not an actor…). We know the story, backwards and forwards, so anything added to it for the purposes of action and 3D is just going to be gratuitous and annoying.
This is just a way for them to say “hey, look at what we can do with Mo-cap and 3D! All this spanking technology and our movies still aren’t as good as Pixar’s were 10 years ago!”
Shouldn’t the advertising read “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol”? Or, in the very least, Disney Presents…
It seems a bit rapacious, even for Disney, to claim this story as their own, with not the slightest nod to the source.
Even the print ads for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” used the work “presents”.
I have heard of the movie but not of this promotional train tour. I have never seen anything like it myself so it was interesting to read about your experience, thanks! Sorry to hear that it wasn’t suitable for your kids!
“All a-bored” pretty much sums up how I feel about A Christmas Carol and all of Bobby Z’s mo-crap pictures.
I’m guessing you meant all aboard?
@Louise
Disney has been doing this forever.
Do you really think that Walt Disney came up with all those old stories, Snow White, Cinderella etc,,, Nope,,,
Enjoyed reading about your experience. I was there as well, but we went fairly early and avoided the extremely long wait times. I agree, this was not geared towards children, my primary reason for going was my 4 year old, he’s a train nut, so just stepping foot inside a “real” train was worth the trip for him! If I had gone later in the day and experienced the huge crowds, I would have probably been very annoyed and felt it a wasted trip!
@Sharon – Always nice to meet a fellow Floridian…and so close to. Love hanging out in St. Augie! Have you gone to the train view platform in Folkston, GA? You’re boy would have a great time there and it’s free. YOU can watch the trains move around in the yard and listen to them talk on the radio or the loud speakers.
@The incredible suit – Nope I meant it as a play on words “All A Bored” because that is how I felt and so did my kids after going.
I went to this event when it was held in Albuquerque, NM this past June.
Was interesting to see “snow” bubbles being pumped out of the display chimneys posted along the long line of people while standing in the hot sun. It took about 4 hours out of the day.
I hope that the film somehow conveys the message that the original story tells, that there is more to life than greed, and you can’t take it with you.
Charles Dickens wrote about a time in the life of the British empire that is looking more and more like a possibility in America: an empire that rewards a few folks at the top who pride themselves on their superiority, while the masses experience deprivation.
It’s a good time to review the message of the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. I hope the film is a good one and that it breaks box office records.
Making this story a Disney, funny, kid-appealing movie is just a bad, bad idea. NOTHING I’ve seen of this so far gives me any hope that it will be even remotely decent.
Vic
@Vic
Pretty sure Disney have already done that… a couple of times (does the Muppet Christmas Carol count as a Disney movie?).
And to be honest (and I’m likely going to be ridiculed for this), but Mickey’s Christmas Carol was half decent. Only about half an hour long and it seems to do everything particularly well (though I am looking at it through the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia).
Doesn’t mean I have any hopes for this movie though. To me it seems absolutely pointless.
Thank you so much for saving me from what would likely be a nightmarish day with two toddlers. I was planning on taking my 2 & 3 1/2 year old kids, by myself, to the Philly stop. It sounds miserable. Maybe if they were much older it would be worth it. Disney really needs to make the target market more clear.
Author: watch a christmas carol
Your handle takes me to a link where I can watch this film for free,,, is that ok with Disney?
@790
I think it’s a scam designed to get you to download ad-aware of some sort. I clicked through a couple of times and was brought to a website that told me I needed to “download their toolbar” in order to watch the movie.
Seems like a definite scam.
(Ok, standing on my anti disney soap box),,,
Joshi, Disney is an evil group… There’s no other way to say it,,,
Not the folks who work at Pixar, Disneyworld or the guy working the door at the Haunted Mansion. I’m talking about the upper crust of leadership.
If I had to make a laymans assessment they’re alot like Scientology. They practice deception and strive to manipulate the population under the guise of providing wholesome entertainment…
A lot of people don’t realize that Disney owns and controls ABC news. The same ABC news that has become the voice of obama and blatantly reports false and inaccurate information to the people. (Swine flu, killing everyone, get your murcury laced vaccine its good for you, etc)
They have become a tool of the government.(See 1930’s German history)
Do you want them providing “entertainment” to your children? Would you download something from them onto your hardrive?
There push for 3D is disturbing enough. Disneys leadership have become absolutely corrupt and ironically stand for the opposite message that their movies portray.
Disney is Scrooge and he’s not talking to Angels’!!!
I’m… not entirely sure why that rant was directed at me, but whatever. You don’t like Disney, fair enough.
No Joshi that wasn’t directed at you I was just ranting out loud,,,
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