Candlelight Processional showing on 20 nights this Holiday Season (Merged)

[Spongeocto4]

The advantage of having of this is leveling the audience out, instead of immediately sold-out, and Disney won't having to worry about the weather raining out the show, because they will have multiples.
I have an issue with the fact that it COST money to watch the show! Frontline seats, is reasonable for money, but Disney is ignoring the spirit of giving part(greedy).
Frontline/VIP seating can be charged, since it is fair, but this becoming rediculous...

[kaspangle]

Wait a second...is this a ticketed event, like MHP?!?! If so, I'm screwed. My fiance and I are going from December 9th to the 16th and there is NO WAY we are paying extra money to stay in Dinseyland every single night we are there.....

This is exactly our problem. My family was planning on Dec 4-7, but now I'm considering Nov 27-30 instead. The bad thing about that, though, is that they may make us leave Disneyland early two of those nights if they move the Cast Member parties to the week before all of these Candlelight nights. They are trying to cram way too much into the Christmas Disneyland calendar, and the people like my family, who were coming to experience Disneyland at Christmas for the first time, are the ones who lose.

[Disney Analyst]

I have a very strong feeling Candlelight will be moving back to the Fantasyland theatre.

[penguinsoda]

I have a very strong feeling Candlelight will be moving back to the Fantasyland theatre.

Not according to the Disney rep on the official blog (see one of my previous posts). At this point in time all Candlelight ceremonies will be in Town Square. Not to day that between right now and the first of December that won't change....

[Trekkie Dad]

Okay, I'm going to join in the discussion and speculation. Over the years Jimmie and I have enjoyed the processional just a few times, but lately have avoided it because of the huge weekend crowds. For those of us who don't live nearby, it's a special treat savored once every few years.

With two performances a night for 20 nights in a row...

1. It will probably be scaled down in length and number of performers and tie up only slightly more real estate than a parade. (Or less, if the procession is contained on Main Street)

2. Disney will charge for preferred seating. AP holders will be able to purchase the seating without having to buy a dining package. The park and the event will otherwise be open.

3. Having performances during the week will encourage attendance on weekdays and perhaps lessen the weekend crowds. Multi-day visitors will be able watch the procession on one night and DCA's WoC on another.

[brenden]

Since it's spread out over 20 performances, maybe they won't have a ton of APers clamoring to see this special event all at once. Maybe it won't be that crowded or cumbersome at all. I think it's great that they're giving more visitors, tourists and APs alike, a chance to see this during a special time of the year!

[CAspace]

How will they work out the 20 guest narrators? Aren't the performers volunteers? How will they get so many people to preform so many shows over so many days?

[Mac Daddy]

How will they work out the 20 guest narrators? Aren't the performers volunteers? How will they get so many people to preform so many shows over so many days?

This was my question in the other thread. I think we can count on more than one narrator, and once the tickets go on sale, I would think you could buy tickets for that particular narrator. But I foresee challenges for both the orchestra and choir members. I don't see how they plan to have a living christmas tree comprised of a staff choir for 40 performances, let alone 5 or 6. And by the time that I moved to the college level back in the 90's, the talent pool was already getting thin in the Southern California area for quality choral programs. Many of the really strong programs are FAR too busy to try to memorize 9 or 10 pieces that they won't be able to use elsewhere during the holiday season. Several of the arrangements lend themselves well to an orchestra but not necessarily to a school piano in the auditorium. And the number of area church choirs has been declining almost every year due to the fact that worship services are being led by worship teams now rather than choirs as the majority of churches have gone towards contemporary worship music.

I see these challenges as VERY sizable and I do hope Disney has taken all of this into account before announcing the 20 nights of performances. I know they've been able to make it work in Florida, but Southern California could be an entirely different animal. If they really want to get somewhere between 200 and 300 choral ensembles involved over the holiday period (20-30 groups doing two nights each) they'd better get on the stick and make sure that they'll have early commitments. When my groups performed, we generally found out in late October, and this year, I would think that would be FAR too late to notify the choirs regarding their performing dates.

Not to mention union orchestra members who may have other gigs during the holiday season that they can't get out of at this point.

I really think they should have started with maybe 10 max, and then sat back to see how well it went. 20 is just plain asking for trouble.

[The Disney Ninja]

The Disney Parks Blog just updated saying that APs can register for seating. Details to come later:

UPDATE 8/21/12: There will be no cost for registered Annual Passholders to attend the Candlelight Ceremony and Processional. Registration details will be available soon.
A limited number of dining packages will also be available and will include reserved seating for selected performances – details and costs for these packages will be announced at a later date.

[disney_leonard]

If they hold this on Main. St. for 20 nights it will be a disaster. I hope they reconsider and move it to the Fantasyland Theater or the Festival Arena. I can't imagine the parade, fireworks, snow and Candlelight every night.

[Skimbob]

We went the first week of December last year not knowing and it was an absolute zoo and this year I decided we would go the second week of December and now we face it again. It is ridiculous to have this run for 20 nights on main street. Anywhere would be better than there.

[tgdiver]

We went the first week of December last year not knowing and it was an absolute zoo and this year I decided we would go the second week of December and now we face it again. It is ridiculous to have this run for 20 nights on main street. Anywhere would be better than there.

Agreed! My daughter and I go during the holidays every year; one year we ended up in the madhouse and vowed "never again." We carefully make plans for the second weekend, and now we're stuck with this again. They close the train, Main Street is insane, there's no place in the Plaza to relax. Even if you go to the back of the park, you can't get out without trying to navigate what amounts to 10 pounds of sausage in a 5 pound wrapper. We can't ALL ride the Monorail. And going to DCA every night isn't the answer. Not too happy about this; not everyone wants to see 2 performances of a choir every night.

[4Apples4Disney]

I personally love the idea. To me, Christmas is more than a holiday about gifts and trees, it's as they say, "the reason for the season". Disneyland is great at Christmas too! I'm nervous about all the congestion, but hopefully there will be some type of after hours event. That sounds very reasonable to me.

[penguinsoda]

Still confused as to how this will work.

I've been in the park once during Candlelight, but I didn't go specifically for Candlelight.

So they are saying that there will be no cost for "registered AP's" to attend... does that mean that as an AP, if I want to go to Disneyland, but don't care about seeing Candlelight that I won't be allowed in... because if I'm not registered I could still be in the park and might wander over to Main Street and see some of the processional.

Or am I complicating it more than it needs to be?

[Crazee4mm]

Yes Penguinsoda, I think you are over complicating it. While we have yet to know for sure, I think there will be some form of wristband (or other identifying item) that let's the Candlelight staff know if you are registered to sit inside the seating area or not. I don't believe that the "registering" has anything to do with your admission to the park (thereby allowing you to wander free at will) but only applies to those entering the Candlelight seating area. At 20 nights, it's already going to be complicated enough. Mixed emotions on this one myself.