Candlelight Processional with Chris Pratt - photos and audio Saturday 5:30 showing

[mre200200]

Just got back from Candlelight 2018. This will be a placeholder until I can get more photos processed and written up. This is year number 11 for us to attend Candlelight.

We did a few rides, but were back in the area before noon. This year, everyone was kept away from the curb and was told there was no sitting there until 1pm. At 12:35 they let everyone who was loitering by the Opera House walk over to the curb and sit down.

There were rumors about who would be the narrator this year, but Disney kept it tight under wraps. Around 4:30pm, it was time to do a mike check and everyone's question was answered. From where we were standing it was a little hard to tell, but I took a photo, zoomed in, and... Hey! It's Chris Pratt!
The mike check consisted of "Hello Disneyland" and that was it. Less than a minute later he was back off-stage.

At 5:25pm, Nancy Sulahian took the stage and started it all off.

The Processional made their way down Main Street.

We couldn't see Ruston from where we were this year. But I do recognize a friend.

Hi Paula!

Ladies and Gentlemen - Chris Pratt!

It was certainly a different show than we've seen before. Chris Pratt apparently likes to go off-script. For instance he started with the following.

"Hello Hello!
"About 2000 years ago, God, sends an angel named Gabriel to a city in Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, who was a descendant of King David. And that virgin's name was Mary.
"And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice fine favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.
"And the Bible says, when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manor of greeting this was.

"That seems confusing to me so I'll just paraphrase.
"SHE WAS KINDA SCARED BECAUSE AN ANGEL JUST FELL OUT FROM THE CEILING!"

"But that angel said to her, Mary do not be afraid, you have found favor with God. And behold, you will consume... consume... heh, nope. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son. And you shall call this son Jesus."

I don't think he meant to do that last one.
I have the audio, just no video. Yes that is Ian asking "Where's Uncle Ruston"

The child soloist

At the end, Chris said a few words,

"Thank you so much ladies and gentlemen it was really my honor to share this beautiful candlelight ceremony with all of you. It's been a very special and inspiring night.
For me, being a parent has changed my life in so many ways. And one of those ways is to understand, truly, the love that a father can have for a child. And when I stare at this precious little creation of mine here, and I watch the ways in which he tries to please me, I just feel the love that is so pure, and unending.
And the way we love our children. and the more we love our children, the more we will understand the capacity for our Father in heaven to love us (lots of applause). Each and every one of us, is his creation, and he just marvels in the ways in which we can try to please him. And that should give us all a great deal of comfort, I know it does for me.
This holiday season, let us embrace every one of our tomorrows with hope and love, and through this holiday spirit, may we continue to spread peace and goodwill throughout the world.

"Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS"


Here's all the audio from Chris Pratt's speaking parts, edited to remove all the music in-between. Yes you'll hear my camera clicks and kids speaking throughout, but you gotta take what you can get.

Great!
Afterwards, Theresa stayed with the stroller while I made my way towards the stage with the kids. Nancy Sulahian was conducting the orchestra in their last piece. We stood by the stage and then thanked her as she was walking off. She was a good 3 feet above us on the stage and said "let me just come down to see you." Even though she's got another show to lead in an hour, she came down and spent time with us. As soon as she got to our level, the kids both went up to her and gave her a big hug.
She asked the kids' names, asked if they liked music, and even let Alli hold her baton. After Alli gave it back, she made sure to give it to Ian and then said it was going to be extra special now that they'd rubbed it. Then she led them over to the nearby chairs and suggested I take a picture of them. I thanked her for all the work she does to put this show on every year. We said our goodbyes and wished her good luck the rest of the shows. I couldn't have asked for any more. Really awesome.

Afterwards, I got a photo with the kids in front of the nighttime stage.

He asked if I'd like one with the tree in the background as well. Sure! I'll never turn down a picture.
Oh, and who is that in the very right side of the frame. Tony Baxter, signing an autograph for someone.

Afterwards we joined Theresa and waited for our real star of the show.
It's Ruston! Nice work Ruston!

It's tradition to get a photo together in front of the tree.

It's also tradition to go sit down and drink spiced tea and snack afterwards, so we all headed to the castle to watch the lights and enjoy our warm drinks.

Time to head home. On the walk through downtown Disney to the car, this happened. Too cute.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Sounds truely magical! Thank you for sharing!!

 

[midnight star]

That last picture is too precious! Thanks for sharing all the details and photos!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Wow! Your kids are getting so big! You put so much work into this.

 

[MommyLove]

Thank you so much for that. Chris Pratt is fantastic, wish I could have been there.

And that pic of the kiddos asleep is just so precious!

 

[vettegirl]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing.

 

[crystal1313]

I think I saw your littles! I remember thinking how cute their hats were! We were there but unfortunately did not get to see the CP. We only had two days in the parks and had not been there since last year. My kids wanted to go, go, go. thank you for sharing all the wonderful photos and audio!

 

[Malcon10t]

We had a blast. I have had little sleep, and didn't know how to post from my phone well...

On Sat, after sound check, Chris Pratt came back thru the crowd and fist bumped the kids.

It overwhelmed my granddaughter that Star Lord fist bumped her.

 

[crystal1313]

@Malcon10t, her reaction was ADORABLE! So cute. So happy for her!! Made me tear up!

 

[mre200200]

Wow! Your kids are getting so big! You put so much work into this.

I'm amazed how big they get. I was just looking at this picture the other day. The hat barely fits him.

I think I saw your littles! I remember thinking how cute their hats were! We were there but unfortunately did not get to see the CP. We only had two days in the parks and had not been there since last year. My kids wanted to go, go, go. thank you for sharing all the wonderful photos and audio!

Thanks! So many people were asking about those hats. Whether they're homemade or if Disney made them.
Disney, if you're listening, Prep and Landing is still very well regarded. You could take more of my money if you made more Prep and Landing things.

We had a blast. I have had little sleep, and didn't know how to post from my phone well...

On Sat, after sound check, Chris Pratt came back thru the crowd and fist bumped the kids.

It overwhelmed my granddaughter that Star Lord fist bumped her.

Really cool @Malcon10t . Just a little Disney/Star Lord magic.

 

[mre200200]

Alright, you've read the highlights. Now to get into the details. Perhaps this could help someone in the future know what to expect for the day and when to line up.


Today is a special day at the Disneyland Resort. It's the first Saturday of December, which means it's the day of the Candlelight Processional. Since 1958, some form of this event has been going on at Disneyland.

We knew going into it that this was going to be a long day for us. I know from experience that getting to the park late just means long lines at the parking garage and long waits at security. Alarms were set in the morning to make sure we'd be out the door on time.
All the planning paid off because there was no-one in front of us at the parking garage, security was a breeze, and getting into the park was easy.

This is our usual spot to watch the show from. This year Disney has decreed that there will be no lining up over here yet. There's already people meandering nearby though. More time for us to do stuff in the morning.

So while it was still available I wanted to get some family photos in front of the Candlelight stage.

Me and Ian.

And Alli and Theresa.

The City Hall side of the stage has benches that are taken as soon as the park opens.

The last few weeks Gadget's Go Coaster has had really long lines by the time we made our way over to it. Today it's nearly a walk-on.

Our first time through.

Ian surprised me by saying he didn't want to ride a second time. Alli was up for it though. And we got the front row!

During a bathroom break Ian noticed Roger Rabbit on the sign by the Mens room. I told him Jessica Rabbit was on the Women's restroom.

Ian - She doesn't look like a rabbit.

Off to go on the Yellow Cab ride.

Being in the Christmas spirit, we joined a few other spirits in the Holiday Haunted Mansion.

Ian noticed the snake in the stretching room is different than the snake in the Mansion's attic. Ian - This one looks like a candy cane snake.

At 10:30am everyone took another trip to the front of Main Street to check if anyone was lining up yet. Cast Member Cesar was keeping the area clear, letting everyone know that people will be able to line up around 1pm. He suggested coming back around 12:45. There's still a few people hanging out waiting here so I think we'll be back a little before that.

Buzz Lightyear was calling us.

Theresa had an impressive finish. Her score doesn't even fit on the ride vehicle's display. 999999.

At the ride exit, there is the option to email a photo of yourself on the ride. Theresa got a screen indicating her score was in the Top Ten and prompted her to enter her initials.

She's #3 for the day so far!

And got her initials on the screen overhead.

Time for the kids to have a snack. T was well prepared with a large bag of cucumbers, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. They love em.
Leaving Buzz and walking back towards the castle, Alice and the Mad Hatter appeared. They noticed Ian and Alli in their adorable elf outfits and just had to come over. Alice complimented them on their good eating habits. The Mad Hatter said something like "They're eating very h-ELF-y"

Ian has wanted to go down this walkway for a little while now since we returned from our big vacation. He's been thinking there's a maze at the end of it.

Instead, once we arrived, we were all shrunk down in size and walking into Pixie Hollow.

And around the next corner was Tinker Bell!

Tinker Bell spent nearly 2 minutes with them. Tinker Bell - Your hat puffs match my shoe puffs.

We had been wondering if perhaps fairies and elves were related. Tinker Bell thought about it and said. We both like green. We're all pretty small. Elves like to make things. And Tinker fairies like to make things. So maybe Elves are just Tinker Fairies who can't fly.
Alli told Tinker Bell that she liked her flowers. Tinker Bell said we have Rosetta to thank for those. The kids loved meeting Tinker Bell and I'm guessing we'll be stopping to see the characters a little more often.

At 11:15am we Fastpass'd it's a small world.

I had thought only me and Ian had our names on the nice list here. But as our boat floated by Santa's North Pole house, we can hear him checking names off his list.
Santa - Let's see. There's Taylor, Allison, and Chad...

Alli! He said your name!

And Ian found his name and mine (Joey) on this list a little further back.

Before we boarded, a cast member came up to us and the kids, saying how cute they were and asking their Elf Names. Earlier today the kids decided on Peppermint for Ian and Candy Cane for Alli. They told her their names and I thought that was the end of it.
But about 20 minutes later as we were leaving I heard, Peppermint! Candy Cane! She came over and found us again asking how we enjoyed our ride. And she even remembered their names.

It's around 11:40am. I had a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain at 12:10, but T made a convincing case that I'd regret not getting a good spot for Candlelight much more than I would regret not riding Big Thunder today. Good point. Back towards Main Street.
For lunch today, the kids wanted to supplement their fruit and veggies with a pretzel. T and I both enjoyed the Philly Cheesesteak Hot Dog.

Back at the front of the park people are still milling about. It's a little before noon right now.

 

[mre200200]

And by 12:10, the area around the Opera House is getting crowded. Might as well make some new friends.
I spoke to 5-6 different groups, hearing about what motivated them to come today. A couple of them flew in from San Jose or San Francisco just for this. One couple drove from Sacramento bright and early and after the show were heading right back. Some were locals who happened to be in the park previous years and saw the craziness in the area, learned what it was, and have been coming back ever since. And at one couple were first-timers, reading about it on Instagram and wanting to be a part of it this year.
And everyone had a different part of the show that was their favorite. For some it was the procession down Main Street with the candles. Others liked the trumpeters on top of the Main Street Railroad. Another loved hearing Drew Tablak singing Silent Night, and then along with Nancy Sulahian, leading the entire crowd in the singing of Silent Night. One person liked the Handbell Choir. Personally I enjoy the Hallelujah chorus where everyone stands up together.

At 12:35, Cast Member Doug comes over those of us waiting by the Opera House. He started with something like "You're all going to be next to each other for a long time, so in a very friendly manner, please walk over to the curb. You need to be on the curb because we need to keep the walkway clear."

According to the timestamp on my photos, this is the scene 30 seconds later. Look to the left.

Look to the right. Candlelight starts in 5 hours.
T was quick to the curb for us with a blanket. I was right behind her with the kids.

Some of our neighbors told us a short time later, they overheard the cast members discussing amongst themselves what to do about the scooter and the double stroller that weren't on the curb. In the end, they taped off a little wider section than originally planned. Our neighbors said all those people not on the curb should be thankful that we were there with the stroller because it expanded the waiting area.
T quipped that it would be the first time anyone in Disneyland ever thanked someone for bringing a double-wide stroller to the park.

So, here we are. Waiting it out.
Thankfully everyone was very friendly. We spent the time chatting and trading Disney stories. People watched each others things when people needed to run to the bathroom or grab something out of a locker. When one person went to Starbucks to grab a couple drinks, they filled up 2 drink trays with ice water and offered it to everyone nearby. Really a pleasant group.

I made this graphic a few years ago and it still holds true.
The Paid Seats are for Club 33 members, obvious by their Club 33 earmuffs (must have been a gift this year), and other Disney high-ups.
The Fuchsia Bench seats are taken as soon as the park opens. The past few years, I prefer the general seating (standing) area on the right.

The area in front of us is roped off to others but wide open for us. T and Alli dancing a little while the music for the parade started up.

And Theresa and Alli walked over to watch the 1pm parade while Ian and I kept our spots.

Everyone is impressed with the kids eating habits. They love fruit and veggies and are quick to offer it to others.

After the parade passed, giant piles of chairs were wheeled out.

As a reward for not biting her nails, Alli is getting a treat. T using her new favorite nail polish replacement to do them while we wait.

As cast member came by around 2:20pm with a rope. He also informed us the area in front that they would have chairs going all the way up to the curb.

Goodbye free space.

Around 3:15pm it was time for the Christmas Fantasy parade to do a 180 and go back the other direction.

I love seeing the Tin Soldier marching band.

Hello Santa!

Is Disney becoming more PC? This might have been changed in previous years, but it's the first time I'm noticing it. Elves holding the rope indicating the end of the parade this year.

A couple years ago. They're not elves.

The Disney custodial staff was hard at work making sure the chairs would be clean for the people sitting in them shortly.

They posted these signs at the entrances to the seating areas. The other side said "Private Event".

Now that the parade has passed, all the wheelchairs and scooters that have been waiting all day in front of the Disney Showcase can finally move into position. It's ~3:45pm.

10 minutes later, the Orange and Green Disabled Seating sections in my map above were filled up.

So how do the kids do with long waits? They endure them happily. At home, iPad use is very limited. Whenever we're out in a social setting they are learning to behave without being entertained. For times like this though when they've already been on good behavior for hours and socializing with adults, I'm willing to give them some leeway and let them have some screen time.

Both of them turned them off though while we watched the flag retreat ceremony. I love when everyone in the crowd sings along with the National Anthem.

There were rumors about who would be the narrator this year, but Disney kept it tight under wraps. Around 4:30pm, it was time to do a mike check and everyone's question was answered. From where we were standing it was a little hard to tell, but I took a photo, zoomed in, and... Hey! It's Chris Pratt!

The mike check consisted of "Hello Disneyland" and that was it.

Less than a minute later he was back off-stage.

This year our friends Armand and Robbin couldn't make it. We're keeping one of their traditional alive though by bringing out snacks for people nearby. T started by offering Dove Peppermint Bark. And continued with Popcornopolis Zebra popcorn (mmm).

At 4:50pm, some of the first people were led into the seated section.

It's 5pm and the area in the immediate vicinity is packed.

We're all in good spirits.

Looking at the crowd behind us around 5pm. It's a full house.

Bring on Candlelight!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

This is such a good post. Thank you for sharing.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We had a blast. I have had little sleep, and didn't know how to post from my phone well...

On Sat, after sound check, Chris Pratt came back thru the crowd and fist bumped the kids.

It overwhelmed my granddaughter that Star Lord fist bumped her.

Love this! So glad she had such a special experience.

 

[mre200200]

Let's finish this one up.

Well out of all the Candlelight Processionals we've been to, tonight's was definitely the most recent.

All kidding aside, Theresa and I have been coming to watch Candlelight for a long time.

2008 - John Stamos
2009 - Jon Voight
2010 - Tom Skerritt
2011 - Gary Sinise
2012 - Kurt Russell, Edward James Olmos, Dick Van Dyke, John Stamos
2014 - Beau Bridges
2015 - Geena Davis
2016 - Ginnifer Goodwin
2017 - Chris Hemsworth

And looking back, I wasn't all that verbose in my early reports.

At 5:25pm, Nancy Sulahian took the stage and started it all off. The orchestra started playing and even from where we were standing, you could hear voices coming from down at the end of Main Street.

The area in front of us was not even close to being filled. At 5:27, cast members started pulling people from the crowd to sit in the chairs. They asked those of us in the front row first. I was not interested at all. Would I rather be in one of the very last seats with lots of heads in front of me, or would I want to be in the very front row standing with an un-obstructed view above all those heads? Easy decision.

But there were plenty of takers.

By this point, I'm used to it being completely dark in this area. Hey guys, kill the lights!

That's better.

Ruston (and the rest of the choirs) have been practicing for Candlelight since September, but it wasn't until the rehearsal on Thursday night at the park when they would learn what show they'd be performing in and where on the tree they would be standing. So on Thursday we learned that he was going to be on the City Hall side, but really low on the tree. I asked if he could see the Opera House side. No. What about the City Hall side? No, he's covered by the Hand Bell Choir. D'oh! Well he'll just have to sing extra loud so we can hear him instead.

I do see one person I recognize though. Hi Paula!

Ladies and Gentlemen - Chris Pratt!

A quick wave.

Then throwing everyone a "Peace" sign.

It was certainly a different show than we've seen before. Chris Pratt apparently likes to go off-script. For instance he started with the following.

"Hello Hello!
"About 2000 years ago, God, sends an angel named Gabriel to a city in Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, who was a descendant of King David. And that virgin's name was Mary.
"And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice fine favored one, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.
"And the Bible says, when she saw him she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manor of greeting this was.

"That seems confusing to me so I'll just paraphrase.
"SHE WAS KINDA SCARED BECAUSE AN ANGEL JUST FELL OUT FROM THE CEILING!"

The next one I don't think he meant to do, but was a true mistake.

"But that angel said to her, Mary do not be afraid, you have found favor with God. And behold, you will consume... consume... heh, nope. Behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son. And you shall call this son Jesus."

I think he was chuckling a little to himself when he sat down after that one.
After this, both T and I noticed he seemed to slow down his reading a little bit. Perhaps because he was trying to make sure he didn't mess up any other lines.

The singing of Away in a Manger is always so sweet. I don't know who she is, but she did an excellent job.

The Hand Bell Choir.

Just a little more off-script.
"So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
Mary gonna have that baby.
And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger."

A duet singing What Child Is This?

 

[mre200200]

I felt at least that Chris was taking it a little more seriously after this.

One of the Dapper Dans, Drew Tablak singing Silent Night in Spanish. And I realize I don't know who is playing the guitar, but it's been the same person for years now. At least since 2008.

One of my favorite parts of the show is when Drew walks over to Nancy Sulahian and they lead the entire audience in the singing of Silent Night.

And not just the audience is singing. I'm always curious to see if the narrator is as into it as the rest of us are. And yes, Chris Pratt was closing his eyes and singing Silent Night with everyone else. That made me smile.

Another of my favorite parts is the introduction and the singing of the Hallelujah chorus. When everybody stands as one and sings along again.

One last view of the stage before the end.

At the end, as with all the other years, the narrators can go off-script and speak a few personal words. Some years the narrators use a generic "Thank you" message that we've heard a few minor variations of over the years.

Not surprisingly Chris Pratt decided to say said a few words on his own.

"Thank you so much ladies and gentlemen it was really my honor to share this beautiful candlelight ceremony with all of you. It's been a very special and inspiring night.
For me, being a parent has changed my life in so many ways. And one of those ways is to understand, truly, the love that a father can have for a child. And when I stare at this precious little creation of mine here, and I watch the ways in which he tries to please me, I just feel the love that is so pure, and unending.
And the way we love our children. and the more we love our children, the more we will understand the capacity for our Father in heaven to love us (lots of applause). Each and every one of us, is his creation, and he just marvels in the ways in which we can try to please him. And that should give us all a great deal of comfort, I know it does for me.
This holiday season, let us embrace every one of our tomorrows with hope and love, and through this holiday spirit, may we continue to spread peace and goodwill throughout the world."

"Thank you and MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
He made sure to emphasize the Merry Christmas part of it, and received loud cheers for it.

So how did Chris Pratt do?
I thought he was very genuine. He's certainly not traditional, but again I don't think that's his personality. The characters he plays like Star Lord or Andy (from Parks and Rec) never take themselves that seriously. And even though Candlelight is a very traditional format, I don't think you can completely take away the personality of the narrator.
And when he was speaking, especially at the end, I thought it came from the heart.

I recorded audio of the entire show along with snapping photos. It's mostly for my benefit so I can remember more details later. I clipped out just the portions where Chris Pratt is speaking so you can hear some of the things I talk about above. You'll also hear such gems as: Ian asking repeatedly where Uncle Ruston is at the beginning, Alli asking "Was that the end of it?" after the first song, and Alli asking for kisses during the middle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLmSk7i6O28


If you want a more "polished" version of the entire Candlelight Processional, check out the video from DAPS MAGIC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLGzopqRZ8g

What would I do different next year? For the past few years, I've gone over to the Opera House side. It's a very long ways from the narrator, but you get a pretty good view of the entire stage. Last year I was a little higher up and had an issue with the tree branches covering up the narrator. Standing where I was this year (on the white X below) there were no more trees obstructing my view of the narrator, but there was a giant tree covering up the trumpeters along the Main Street Railroad rooftop. I'm not sure if there's some happy medium between the two where both are visible.
There is the option to move over to the City Hall side, but there are more trees blocking your view of the entire stage. And while you can see the narrator much better, it's always in profile and they rarely look over in that direction.
Guess there's only one thing to do. Become a Disney Legend in the next year and get invited to sit in the VIP section. We'll see how that goes next year.

After the show, the choirs all started filing out. While they made their way out, I left Theresa with the stroller and me and the kids made our way forward. All the way to the front of the stage where the last of the choir was walking out and the lantern holders followed shortly after.

I really wanted to just say hi to Nancy Sulahian and thank her for her dedication in putting this on all these years. In all my times coming, I've never seen another conductor. Even during 2012 when there were 20 straight nights of Candlelight.

The kids waved at the violinists while we waited.

I know she's busy and had another show to prepare for in just an hour, so as she was walking off the conductor's stand and down the stage, the kids and I both thanked her. She stopped and bent down to shake both of the kid's hands. It was a long stretch, so she said "let me just come down and see you".

 

[mre200200]

As soon as she got to our level, the Ian went up to her completely unprompted and gave her a big hug. Alli followed immediately after. They sure do know how to endear themselves to people

Nancy asked the kids' names, asked if they liked music, and even let Alli hold her baton.

After Alli gave it back, she made sure to give it to Ian and then said it was going to be extra special now that they'd rubbed it.

Then she led them over to the nearby chairs and suggested I take a picture of them.

I was able to thank her for all the work she does to put this show on every year. I told her, I wasn't sure if she would remember it or not, but me and a couple of other friends (with the dog) made a book about Candlelight back in 2012 and presented her a copy.
We said our goodbyes and wished her good luck the rest of the shows. I couldn't have asked for a better interaction. Really awesome.

I asked a gentleman if he wouldn't mind taking a photo of me and the kids together. He happily obliged.

He even asked if I wanted another picture facing the other direction with the tree in the background. Sure!
Afterwards he apologized that he couldn't frame it such that the guys on the right weren't in the photo. No worries.
Oh, and who was that on the right side of the frame. Tony Baxter, signing an autograph for someone. If I'd had been thinking clearly I would have told Ian that he was the Imagineer who came up with one of his very favorite rides, Splash Mountain. But I wasn't thinking clearly and just said he was an important Disney Imagineer.

Just one more picture before we leave. Smile kids. Smile Star Lord.

At this point, ~6:40pm, cast members were really pushing to get the area cleared out for the next showing. The entire area where people have been sitting, standing, the benches, everything, is cleared out. New VIPS are sat for the 2nd show. The queue for the "free" areas started lining up on Main Street as soon as the Processional passed by for the first show. They'll get the chance to be the first to stand at the curbs that we waited for all afternoon.

Afterwards we joined Theresa and waited for our real star of the show.
It's Ruston!

Nice work Ruston! The kids gave him giant hugs.

It's tradition to get a photo together in front of the tree.

We also waited for one more of Ruston's friends to say Hi. She was on the City Hall side.

It's also tradition to go sit down and drink spiced tea and snack afterwards. Normally that would be a gingerbread cookie, or something like that. The line for the Jolly Holiday bakery stretched out the door and all the way to the main walkway. No cookies tonight.

Instead, we sipped steaming spiced tea made from my Grandma's recipe. This spiced tea is just the taste of Christmas to me. It's made with cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange/pineapple/lemon juice, and tea bags. (I happen to be sipping a mug of it as I write this up. Delicious.) We all enjoy our warm drinks and other snacks while watching the castle and the holiday light show.

And while we're on the topic on Holiday Light shows, the lights around it's a small world are beautiful at Christmas.

The kids really enjoyed watching the projection show here and wanted to wait for it to run again.
I remember in years past it ran every 15 minutes. I went over to a cast member just to make sure, and learned that it's now every 30 minutes. She explained that having the show every 15 minutes caused too much congestion in the area, so it was scaled back this year.
30 minutes is just a little too long for us to wait.

We walked out right around 7:45pm as the second processional started.

And here's a view I'm not used to seeing. The trumpeters on the top of the Railway Station, but from the back.

We said our goodbyes to Ruston and set off through Downtown Disney to walk to the car. On the way, this happened. Too cute. They've both done so good today.

It was another successful year of Candlelight. Will we be back next year? Absolutely!

 

[B3rlingirl]

This sounds like a pretty special experience! Thank you very much for sharing!

Does it always take place on the first Saturday of December or does it change? Next year the 1st of December will be a Sunday so I’ve been wondering if it would be that weekend (right after thanksgiving) or the next...

 

[Skyegirl1999]

By Sunday, Chris Pratt didn't ad-lib at all (I heard both shows since I was in line during the first to get a spot for the second). At the end of the second show, during his little speech, someone yelled out "Star-Lord!" and he did laugh and say something like, "go see my ride; it's right over there!" (while pointing to DCA), but otherwise it was all very straightforward.

Thanks for the detailed report and all of the pictures!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

This sounds like a pretty special experience! Thank you very much for sharing!

Does it always take place on the first Saturday of December or does it change? Next year the 1st of December will be a Sunday so I’ve been wondering if it would be that weekend (right after thanksgiving) or the next...

It's been the first weekend in December for at least the last few years - two shows on Saturday and two on Sunday.