WDW Daily News

Once again this year I attended the Candlelight Processional during Holidays Around the World at EPCOT. I enjoyed narrators Levar Burton and Edward James Olmos. For one show I stood the entire time and the other I had a seat. Each time I was moved and reminded of what the season really means. I have written other articles at this time of the year recommending this show so I will not harp on that again but I will provide some background about the show and mention a few changes I noticed.

First the changes, most notable I noticed how popular the event was for each show, each night I was at EPCOT, huge crowds. The night we stood, the crowd was 4 deep! One change is that you cannot just walk in form the routine front entrances of the theater after the show starts, you can only enter though the areas that are used to line up on either side of the theater. The one side is for those who have dinner packages, these packages include a 3-course meal or full buffet for lunch and/or dinner and priority seating for a performance of the processional. The other side is the stand-by line/entrance, which is how we were able to obtain a seat. Although I think this is a good policy change, I was a little disturbed at the empty seats in the theater and people standing outside. Why not fill them all? I noticed that there is new décor too! I like the new ‘stained glass windows’ on the sides behind where the trumpeters play. It sort of looks like the EPCOT Ball! Beautiful!

Another notable change in the past few years has been the removal of the markedly Christian essay, “One Solitary Life,” read during the “Candlelight Processional” since 1976 and written by Dr. James Allan Francis in 1926. It details Jesus’ life, death and historical impact. Disney relates that shows are always reviewed and updated and this change was made to benefit performers. It seems the show was running so long and there wasn’t enough time in between performances for them to recover and prepare for the next show. So the 221 word essay was replaced with a 78 word narrative referencing the meaning for the season. The song DO You Hear What I hear has also been removed. The story and meaning are still there. Tis is why I still enjoy it so much.

Now a little background information. The show originated in 1958 at Disneyland. Walt Disney loved Christmas and wanted a special show for the season, so the legend goes. Carolers first with an evolution to what we see today. It was replicated at the Magic Kingdome in 1971 and moved to EPCOT Americans Garden Theater in 1994. The show is comprised of an orchestra and a mass choir that perform traditional holiday songs while a guest celebrity recites the biblical story of Christmas using verses Luke 1:26-31, Luke 2:1-18, Matthew 2:1-2, 10, Matthew 2:9, 11 and Isaiah 9:6 from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
My favorite conductor is John Sinclair. While I have seen many narrators including Neil Patrick Harris and Whoopi Goldberg, I have trouble picking a favorite! I am always moved by a narrator who I can see signing and is moved by the story by their own added words at one point in the show. I also enjoy watching the interpreter for the hearing impaired.

If you would like to have a CD of the show before some of the changes, check Amazon for a copy with Phylicia Rashad as the narrator.

Recently I’ve been writing about my last trip with my parents but I’m going to switch it up this month and write about my first experience with the Disney Cruise Line! This past weekend I sailed along with 2 of my close friends on the Disney Dream on a three night Bahamian Extravaganza! I was more than a little nervous about the cruise be¬cause me and the sea have not gotten along in the past. Well I should say me and boats don’t get along very well, but I was equipped with my motion sickness bands and hoped for the best. I packed light for the most part but I also decided along with my friends to participate in a Fish Extender gift exchange! If you’re not familiar Fish Extenders is more of less secret Santa among a group of cabins. The idea came from the Disboards and through that site and face¬book has grown among cruisers.

My friends had done some re¬search and decided to participate and I hopped on board with the plan as well. My gifts took up half my suitcase and another bag which bumped up my luggage to two bags. With my gifts, clothes and camera ready we departed early Friday morning for Port Canaveral!When you are driving in you can see the ships and I can’t lie I was squealing with delight the first time I saw the Dream. It is beautiful from the outside. You can see the Mickey Mouse heads from a distance and the ship is colorful and fun to look at. All my nerves shot out the window and I was just purely excited to get there.

We dropped off our checked luggage and headed for check in. If you know me you know I’m a Mickey Mouse fan, so I literally squealed when I saw Captain Mickey was meeting right in front of the check in line. My friends know I’m a character stalker so we got in line to meet him. We hadn’t even boarded the ship yet and a dream came true. I got my Captain Mickey photo and hug. I couldn’t have been happier.We got all checked and waited for boarding. We got to meet a few of the people from our FE exchange group while we waited which was really cool. Finally they made the call for boarding, they called our group number and off we went. We got to take a few pictures before we got onto the ship and then they let us walk on.

When you arrive they announce your family name and welcome you on board. The lobby is literally the most amazing thing ever! The chandelier was breathtaking as were all the statues. I was in complete awe of everything. And because it was a Merrytime Christmas Cruise, the tree was up and they had this amazing gingerbread house erected. It took a couple hours before our rooms were ready but we didn’t mind. We headed off to have lunch at Cabanas the buffet. It was SOOOO GOOD! They had a variety of everything from chicken tenders to crab legs. And crazy enough that was just the buffet! By the time we finished lunch our rooms were ready and we headed up to our stateroom. We were lucky enough to get a balcony view so we could see the other ships at port. We had a stateroom host that brought us our luggage and took care of us for the entire voyage. His name was Danny and he was AMAZINNNNGGG! We headed down to entire a raffle for the spa. We didn’t win but it was really cool to see all the services offered. We also got to explore the ship some and went to see the night clubs along with get¬ting to explore the pool area and I got a good look at the Aquaduck slide.

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Despite being one of the most successful companies in history, the Walt Disney Company doesn’t attempt to hide its biggest key to success. Throughout the years, one of the main practices that has kept Disney, and especially the Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts, far ahead of the competition has been the unique combination of immersion and nostalgia.

As a Cast Member at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I experience this combination on a daily basis, and can vouch for its importance with so many of our guests. But what a lot of guests may not know is that there’s a special way to experience those things – For half the price!

In that exceptionally cheesy intro, I’m referring to Disney Quest. I’m not going to argue that guests are not aware of the existence of this 5-story, 100,000 square foot attraction in Downtown Disney. In this day and age, I would be very surprised if anything related to Disney could possibly remain hidden longer than it takes someone to take a Snapchat. However, what a lot of our guests may not realize in the stress of planning a trip that includes four separate parks is the experience that Disney Quest can provide.

With multiple full arcades, creation zones and virtual reality experiences, Disney Quest offers a look at the potential future of theme park attractions – mixing classic games and crowd-favorites with unique experiences such as new looks at classic park attractions including Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise.

Though some of the technology used may feel admittedly dated, Disney Quest is light-years ahead of its time in its concept – allowing guests to interact with the attractions and characters that they can only experience while at the parks. Guests can create their own song or roller coaster, build their own virtual toys, experience Disney animation first-hand, and even just play arcade games to their hearts desire. At Disney Quest, the guest controls what they experience.

The hands-on nature of Disney Quest is what separates it from both the Disney World parks and other popular entertainment businesses like Dave and Busters. It captures the best of both worlds and adds just enough of that classic Pixie Dust to make it feel like a futuristic extension of the parks and movies that we’ve grown to know and love.

I knew Disney Quest was something special when I saw the different ways that families were enjoying their time there. Fathers were building roller coasters and playing arcade games, mothers were playing Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, families were making music and buying their own CDs. The beauty of those experiences is what Disney has always done best – allowing people of all ages to become kids once again and capturing the nostalgia and memories of the classic childhood.

In short – Disney Quest may well be the most underrated attraction available at the Walt Disney World resort. With a 45 dollar ticket, it’s an experience that can be had at half the price of a day at one of the parks, and provides a more hand-on approach to the routine experience of a park . It’s a great way to take a break from the insanity of park crowds, with minimal crowds during the middle of the day, without sacrificing the priceless memories.

One of the main goals for my column is to use the advantages that I’ve been given as a Cast Member to help other guests explore Walt Disney World in ways that they may not think of in the stress of planning their short stays. What I hadn’t realized was that there are still so many places, such as Disney Quest, that I hadn’t fully explored. This never-ending stream of potential new memories is what makes the Walt Disney World resort such a valuable experience time after time.

Thanks for reading folks, and don’t forget to keep exploring, because “curiosity keeps leading us down new paths”. Until next time!