Candlelight 2006
 

I guess you can make reservations as of today for the Candlelight over on the Disneyland AP website. What sucks is, from what I read, you have to pay in advace for the whole thing?

I just went tot he site and it's down. Dang, I'm never gonna get in!! :(

Ok. The whole Candlelight offer has dissapeared from the AP website!

????? WTF?

Anyone know what's up?

I read on another board the system got swamped and they had a meltdown. They need to catch up then they'll put the link back up, or some such.

Yes, the servers crashed due to the high traffic volume.

Yeah, I checked earlier, it wasn't back up. Grrrr!

I thought the Candlelight was just a processional? What is there to get tickets for?

Yeah, t his year they offered to AP's for a price you can have dinner and good seats for the whole thing. This year it's a bit different and is a 1 price package. Years before you had to buy a certain amount to get the ticket to sit in the good seats. It was all on the AP site but it's gone now. I'll just do what I do every year and wait to get a good standing spot.

You can try
714 781 dine

It's a fantastic show featuring the reading of The Christmas Story by an often famous celebrity, constantly puncutated by carols and songs sung by a huge, massed choir - with live orchestral accompanyment. It's quite a treat ... and only available to day guests (at a price) in the last 6 years or so - - previously reserved strictly for Disney VIPs.

It's very Christmassy, and a cherished holiday tradition ... even in the shortened form that has come into "fashion" during the last dozen years or so.


I loved the "old" version, the long form ... especially long, since we'd have to camp out for hours to even get a standing room view from the non-VIP section.

about 400 reservations got through before the crash...well sort of... payments were not completed.

it was the orlando link that was the problem. those of us that made it that far have been sent an email from Events with a brief explanation and a promise that there will be additional communication regarding how/when to proceed.

the link was finally removed from the site to prevent further frustration and may be replaced after the technical issues are resolved.

it is not going through Disney Dining (781-DINE) and those CM's know as much as (or as little as) we do.

keeping my fingers crossed because i hope to make it part of my birthday celebration.

The section of the site is back up but loaded down. Good luck to those getting in.

Well, I saw the 8pm show on Sat and Sunday. Saturday had Hector Elesondro (sp) and Sunday was Andy Garcia.

Although the show hasn't changed since I started seeing it, it was still a very wonderful show. The choir was excellent this year and the solo'est were equally good. The music, as ever was absolutly beautiful.

The downside to the whole experince came on Saturday. I was standing towards the back of the crowd by the rope and a CM and "friend" were chatting thru the whole thing. Many in the section made comments, etc. and I got her name and was going to complain to Guest Services, but by the end of the evening I had forgotten her name. Grr. It wasn't the usualy "keep walking" banter, it was "what I did today" and was heard even during the quite Silent Night guitar solo. That really sucked.

That SUCKS!!

I wish I was there, though - I'm quite good at shutting up people like that

This is not avertized much is it?

I just happened to be in the park Sunday and caught some of it on the way out.

Talked to a choirmember and his church just auditioned this year he had never heard of it either. Was quite an inpressive production.

ooh, i would have been so angry!!


i would have let that CM know that the talking was disruptive to the performance. second, i would have asked them to please be quiet. next, i would have asked to have the lead come over. finally, i would have asked if they would like to walk with me to City Hall to hear first hand exactly what their manager will hear on my phone call to the area office. though i hope i could have made my point firmly, yet politely on the first attempt.

i doubt they would have acted that way where i was seated. surrounded by Disney Legends, an Ambassador, VIP's and a very popular former Prez, that behavior would have got them into a heap of trouble.

TS: Candlelight is not marketed because there simply is no extra room for viewing.

culinary delight
 

this year's Candlelight Procession was awesome as usual, but,
before the procession began, there was dinner.

not only had i never eaten at the Vineyard Room, i have heard VERY LITTLE about it. so i felt like i was rollin' the dice.

we arrived at the check-in with a very nice hostess greeting us by name and continued to use my name throughout the evening.

our table was the first to be ready... (this was the second seating and all tables were being prepared).

our server was there within moments to describe the menu and procedure:

eat/get your tickets/get out. LOL

don't get me wrong. the service was impeccable! i was so impressed. we had interaction with the hostess, manager, server, and three different server's assistants. all of them excellent service and utmost courtesy.

sometimes i think when you dress up you are treated with more respect. dunno if it would have made a difference in this case. the service was outstanding!

so, are you wondering what was on the menu? i sure was.

the menu was dated for Sunday's Candlelight Dinner. i don't know if Saturday night had a different menu.

as it would turn out, each course was served with the utmost care and attention to presentation

there was a surprise beginning with an individual serving of a lovely bruschetta which i think was baked garlic toast with marinated tomatoes and onions and :confused:

i was true to my diet and skipped the fresh bread and butter.



after the order was taken it was time to determine a wine that would compliment the meal perfectly. all i wanted was one glass. he poured only half a glass. hmmm. this must be proper ettiquette.

i could not decide between the choice of two appetizers:

Goat Cheese Maui Onion Tart
frisee and radicchio salad with cranberry walnut marmalade

or

Parma Proscuitto
hand sliced to order with grilled marinated figs, arulula, shaved Pecorino-Toscano and agromato lemon oil



they* say always go with the specialty of the house

there was a choice of beef, pork or fish.

well i hate fish.:p



would it be the Rib-Eye Steak?
pan roasted medallion, spicy parmesan Yukon potatoes, shiitake mushroom ragout, white asparagus and gorgonzola butter

or the Double-Cut Pork Chop
with maple yam puree, wilted kale and tomato confit with bacon

:confused:


time for dessert.

i wanted to have dessert but could not jusify it with the diet. plus, being close to show time, i did not want to be late and skipped the dessert.



i could have ordered my choice of:

Chocolate Fondant
pinot noir sauce with peppermint gelato

or

"Allegro" Berries and Cream
vanilla panna cotta with fresh berries marinated in Martin and Weyriche's Muscato Allegro





the food was incredible and the service top notch!:snap:
run, don't walk to The Vineyard Room at Disney's California Adventure Theme Park!

some iced lemon water to rinse the palat and i was off to pay homage and ask for forgiveness.

It has been a while since I've eaten at athe Vinyard Room, but each time has been wonderful. It is my second favorite fine restaurant at the Resort (Napa Rose is my favorite).

Great report ML. I ate there once for a friends birthday and I was very impressed. Thanks for sharing!!

Now I am wishing we'd made reservations there for this trip. Maybe I should see if we can switch the Trattoria one? I was trying to do something different from usual, but now I fear missing out.

You should try and change your ressies if you've never been there before.

Oh, we done it twice before. I was trying to break free of the rut we're in, but I might be failing.

SOme pics of the show on my MySpace blog!

http://blog.myspace.com/40909299

or thru the Myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/40909299

Enjoy!!!