Candlelight Processional Dinner - Watching & Waiting

MsMulan

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
We are going to WDW for Christmas 2010. I am reading about the Candlelight Processional Package. I have found the restaurants who participate but can not determine what you receive for the money...is it just an entree or a three course pre-fix, or along some other line.

I have also read that even with a ticket to CP following your meal, you may have to stand in line for up to an hour???? :scared1: Can someone confirm this information for me?

Thanks.
 
Here is some info from last year:
http://allears.net/tp/h_cpfaq.htm

If you book the CP dining pkg and pay cash, you get an appy entree and dessert.If you book and plan to use Dining plan credits, you only get entree and dessert and non alcoholic bev.Last year they changed the rules and it became 2 TS credits per person.Yes you still need to line up relatively early, not sure about an hour.They seat people with dining pkg tix first then take off the standby line.On nights with a popular narrator..example...like Stephen Curtis Chapman or Neil Patrick Harris.It is very very very busy and getting there early is a neccessity .
 
We got in line about 45 minutes early for the show we attended in 2008. We had fine seats, but were nowhere near the front (to give you an idea, at 45 minutes out from showtime, we were standing in front of the Japan department store). But people w/o the package could have been waiting for hours and hours. This was also Christmas week and was Stephen Curtis Chapman, so YMMV depending on those things.
 
Thanks for the info. We would pay cash for the dinner. That's a lot of food but we must endure:laughing:
 


Here is some info from last year:
http://allears.net/tp/h_cpfaq.htm

If you book the CP dining pkg and pay cash, you get an appy entree and dessert.If you book and plan to use Dining plan credits, you only get entree and dessert and non alcoholic bev.Last year they changed the rules and it became 2 TS credits per person.Yes you still need to line up relatively early, not sure about an hour.They seat people with dining pkg tix first then take off the standby line.On nights with a popular narrator..example...like Stephen Curtis Chapman or Neil Patrick Harris.It is very very very busy and getting there early is a neccessity .

That's not exactly accurate. We used the regular DDP last year (2009), and we got appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink for the two TS credits. With that, you get into the seating for the CP plus a special reserved area to watch Illuminations.
 
That's not exactly accurate. We used the regular DDP last year (2009), and we got appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink for the two TS credits. With that, you get into the seating for the CP plus a special reserved area to watch Illuminations.

I stand corrected.
 


I didn't stay for the illuminations special last year, but I heard that it was between the two stores at the entrance to WS.
 
In 2008, we did the cheapest tier and ate at Biergarten for the second show. We were a few feet behind the Funnel Cake kiosk at about 45 minutes out. We were in the first row after the aisle, dead center. Great seats! This was the first week of December.
 
Is it any entree or is the menu fixed? My wife has her heart set on the same dish she had before... if it was still on the menu and available for the CP, great, two birds with one stone. But I might go back to Canada another night and book the CP at another restaurant if that suits us better.

Was the Illuminations seating included for all three seatings of CP?
 
Is it any entree or is the menu fixed? My wife has her heart set on the same dish she had before... if it was still on the menu and available for the CP, great, two birds with one stone. But I might go back to Canada another night and book the CP at another restaurant if that suits us better.

Was the Illuminations seating included for all three seatings of CP?

Not sure about the menus as we did a buffet. We usually try the cheapest tier and eat at the other restaurants without a package so we're not ordering more food than we'd normally get for a higher price. Biergarten wasn't too much more. I think it's like 1 app, 1 entree and 1 dessert or something like that. I'm sure someone will be able to tell you for sure.

No Illuminations seating was included, it's just for the CP.
 
We had dinner at LeCellier for the CP on 12/23/09.

We were able to choose any appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage from the regular menu.

The viewing for Illuminations was included. It's not seating but instead is a separate area where you can stand, or sit on the ground I guess if you want. My DD was really tired, so I took her back to the room, but DH and my boys went. One good thing is that the viewing area is at the lagoon by the Future World area, so they were among the first people to exit EPCOT after Illuminations was over. They beat the rush out of the park.

And yes, this viewing area is included for all three seatings of CP. We had the third, and we had just enough time to walk from the end of the CP itself around the lagoon to the viewing spot. If you have an earlier CP show, then you'd have extra time between the two.
 
Since you were one of the last to arrive, were you still satisfied with your viewing spot for Illuminations?
 
We were in line earlier than an hour before the show started and we were more than halfway back from the front, this was Christmas week 2009... around the 21st I think. Basically we finished our meal at Tutto and had to get in line right as we left dinner.
 
We have seen CP the past 2 years without paying the extra. Both times (1st and 2nd week or Dec.) were for the early 5:00 performance and not on the weekend.
 
We have seen CP the past 2 years without paying the extra. Both times (1st and 2nd week or Dec.) were for the early 5:00 performance and not on the weekend.

What is a good stratagy to do this? Not sure we want to use 2 TS credits to do this, but we do want to see it!!! We will be there the 1-8 of Dec.
Erika
 
What is a good stratagy to do this? Not sure we want to use 2 TS credits to do this, but we do want to see it!!! We will be there the 1-8 of Dec.
Erika

A lot will depend on WHO is narrating..The more popular the narrator , the earlier you will need to get in line, and the longer you will wait.On average though you need to line up anywhere from 60-90 mins( Some people wait even longer) before the show( again depends on the narrator, the time of the show, the day of the week, and how close to Christmas you are) .I will tell you that even waiting 90 mins , may not get you a seat if it is someone really popular.They seat all the dinner pkg people first, than let people from standby in.There are shows and times where they hardly let any standby people in.The one year I waited and they let a total of 5 people in off the line for the first showing.
 
We got in line about 45 minutes early for the show we attended in 2008. We had fine seats, but were nowhere near the front (to give you an idea, at 45 minutes out from showtime, we were standing in front of the Japan department store). But people w/o the package could have been waiting for hours and hours. This was also Christmas week and was Stephen Curtis Chapman, so YMMV depending on those things.


Okay, I'm confused. If you purchase a Dinner Package (which guarantees your seat for the Candlelight Processional), why would you need to wait in line for 45 minutes? Do the dinner package people only stand in line to get the best seats possible?

We're considering purchasing the dinner package on our upcoming trip in early December (group of 11). If we have the package, could we show up to the processional 10-15 minutes before it starts and still get seated? Or do you have to be in line at a certain time? We dont' care where we're seated, but we would like to sit together if possible.

Thanks!
 
If you want to be seated together(group of 11),you should wait on line at least an hour. Showing up 10-15 minutes before the show starts and expecting to sit together isn't going to happen.
 
Okay, I'm confused. If you purchase a Dinner Package (which guarantees your seat for the Candlelight Processional), why would you need to wait in line for 45 minutes? Do the dinner package people only stand in line to get the best seats possible?

We're considering purchasing the dinner package on our upcoming trip in early December (group of 11). If we have the package, could we show up to the processional 10-15 minutes before it starts and still get seated? Or do you have to be in line at a certain time? We dont' care where we're seated, but we would like to sit together if possible.

Thanks!

You are not guaranteed a seat if you don't get in line, even with the dinner package, from what I understand. If you wait too long, they will start letting in the non-package people and there may be no seats left. You still will have to wait in line with the package. We weren't planning on getting in line so early, but when we got to the American pavilion (from Italy) the line was already long. We had to keep walking, walking, walking to find the end. When we saw where it was in Japan, we decided to get in it vs. waiting until it got even longer. If I recall correctly, they tell you at dinner what time to show up to get in line and I think our recommended time was later than the time we actually got in line, but as I said, the line was very long already.
 

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