DAPs Magic Disney News – by Mr. DAPs
The holiday season is in full swing now at the Disneyland Resort. One of the traditions of the holidays at Disneyland is the telling of the Christmas Story for the Candlelight Ceremony and Processional. This is a tradition that dates back to the fifties that tells the story of the first Christmas night with a celebrity narrator, symphony orchestra, handbells, and massive choir. Traditionally, Candlelight has only been presented on the first weekend of December. This year is different though. This year, the Candlelight Ceremony was scheduled to be presented twice a night for the first twenty nights of December.
The 20 nights of Candlelight began on December 1, 2012 at 5:30 with Dennis Haysbert (24, AllState) narrating. The first showing was beautiful and magnificent. The music was breathtaking. Haysbert voice is perfect for narrating. The weather wasn’t too warm or too cool. The soloists were stunning. Even the guest flow around Town Square seemed to be flowing fairly smoothly.
The 7:30 ceremony started off similarly until the sky opened up and little raindrops began to fall. This led to a cancellation of the second ceremony on Saturday night. Sunday night, the first ceremony never began. The second ceremony consisted of the prelude, procession, and opening narration by Haysbert. Has he narrated, a few tiny raindrops began to fall. Once the opening narration finished, the Disneyland voice boomed through Town Square announcing that this ceremony had to be cancelled due to “in-climate weather.”
DAPs Magic filmed the first ceremony on Saturday night. Here is video of the only full length ceremony on the opening weekend:
Here is a list of celebrity narrators as they are currently scheduled to be appearing at the Candlelight Ceremony at Disneyland:
Dec. 3-5: Kurt Russell (actor and Disney Legend)
Dec. 6-8: Edward James Olmos (actor)
Dec. 9-11: Lou Diamond Phillips (actor)
Dec. 12-13: Dick Van Dyke (actor and Disney Legend)
Dec. 14: Marcia Gay Harden (actress)
Dec. 15-16: Patricia Heaton (actress)
Dec. 17-19: Molly Ringwald (actress)
Dec. 20: Dennis Haysbert (actor)
The Candlelight Ceremony is presented outdoors so it is susceptible to bad weather and can be cancelled. If you wish to watch this and did not receive an email from Disneyland (for Annual Passholders) with a date and time to watch in the seating area, standby viewing is available on both the East and West sides of Town Square. Plan on arriving a couple of hours early if you want the best viewing.
