This weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a Disney event I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. No, it wasn’t the first ever D23 Expo, though I wish I could have been there; instead, it was the 27th annual Night of Joy festival at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Friday and Saturday, September 11 and 12, 2009. I’ve wanted to attend this event for a number of years, but when I lived in Pennsylvania it wasn’t practical (nor affordable), to travel to Walt Disney World for a three day weekend only to attend two nights of concerts.
For those who aren’t familiar, Night of Joy is like many of Disney’s special events (e.g. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party) in that guests must purchase a separate event-specific ticket, commonly referred to as a hard ticket. Special event tickets are sold in limited quantities so that the number of people in attendance is less than a typical day’s crowd, allowing guests to ride attractions with shorter, sometimes nonexistent, queues. Night of Joy is a contemporary Christian music (CCM) festival held two evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. where guests can ride some of the park’s attractions and attend live performances of today’s top contemporary Christian rock, pop and gospel banks.
From 1983 to 2007, Night of Joy was held at the Magic Kingdom, but it was moved to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008 where it was again held this year. During MercyMe’s concerts on Saturday evening, lead singer Bart Millard announced that the event will return to the Magic Kingdom in 2010 due to popular demand. Having never attended the event at Magic Kingdom, I’m not sure what the pros and cons of this switch are, but hopefully I’ll be in attendance to find out.
The performances took place at four stages throughout Hollywood Studios:
- Icon Stage, a temporary stage in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat on Hollywood Boulevard
- Theater of the Stars, home of Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage!
- Premiere Stage, formerly the open air Backlot Stage, home to Hunchback of Notre Dame – A Musical Adventure (the stage was enclosed in 2008)
- Lights, Motors, Action! Stage, home to, you guessed it, Lights, Motors, Action!
The concert lineup for each night was as follows:
| Friday, September 11 | ||
| 7:00 p.m. | NEEDTOBREATHE | Theater of the Stars |
| 7:15 p.m. | Francesca Batistelli | Icon Stage |
| 7:15 p.m., 8:45 p.m. | Chris Tomlin | LMA! Stage |
| 7:30 p.m. | Newsboys (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 8:00 p.m., 9:15 p.m. | Leeland | Theater of the Stars |
| 8:00 p.m. | Above the Golden State | Premiere Theater |
| 8:15 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | Kutless | Icon Stage |
| 9:00 p.m. | P.O.D. (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 9:30 p.m. | Josh Wilson | Premiere Theater |
| 10:30 p.m. | Chris Tomlin (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 10:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m. | P.O.D. | LMA! Stage |
| 10:45 p.m., 12:00 a.m. | Superchick | Theater of the Stars |
| 11:00 p.m. | Abandon | Premiere Theater |
| 11:00 p.m., 12:15 a.m. | Newsboys | Icon Stage |
| Saturday, September 12 | ||
| 7:00 p.m. | Grits | Theater of the Stars |
| 7:15 p.m. | Revive | Icon Stage |
| 7:15 p.m., 8:45 p.m. | MercyMe | LMA! Stage |
| 7:30 p.m. | Skillet (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 8:00 p.m., 9:15 p.m. | Mandisa | Theater of the Stars |
| 8:00 p.m. | Above the Golden State | Premiere Theater |
| 8:15 p.m., 9:30 p.m. | Flyleaf | Icon Stage |
| 9:00 p.m. | Jars of Clay (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 9:15 p.m. | Gospel Music Assc. Winner | Icon Stage |
| 9:30 p.m. | Josh Wilson | Premiere Theater |
| 10:30 p.m. | MercyMe (Conversation) | Premiere Theater |
| 10:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m. | Skillet | LMA! Stage |
| 10:45 p.m., 12:00 a.m. | Family Force 5 | Theater of the Stars |
| 11:00 p.m. | Abandon | Premiere Theater |
| 11:00 p.m., 12:15 a.m. | Jars of Clay | Icon Stage |
On Friday, my plans were to see Chris Tomlin, Kutless, Leeland, Superchick and Newsboys, but things didn’t quite work out that way. Chris Tomlin’s performance went very long (presumably because he was playing immediately afterward on the same stage and didn’t need to rush off somewhere), so I was late getting to the Kutless concert. When I arrived at Hollywood Boulevard, people were packed in almost all the way back to Sunset Boulevard, so I decided to skip the concert and get something to eat.
After a quick dinner at Rosie’s All American Cafe, I caught the end of Leeland’s first concert, followed by all of Leeland’s second performance. Like Chris Tomlin, they went long and I was afraid if I watched Superchick I would miss the beginning of Newsboys, so I skipped Superchick and watched the first Newsboys performance. Once they finished their first set, I was pretty exhausted (I’d toured Magic Kingdom earlier in the day), so I headed back to the Caribbean Beach Resort to get some rest.
Newsboys, Night of Joy 2009
On Saturday, my plans were to see MercyMe, Flyleaf, Josh Wilson, Skillet and Jars of Clay. Like Friday, however, things didn’t work as planned. I enjoyed MercyMe’s concert so much that I watched their second performance, which happened to run long. Again, I was late getting to the next concert, so I had dinner at Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner which was close enough to the Icon Stage that I could hear Flyleaf perform. They, too, went long, meaning I couldn’t make it to Josh Wilson’s concert on time, so I took my time getting to Lights, Motors, Action! where I watched Skillet’s first performance. Once they were done, I was pretty tired, so I went back to my hotel instead of staying up for the 12:15 a.m. Jars of Clay show.
MercyMe, Night of Joy 2009
When leaving the park each night, Disney Cast Members handed out plastic cards with promotional codes to download a free copy of the Night Of Joy Sampler 2009
In the end, Night of Joy 2009 was a great experience and I’m looking forward to attending next year at the Magic Kingdom. I’m guessing that next year I’ll be able to get to concerts on time as Magic Kingdom is easier to navigate and the lands are (or at least seem) to be closer together than those at Hollywood Studios. If you’re a fan of contemporary Christian music, I highly recommend attending this festival, even if for only one night (after all, ticket prices are expensive). I only wish that it didn’t take place on the same nights as Universal Studios’ Rock the Universe so that I could attend both events.
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