OFFICIAL(ish) CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL DINING PACKAGES INFO

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So is the CLP really worth an Epcot day if you’ve never heard of the narrator on your day? We’ve never been. We were planning on going Dec 12. Though I’m sure our assigned narrator is very talented. My interest in seeing it has waned a bit with it being someone no one in my party is familiar with. And I’m wondering how “good” the show will be when the narrator is nearly 87 and we’re currently assigned the last show of the night?

I’m thinking in the very least we likely don’t need the Dining Package we have booked to guarantee seats on a week night? But I’m also questioning whether it’s worth specifically planning a day around it. We had kind of picked doing the CLP this year as our Disney Christmas splurge and highlight.

We aren’t doing MVMCP this year. We did that for the first time last year. And even though we intend to do HS we are also preparing ourselves for post RotR crowds and that might deter us from spending too much time there. And a few nights of our week AK is closed early do to Pop Warner and after hours hard ticket events.

Has this woman (Chita Rivera) done the CLP before? Was she enjoyable as a narrator?

Has anyone else had any experience with attending a first time CLP with someone unfamiliar?

Though I’m sure the event is still moving, when it’s someone we are unfamiliar with, quite honestly we can attend similiar Christmas time events with choirs, carols and orchestras in our home city for what would likely work out to quite a lot cheaper when the admission price to Epcot and the dining package are taken into consideration. So I’m thinking that might be a better use of the holiday entertainment budget. But I guess in a way I want to sort of be assured otherwise ...
 
We currently have a dining package for the 11th, and was wondering the same thing. While I am sure this is still going to be a moving experience I wondered about the speaker. We have AP's so the day isn't as much a big deal. My thought is if she is not a popular speaker will I really need to spend all the money to have dinner at Coral Reef? It seems like so much more food than me family would normally order if we went forced to. Should we just take the chance and not get a ticketed seat??? :confused3
 
@Zombie @dbogen I've not seen Chita Rivera narrate but she has done it in the past and I think gets positive reviews. She's a Broadway legend. You can search on her name in the search bar in the upper right and see all the posts her name appears in. There are also several youtube videos available of the processional in general and specifically with Chita Rivera narrating from as recently as last year. Those might give you a better idea of whether this is something that you and your party would enjoy. But I will offer my two cents :upsidedow

Relative to the value of attending if you don't know the narrator... The show itself is scripted -- once started there is no improvising-- so other than some opening comments (a couple of minutes) and general delivery (tone, inflection etc.) there is very little the narrator can do to personalize the show (in my opinion). Now, in full disclosure, I now live semi-locally and do select the night we attend based on the narrator but I have attended in the past when I had never heard of them and still enjoyed it very much. It's a uniquely Disney holiday experience -- with Disney quality -- and has become a tradition for us. Just being in the audience and singing the carols is a moving experience. I'd say that if you want something distinctly Christmas, appreciate the biblical story (I'll note that I'm not religious and don't think you need to be to enjoy), enjoy Christmas carols, a choir and orchestra performance etc. that it's well worth seeing.

Relative to needing the package, this is purely anecdotal on my end, but my impression is that the show itself-- regardless of narrator-- is popular enough that it makes it such that the package would be of value to me. First, this is because I want a seat in the theater. It is totally possible to hear the show (& it is more audio than visual) from anywhere in the America pavilion without being seated in the theater. No reason you can't hang out in the area, sit on planter etc. and experience the show without purchasing any package or waiting in line. But if hanging in for the full ~40 min show, I personally prefer to have a seat in the theater -- and under cover in the case of inclement weather (note that not all seats in the theater are under cover). The second factor in my decision is that I hate standing in line, period (I know... what am I doing in WDW?? :confused3) and would be nervous spending any time in line with no guarantee of being able to get a seat.

Hope your holiday trips are wonderful!!
 
Thank you @2xcited2sleep for your 2 cents. :) You have made me feel better about keeping the package. This will be out first visit for the holidays, well we were there for thanksgiving once so we saw some of the decorations. This year we are traveling for a Disney wedding and are trying to make the whole stay as magical as possible. We did decide to skip the MVMCP, a girl needs a reason to go again for the holidays, right? Thank you again.
 


@Zombie @dbogen I've not seen Chita Rivera narrate but she has done it in the past and I think gets positive reviews. She's a Broadway legend. You can search on her name in the search bar in the upper right and see all the posts her name appears in. There are also several youtube videos available of the processional in general and specifically with Chita Rivera narrating from as recently as last year. Those might give you a better idea of whether this is something that you and your party would enjoy. But I will offer my two cents :upsidedow

Relative to the value of attending if you don't know the narrator... The show itself is scripted -- once started there is no improvising-- so other than some opening comments (a couple of minutes) and general delivery (tone, inflection etc.) there is very little the narrator can do to personalize the show (in my opinion). Now, in full disclosure, I now live semi-locally and do select the night we attend based on the narrator but I have attended in the past when I had never heard of them and still enjoyed it very much. It's a uniquely Disney holiday experience -- with Disney quality -- and has become a tradition for us. Just being in the audience and singing the carols is a moving experience. I'd say that if you want something distinctly Christmas, appreciate the biblical story (I'll note that I'm not religious and don't think you need to be to enjoy), enjoy Christmas carols, a choir and orchestra performance etc. that it's well worth seeing.

Relative to needing the package, this is purely anecdotal on my end, but my impression is that the show itself-- regardless of narrator-- is popular enough that it makes it such that the package would be of value to me. First, this is because I want a seat in the theater. It is totally possible to hear the show (& it is more audio than visual) from anywhere in the America pavilion without being seated in the theater. No reason you can't hang out in the area, sit on planter etc. and experience the show without purchasing any package or waiting in line. But if hanging in for the full ~40 min show, I personally prefer to have a seat in the theater -- and under cover in the case of inclement weather (note that not all seats in the theater are under cover). The second factor in my decision is that I hate standing in line, period (I know... what am I doing in WDW?? :confused3) and would be nervous spending any time in line with no guarantee of being able to get a seat.

Hope your holiday trips are wonderful!!
Thanks for the feedback and thoughts. I think it helped me make the decision. At least for now! Appreciate it!
 
Hello All, going on Dec 7th, Biergarten / Whoopi.

Will have a little over an hour after dinner before the show. Group of 8. Thinking of getting a Frozen Ever After FP for 7 to 8 pm, for the two little kids in the group. So 4 go and do the ride and 4 get in line about 45 minutes before showtime, the other 4 join us in the line later. Would this be considered queue jumping???
 


Has anyone seen Steven Curtis Chapman narrate? He is unfamiliar to us and I wanted to know other peoples’ experience.
 
Has anyone seen Steven Curtis Chapman narrate? He is unfamiliar to us and I wanted to know other peoples’ experience.

We saw him several years ago. We had not heard of him either, though he is a well-known Christian singing artist. Many people in line around us were big fans and very excited to see him. He did a great job! His delivery is heartfelt and uplifting. I would be very happy to see him again!
 
WOOPS - EDITED: THIS WAS LITERALLY ANSWERED A FEW POSTS UP AND I HAVENT HAD ENOUGH COFFEE YET THIS MORNING - SORRY!!

How much of the experience is narrator dependent and how much of it is the show. Meaning - does the Narrator make it or break it?
Basically we had already booked the dining package for December 12 - and I'm familiar with Chita and I have zero interest in her body of work/no part of her is exciting to me (i know that sounds absurd) but there are some narrators that I would have loved to hear and some that I can take a pass on. Chita falls into the latter category for me.
That being said - does it even matter? Is it mostly the show/experience? This will be our first time going back to WDW after roughly 20 years and my son's first time ever.
 
The narrator really makes little difference, as long as they can read well. And they're all actors/singers, so generally that's not an issue. The ones who do it regularly really enjoy it, and you can tell they put their heart and soul into it . I have heard Chita Rivera, and she was a good narrator. I was with you about not knowing much about her and having even less interest in her, but she did a very good job. The only narrator I ever didn't enjoy was Lorraine Bracco (from The Sopranos). She literally mispronounced and stumbled over words. That was several years ago, and I don't think she's been back.
 
Sorry if this has been asked a dozen times already but I've used the search function and came up empty.

Are the show times assigned to you randomly or do you choose the one you want? I've just started to plan a last minute trip and at this stage I have more options to book a lunch package (which is fine) but I think we might want to hop over to DHS after the CPL to ride SDD so early show times might be preferred.
 
Are the show times assigned to you randomly or do you choose the one you want? I've just started to plan a last minute trip and at this stage I have more options to book a lunch package (which is fine) but I think we might want to hop over to DHS after the CPL to ride SDD so early show times might be preferred.
The show times are assigned randomly. Others have called to request a different showtime, so if you are not happy with your assigned time give them a call (407)939-3378.
 
We would love to see him do the Christmas processional reading but he does not fall on our dates.
He is wonderful in concert.
 
The show times are assigned randomly. Others have called to request a different showtime, so if you are not happy with your assigned time give them a call (407)939-3378.
I had actually asked about where to call to change my showtime but found the info so deleted my question. I called them yesterday and was told that if you can't find a dining time with a show time you like, it means that those show times are booked up. CM said they only book a certain number of show seats for each CP so non-package holders have a chance to see the show, too. Surprise to me, I'd figure Disney would want to make all the extra cash it can! (CM also said keep trying, that lots of people book multiple shows and then cancel as their plans firm up)
 
So, is it wrong that I booked 2 packages? I can't decide between Warwick Davis (my choice) or Edward James Olmos (DH's choice). I don't know that we will end up watching it twice, but....
 
I had actually asked about where to call to change my showtime but found the info so deleted my question. I called them yesterday and was told that if you can't find a dining time with a show time you like, it means that those show times are booked up. CM said they only book a certain number of show seats for each CP so non-package holders have a chance to see the show, too. Surprise to me, I'd figure Disney would want to make all the extra cash it can! (CM also said keep trying, that lots of people book multiple shows and then cancel as their plans firm up)
I would try and call again until you get a CM that is willing to change times for you. CMs don't always give out correct information.
 
So, is it wrong that I booked 2 packages? I can't decide between Warwick Davis (my choice) or Edward James Olmos (DH's choice). I don't know that we will end up watching it twice, but....


If it’s wrong I’m wrong with you 😂. My son is singing in program. I knew the day just didn’t know which time so when packages opened up, I reserved one if each. Since then i cancelled one when I got his performance times. I Will cancel one of the remaining ones closer to the event just not sure which show I wish to attend yet. It is for November 29.
 
Is anyone seeing their CLP dining package disappear from their plans right now? It looks like maybe some sort of maintain is going on. All my other dining reservations say to call and there's a notice at the top of the app that 'we are unable to display all dining reservation in your plans right now. please check back later.' But everything else is showing accept that. A little concerned. But don't really want to sit on hold with them. Anyone else noticed that this morning (Oct. 25)? My booking is for Dec. 12 and uses DDP credits (they actually called a couple weeks ago about that).
 
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