Mass at the Polynesian

[Eeyore1928]

Do they have it every Sunday? Does anyone know if they will baptize an infant there? We used to live in Orlando and work at Disney and we thought it would be great if we could have our new baby baptized at Walt Disney World!

 

[josierac]

Unfortunately the masses at the Polynesian aren't being held anymore

 

[Disneydenise]

They have discontinued having Sunday mass at the Poly. I doubt that they would have baptized the baby there any way. You know how the catholic religon is, it is a sacrament and must be recieved in the church (bldg). They won't even let you get married at Disney. You know how picky God is about where his services are performed.

 

[Greg K.]

Just a short drive from WDW, maybe 10 minutes away, is the stunning shrine, Mary Queen of the Universe.

It has a bee-YOO-tee-ful side chapel, where they have daily mass during the week. Seats maybe 100 people.

I'd check it out. Visit the link below...

http://www.maryqueenoftheuniverse.org/

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

As a shrine it does not deliver the sacrament of baptism or marriage.

 

[HookdonWDW]

You also must get special dispensation from your priest to have a sacrament performed in a different parish.

 

[Wilmet]

Have they discontinues the protestant services as well as the Catholic? Is it just because they are renovating the luau cove?

 

[Disneydenise]

Yes they no longer have any religious services on property. I think it is due to the fact that it would be discriminitory to have some and not all religious services available on property.

 

[CarolA]

I saw a posting where someone went to the shrine and they basically said the decision not to host communion at Disney was the church's, the shirne was built to accomdate tourists.

 

[Greg K.]

...both Disney and the Shrine saw the wisdom in canceling the Poly service.

The Shrine would get the extra tourists, and their donations (and, as mentioned earlier, the whole idea of the shrine was to create a beautiful and memorable place where Orlando's Catholic tourists could gather and pray -- someplace besides a hotel!).

And Disney would have one less event to contend with every week.

I also think that Disney saw the writing on the wall: after 9/11, fewer people were flying for vacations, and more were driving; they'd have their own transportation and could easily drive over to the Shrine.

Makes sense to me, anyway.

 

[Cinderella03]

I am hosting a Disney Fairytale Wedding next November and we are Catholic, so I know alot about this subject! The Archdiocese of Orlando does not recognize the sacrament of Marriage outside of the Catholic Church. Nor can any sacrament be administered in the Shrine. The Shrine was our first choice for our Wedding until we found this out. We are having our ceremony at Holy Family Catholic Church in Orlando-it is beautiful and 7 miles from the Disney Gate--maybe this could be an option for you???
Good Luck!

 

[Greg K.]

A few thoughts.

I'm studying to become a Catholic deacon up here in New York. The church can, and often does, grant exceptions to permit the sacrament of marriage to be performed outside of a Catholic church.

It's rare, though, and must come directly from the bishop.

And the bishop in Orlando is not very Disney-friendly. In 1996, for our first trip to WDW, for our 10th wedding anniversary, my wife and I wanted to renew our wedding vows on Disney property. No mass or anything. Just a brief prayer service.

We were told by officials at the diocese that they would not provide a priest for such a function. It was the feeling of the bishop, they told us, that Disney is too frivolous a place for something as serious as the sacrament of marriage. They would not allow any weddings (not even renewal of vows!!) to be performed on property. We were stunned.

A Disney wedding planner put us in touch with a very nice Presbyterian minister, though, who did a brief ceremony in the Yacht Club gazebo -- just me, my wife, the minister, our "wedding" planner and a bottle of champagne -- and it was lovely.

 

[Disneydenise]

GregK, Somewhat off topic but, If you are catholic and you are baptizing your child shouldn't the sacrament be given by a priest? I thought that the only way you could be baptized by a none clergy member was in a crisis situation, like impending death of the baby. I am just asking because of all the catholic schooling I have I thought that was the deal.

 

[Greg K.]

The only people who can ordinarily perform baptisms are priests or deacons.

If someone is in grave danger, and it's an emergency, it can be performed by another, unordained person. But those cases are rare and exceptional.