Reviews of Candlelight Processional (Epcot)
Reviewed by Fitzboyzmom Review Date: 01/08/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
This is our third year attending the processional. James Denton was our narrator and he was really good, but the star of the show if the music. It is just so beautiful and moving. Waiting to get my tickets for next year!
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—Reviewed by survivoramy Review Date: 09/30/2018
Rating: (9) Recommended
Show is a MUST do for the holidays! Try to book for a time when the celebrity narrator is someone you are interested in. My oldest has performed 4 years and the show is so amazing. Neil Patrick Harris, woman that voices Ariel, and Whoopi have been her favorite narrators. NPH is her number one, for sure. I liked Trace Adkins though she found him too monotone. But the deep traditional southern voices just fit for me. It is the traditional religious Christmas story with orchestra and chorus. The center chorus are employed by Disney and sides are church/community/school choral groups that advanced through the audition process to qualify so everyone is AMAZING! That said, they have totally changed how they seat the venue so the stand by line is not a good plan unless you want to wait hours and don't care which show you see for the day. We have parents that don't get in to the show their child is performing in (the 5:00 performers are often different than the 6:30 performers etc so let as many school groups have a shot to get in.) Now you more of less must do the Dining Package to get a guaranteed seat at the show of your choice. Those people are all loaded into the venue first and IF there are open seats, then they move to stand by line. One show probably only 100 got in from stand by and there were hundreds of hopefuls. The dining isn't like just a few reserved rows - they will sell out the theater to dining if enough people book. But if in EPCOT, why not dinner and a show? Eating there is part of the charm. And the show has a celebrity narrator, fabulous orchestra, and amazing singers. Definitely puts you in a holiday mood if you connect to the Christian Christmas celebration.
Pros:
Amazingly done! Celerity narrator!Cons:
Don't count on standby line - book a Dining Package to be sure to get in.Reviewed by newtloot Review Date: 12/16/2014
Rating: (9) Recommended
We attended on Dec. 2--Neil Patrick Harris did a great job narrating, and we loved the show. The choir was wonderful, and the orchestra was great--can't say enough good things about this experience, except.....
We ate at the Biergarten under the processional dining pkg., and to my surprise when we checked in at the hostess station, this was costing us 2 credits ea. from our dining plan. I may have missed this info somewhere, but it should be made more plain when making the reservation.
I have to say, looking back, I wished we had passed on the pkg. and just taken a place in the stand by line. We waited in our line for 2hr for the 8:15 show, and our 'reserved' section didn't seem all that much bigger than the seats for the stand bys, and their line was shorter when we first walked up.
All in all, the show is a must see. I just wouldn't purchase the pkg. again.
Pros:
The story of the birth of Christ, beautifully told, along with a wonderful orchestra, accompanied by a very talented choir.Cons:
Purchasing the dining pkg. for reserved seating definitely not worth the price/wait in line.Reviewed by dandnmom Review Date: 12/26/2013
Rating: (8) Recommended
The program is lovely - singers are talented, Trace Adkins did a nice job, gives good meaning to the real purpose of Christmas. Had a rather loooong line to get in but moved quickly (as part of the paid meal package). Paid package was a real time saver - saw others in stand by line waiting over 2hrs to get in... we only waited a short time. Only frustration was Disney split the theater- standby on one side and meal package on others... would have "felt better" if they had given the best seats to the meal packages up front (for what was $$ paid). Good to do if you have the $ and want to eat at one of the restaurants anyway but if watching money, just sit outside the pavilion and listen - that's the best part (You go for the music and reading -the singers and orchestra don't "do" anything - no dancing, etc)
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wonderful focus on the real meaning of ChristmasCons:
those who were standby got just as good if not better seatsReviewed by ajrob Review Date: 12/30/2014
Rating: (7) Recommended
First and foremost the Processional itself is a 10!
The way Disney seats you is the only downfall.
I participated in the diner package for reserved seats. Party of 3 dined in Itlay and paid top-dollar for lunch to avoid waiting in the "stand-by" line. Which by 11:15am was a long line already(World Showcase opens at 11am). So, ADR at 2pm for 5pm show..... come out of luch by 3:15 to see the "reserved seating" line is about a mile long. Ridiculous! I mean the line was past Morroco. Why do you think people get on the reserved line so early?? I found out firsthand that Disney allows the "stand-by" line to go into the theather at the same time as "reserved seating". Stupid! By the time the Processional started, ushers were still trying to find seats for "reserved seating" people. Families were broken up into different seating areas. That should not go on if you take the time to make ADR and pay the restaurant for your meal. On the dining plan it counts as 2 meals per person.
I'm glad I decided to get on that line early, I'm glad I had a nice seat for the show, but don't think I would go through the trouble again. Going to lunch(had to wait a bit for our ADR) then standing in that line for almost 2 hours took alot of time out of our day.
Again, the show is beautiful, the music, singing and Neil Patrick Harris as our host was wonderful.
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seatsCons:
waiting in lineReviewed by castlefan Review Date: 12/18/2019
Rating: (5) Not Recommended
I agreed to attend this event because my co-traveler wanted to attend it. Thank goodness we used the dining/seat guarantee because there were mobs of people waiting to get in. I am not a Christian, so the excessive ecclesiastical sermon was annoying. The singing was nice, but the only professional singers, as far as I could tell, were The American Singers. The orchestra was lovely as was our narrator, Neil Patrick Harris. I doubt I will use my Epcot time to attend again, however.
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Pretty.Cons:
A huge annoyance were the one person here holding 10 seats, and the two people there holding 15. And those sorts were all over. Really? If they want a seat, get there early. There should be no "savesies." This was extremely not fair.Reviewed by Anonymous Review Date: 12/06/2023
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
Ok first I am not a Cristian! Even though this is 30 minutes but feels like 2 HOURS! Now I love the orchestra but when you feel your stomach saying. “This has to be the last song” IT’S NOT. Now festival of the holidays is the BEST festival. But this ruins the whole thing the ONLY song I liked was “Jump For Joy” or whatever it is called. It’s usually a 3-5 hour wait and it’s not worth it. Now don’t get me wrong I LOVE Christmas but I do not think it is worth it plus the fireworks are DELAYED by 30 minutes (mostly). Overall very overrated for some reason? I am very ADDICTED for some reason I DON’T KNOW WHY! But I would SKIP this no matter what! Epcot is for RIDES , NOT SHOWS (Except fireworks). Overall this is awful , probably the WORST show ever!
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OrchestraCons:
Wait , What you get , How long it feels , Everything elseReviewed by emjohnson03 Review Date: 12/20/2015
Rating: (0) Recommended
This was great! We were lucky because we didn't get in till right before show time! Everyone says to do a dining plan but we went on a Friday night and the first show. It may have been because the actress wasn't too popular but we got seats and enjoyed every second.
Highly recommend for the Christmas feel and the music was great.
