How do you book the candlelight processional?

[Disneyatic]

My 180 day ADR mark is June 16th.
I want to do the Candlelight Processional on our trip, but how do I book this?
I am assuming the information on dates won't be out by the time I make my ADRs.

Do I just go ahead and book my ADRs and hope that one of our Epcot days matches up with a CP date when it's released??

I appreciate any insight on this!

[LuvAllPrincesses]

I believe the CP runs every day once it starts. I seem to recall two performances each day, and each were packed with people lined up hours ahead of time. Doing a dinner package is a good plan (especially on the dining plan!), but even with a package, we barely got a seat at the show the 2nd week in December for the later show, for we refused to stand in line for 2 hours with kids. It was a wonderful telling/singing of the Christmas Story that everyone should take the opportunity to see once.

[Taja]

CP does run daily once it begins. Subject to weather. No credit for cancelled performances--just like the Fantasmic package. Thankfully, it's rarely cancelled!

Edited to add:

What you won't know is who the narrator will be. If that is important to you, wait to book when the schedule is announced. Although it usually is announced with a few "TBA" narrators. :)

[elmjimmlm]

We are going to book this ourselves in Dec...I wish that the schedule of narrators would come out with the Dec. park hours...:blush:

[Bri]

Great question Disneyatic. We would also like to book the processional for sometime in the second week of december. I saw that someone said that they barley got a seat. We were going to do the dinner (we have the ddp) before so that we make sure to get tickets, is there a chance that even though we have tickets we won't get a seat? Also, could we do the first dinner time but go to the second show?

[Strmchsr]

We were going to do the dinner (we have the ddp) before so that we make sure to get tickets, is there a chance that even though we have tickets we won't get a seat? Also, could we do the first dinner time but go to the second show?

If you get the dinner package you are guaranteed a seat. Without the package, seats are first come/first serve. Some folks wait 3-4 hours in the standby line and still don't get a seat.

When you get the dinner package you must attend the show which coincides with your meal time. They sell an alloted number of seats for each show, so it would be chaos if people were picking when they wanted to eat and attend.

[Sunshine1010]

Let's see.....there are 2 shows from what I understand. Anyone know the average times?

Also, I'd like to see it during the last show. What time would I have to make my ADR's for?

Also, which restaurants participate?

[Strmchsr]

Let's see.....there are 2 shows from what I understand. Anyone know the average times?

Also, I'd like to see it during the last show. What time would I have to make my ADR's for?

Also, which restaurants participate?

Click here (http://www.intercot.com/infocentral/holidays/christmas/cp.asp) to go to Info Central for all of the information. It's still the 2007 stuff, but the 2008 info will be, I'm sure, pretty close.

[Sunshine1010]

Thank you Chris.

Two last questions if you don't mind:

I don't know if I missed this in the thread, but WHEN do they announce the dates that the CP will be going on?

Also, can I call now and make an ADR for the package?...or do they tell me to wait until they release the date?

Thank you guys!

[Strmchsr]

I think it was in August before they announced the CP dates last year, but I'm not 100% on that. You can pretty much count on it starting up beginning thanksgiving weekend, though. It has for pretty much the last several years and then it runs nightly.

You can go ahead and call to book your ADR for that evening, and then convert it to the CP package when those are released. The CM you talk to should be able to help you with that.

[Sunshine1010]

Wow - I didn't know they announced the DATES in August. I just thought they schedule who the narrators are by then.

But, it's good to know that I can go ahead and make an ADR, and then 'upgrade' it to the CP package when the time comes.

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate it. I've been to WDW during the times they had the CP before, but I never 'participated' in it. I'm looking forward to being able to do that this year.

Did I read that if you cancel, you are charged?...or is it like other places....if you cancel within 24 hours, you get charged, but if you cancel before the 24 hour mark, you don't get charged......?

[bigbabyblues]

From what I've been able to find, you were able to book the Candlelight Processional dinner packages on July 2 last year. I'm not sure when they announced the narrators.

I'm hoping they start the CP the day after Thanksgiving as they have in the past, that will be our one chance to see it, so I guess the narrator won't matter!

[LuvAllPrincesses]

A couple of thoughts to add from my experience with the CP from Dec 2006...
First, when I called to make my ADR's I was told by the CM that I was not able to simply upgrade to the dinner package for the CP, that it had to be done separately. I was told by someone on Intercot to do that, and either the CM was wrong or the advice was wrong - so I would call and ask about that.
Second, I called on the day the packages were set to come out, got up to call at 7 am and they had a computer glitch and had to put it off for the next day. Low and behold, I did the same thing the next day, connected with a CM 15 minutes after opening their lines and got the last packages avaiable for the CP to eat dinner at Le Cellier (which was wonderful) for the day and time that I wanted. The CM said that was all he had booked that morning, was CP dinner packages at Le Cellier.
So if you are determined to get a certain restaurant and/or a certain time, call as soon as the packages are available!
Third, seating is supposodly guaranteed if you have a package, but I'm telling you, since we didn't line up early, we barely made it in, and had seats in the very back row since we only lined up about 20 minutes before showtime. Absolutely no by-standers made it in that night, and it was a regular, later showing, middle of the week. Steven Curtis Chapman was the narrarator and he was wonderful; I was so very sorry to hear about the tragic death of his daughter last week. So, so sad.

[Here we go again...]

I called to make my ADRs at 180 days out Saturday. I was hoping they could tell me when the CP was scheduled so I could at least plan to be in Epcot that day... no luck. The CM told me they do not have release dates for the CP right now.
Since this may be the last time we get to take a huge family vacation for a while and the first time my grand children go during the "season" I really want them to experience both MVMCP and the CP.

I sure hope those dates are announced soon so we can make our plans!

[Disneyatic]

A couple of thoughts to add from my experience with the CP from Dec 2006...
First, when I called to make my ADR's I was told by the CM that I was not able to simply upgrade to the dinner package for the CP, that it had to be done separately. I was told by someone on Intercot to do that, and either the CM was wrong or the advice was wrong - so I would call and ask about that.
Second, I called on the day the packages were set to come out, got up to call at 7 am and they had a computer glitch and had to put it off for the next day. Low and behold, I did the same thing the next day, connected with a CM 15 minutes after opening their lines and got the last packages avaiable for the CP to eat dinner at Le Cellier (which was wonderful) for the day and time that I wanted. The CM said that was all he had booked that morning, was CP dinner packages at Le Cellier.
So if you are determined to get a certain restaurant and/or a certain time, call as soon as the packages are available!

I am still SO confused about how to book this!
it looks like the CP is going on every night that we are going to be there, so that's a good start....
So at my 180 day mark I am going to go ahead and make my Epcot dinner reservations on the nights we have planned.
Then, when the CP packages are released I have to call back to Disney dining and request that my reservation be attached to a CP package?

[Coach P]

You will not be able to book the cp till usually the first week in July. Last year is was the 2nd. You can go ahead and book an adr at a restaurant now and then on the day call and set up your cp and then cancel your adr that you had. They will NOT switch it over because they only have so many spots for the cp.

Hope this helps

[LuvAllPrincesses]

You can go ahead and book an adr at a restaurant now and then on the day call and set up your cp and then cancel your adr that you had. They will NOT switch it over because they only have so many spots for the cp.

Hope this helps

Thanks - that's what I was saying. I did all of my other ADR's, including a backup plan in case we didn't get the CP at Le Cellier as we wanted, then called the morning they were first taking reservations for the CP packages and got exactly what we wanted and since we were doing the dining plan it was a steal!