Congrats Sherry!! Can't wait to see some of those photos. I can't imagine seeing the CP down mainstreet. We plan on going back next year at Christmas time and the rumors of it being moved to the Hyperion Theater sadden me. I think I would be moved to tears to hear the Story of Jesus birth while in my Happiest Place on Earth! I'm glad you had a great time. I will be lurking till you post some photos. I have 365 days to plan now!
Thank you,
Mike!
You know, I was saying to Liza/funatdisney yesterday that I hope Disney doesn't try to make the CP part of a paid party. I can see where the fireworks and the parade would fit in with a party, but the CP is special in a different way. It has a whole different feel to it and I don't think it should be part of a party. Besides, judging by the number of no-shows there appear to be for certain nights, I'm not sure if adding it into a party would be a wise financial move.
I agree - now that I've seen the CP, despite any traffic issues it causes, I think it would lose something if it moved to an actual theater. There was something very intimate about it being located in that special Town Square spot that added to the glory of it all. Especially because the CP has been held in Town Square for over 50 years, I really think the whole vibe would change if it suddenly moved to a theater in either of the two parks.
But...it could happen. Disney could very well move the CP somewhere else. I'm sure that a lot of people would be happy if it moved.
I think you would really love the CP at DLR, Mike. There is something very haunting and moving about it - it's amazing to watch the choirs come in, as well as the young men and women who are holding the lanterns down at the front.
There is a moment in which this young male soloist sings "Silent Night" - accompanied by a guitarist. He has the voice of an angel - appropriately - and everyone was just mesmerized as he sang in Italian (at least I think it was Italian and not Spanish? I was so taken with his voice that I didn't pay close attention to the language!
). Then, with a warm smile he asked us all to join in and sing "Silent Night" with him. So the whole crowd sang along - including Lou Diamond Phillips - and we were all getting choked up, for no apparent reason. I guess we were literally moved to tears.
Also, at the end of the ceremony, as everyone is taking their final bows, Lou Diamond Phillips said some powerful words about being kind to each other all year round; about praying for our troops and the men and women serving our country who can't come home for Christmas; and about his own family (his baby girl was sleeping while he was narrating) and how much they mean to him. He closed by asking us to pray for the family of his good friend, Jenni Rivera, who just passed away this past week (in a horrible plane crash).
Sherry, so glad you are back with all the great info! We leave in 2 days! Any helpful info for CP would greatly be appreciated!
Thank you,
abent!
I will give some CP info below (after my replies)! Have a wonderful trip.
Congratulations, Sherry! You definitely deserved a good view and I'm so glad you had such a great trip!
Thank you,
Eeee-va!
I was hoping to just get a seat - any kind of seat - for one show. I didn't even expect to get a good seat. I figured I'd end up way in the back somewhere. And I didn't really think I would try for a second show. So to get actual good seats two nights in a row (thanks to all of the no-shows!) was really a surprise.
Sounds like you had a great trip Sherry! Can't wait to see your pictures, especially of the nutcrackers. My son loves nutcrackers so I'm sure he'll be ready to hunt one down while we're there!
StyledSugar -
This trip was definitely not a debacle like 75% of my December 2011 trip was, that is for sure! With the exception of a couple of things, and the fact that I never seem to really have enough time to do all that I'd like to do, it was a pretty awesome trip. On the first day I wasn't sure how it would go. One friend of mine didn't show up and I was beginning to get mopey about it. I wasn't feeling the holiday spirit at that moment. But I decided that I was not going to let it ruin my trip. I was going to pick myself up, put a smile on my face and make it a good trip for myself. I was going to eat the treats I wanted to eat, take the pictures I wanted to take, rest if I wanted to rest and just get back into the Disney/holiday groove. So I grabbed the camera and pounded the pavement! I was bound and determined to not have another depressing DLR holiday trip!
You know, my darn Photobucket account was giving me trouble yesterday (which is really handy when you have to load over 1100 pics), so I got frustrated and gave up. What I think I am going to try to do is just upload the nutcracker pictures and some of the CP pictures now (since the CP is only going on for one more week) and do the rest later.
The Mickey nutcrackers are so cool - this is the first year they've been sold.
Sherry- I would love to hear some more details about getting seating for CP. I'm glad your trip went well and I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. Only six more days for us.
kandyk -
Thank you - I will post some details about the CP seating below (after the replies)!
Add a Disney Nutcracker to my souvenir list - Check! Thanks for the tip Sherry! Hopefully they have some left when we arrive on the 23rd!
kerickson -
I have a feeling that some of the nutcrackers will be available, and really, they are all fantastic. The Santa Mickey one might be gone, though - or you might have to get creative about some of the shops you check for it. If Santa Mickey is not available in Acorn Gifts and Goods at the GCH or the China Closet on Main Street (which it was not for the last few days), check the Disney Showcase store on Main Street (they had plenty of them yesterday morning). If they don't have it there, I would check other places like maybe Off the Page in DCA (even though I don't know if they carried it, it seems like a shop where it could be carried) or the Fantasia shop in the Disneyland Hotel. Maybe Disneyana would even have them.
Sherry I think we all behaved ;
TK -
That's a relief! You'd be surprised at how everything can go awry in certain threads when the mods are away. This thread is not one where I would expect chaos to ensue, however!
Sherry, I'm so glad you finally got to see the Candlelight Processional. You certainly deserved that bit of Pixie Dust! It really is amazing so I'll repeat your advice: go see it if you get the chance. No description can do justice to the feeling you get watching all the performers file in.
focusondisney -
Thank you! I was so glad I decided to make the effort to try to see the CP. I almost skipped it because I had visions of standing around for hours just to barely be able to see anything, which didn't sound appealing. I had no idea how easy it would be to get a seat!
Did I read correctly before in that you said that you enjoyed the Disneyland CP better than the one at WDW (or at least some things about it)? Never having seen the WDW version of the CP I cannot compare, of course, but this one at DL seemed very special!
The CP sounds amazing! I'm surprised they don't do it all the way up to Christmas Eve... Other than the character goodnight do they do anything special ON Christmas Eve or Christmas Day??
We leave in 10 days! I can't wait!! I, too, have kept it a surprise from my DS(8). He'll get to unwrap an early present this Sunday. He loves little scavenger hunts and puzzles, he's requested I do some of his gifts this way so the present he'll unwrap is a cryptogram which will give him the news. I CAN'T WAIT!
If anyone is going on Christmas Eve and you didn't get reservations for a restaurant I'm going to be releasing a couple of reservations now that we have our plans finalized - I'm cancelling these so that should free them up for someone to take - they were for a party of 7:
Wine Country Trattoria - 6:50pm
Steakhouse 55 - 8pm
J.
JediMasterNerd -
I'm also surprised that the CP doesn't last all the way to Christmas Eve (and even Christmas Day). When we first learned of it taking place for 20 nights this year, it seemed like a lot of nights to hold this event. Well, it is a lot of nights and yet there is only one more week until it's over! The time flew by really fast.
It sounds like you have a wonderful trip planned!
Okay, I'll share some observations about the CP (in no particular order), and hopefully
focusondisney and dalstitch45 and anyone else who was able to see the CP (with or without an AP wristband) can chime in on anything I missed. I would expect that from night to night the circumstances could change a bit.
Candlelight Processional Observations/Tips
- There are definitely many more chairs set up for the CP's this year than for the invitation-only events in previous years; These seats are also very close together - there is no wiggle room in between seats at all (which a few people were commenting on). So be prepared to sit in very close proximity to the people on either side of you.
- There were people of all age groups in the CP audience. Quite a few of the folks in the crowds for the CP were 'older,' and some of them were dressed in their nighttime holiday finery (capes and sparkles and things). These are not the average park guests who spend the entire day at DLR, hitting all the mountain rides! These are people who probably come out to DL for the sole purpose of seeing the CP.
If you happen to be traveling with parents or grandparents who want something to do while at DLR that will not require a lot of exertion, the Candlelight Processional could be just the thing for them!
- The CP-viewing peeps are wonderful peeps! I was sitting with some of the friendliest and most pleasant people (total strangers) for both of the nights I attended the CP. Everyone was in a very festive and chatty mood. Everyone loved Christmas time. No one was grumpy and impatient from a long day in the parks. No one was cutting anyone off in line. It was all good - positive energy and vibes all around!
- Some narrators will bring in more people than others (I wouldn't expect the Patricia Heaton or Marcia Gay Harden nights to really pack in the crowds, but who knows?). Because of this, on certain nights there will likely be more seats available for people without wristbands than on others because there will be lots of no-shows.
If you simply want to see the CP and the choice of narrator is not too important to you, then I would say that the chances of getting a seat on a Patricia Heaton or Marcia Gay Harden night would be greater. That is my grand assumption, in any case.
- I noticed over both of my Lou Diamond Phillips CP nights (Mon., 12/10 and Tues., 12/11) that there were more seats filled (or fewer no-shows) on Tuesday than on Monday. This would be consistent with what I've observed about crowds in the past, and what I've heard other people say - Tuesdays are sometimes more crowded in the parks than Mondays are.
So if you have a choice of trying to get a CP seat on a Monday or a Tuesday, I would go for the Monday option. This is not to say that you won't get a seat on a Tuesday, but there were definitely more people in the parks on Tuesday and more people in the seats for the CP too! (Weekends may be a whole different story, of course.)
- I would say that - from my limited experience in seeing how things are set up - it is unnecessary to stand anywhere, waiting for the CP for hours (which is what I thought would be required). I know that there were some people who did it, but it seemed to me to be a complete waste of park time.
Before the CP begins, the CM's will rope off the whole area around the perimeter. They tell you that if you want to stand and watch the show, get inside the roped area. Easy enough.
What I did on Monday night was - about 15 minutes before the first show (which was at 5:30 p.m.) - get inside the roped area, then walk right up to the right side of the stage (while still inside the rope). In other words, I was in the roped area closest to the podium. There were some other people there too, but it was not elbow to elbow. It was not a crazy mob of people. I just walked right up to that specific spot - there was no ordered 'line,' in other words.
Then, at about the 10 minutes-before-showtime point, the CM's survey the seats and they pretty much know that the remaining seats are not going to be all filled before the ceremony...and they start letting people in. They ask how many there are in your party and shuffle you past the rope.
I did this same 'walk-right-up-to-the-podium-side-of-the-stage' thing two nights in a row (at around 5:10 or 5:15 p.m.) and got a seat both times. I didn't have to chat with anyone or coax my way in. They just let me in with everyone else! (So, essentially, the few people who had been waiting there for hours wasted their time.)
On Monday, I ended up in the fourth row (center). It was a great view of the whole stage. On Tuesday, I ended up in the seats on the right side - closest to the narrator's podium - so I had a much better view of Lou Diamond Phillips. If you are facing the stage, you will see that the narrator's podium is over to the right. I liked both seats and both views for different reasons.
Chances are, if you get a seat at the last minute a CM will direct you where to sit and you probably will not be able to pick where you sit, but they will usually give you the best possible seats available (after any AP people are seated). In other words, they won't stick you way in the back seats just because you don't have a wristband. They will put you in the best available spots.
- I didn't time it, but I'd say that the Candlelight Processional is about 45 minutes to one hour long. If that is too much of an investment for you, the CP is probably not for you.
- If there is even a hint of drizzle or the threat of rain in the forecast, the CP will not happen.
- The crowds that I noticed packed onto Main Street seemed to be more related to the pre-parade gridlock than to the CP. A lot of folks didn't even know what the CP was, to be honest.
I think the fact that the parade happened fairly close to the CP contributed more to crowds than if the two events were spaced further apart.
I hope this all helps!
I gave other thoughts about the show itself in my reply to
KCmike above (about the soloist and other things)!
Now let me see if I can manage to get my Mickey nutcracker and Candlelight Processional photos loaded to that pesky Photobucket so I can post them before the nutcrackers sell out completely and the CP is over for 2012!
(I hope that no one was horribly misbehaving while I was gone.
(I love the PPH Christmas tree so much.)
), met 62 characters, and walked almost 40 miles (who said we'd be walking less than we do at wdw!?) We did rope drop to 1hr post closing pretty much every day, and while my body hated me for it, we had a blast!
(to whoever was asking about photopass plus, I definitely recommend it. We ended up with 484 pictures.) Pretty much everything I rode that is also at wdw, I liked the DL version better. Also, so jealous of your food, seriously, eveything was so good! And I didn't even get a chance to try all the foods I wanted! 
