How Mayfield Tours and Andrew Gernhard Bring Christmas Movies to Life

Popular Christmas movie producer Andrew Gernhard and Mayfield Tours founders Ken and Deb Mayfield share how real filming locations, behind-the-scenes stories and a bus full of holiday-movie fans become one immersive Christmas experience.

For Christmas movie fans, there is a special thrill in recognizing a familiar inn, restaurant or town square onscreen. But what happens when you can step off a bus and stand in the exact place where that holiday story was filmed?

Ken and Deb Mayfield have built an experience around that feeling. In a conversation with Suspenders Unbuttoned Media, the Mayfield Tours team joined producer Andrew Gernhard to share how their Christmas movie road trips move beyond sightseeing, combining real filming locations, movie screenings, production stories and the camaraderie of fans who already share a love for the genre.

The result is part tour, part behind-the-scenes experience and part Christmas celebration.

The idea that started with a Christmas movie fan

The concept began with Deb, a devoted Christmas movie fan who wondered what it would feel like to move beyond watching the destinations on television and actually experience them.

“Last year, my wife, who’s a big Christmas movie fanatic, came to me with an idea,” Ken recalled. “Let’s do Christmas movie tours.”

That idea became a 2025 journey through Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. Rather than treating the movies as a loose theme, the Mayfields connected what guests watched on the bus with the places they visited along the route. Fans could see a location onscreen and then encounter it in person.

That simple sequence—watch, arrive and recognize—became the heart of the experience.

How Andrew Gernhard joined the journey

The first tour also created an unexpected connection. The Christmas movies shown onboard shared one producer: Andrew Gernhard of Synthetic Cinema International.

“Every single movie we showed on the bus last year were Andrew’s movies,” Ken explained.

Gernhard’s involvement gives travelers something a location map cannot: context. As a producer whose work has taken him through the practical and creative process of building holiday films, he can explain how familiar places were transformed for the screen, what happened while the cameras were rolling and why a particular location served the story.

His role helps bridge the distance between a finished Christmas movie and the many choices, people and places required to create it.

Turning a filming location into an experience

A location tour could easily become a series of photo stops. The Mayfields and Gernhard are aiming for something more immersive.

“You’re gonna get a very fast taste of what it is to get this culture and experience this type of movie life,” Gernhard said.

That can mean dining in restaurants used by film crews, visiting landmarks seen in holiday movies, watching a related title before arriving at its location or attending seasonal entertainment in a town already dressed for Christmas. Each piece reinforces the next, allowing travelers to experience both the real destination and the movie memories attached to it.

The road trip format is especially important. The time between destinations is not empty travel time; it becomes part of the storytelling through screenings, conversation, trivia and the anticipation of seeing the next place in person.

The people on the bus become part of the story

Christmas movies often revolve around people finding connection, and the tours appear to create a real-world version of that familiar theme.

Travelers begin with an easy conversation starter: the movies they love. Shared meals, screenings, games and days on the road give that connection time to grow. Ken and Deb described the laughter and relationships formed on the bus as an essential part of the experience, not simply a bonus.

The limited group size also allows the trip to retain an intimate feeling. Rather than moving anonymously through a large attraction, guests experience the destinations alongside people who understand why a particular storefront, town green or hotel lobby feels special.

Surprises, stories and movie magic

Some of the most memorable pieces of the tours are the elements guests cannot fully anticipate. Special visitors, production stories and carefully planned surprises give each journey its own personality.

Gernhard’s behind-the-scenes perspective also changes how travelers see a location. A picturesque street is no longer only a picturesque street; it becomes a working set shaped by weather, schedules, local businesses, crew members and the filmmaking choices that eventually produced a favorite scene.

For fans, that insight does not diminish the magic. It adds another layer to it.

Expanding the Christmas movie road trip

Mayfield Tours has expanded its 2026 holiday schedule with two distinct Christmas Movie Road Trip experiences.

The Christmas Movie Road Trip — Biltmore Estate & Nashville Experience, scheduled for November 29 through December 2, begins in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and travels through North Carolina and Tennessee. The published itinerary highlights movie-inspired stops, Biltmore’s Candlelight Christmas experience, Nashville and holiday entertainment.

The longer Christmas Movie Road Trip — Biltmore Estate, Connecticut, New York, scheduled for December 6 through December 14, begins in Spartanburg and combines the Biltmore experience with the northern filming-location journey.

Current dates, availability and full booking terms should always be confirmed directly with Mayfield Tours.

Why fans want to step through the screen

Christmas movies invite viewers into places designed to feel warm, welcoming and just a little removed from everyday life. The Mayfields’ tours turn that invitation into a real journey.

“You’re gonna get a very fast taste of what it is to get this culture and experience this type of movie life.” — Andrew Gernhard

Guests are not simply checking filming locations off a list. They are watching the stories, hearing how those stories were made and then walking into the landscapes that helped create them. With Ken and Deb shaping the trip and Gernhard sharing the filmmaking perspective, the experience connects the comfort of a familiar movie with the discovery of travel.

It is a chance to see how movie magic is made and to create a little of that magic with the people sharing the ride.

Watch the full conversation with Andrew Gernhard, Ken Mayfield and Deb Mayfield on Suspenders Unbuttoned Media. To explore current tours, dates and booking information, visit Mayfield Tours directly.