Could I see the Candlelight Proc. WITHOUT the dinner package?

[Disney Mama 2 Two]

I would be thinking the early one - 5:00 on 12-24, Christmas Eve. Would this even be possible? It will be myself, dh, ds (5) & dd (4) so I would hate to have them stand in line for an hour + then not even get in.

Love to hear what you all think....

Thanks!
Dawn

 

[Robo]

I would be thinking the early one - 5:00 on 12-24, Christmas Eve. Would this even be possible? It will be myself, dh, ds (5) & dd (4) so I would hate to have them stand in line for an hour + then not even get in.

Love to hear what you all think....

Thanks!
Dawn

I'd think on Christmas Eve... not much hope.
That may be about the busiest it will ever be.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Unfortunately, Robo is right. Getting in on Xmas eve without the package would be extremely difficult. Most (if not all) of the theater is reserved for candelight packages or other groups and the line for non package guests will most definetely be long. If you still want to try though, line up at least 2 hours in advance.

 

[skuttle]

No way. You'll have to waste WAY too much time waiting in line. Is there a reason you don't want to do the package? If you are on the dining plan, you can use the dining plan for the package...at least you could last year. THat's what we did.

 

[Disney Mama 2 Two]

Well..I don't think I could still get an AP for 12-24 this late and my family is pretty picky eaters so almost all the Epcot restaurants are "iffy" to me.

 

[Swimnoid]

Not likely on Christmas Eve.

We have seen the CP three times waiting in line the week before Christmas and could always get in but not on Christmas Eve. Last year we did the package on Christmas Eve and I think it was well worth it.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

You could be able to do it but you will probably have to wait a long time to get close to the front of the line. I don't know if it would be worth it for you to spend that much time waiting though.

 

[Heather]

I wanted to see it the first night (the day after Thanksgiving) and was unable to get a dining package reservation, so I thought I'd wait in the stand by line. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! By 4 pm (for the 5:00 show), the stand-by line was so long it was being roped off into several back and forth weaves past the boat dock at Italy. Many of the people standing in line DID get in -- they do seem to leave quite a few seats for stand-bys -- but you REALLY will need to get in line quite early for it. I'd suggest at least 3:30 pm for the 5:00 show on Christmas Eve -- I imagine that in the next couple of weeks it will be very easy to get in on standby, but not on the first day or Christmas! I was trying to "mark" the crowd to see how far back the last person let in was standing, but I lost track (trying to keep two kids occupied . . .just didn't work!)

Now, on the plus side, I was able to see part of it from the walkway in front of the pavilion (along with tons of other people -- we didn't get to sit and we didn't have a great view, but it was still lovely despite the aching feet). So you CAN see at least part of it, and it really is lovely.

Good luck!

 

[dmslush]

Hi! We have the dining package and are scheduled for the first show at 6:45pm on Christmas Eve. Does anyone know what time we should line up? THANKS!!!

 

[mickaholic4077]

If you want a good seat,as soon as the line for the 5pm performance is done.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hi! We have the dining package and are scheduled for the first show at 6:45pm on Christmas Eve. Does anyone know what time we should line up? THANKS!!!

Keep in mind that any of the seats held for the dining package folks are good, IMO. Maybe not first row, but sort of like Cirque seating, back further, maybe 8-10 rows, is better, again, IMO.

 

[doombuggy]

I went to see Gary Sinese on 12/23/04 for the first show and I know I stood in line for more than an hour. Our office closed at noon and went right to EPCOT, grabbed a bite and got in line. It was worth it and the seat was decent. Good luck!

 

[CharmedLife]

Well..I don't think I could still get an AP for 12-24 this late and my family is pretty picky eaters so almost all the Epcot restaurants are "iffy" to me.

You're probably right, they are probably all booked, but you never know - you could get a cancellation. I am calling every day trying for an ADR in Norway for breakfast one morning - I just know I'll hit the jackpot one of these days!!

If your family is picky, I would suggest trying the Garden Grill restaurant in Future World at Epcot - it is one of the options on the CP package, and I think the food would be pretty safe.

 

[CarolB]

Hi! We have the dining package and are scheduled for the first show at 6:45pm on Christmas Eve. Does anyone know what time we should line up? THANKS!!!

Honestly, I would say you should be in line by 5, or very shortly after, if you want good seats. I have done the show with the package and without and the package line can be very very long. We did 12/25/2004 (Sinise), the last show and we were in line while the middle show was still going on - I'd say we heard 1/2 or more of it - and we were not the first ones in the line. We had second row seats - could have had front, but more to the side at that point, so we took second to be dead center. My DD was in the Chorus that night and I wanted good seats. They start seating about 1/2 hour before the show starts (or as soon the the previous show clears, if that is closer than 1/2). I had scoped it out the night before (12/24) and at 1 hour before show time, the ticket line was past Japan and into Morocco (if that is the next country), so 12/24 was worse than 12/25, at least for that final show time.

We saw it standby last year on Christmas eve. I got in line at 3:00 for the 5 o'clock show and we easily got in, but we were in the next to the back row, center section, though. It was Jim Cavizeil (spelling?). At 2:45 no one was in line...by 3:00 there were about 25-30 people in front of me already.

You will certainly enjoy it....we always have.

 

[DisneyWorldDad]

Last year we booked a CP Package and ate at the Garden Grill. We were charged regular price and sat in some decent seats without having to wait in a monster line.

This year we booked our package at the San Angel Inn. We were charged 39.00 per adult and 12.00 per child. (About 3x the menu price) We were not informed of this on the phone or by our waitress. Price for 3 adults and 2 kids $181.00!! When we disputed, we were told that we could give up the CP tickets and pay normal menu price and use our Disney Dining Experience discount card. Final Bill $66.00. The package was supposed to include appetizer, soup/salad, entree and dessert - none of which was offered.

This was new so nobody really knoew how to explain it.

We gave back the CP passes and my wife got in line for the CP and we ended up having pretty good seats.