December Candlelight Processional questions

G

gettingsmaller

New Member
Hey,
We will be going this Dec (our first time to go in Dec).
One of the special events is:
Nightly Candlelight Processional at the American Gardens Theatre. Revel in the joy of the season as you listen to an unforgettable retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and mass choir.

So, I have a couple of questions about this:
1) Anyone been to this previous years? How early should a person arrive for it?

2) "retelling of the Christmas story"--I would assume that they are referring to Jesus, the manger, and all of that, but does anyone know for sure?

3) Also, this theater is the one "facing" the America Pavilion in the World Showcase?

Thanks!
 
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RiversideBunny

RiversideBunny

New Member
It's an excellent presentation of the Christmas story using massed choirs, Christmas carols, and a guest narator.
Very much worth attending.

Get there an hour ahead. Your best best for a good seat is to use the dinner package for the Candlelight Processional.
(Call the same number that you call for ADR's.)

The pavillion is, in fact, the one at the American Adventure.

Reserve your dinner package now.

:xmas:

Here's a list of the program as shown on the CD that they sell.
1. Candlelight Overture [5:25]
2. Shout For Joy [1:04]
3. Phylicia Rashad: And You Shall Call Him Jesus [0:40]
4. O Come All Ye Faithful [3:24]
5. Phylicia Rashad: And She Laid Him In A Manger [0:36]
6. Il Est Ne' [2:09]
7. Phylicia Rashad: I Bring You Good Tidings Of Great Joy [0:45]
8. O Holy Night [2:34]
9. Phylicia Rashad: Glory To God In The Highest [0:22]
10. Angels From The Realms Of Glory [2:04]
11. Phylicia Rashad: They Rejoiced With Exceeding Great Joy [0:28]
12. Rejoice With Exceeding Great Joy/We Three Kings [3:48]
13. Phylicia Rashad: They Found The Little Child [0:27]
14. What Child Is This [3:24]
15. Phylicia Rashad: Eternal Promise Of Goodness And Light [0:14]
16. Do You Hear What I Hear? [3:00]
17. Phylicia Rashad: One Solitary Life [1:57]
18. Silent Night [2:41]
19. Phylicia Rashad: We Still Celebrate [0:13]
20. Joy To The World [2:13]
21. Phylicia Rashad: The Prince Of Peace [0:25]
22. The Hallelujah Chorus [3:51]
23. Phylicia Rashad: May The joy And Peace [0:09]
24. The Wonderful World Of Christmas [4:02]
*** BONUS TRACKS ***
25. Away In The Manger [1:53
26. Angels We Have Heard On High [3:42]
 
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E

Eyekimore

New Member
1- My best suggestion is to do the dinner package that includes preferencial seating for the show. When you make ressies at certain restaurants they give you a ticket for seating. You will not regret it! You will stand in line for at least an hour otherwise. We actually waited throughout an entire show to sit down (lining up all the way in Italy!) to see John Stamos when he was there.

2- They do a readings of the Christmas story from the Bible- interspersed with Christmas songs. It is completely mesmerizing and moving. I even bought the CD so I can listen over and over!

3- Yes- it is the theater you mentioned.
 
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Tomcat47

Tomcat47

Member
I have seen it twice now once in 2004 and then in 2006 and will be attending this December as well. It is very moving and beautiful. The story is the birth of Christ from the bible with the ochestra and singers singing carols that go with the story.

Each night there are three shows I believe. Alot of people do a Candlelight Dinner Package which assures them seating at one of the shows. After they have been seated they allow people from the non-dinner package line in. I've read of people who got in line before the first performance and did not get a seat till the final performance. I have always done the dinner package.

Yes the final question it is the theatre across from the American Heritage Pavilion.
 
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Boray

Boray

Member
We went last November (the week right after Thanksgiving) and it was WONDERFUL! We only had to wait about 20 min and we sat in the center, about 6 rows from the back of the theater. Your suggested wait time will be considerably longer the closer you are to Christmas (or on a weekend). We saw it on a Monday, the first show (5:00, I think) and we had a reasonably short wait. I considered the dinner package, but found it to be far more expensive than I was willing to pay. You really should make this a MUST SEE because it is very moving. My kids (DS8 and DD5 at the time) loved it.
 
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gboiler1

gboiler1

Active Member
We were able to attend a couple years ago and used the dining package in conjunction with the show. That is the way to go as we were given a voucher/sticker to ensure our seats.

The narrator, John O'Hurley was ours and was wonderful, reads the Christmas story and the chorus and orchestra present the rest in music.

It is wonderful and not to be missed at least one time!

I believe we attended the last presentation of the evening when it was dark and the lights had taken full effect.

We sat in the front row when we attended due to it was a rainy day, but if you can sit a bit further back those are better seats, either way it was a highlight.
 
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G

gettingsmaller

New Member
Original Poster
Cool!
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. We already had reservations for Garden Grill one night. I just had to adjust it to be a little earlier to book it as a Candlelight package--and it's still just one credit. So, I'm very excited.
I'm sure WDW will be great with all the Christmas decorations and so forth, but I'm glad to know that there will something extra special for us to see.

Thanks again for the suggestions! I probably wouldn't have even looked into the candlelight dinner otherwise.
 
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G

gettingsmaller

New Member
Original Poster
gboiler1 said:
The narrator, John O'Hurley was ours and was wonderful, reads the Christmas story and the chorus and orchestra present the rest in music.
Click to expand...
That would be interesting. I haven't quite 'figured out' John O'Hurley... Maybe it's my exposure to him on Seinfeld, but I just have trouble with believing that he's 'telling the truth'... Felt the same way about Phil Hartman (he was GREAT). Anyway, I picture him sitting on a stage and saying "'twas the night before Christmas.... and I was trekking through the Amazon jungle with my trusty sidekick, Mgabwe..."

Of course, I realize that is NOT the biblical Christmas story AND that John O'Hurley is not his Seinfeld character, but I suppose I have trouble divorcing O'Hurley from that (terribly funny) character....
 
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painter26

painter26

New Member
I agree, dinner package is the way to go. 1st time we saw it from outside, standing up. Second time we did dinner, sat inside. Both times we saw Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan from Gump) He was GREAT!!!
 
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disneytopdog

disneytopdog

Active Member
I have never done this either and will be going at Christmas 2009. If you do the dinner/show package can you choose the performance you want to go to or do they just assign you one?
 
Upvote 0
davidpw97

davidpw97

Well-Known Member
gettingsmaller said:
Hey,
We will be going this Dec (our first time to go in Dec).
One of the special events is:
Nightly Candlelight Processional at the American Gardens Theatre. Revel in the joy of the season as you listen to an unforgettable retelling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and mass choir.

So, I have a couple of questions about this:
1) Anyone been to this previous years? How early should a person arrive for it?

2) "retelling of the Christmas story"--I would assume that they are referring to Jesus, the manger, and all of that, but does anyone know for sure?

3) Also, this theater is the one "facing" the America Pavilion in the World Showcase?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Everyone else has already answered your questions but I wanted to add that if you really want to know what it's like you can purchase the CD version at Amazon.com and there are plenty of clips on youtube as well just do a search for candlelight processional.
 
Upvote 0
wannabeBelle

wannabeBelle

Well-Known Member
disneytopdog said:
I have never done this either and will be going at Christmas 2009. If you do the dinner/show package can you choose the performance you want to go to or do they just assign you one?
Click to expand...

It is sort of assigned based on the Processional performance you want to see. If you want to see the 8:15pm performance for example, I think the latest they will assign you for dinner is 5:30 or 5:45 something like that. Also with the rules for the packages, you must dine prior to your show, you cant eat afterwards. Belle
 
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disneytopdog

disneytopdog

Active Member
wannabeBelle said:
It is sort of assigned based on the Processional performance you want to see. If you want to see the 8:15pm performance for example, I think the latest they will assign you for dinner is 5:30 or 5:45 something like that. Also with the rules for the packages, you must dine prior to your show, you cant eat afterwards. Belle
Click to expand...

Thanks Belle,

I will be calling you guys in a few weeks to book my Dec 2009 trip!!!!!
 
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