2011 Disneyland Candlelight Processional mini review and photos - Gary Sinise

[mre200200]

This was our fourth year of going to Candlelight at Disneyland. Ever since meeting our friend Ruston and learning he sang at Candlelight, it's become a yearly tradition.

Welcome to Disneyland! It's Christmastime! And today we're getting to see the Candlelight Processional.

We were here for one thing only today, seeing Candlelight. As soon as we got to the park, we checked out the main stage. The area is open to walk in front of until the last parade at 3:15pm when they clear everybody out and start setting up chairs.

We sat down right around 2pm. We learned some of the people sitting right at the curb sat down around 11am. Talk about dedication!

As the sun goes down, the area really starts to get crowded. All the chairs are set up and all the wheelchairs have filled in on the right. In general, I think everything was organized pretty well this year. The cast members had good communication letting everyone know where they were and weren't allowed to stand.

This year's narrator is Gary Sinise.

Disneyland always brings lots of high school choirs in to sing. I wasn't counting, but there must have been at least 15 different choirs mentioned that were participating.

The trumpeters on the top of the railroad building are always a favorite.

And look! There's Ruston!

Two of the featured singers. Does anyone know their names? We've heard them for the last 4 years, but never heard them mentioned by name.

An amazing tenor singing Silent Night in Italian. Just beautiful.

He then walked over to the conductor and they led the whole audience in Silent Night.

After the show was over, we caught a quick glimpse of Ruston as he was walking out.

[mre200200]

We were cleared from the area so the next group could come in. We headed right back down Main Street and got in line again.

After waiting for a bit, we were let back inside. Instead of going back to stage left where we were for the first showing, we decided we'd try to get more centered on the stage. We wouldn't get a good view of the trumpeters and a few other things, but we'd be able to see Gary Sinise better.

From here, we were able to see the choir as they walked in.

Much better views of Gary Sinise here.

Nancy Sulahian leading the choir.

Gary Sinise then thanked the choir, conductors, orchestra, the sign language interpreter and the trumpeters.
Have a Good Night and God Bless America.

This is a picture of mine from 2009, but I wanted to include it because it just shows the great view of everything.

We all had a great time!

Time to do some shopping!

In all, we had a great time. We met and were able to talk to some great people while we were waiting around from 2pm-5pm. I really do love that Disneyland still holds their Candlelight Processional out in the open right on Main Street. We've been to Disney World and while it is good and all, Disneyland is definitely my favorite. Gary Sinise did a fine job narrating and was a good public speaker.

For those who are curious, I'm using a Canon 7D with a 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens with a 2x multiplier (which then makes it f/5.6) in most cases, ISO 3200.

Hope you enjoyed the photos. If you or someone you knew was singing on Saturday December 3rd, I might have a picture of them in the choir singing. Just send me a PM and the approximate location of where they were and I'll look through my photos for them. For some past years, check out the link in my signature.

[DisneyFunFamily4]

What wonderful pics! Thanks for posting. We've never done candlelight at DL before, we've been there a couple times on CP weekend but have never seen it. Mostly due to the ages of our kids and patience factor.

We went to CP at WDW this past year for the first time and we really enjoyed it, and we will be seeing it again this year in a few weeks. But it does look absolutely amazing at DL, and the trumpeters on top of the train station are just fabulous! Now you have me thinking that I NEED take our girls next year to DL for CP, I think they are both old enough to be able to have the patience needed to stake out a spot (Well, maybe DD8 doesn't quite have the patience but she can be kept easily entertained by a game of angry birds and plenty of snacks). And most importantly we should be living back in Cali by then!

We will be at wdw again next year for christmas and I'm thinking someone in our traveling party will be wanting to do CP at WDW as she has not done it yet, but I'm also guessing i can probably convince her to join me at DL next year for CP..... Fairest, if you read this, I'm talking about you!! HB, maybe you can make it down too? it might be fun, just saying....

Thanks again for sharing! Looks like you had a great time!

[fairestoneofall]

It's a date DFF4!

Awesome photos, I'm so jealous. Our boys just don't have the patience to wait for that long for anything yet (4 & 5), next year maybe we'll hire a sitter. Thanks so much for sharing. What a great post!

[mre200200]

What wonderful pics! Thanks for posting. We've never done candlelight at DL before, we've been there a couple times on CP weekend but have never seen it. Mostly due to the ages of our kids and patience factor.

We went to CP at WDW this past year for the first time and we really enjoyed it, and we will be seeing it again this year in a few weeks. But it does look absolutely amazing at DL, and the trumpeters on top of the train station are just fabulous! Now you have me thinking that I NEED take our girls next year to DL for CP, I think they are both old enough to be able to have the patience needed to stake out a spot (Well, maybe DD8 doesn't quite have the patience but she can be kept easily entertained by a game of angry birds and plenty of snacks). And most importantly we should be living back in Cali by then!

We will be at wdw again next year for christmas and I'm thinking someone in our traveling party will be wanting to do CP at WDW as she has not done it yet, but I'm also guessing i can probably convince her to join me at DL next year for CP..... Fairest, if you read this, I'm talking about you!! HB, maybe you can make it down too? it might be fun, just saying....

Thanks again for sharing! Looks like you had a great time!

It's definitely a fun experience. Your kids wouldn't be the only ones sitting there playing on an iPhone or iPad. We saw quite a few doing that while we were waiting. And even one who completely ignored the entire performance to play some game on the iPhone.

I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing people holding up their huge iPads to take photos or record something. We saw a little bit of that going on.

It's a date DFF4!

Awesome photos, I'm so jealous. Our boys just don't have the patience to wait for that long for anything yet (4 & 5), next year maybe we'll hire a sitter. Thanks so much for sharing. What a great post!

You're very welcome. Hope you can get out to see it one day.

[dnewell]

Great mini-review. Yes, Saturday was quite packed and I decided it was best to come back on the 4th. I arrived at 9am or so and took a walk around to do some pin trading, then decided about noon to head over to DCA. On my way out I saw people already lines up on the curb, so I staked out my spot between The Mad Hatter and Lincoln's theatre. It was a LONG 5 hours, but after my friends showed up time went pretty quick.

We spotted Gary Sinise walking right in fron of us about 3, but no photo op. However, we did manage to get three seats! YES! WE GOT SEATS! It seems that though they give/sell the tickets to a special group, some do not show up. The cast members asked people along the curb if they would like to fill in, and who would ever say no to that?

I have never seen such a performance ever. Most of the hymns I remember from church, and the narration by gary Sinise was almost a sermon. One thing that stood out was how many people shouted 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' instead of Happy Holidays.

People say that Black Friday is the start of the Holiday season. I disagree! It doesn't start until the Christmas Tree sings! I just wish they would sell a limited number of seats to passholders or offer a lottery of four tickets each to 10-15 guests the day of the show.

[Malcon10t]

Most of the hymns I remember from church, and the narration by gary Sinise was almost a sermon. One thing that stood out was how many people shouted 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' instead of Happy Holidays.

People say that Black Friday is the start of the Holiday season. I disagree! It doesn't start until the Christmas Tree sings!

Gary Sinise did an incredible job. I had never heard him speak before, except as Lt Dan, and was awed by his narration.

And yes, the Christmas Tree singing was fantastic. My brother is now very jealous, as he opted out of coming!

[MammaSilva]

I'm a HUGE fan of Gary Sinise, both as an actor and as a human being. He went to Iraq with his band and was at a base my brother was assigned to, in addition to the show that the guys put on, after the show he asked and got permission to be escorted to many of the outlaying posts on base to shake hands with the troops that weren't able to go to the show. My brother was assigned as his NCOIC of his escort group and says that he knows Mr. Sinise had been up well over 36 hours and never once was short tempered or in too big of a hurry to thank the troops from the lowest ranking airmen on up. I would have LOVED to been in the audience last weekend to hear him speak!

[DisneyFunFamily4]

I'm a HUGE fan of Gary Sinise, both as an actor and as a human being. He went to Iraq with his band and was at a base my brother was assigned to, in addition to the show that the guys put on, after the show he asked and got permission to be escorted to many of the outlaying posts on base to shake hands with the troops that weren't able to go to the show. My brother was assigned as his NCOIC of his escort group and says that he knows Mr. Sinise had been up well over 36 hours and never once was short tempered or in too big of a hurry to thank the troops from the lowest ranking airmen on up. I would have LOVED to been in the audience last weekend to hear him speak!

MS, I must spend way to much on FB because I was just looking for the "like" button to like this post! That sounds like a wonderful experience your brother had! I love hearing stories like that!

[oregontraveler]

PIC_1572.jpgIf I was a betting man. I'd say the Tenor soloist who you have seen the last 4 years is Drew. He sings Tenor with the Dapper Dans.

[Malcon10t]

PIC_1572.jpgIf I was a betting man. I'd say the Tenor soloist who you have seen the last 4 years is Drew. He sings Tenor with the Dapper Dans.

I knew I had seen him somewhere! GORGEOUS voice....

[mre200200]

PIC_1572.jpgIf I was a betting man. I'd say the Tenor soloist who you have seen the last 4 years is Drew. He sings Tenor with the Dapper Dans.

Awesome, thanks for the photo.
So I've also found out that the first male singer is named Robbie and is also a Dapper Dan. The female soloist's name is Heather, but I haven't found out where she's from or anything else she's done.

[Disneyana1]

I am new to the forum. Thanks for the review and great photos. In all the years we have been attending DL and going there at holiday time, we always miss the Candlelight Procession.

[jananafish]

This is a picture of mine from 2009, but I wanted to include it because it just shows the great view of everything.

I know it's an older photo, but it is absolutely breathtaking. I had no idea that DL had an event like this. What a treat! Great photos. I love to hear about all of the different events that DL throws. It's not all just about the attractions, the lines, the food...these little traditions are fantastic.

[Teddi]

Wow! Awesome report, thanks for all the pics. I've never had a burning desire to do the CP weekend/performance but now I think I'd like to do it sometime.