DAY TWO, FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30TH, PART FIVE
After deciding to skip Maelstrom thanks to its long line I looked at the time and realized it was already past 3:30pm. I knew I had to get in line for my 5pm Candelight Processional showing soon, so I headed in that direction. I was on a mission, so the only pictures I got were ones taken by a PP in Italy. The pictures are not that great as I was staring directly into the sun and didnt put on my sunglasses this time, but here they are. First is my camera, second is PP.
I grabbed a gelato as I left Italy (it was quite yummy!) then headed over to American Adventure and stopped to talk to a CM and ask about the line for those with the pass. I was told to pull the paper off the back of my pass and stick it to my shirt and directed to the end of the line. I decided to take a picture of the sign for the CP, then the CM, Ken, asked if I wanted his picture too (being funny), so I said yes and took one of him with the sign too!
As I walked to the end of the line the Spirit of America Fife and Drum Corp show was starting in America where they present the flags and have the little kids march around. I took a couple of quick pictures as I walked past them.
And a couple pictures of Santas Village as I walked past too. I looked more in it later, but didnt buy anything.
I finally made it to the end of the line and took my place around 3:55pm. The CM walking around said they would start letting everyone in around 4:30pm. I, only with everyone around me, wondered how they were going to get everyone in and settled in less then 30 minutes. Why did I wonder that? Because the line was quite long already, and more people were joining it every second. Here is what was to my right from my spot in line:
Yes, that is Japan.
I chatted with the people around me for a while so I didnt get any more pictures. The drummers were also playing in Japan while I waited, so that was nice too. I could barely see them from where I was and all of the people around me, so no pictures of them either. By 4:15pm the line for those with guaranteed seating passes was from the entrance of the theater all the way back to the bridge between France and England. A lot of people were asking the CMs around the line if they were sure everyone would fit, but they didnt seem concerned at all. I had seen the stand-by line as I walked over and knew that there were already several hundred people in that line too.
At 4:25pm they started letting everyone in the guaranteed line in. And the CM was right, as the line moved very quickly and I was in the theater by 4:34pm. I walked to the front rows first as they were still pretty empty, but soon realized I would have a really bad angle from that close and moved about half-way up. I managed to snag a seat almost dead center too, which was great.
My view of the stage:
And that is without zooming. I did take a few pictures of the theater while everyone was still coming in and the band first came on stage to take their places.
The conductor was actually quite funny, made a few jokes during their practice and even pretended to be Mickey in Fantasia for a bit. He did funny faces and little bits during the show too, but nothing that took away from the show itself. It was obvious he enjoys his job. They practiced for about 5 minutes up there, so I took a few shots of that too.
Then the singers all took their places, as did the gentleman translating the show for a group that was hearing impaired that was there.
Around 4:50pm the guaranteed line was done coming in, and the back row was still empty so about 30 people from the standby line made it in too. One of the CMs walking around talked to me for a bit and said this was the busiest night so far that year, and that she had worked CP the year before and it was busier than those nights too.
At pretty much exactly 5pm Whoopi Goldberg was escorted to the stage to a standing ovation. She started out by saying how very happy she was to be back for this event (this was her first night and first performance for this year) and then she got started. For those that have never been and dont know how CP works, the narrator (in this case Whoopi) reads a bit of the story of Jesuss birth (not direct Bible quotes, but the same story as it) then the chorus sings a song that fits in where she stopped, then she read more, they sang, and so on and so on.
To be honest I was so into the whole thing that I didnt take a ton of pictures, though I did take some, so here they are!
I did get a short video too, mostly because during the fast songs Whoopi was bopping and dancing to the music and it was pretty funny. If I ever remember to upload it to YouTube Ill post as link here so you can see it, and hear how wonderful the singers were!
Overall I very much enjoyed it, and Whoopi was fantastic. I want to say it was about 45 minutes long, and they sang about a dozen songs. I am definitely happy I did it, and would do it again on a future trip.
NEXT TIME: THE BATHROOM DASH!!!
I couldn't imagine waiting that long in line.
