When most people think of Florida, they think of sunshine, white sand beaches and warm temperatures. So how could it possibly snow in Florida? To create the look and feel of Christmas time for the movie, Disney magic created fake snow to accompany the train tour. This snow contributed to the overall atmosphere of the Christmas Carol story and created an experience that most Floridians do not get to experience.
The main purpose of the Disney Christmas Carol train tour was to promote the 3-D version of the movie that Disney was releasing. The train cars offered visitors an inside look into the movie as only Disney can offer. The first car on the train consisted of a display of authentic Charles Dickens' artifacts on loan from a museum in England. The second car featured costumes and props that were used in the movie. The third car offered visitors a demonstration on how 3-D movies are made, as well as viewing of a documentary detailing what it is like to be an actor in this type of movie. The final, and most popular car, issued each visitor a train ticket that enabled them to change themselves into a character from the movie.
The Disney Christmas Carol train tour began in Los Angeles in May. The Miami stop took place from October 16 through October 18. Not only did the train look its Christmas best, the area around the train display was also transformed into a winter wonderland. In addition to the fake snow, carolers and decorations were set up to create a real Christmas feel, in the midst of a Florida October.
The Disney Christmas Carol train tour was made possible by several other companies. Amtrak provided the tour with vintage Amtrak cars, as well as the use of their routes. These cars were gutted by Disney and refitted to accommodate the displays and interactive activities. Hewlett-Packard also offered many technologies to operate the tour, as well as offering products for giveaways. Some of these technologies included the scan technology to outfit the outside of the train, TouchSmart PCs to run the exhibits and monitors to show the videos. Other companies, such as Dolby, Panasonic and Walmart.com, offered goods and services for the operation of this tour as well.
