anyone seen the Candlelight Processional?

[fizz13]

Hi guys,
still planning my december trip and was wondering about the candlelight processional. I have never done it although I have heard wonderful things about it and that it is spectacular. For those that have seen it I wondered what your opinions were. I am not particularly religious but I do enjoy xmas music and festivities, and a full choir sounds wonderful. so i guess my questions are:
How preachy is it? will a non reliqious person still enjoy it?
was it a massive hassle to get seating for? i keep hearing about 90 nminute lines around world showcase. i do know about the dinner package but could do without the expense
Are my 9 and 6 year old boys going to be tearing their hair out with boredom?

thanks for any guidance and responses

 

[Chilly]

I loved it!

I went with the package though so can't comment on queues but there was still seats available on the day I went.

 

[Disneymad]

Candlelight Processional is obviously quite subjective so I'll give you my circumstances and what I thought and then perhaps you'll be able to pick out the bits that might be useful to you

First, I'm an atheist however I'm not anti religion or anything and I do enjoy a nice Christmas carol or bit of nativity story and have even been known to enjoy a Midnight Mass!

Second, when I did the CP it was christmas eve. Night before xmas atmosphere and heaving parks.

Third, I did the dinner package rather than line up on the night.

Fourth, we're an adult couple but we did go with a bunch of friends who had kids not far off the ages of yours (a little older but not by much).

Ok, now that I've got all that out the way

Personally, I'm glad I did it once, especially as it was xmas eve but I can't say that I'd be that fussed to go to what was a fair amount of trouble to do it again. Nothing against it either though - if I was there at the same time of year and was with people who wanted to do it then I'd not have any issues giving it a crack again!

Like I mentioned, it was xmas eve - so that's definitely a big factor to remember, but the line to get in...well it was very long even for people who were on the dining package but we had to get there early because we risked them giving our seats away to Stand By if we weren't. I can't remember exactly as it was a few years back but I do remember getting antsy about how many people there were so I'm going to say we probably got in to line close to an hour before the show despite having the dining package. When seated we were around half way back in the theatre by the time they got to our place in the line.

The stand by line that went around the WS in the opposite direction to the package people, well...that nothing short of insane. I have no idea why people were continuing to even queue in it, it was obvious that there was not a hope in hell they'd get in to the theatre, it was snaking through several countries of the world showcase.

The kids in our party seemed to be fairly ok sitting and watching it though perhaps a bit fidgety by the end, it's quite a long show to be sitting still for and it's not 'exciting', in fact, it's rather soothing & relaxing listening to the narrator. So much so that I did notice one of the adults literally nodding off half way through

So I'd say a lot depends on when you're seeing it and also who the narrator is (some are massively more popular than others). Also, what are your kids like in 'slow paced' rides/attractions? I'd say if they're ok in something like Spaceship Earth, El Rio de Tempo, Living with the Land, American Adventure etc then they'd be patient enough for CP. If they're climbing the walls on those sorts of rides then perhaps it might be better to just listen to it from outside the theatre (it's still half decent acoustics) where you can just roll up and leave when you fancy and also the kids are free to move around a bit so might stay patient for longer.

 

[fizz13]

Thankyou both of you, that is very helpful! Sounds like the package is the way to go and as I am going mid December hopefully will not be as crazy, Xmas eve sounded like it was heaving. I think the boys will be ok by the sounds of it, they generally enjoy all rides, fast or sedate. I think I will regret it if I don't go, I did a December before and it was the only special event I didn't do.
Thanks again. Any more opinions welcome

 

[Ware Bears]

We did the CP last December (Saturday 19th) on the package ~ I was so glad we did as the queue for those not on it was horrendous and I'm sure only a few of them would have got a seat.

Yes, they do charge a lot for the package but we felt happier knowing we'd definitely have a seat ~ you can always do what we did and book for the first performance which is slightly cheaper than the later two as you eat at lunchtime.

We really enjoyed the CP ~ I think your boys will be fine as at 6 and 9 they will both be used to sitting through school assemblies, it's pre-school age children that will probably find it harder.

I've put a couple of photos up in my trip report (Day 3) if you're interested.

 

[Latte Lover]

Hi Claire
We were there in early December last year and watched this. I toyed with the idea of booking the dinner package but decided against it as it's quite expensive and I thought the show might be too preachy or over-sentimental (which i really hate and then I'd want to leave!), so we decided to watch it from the back of the theatre.

We were right at the front of the rope so had a good view. The singing is very nice, the nativity story isn't over-done and the whole thing is very christmassy. We watched for a while, then went and got a drink and sat on a wall nearby and just listened to the rest.

As others have said, very few people from the queue were let in each time and they were queuing for a long time. If you want to be sure of a seat, definitely go for the dinner package. We were surprised at how busy it was, bearing in mind it was only early December and the rest of the park was relatively quiet.

 

[angel659]

We didnt actually get to see it properly. We stood at the back looking in if it is where I think it is. From what we saw it looked really good. I think it would be a great way to get excited for xmas. I would def go and see it. I think a dinner package would be the way to go, due to the lines we saw beforehand.

 

[catherine]

We saw it in 2003, so several years ago at the beginning of Dec. We also booked the package and were glad that we had done so, as there was quite a queue formed by the time that we got there. I love Christmas and usually enjoy things like the CP and so it seemed like it would be right up my street. However I didn't really enjoy it and neither did the other members of my family ( DH, DDs who were 6 and 10 at the time). I can't put my figure on why I didn't enjoy it, I think it was because it all seemed kind of contrived, so I didn't really experience much emotion behind it. I'm glad that I saw it so I know what it's all about, but I wouldn't go again!

 

[cazzie]

We did it Dec 08 and loved it, we did it as a dinner package and could have had front row seats if we wanted them. We also did it as walk on a couple of nights later, you have to queue but we didn't have to wait to long as they were already seating the people in the queue. It's definately a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, the singing is fantastic.

We saw Chita Revera who was very good.

 

[dixonsontour]

We did it last year.

I'd read about queues so went to line up just after the earlier show started, it confused the cm's no end didn't understand why we didn't go into the show which had just started, but we wanted to see it all. This was mid week early December.

Andy Garcia was the narrator and he was excellent, switching between English and Spanish.

Reminded me of a carol concert - readings told the christmas story and then choir sang - not preaching to you.

I'd say it was a must do if you are there at christmas.

 

[mnasf]

I am not particularly religious but I do enjoy xmas music and festivities, and a full choir sounds wonderful. so i guess my questions are:
How preachy is it? will a non reliqious person still enjoy it?
I go to church each Sunday and found it to be religious. You will hear scripture read. However, religious music is a major conponent.
Are my 9 and 6 year old boys going to be tearing their hair out with boredom?
Last time we went, my kids enjoyed it. My kids were 4,8, and 13. My kids do like music though and are used to sitting still at church. We went right after Thanksgiving. I thought the package was worth it to us. But it does take time to get in and for the show so I think you have to be really interested. The lighting and sining and spirit or the performance was really touching.

 

[All Star Paul]

One thing to add, make sure you take enough to wear. The day we went was very nice and we were not dressed for chilly weather but it got cold suddenly that night and we were freezing, still enjoyed it.

 

[steve76]

We saw the Candlelight Processional last year in mid-December (about the 13th, I think) which was one of the quieter days in the parks. We did the Dinner Package, seeing the 8.15pm show.

The show is basically a variety of carols sung by a large choir - consisting of the Voice of Liberty (from the America pavilion), the Disney Cast Members choir, and a choir from a local school. This is interspersed with passages from the Christmas story. Overall it was enjoyable, but having done it once it's not something that I would rush back to see.

Our narrator was Chita Rivera, who was a great, and was very enthusiastic. Just a note about the narrators - if you are going specifically to see a certain narrator, then bear in mind that they are subject to change. Between the time we booked and the show itself, our narrator had changed from Vanessa Williams to Kirk Douglas to Chita Rivera (not that this bothered us).

The queues were very long (both for the package and standby). You may still have to queue for quite a while even if you get the package, especially if you want a good choice of seats (some of them are behind trees...). However, it'd not really a 'visual' show so I wouldn't worry too much about the view.

The standby queue was huge, and many people would not have gotten in. Also, they only started letting standby guests in at the very last minute, and they were still coming in well after the show had started (for 5-10 minutes). I don't know if this is usual, or whether they just screwed up on that one night.

I don't know whether your kids would enjoy it or not, but I'm guessing that they wouldn't enjoy a two-hour queue! I would suggest that, if you are keen to see the show, you do the package. However, if you are not bothered, then you could just arrange to linger around the America pavillion during a show and just listen.

However, don't miss the Osborne Lights - that did more to get us into the Christmas spirit than everything else put together.

 

[Jets fan]

I have done the Candlelight processional on numerous occasions, mostly on Christmas Eve. We have always done the package and would not do it any other way as the lines are always bad. I love the carols and christmassy feel about the whole event. Have seen a fair few narrators but the best was Gary Sinise, have seen him twice.

It's a wonderful evening and you can get different levels of restaurant by price, I believe as I cannot remember for sure.

My nephew has been going since he was six, he's 17 now and still loves it.

Have fun
Tina