Candlelight Processional Questions

[KCmike]

Looking at taking my wife to the candlelight processional in 2010 for our 20th anniversary. We were dead set going back to Disneyworld after visiting twice to Disneyland but after watching the candlelight processional and "Believe in Holiday Magic we knew that it had to be Disneyland again!!!

So my questions begin:

When do they announce the Candlelight processional each year?

Is it only one weekend?

When do they tell who the celebrity announcer will be?

What is the best way to buy tickets...especially if you live in the middle of the US?

Is it worth it to buy tickets or should you just camp out on main street like your waiting for the fireworks?

Does anyone have any pictures they could share? Any other websites that would be good reading?

Thanks everyone!!! I can't wait to start planning. I kind of thought that maybe my wife and I could by an annual pass and then take the kids the next summer for vacation.

 

[KCmike]

I should mention that I saw both of those things on youtube. I was comparing both the fireworks shows and the candlelight processional and my wife and I agreed it was back to Disneyland we go.

 

[Albertan mom]

We went to the Candlelight Processional in 2005. It was beautiful.

Just keep watching all the different Disney websites to see when it is announced. It is usually the first weekend of Dec. They will tell you the announcer when they tell you the dates.

According to the dis, you can order tickets Nov 19th at 10am.

We bought the tickets directly by calling Disneyland travel.

I don't know if it is still done this way, but this is how it was when we went.

You had to reserve a dinner reservation at one of a few different restaurants. We chose Storytellers Cafe in the Grand Californian. You order your meal, then you get the tickets to the show. (It was around $125 for the meal if I remember correctly) You line up 1/2 hour before the show is to start. (by the train station). Then they lead you to your seats. You cannot pick where you want to sit. We were in the very front row, but on the far end. It was decent viewing.
The weather was very windy that night. It was whistling through the microphones, and muffling some of the speaking. Our narrarator was Dick Van ****. He did a great job. The singing was beautiful.
Was it worth it to sit in the seating? Yes, and no. Because we were way over to the side, we had non-paying people only a few feet away from us sitting on the sidelines! But it was nice to have a nice meal, and know you were guaranteed a seat. The people at the very back were sitting close to non-payers too.
I think it was great, and I am glad we did it.

Nice to see some Jesus in Disney!

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

The dates are the 6th and 7th of December for this year

 

[biolabetty]

The process for getting tickets has changed for the last 2 years. You used to be able to call Disney dining and reserve a restaurant for that time. The last 2 years they have sold tickets online at a specified time, and it has been a major mess both years. The server has gone down both times. I've been fortunate to get my tickets, but you have to be on your computer right when they say it is going to start, or you will not get tickets. Even with the server problem last year, tickets were gone within an hour. Last year I got to the payment page twice, thinking I had accomplished my task, only to find that in the time it took me to enter the info, those tickets were gone.

You can watch Candlelight without the viewing tickets, but I've seen people start to stake out their spots at opening time. You can definitely hear everything, but you might not be able to see well all of the time.

 

[RuthieT]

What all is the Candlelight Processional about??? If we have the extra $$ for 3 is this something that we should do since we will be there during that time anyways?? How long does it last?

 

[Sleepless Knight]

At Disneyland the Candlelight Processional is held twice twice a night on the first Saturday and Sunday of December. Tickets get you guaranteed seating, but they start at $75 and include dinner at one restaurant of the DLR. You do not have to purchase tickets to see the processional, but you'll have to camp out for seats to get a decent view without tickets.

I've never done it before, but it's something that I've wanted to do since I first heard of it. I'm happy and excited to say that I will be experiencing it for myself this year. My family is going down in early December and we will be there for the first day of the processional. Because of the size of our family, the dinner package would be extremely expensive, so we're just going to camp out for the processional. I will say that if I did not visit Disneyland multiple times a year, I would be much more likely to consider the ticket package since you could at least 3, if not more, hours of park touring time.

For what it's worth, here's my ranking of Disney fireworks shows:

1. Remember Dreams Come True at Disneyland
2. Believe in Holiday Magic at Disneyland
3. Illuminations at Epcot.
4. Wishes at the Magic Kingdom

As always I will write a trip report when I return with more details about the processional.

 

[KCmike]

You can watch the video on youtube for more information but in short it is a choir singing religious songs about the story of Jesus and a narrator reads as well. Dick Van **** was one of the narrators in years past. There is usually a celebrity narrator each year.

I love how it is held on main street. I haven't been to either this one or the one in Epcot but after watching both on youtube my wife and I knew it had to be Disneyland. We also watched Believe in Holiday Magic and thought it was very well done too. The holiday fireworks at Disneyworld were blowing up right and left and weren't done to the music.

If anyone else has any experiences at D'land with this I would appreciate hearing more about it. Sleeping Beauty how is the Christmas parade?

 

[CrazyDuck]

You know they do the Candlelight Processional at WDW too! Usually 1 week before they do it at DL! Do em both!

 

[biolabetty]

You can watch the video on youtube for more information but in short it is a choir singing religious songs about the story of Jesus and a narrator reads as well. Dick Van **** was one of the narrators in years past. There is usually a celebrity narrator each year.

I love how it is held on main street. I haven't been to either this one or the one in Epcot but after watching both on youtube my wife and I knew it had to be Disneyland. We also watched Believe in Holiday Magic and thought it was very well done too. The holiday fireworks at Disneyworld were blowing up right and left and weren't done to the music.

If anyone else has any experiences at D'land with this I would appreciate hearing more about it. Sleeping Beauty how is the Christmas parade?

I'm not Sleeping Beauty, but I've seen the Christmas parade many times. It has Santa and Mrs. Claus in it, as well as Disney characters. The only thing I dislike about it is the same song over and over and over, and it's not really on a continual basis either. The song comes to an end, there is total silence until it restarts, which makes for little lulls throughout the parade.

The fireworks are very nice, done in coordination with music, and at the end it "snows" on Main Street. I would recommend taking the Holiday Tour, which will give you special seating for the parade at the end of the tour. They also give you hot chocolate and a cookie, and the characters tend to acknowledge you a bit more there. I live in socal, so I go during the holidays quite often. If I can help you with any other info, just let me know!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

A Christmas Fantasy is a pretty good parade. It is a much longer parade than the Parade of Dreams and features a lot of different characters including some that you don't see in the parades very often. It also doesn't have any shows stops like the Parade of Dreams.

Like any good Disney parade it has nice attention to detail. Last year I noticed on Buzz Lightyear's rocket ship that it had Made in Santa's Workshop written in large letters on the underside of the ship. If you're interested, I posted a few pictures of Disneyland during Christmas, including both the parade and the castle's new decor in my December trip report in my signature.

One thing I think you'll like better about Christmas at Disneyland as opposed to WDW is how Disneyland has more Christmas decor in the park than the MK does, not just the Christmas layovers for Small World and Haunted Mansion(which WDW does not do). Likewise, the Christmas parade and fireworks at the MK are only available through attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It's my understanding that WDW has more decorations in the resorts, but Disneyland has more decorations in the parks.

 

[tinkermell]

A Christmas Fantasy is a pretty good parade. It is a much longer parade than the Parade of Dreams and features a lot of different characters including some that you don't see in the parades very often. It also doesn't have any shows stops like the Parade of Dreams.

Like any good Disney parade it has nice attention to detail. Last year I noticed on Buzz Lightyear's rocket ship that it had Made in Santa's Workshop written in large letters on the underside of the ship. If you're interested, I posted a few pictures of Disneyland during Christmas, including both the parade and the castle's new decor in my December trip report in my signature.

One thing I think you'll like better about Christmas at Disneyland as opposed to WDW is how Disneyland has more Christmas decor in the park than the MK does, not just the Christmas layovers for Small World and Haunted Mansion(which WDW does not do). Likewise, the Christmas parade and fireworks at the MK are only available through attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It's my understanding that WDW has more decorations in the resorts, but Disneyland has more decorations in the parks.

Sleepless Night,

I think you are right on the money.

My family went to WDW in Dec. of 2005. We were there from the 19th to the 25th.

If you compare just DL to the MK, DL wins hands down in the decorations and overlays. I'm not sure if it seems that way cuz it is so intimate? NOS is really cool too. Also we were dissapointed that we weren't able to see the Christmas parade or firworks at the MK, unless we had the hard ticket to MVMCP. After spending $$$$$ to take my family of 10 there, I couldn't justify spending another dollar. I wish we could have, then I could have compared the Holiday fireworks and parade. It is my understanding that Christmas Day and there after, the parade and fireworks are shown to everyone who enters the park.

But there are other things that are way cool there that I did get to see. I loved the Osbourne Lights at HS, and the beautiful lit up arches at Epcot, that change with the music. Illuminations gets a special Holiday addition to it at the end. I saw the Gingerbread House and huge Christmas tree at the Grand Floridian, and some of the other resorts too. We stayed at the French Quarters, and it was not as decorated as I imagined it to be. But it was still a beautiful resort.

I'd have to say that the highlight of our trip was the Candlelight Processional. We saw it on Christmas Eve, the last night of our stay. It was beautiful, and meant so much to me.

I have never been to the Candlelight Processional at DL. It has never worked out to be there on that weekend. So I can not compare that for you either. But if I had the chance, I'd see it.

Good luck on your decision KCMike! Both DL and WDW offer something different. DL packs it into 2 parks. Especially the overlays. Fireworks, parade and snow included to all. WDW's more spread out, and more to see.

(I'm thinking that I might have you more confused than ever.)

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Like with all things when noting the two resorts, it comes down to this: Both places do some neat things for the holidays. To say that one place is somehow "more magical" than the other is probably overstating things. While I have definite preferences for Disneyland's no additional admission to see the parade and fireworks, I would love it if they could figure out a way to the Processional more than one weekend a year.

I hope to someday visit WDW during December. I'd love to see how they do the holidays. I suspect that I'll find some incredible holiday items there that Disneyland doesn't have. I also suspect that I'll find myself missing some of the holiday offerings that Disneyland has that aren't available in Florida.

 

[KCmike]

My intention was just to ask about Disneyland. I would really love to see both though in my lifetime. My wife and I had always dreamed of going to WDW and seeing the Osbourne lights, MK and the snowflakes, Epcot and their candle processional, and going resort hopping to see all the extras they do. But after watching the processional on youtube we decided it had to be disneyland. Thanks to everyone for their advice. Biolabetty thanks as well. Can you believe in our only two visits to DL we still haven't been able to ride IASM? So sad. Everytime we've gone its been in refurbishment.

I am off to Sleeping B's trip report to see some photos.

Laughingplace.com has posted some pics of disneyland right now.

 

[figmentgoofy]

Like with all things when noting the two resorts, it comes down to this: Both places do some neat things for the holidays. To say that one place is somehow "more magical" than the other is probably overstating things. While I have definite preferences for Disneyland's no additional admission to see the parade and fireworks, I would love it if they could figure out a way to the Processional more than one weekend a year.

I hope to someday visit WDW during December. I'd love to see how they do the holidays. I suspect that I'll find some incredible holiday items there that Disneyland doesn't have. I also suspect that I'll find myself missing some of the holiday offerings that Disneyland has that aren't available in Florida.

Sleepless Knight, were you just at the parks recently? I'll be there tomorrow, by chance will you be there?

 

[figmentgoofy]

Like with all things when noting the two resorts, it comes down to this: Both places do some neat things for the holidays. To say that one place is somehow "more magical" than the other is probably overstating things. While I have definite preferences for Disneyland's no additional admission to see the parade and fireworks, I would love it if they could figure out a way to the Processional more than one weekend a year.

I hope to someday visit WDW during December. I'd love to see how they do the holidays. I suspect that I'll find some incredible holiday items there that Disneyland doesn't have. I also suspect that I'll find myself missing some of the holiday offerings that Disneyland has that aren't available in Florida.

Tell me more if you would about our processional. Land, that is. i thought we did ours more that 2wice, no? Where would one go to get their tickets for it, is there a link, or does one go to city hall, how's that work? I ask because the last two years I've done my attendance differently. I'll be in wdw in December, but if the timing works out and I can do both, that will be a christmas holiday to remember!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Depends on how you define recent. I was last in the parks on August 29-31. Describe where you think you saw me and what shirt I had on and I can tell you if it was me.

I live in northern California so I know that my next scheduled visit is in December 4-6. That's not to say there won't be another visit between now and then, but I live too far away to just pop in. Due to work, any possible unplanned visit would have to be in November.

Disneyland does the processional on two days a year, generally the first Saturday and Sunday of December, which would be the 6th and 7th for this year. It's held twice on each day.

I believe tickets go on sale in November, but others know a lot more about that than I do.