Laurie and I had a chance to go to the Candlelight processional this year. We went last Sunday. Because of my performance schedule, we're not able to get to church as often as we had in the past. Also, I'm getting a little tired of the rock and roll Christmas carols. I like the classics but I don't like contemporizing the classics.
I wanted to get an early start on the afternoon, but that didn't pan out. The shows were at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm. We arrived at 4:00 pm and the park was packed. It took about 30 minutes to park and the park esplenade was full.
We got into the park and went directly to the Ranch for their holiday festivities. Laurie bought a cookie and decorated. I watched the performers singing songs with children. We when went to meet Mrs Claus for a picture. The wait for Santa was quite long.
We headed over to New Orleans to ride pirates. HINT: When you see a Disney tour guide escorting a family, there are usually celebrities near by. This is in fact what happened. I saw a tour guide, young woman and stroller near Big Thunder Mountain. The woman did not look familiar to me. So I looked around and low and behold a celebrity. It was Eva LaRue from CSI: Miami and All My Children. She was getting on the ride through the exit.
Since Laurie's in her wheelchair. We follow her right in. There's a couple between us and Eva. They start talking about CSI. Eva gets on the right and Laurie says "we're big fans!" and I wave.
We're meeting friends at 6:00 at the Pizza Port. My friend bail, so Laurie and I have dinner. Very nice.
It's 7:00 and the first showing of the Processional is exiting. Disney allows everyone from the show to exist on the street portion of Main Street and they direct everyone else to the sidewalks. We asks several employees where the line was and where the wheelchair line was. No one knew. We start heading down the sidewalk and we see that in fact there are two lines roped off. We get in line and once everyone is cleared out, they let us in. We are lead to the wheelchair section and they let us move right to the ropes. We have a great view.
Now we just have to wait for an hour. We got a little frustrated. The person standing next to us was not diabled in anyway and he was in our section. Also, after 30 minutes, they let the general public stand right behind us. And many families allowed their children to push their way through between wheelchairs. For 10 minutes we were fuming and then Disney employees did the right thing and created a rope barrier to better mark the disabled section.
So finally the show starts. I won't go through the actual show, because you have to see it. Andy Garcia from the Untouchables and Ocean's Eleven. He took a very casual approach to the reading. He did a lot of banter with the audience. Overall, it was an amazing performance. It's the most Christian thing that Disney does. I would high suggest seeing a performance if you ever get a chance. I can be cynical at times when it comes to religious things, but I was moved.
Just a few notes.
- Don't sing along. People come to see the pros do it, not the audience.
- Don't yell things out. This is not a rock concert. Look, I love Jesus. Let's not ruin the night to satiate your religious zealousness.
- Not too many churches participating this year. I was a little upset by this. Then I realized that churches don't have choirs any more. And those that do, are not at the level needed for this performance.
I can't wait until next year. Maybe we'll work on the dinner package. If you each at any of the moderate to high priced restaurants, you can get reserved seating for the show. The problem is that you have to a limited menu that you have to order from, so now the price is set and you have to hope you're going to like the food. My wife is incredibly finicky when it comes to food. This is a big gamble on our part.
Alan Ng
