Candlelight Processional - When To Line Up?

[gottalovepluto]

12/7 NPH 8:30, dining package

I was absolutely not going to wait in line more than half an hour and preferred to not wait at all. I swung by on my way to dinner and asked the CMs if arriving at 8pm would still get me a seat & they assured me I would be fine and I would get a seat with my dining package ticket.

The standby line looked crazy, I wouldn’t do standby on a popular night if someone paid me. The dining package line went back to Japan where it snaked a bit and then they closed it and started a second dining package line that snaked on the other side of the Japan festival booth. When I arrived around 7:50 that’s what I saw and I said Nope! Sat down in Japan and watched until they started seating and waited until the end of the second line was near and hoped in line, never stood just slowly walked my way through the line and found a seat. I was not under the cover, I was a couple rows from the walking path that crosses the theater. The area under the cover was roped off for unknown reasons and dining packages weren’t allowed in when I arrived despite the open seats- maybe part of it was for those in need of sign language as that happened on the right side of the stage? My view was fine, the music was lovely and NPH was fantastic. They were seating standby in the back when I got in and they had a rope stoping standby folks from coming down into the dining area. Don’t recall if they eventually filled that in or not. I saw late dining package arrivals (like on event start, not after it really got going) seated for the 5:15pm (when I was chatting with the CM) and 8:30pm show so Disney knows their numbers and dining package people are not going to miss out on their seats.

I have zero regrets about the time I spent enjoying dinner and then sitting on a bench in Japan instead of standing out in that dining package line BUT a close seat was not a priority, being nice to my feet was my priority.

 

[danceintherain]

NPH 7PM show 12/6 - dining package
I wanted to eat dinner in line, but DH wouldn't go for it. So we ate seated at the Regal Eagle. We ended up getting in line at about 6:15, at which point, the end of the line was in Morocco. Pretty much right after we found the end of the line, and stood there, the line started moving forward. We got a bench right behind the tree line, and honestly, I'm not even sure they let that many stand by people in. The package people were still coming in right up until the show started They encouraged us to move toward the middle of our row only once, then didn't bring it up again or send people down to enforce. There was definitely open space beyond the spaces with obscured sightlines. I'm glad we did the package.
It was a little chilly, but I left the microfiber towel in the stroller. We mostly just snuggled up.

 

[Chirple]

We didn't attend last week, but we were in Epcot on 12/7. The standby line for NPH's 5:15 show already had people in it before 1 pm.

 

[erionm]

We didn't attend last week, but we were in Epcot on 12/7. The standby line for NPH's 5:15 show already had people in it before 1 pm.

Was at Epcot yesterday and there were people in the stand-by line at 10:45 am. The narrator that day was Marlee Matlin.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

Was at Epcot yesterday and there were people in the stand-by line at 10:45 am. The narrator that day was Marlee Matlin.

I was there yesterday too and saw the first people lined up when I walked by a little after 10. I was stunned

 

[tx911]

12/7 NPH 8:30, dining package

I was absolutely not going to wait in line more than half an hour and preferred to not wait at all. I swung by on my way to dinner and asked the CMs if arriving at 8pm would still get me a seat & they assured me I would be fine and I would get a seat with my dining package ticket.

The standby line looked crazy, I wouldn’t do standby on a popular night if someone paid me. The dining package line went back to Japan where it snaked a bit and then they closed it and started a second dining package line that snaked on the other side of the Japan festival booth. When I arrived around 7:50 that’s what I saw and I said Nope! Sat down in Japan and watched until they started seating and waited until the end of the second line was near and hoped in line, never stood just slowly walked my way through the line and found a seat. I was not under the cover, I was a couple rows from the walking path that crosses the theater. The area under the cover was roped off for unknown reasons and dining packages weren’t allowed in when I arrived despite the open seats- maybe part of it was for those in need of sign language as that happened on the right side of the stage? My view was fine, the music was lovely and NPH was fantastic. They were seating standby in the back when I got in and they had a rope stoping standby folks from coming down into the dining area. Don’t recall if they eventually filled that in or not. I saw late dining package arrivals (like on event start, not after it really got going) seated for the 5:15pm (when I was chatting with the CM) and 8:30pm show so Disney knows their numbers and dining package people are not going to miss out on their seats.

I have zero regrets about the time I spent enjoying dinner and then sitting on a bench in Japan instead of standing out in that dining package line BUT a close seat was not a priority, being nice to my feet was my priority.

I was under the impression that a dining package guarantees you a seat. The lining up way in advance is just to get a really good seat.

Is this accurate?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I was under the impression that a dining package guarantees you a seat. The lining up way in advance is just to get a really good seat.

Is this accurate?

I wouldn't say really good. Something like 80% of the theater is dining package, only a few rows are standby. And, there's a ton of obstructed views because of trees.

If you just want a guaranteed seat, don't bother lining up too early. But, if you want to be relatively centered without a tree in your sightline, you need to be earlier. We got in line about 6:15 for 7pm show on an NPH night, line was to Japan, and I would say we were right at the end of the folks who could find a pretty good (centered, non-tree) seat. Pickings were getting slim as we sat down. (We also need 5 seats together including 3 short kids who wanted to avoid a tall adult in front of them, so harder for us than an adult couple.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

I was under the impression that a dining package guarantees you a seat. The lining up way in advance is just to get a really good seat.

Is this accurate?

I don’t know.

People were pretty insistent about getting there early for popular narrators even if you have a dining package on other threads so I shared details of my experience.

 

[Akck]

We had the dining package for the 7 pm Brendan Fraser showing. Originally, we were planning on getting in line about 6-6:15. After seeing the line extended to almost Japan, we ended up in line at 5:30, where we stood abutting next to the queue for the Japan food booth. The line started moving just before 6:30 and we grabbed seats near the middle right at the first set of trees. We sat next to one tree, so there was no seating directly in front of us, giving us a clear view of the stage. I’d say for in-demand narrators, you’ll need think about getting line earlier.

 

[BillFromCT]

Was at the 5:15 Brendan Fraser show yesterday. Two girls were seated in the standby line at 9:00am when I walked by. I had dining, but still got in line at 3:45. They started to let us in just after 4:30. My hint is to go to the far side of the theater from where you enter for the dining package. No one goes over there, and you have the option to sit in the front and back row of that front section. Half of the middle rows are blocked with ropes.

 

[TaraS29]

I did the 8.30pm Brendan Fraser show with dining pkg last night. We joined the queue at around 8pm and it was all the way back at Spice Road in Morocco!

But as Bill above says, there was plenty of seating on the far side so we ended up fairly central just behind the first line of trees. We left a little space so we weren’t behind a tree trunk and had a great view.

 

[focusondisney]

We were at the 7 pm show for John Stamos on the 5th. Most of the first section on the right was roped off. We were in the first available row, it was the 6th or 7th row. I think there was only a partial row behind us. Many of the people in the roped off area came just as the show was starting. I got the impression they may have been chorus members from the earlier show? Can’t say exactly what gave me that impression, but many of them seemed to know each other & many seemed to know the music. Not sure if it’s normal for that amount of seats to be held back, but anyway my point is, almost the whole first section on the right was not available for dining package or standby.

 

[TCRAIG]

I had a package for the 8:30 NPH show on 12/8 - lined up before 7 and got the best seat for those who could not transfer to a seat…up front middle. I had the 5:15 package for Brendan Frazier on 12/12 but couldn’t join the line til @4:15 and there were already tons of people ahead of me - primo seats were already taken by the time I got into the theatre.

 

[loislane]

We were at the 7 pm show for John Stamos on the 5th. Most of the first section on the right was roped off. We were in the first available row, it was the 6th or 7th row. I think there was only a partial row behind us. Many of the people in the roped off area came just as the show was starting. I got the impression they may have been chorus members from the earlier show? Can’t say exactly what gave me that impression, but many of them seemed to know each other & many seemed to know the music. Not sure if it’s normal for that amount of seats to be held back, but anyway my point is, almost the whole first section on the right was not available for dining package or standby.

We saw John Stamos on the 3rd and same thing - most of the seats under cover were roped off. My husband asked the CM and was told those are reserved for VIPs. John's wife and son were seated in that section during the performance - we could see his son jumping around and waving at his dad. So cute!

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We went to see Marlee Matlin on Monday night. Dinner at Morocco was outstanding, and we were in line around 6pm for the 7pm show. The “reserved” line was already 3 switchbacks long by then. We managed to get a front row seat right off center, which isn’t ideal but my daughter is short and that way she was able to see.

The show was absolutely fantastic.

 

[focusondisney]

We saw John Stamos on the 3rd and same thing - most of the seats under cover were roped off. My husband asked the CM and was told those are reserved for VIPs. John's wife and son were seated in that section during the performance - we could see his son jumping around and waving at his dad. So cute!

They were actually at the end of the row we were seated in for our show. Their bench was extended out from our row, by itself in the center of the theater, so they had a perfect unobstructed view. The little guy was cute, sitting on the ground at the beginning & looked like he fell asleep in mom’s arms by the end.

I guess it was lucky only half the theater was roped off for our show. Not right for that many seats to be reserved tho.