Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages necessary?

[hope23]

We'd really like to see the Candlelight Processional and are wondering if they get crowded to the point that you need to do a dinner package to see it? We're planning on going on a night with Neil Patrick Harris, so I know he will be popular. Does the dinner package crowd fill up much of the seating, or will there be lots left over? We'd prefer to not have to stand in line a long time to get into the show... how long would you likely have to line up to get a seat if you don't do the dinner package? Thanks!

 

[jaysmom4285]

It's difficult to get in to see the very popular narrators like Neil Patrick Harris or Whoopi Goldberg without getting a dinner package, unless you get in the standby line very early and wait for a couple hours there. The dinner package people don't fill up the entire theater, but they can take up a good chunk, and the standby people have to take what is left over. It's not unheard of for people in the standby line for first show not to be able to get in and have to wait til the second show. We have seen the CP more times than I care to count, and I never do the dining package, as I don't want to pay the inflated prices for an already expensive meal, and, like the OP, I don't want to take up my time standing in line. We have had very good luck getting into the CP just by choosing a weeknight with a narrator I've hardly ever heard of. That doesn't bother me because they've all been good. We wait just outside the back of the theater by the ropes at the top of the aisles. After the dinner package people and the standby line has been let in, there is almost always room left, and the CMs open up the ropes at the back for anyone to just walk in. Again, this won't work on weekends and/or for very popular narrators, but it has always served us well weeknights with the lesser known people.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

Get the dining package!!!
NPH is the most popular of all the narrators and even the dining packages sell out!
In fact, on another thread someone tried to get a package and was only able to get into Trattoria on the Boardwalk and/or Biergarten, neither of which they were thrilled about.
Good luck!

 

[courtneybeth]

The cost between a normal meal and the package is about $5-10 - so really, I feel that it's worth it ------ especially since you're trying to see a very popular narrator.

You'll likely not get in on stand-by. Book the package, enjoy the meal, and see the show from a great seat.

 

[jaysmom4285]

I completely agree that, if seeing Neil Patrick Harris is important to you, or that's the only night you can go, by all means get a dinner package. That's the only way to assure that you'll get in. You should still line up at least 45-60 minutes in advance, but it's better than the hours you could be in the standby line, with no assurance of entry. I just wanted to point out that it is possible to see the CP, albeit not with NPH, without going through all that, if you can choose a weeknight and a less popular narrator.

Edited to add: I would respectfully disagree with the earlier poster who said that the cost of the dinner package is only $5-10 more than a normal meal. I did a quick comparison, using Coral Reef, Rose & Crown, Via Napoli and Tutto Italia, and the dinner package was about $25 more than the most expensive thing on their menus. This is well worth it to some, undoubtedly, but Disney does pad the cost substantially for the CP dinner package.