Candlelight Processional at EPCOT will occur from late November to December 2025 at Walt Disney World. This covers the narrator lineup, celebrity appearance dates, whether the dining package is worth the money, and our review of this Christmas-time show. (Updated September 21, 2025.)
For those unfamiliar with it, Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World is the telling of the Christmas story by a celebrity narrator with music sung by a mass choir and performed by a 50-piece live orchestra. It’s one component of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, which also includes the World Showcase Storytellers and Holiday Kitchen food booths.
Walt Disney World has now officially announced 2025 Candlelight Processional dates and details. And wow is it a list of big names, with prolific new and returning narrators! As for the event itself, Candlelight Processional will be performed November 28 through December 30, 2025 as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.
Candlelight Processional performances are held in the America Gardens Theatre across from the American Adventure in World Showcase. Showtimes for the 2025 Candlelight Processional are 5:00 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. These are different from prior years, which is something to keep in mind if you’re a longtime Candlelight Processional attendee.
There’s a reason one of the most popular events of the Christmas season at Walt Disney World is the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT: it’s a beautiful show that many guests find to be a moving and spiritual experience. Many diehard Disney fans are annual attendees who have been seeing performances of Candlelight Processional for years, if not decades. Some have favorite celebrity narrators that they make a point of seeing every single season.
Calling Candlelight Processional one of the most popular events is no exaggeration–long lines plus expensive dinner packages can make it a challenge to see. It’s something that can be a huge hassle if you don’t have a dining package or don’t mind watching from outside the theater. We typically watch Candlelight Processional multiple times each Christmas, but only buy the dining package once.
Here’s everything else you need to know about Candlelight Processional…

Walt Disney World has now released the 2025 Candlelight Processional narrator schedule for all dates from late November through the end of December. Note that this is subject to change due to scheduling conflicts–this actually happens from time to time with the celebrities, including 3 times in the last 3 years.
However, since many narrators are the same from year to year (and return around approximately the same dates), here’s last year’s Candlelight Processional at EPCOT narrator schedule for reference:
Celebrity narrators, dates and other entertainment are subject to change or cancellation without notice. Thankfully, Walt Disney World has several local back-up celebrities on speed dial who can be called on to perform should there be a last-minute cancellation. (One year, Ashley Eckstein made it to narrate on two hours’ notice!)

There are eight (8) new celebrity narrators joining the 2025 Candlelight Processional lineup, which is the most I can recall seeing in a long, long time. In some ways, new is good–it’ll be nice to see Constance Wu, Jennifer Garner, or Henry Winkler (that last one is who has us most excited!).
There are also a number of conspicuous omissions. These include (but are not limited to) Josh Gad, Neil Patrick Harris, Jodi Benson, Whoopi Goldberg, Pat Sajak, Gloria Estefan, and Edward James Olmos (who narrated Candlelight Processional a record 15 times). Of the time-tested favorites, it’s basically just Gary Sinise and Marlee Matlin as the last longstanding performers. Both have narrated Candlelight Processional 14 times!
Olmos, Sinise and Matlin have been narrating Candlelight Processional almost every year since we started attending in 2007. Here’s hoping that Olmos returns in 2026, but we suspect he has retired.

Two years ago was the best narrator lineup we’ve seen since we’ve been attending Candlelight Processional EPCOT, roughly 15 years ago. There was something for everyone here, with big-name newcomers like Eva Longoria, Sterling K. Brown, Brendan Fraser, having huge fan-followings.
Many of the newcomers from two years ago did not return last year. Which is honestly fine, as there were still plenty of time-tested fan favorites. It was basically the “play the hits” lineup of tried and true narrators, and there’s still someone for everyone with it. Disney fans love Josh Gad, Neil Patrick Harris, Jodi Benson, and Gary Sinise. (We might try to see that last one–Gary Sinise has narrated several times, but I don’t recall ever seeing him. He has a good voice and presence, and I really respect his charitable work.)
Then there are returning fan favorites like Josh Gad and Neil Patrick Harris. These are arguably two of the most popular Candlelight Processional narrators of all-time–right up there with John Stamos (our favorite narrator), who did not return. It helps that these are big Walt Disney World fans themselves, and can frequently be spotted in the parks during their weekends, which I appreciate as a fan.
It’s also nice to see ‘old school’ narrators like Edward James Olmos and Pat Sajak make their returns. I thought both might’ve been done for good, enjoying their respective retirements. I’m glad to see that’s not the case! All in all, a really good lineup with a lot of range that we’re guessing Candlelight Processional fans will appreciate!

Once Candlelight Processional Dining Packages are released, they will fill up fast. Advance Dining Reservations are highly recommended and can be made 60 days in advance. Once they are released, keep in mind that this is still subject to the 60+10 rule for on-site guests, meaning that the dates closest to Christmas won’t be available (for most guests) right away.
Last year, just about every single date sold out the day that Candlelight Processional Dining Packages were released. For guests with larger parties wanting popular restaurants or prime meal times, availability was gone very quickly. Some restaurants had a bit more availability for couples, but even then, the vast majority of ADRs were gone on day one. It’s very important to book ASAP when reservations go live.
See our Guide to Advance Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World for tips & tricks to increase your chances of success in scoring a Candlelight Processional Dining Package, even in the days and weeks after they’re originally released!

Choose from a variety of EPCOT eateries that offer Candlelight Processional Dining Packages. Here’s what’s included with your meal:
Plus, you’ll get one (1) guaranteed seat per person to one Candlelight Processional performance on the same day.

Here’s the full list of participating restaurants for the 2025 Candlelight Processional Dining Packages:

If you’re not able to score elusive ADRs for Candlelight Processional sit-down dining packages, fear not. You may be able to purchase a same-day dining package, which allows you to:
To check availability for same-day dining packages, visit Regal Eagle’s Distinctly Patriotic Smokehouse: A Salute to All Foods, But Mostly Barbecued Meats ~ A Sam Eagle Craft Drafts & BBQ Joint. Same-day Candlelight Processional Dining Packages are subject to availability and may not be available on peak dates.
For everything else you need to know, including answers to common questions, see our Guide to Candlelight Processional Dining Packages. We address everything: price increases, changes to what’s included, standby line & alternatives, what time to be ready to book ADRs, and whether these dinner plans are “worth it” in the first place…

Sometimes, both Regal Eagle and Spice Road Table regularly had same-day availability. For most dates, it was relatively easy to score Candlelight Processional viewing via these walk-up restaurants than by booking Advance Dining Reservations at the eligible table service restaurants.
The difference is that there were only 5 table service restaurants last year, and this year there are 8. That’s still far fewer than 2019 or prior years, when there were 16 (!!!) participating table service restaurants in EPCOT and the Crescent Lake Resorts. Not only that, but 3 of those 16 restaurants offered breakfast dining packages in addition to lunch and dinner.

Don’t stress out if you’re shut out of ADRs and are “forced” to do the same-day Candlelight Processional dining packages. While the uncertainty might be unpleasant, the options are good. We are fans of Regal Eagle, but it’s not our ideal way to eat around World Showcase during the holidays.
Spice Road Table is without a doubt the way to go if you’re to do a same-day Candlelight Processional Dining Package. Yes, it’s $12 more expensive, but it offers at least that much more bang-for-buck, with a menu that’s more approachable than you might think.
We recently did lunch at Spice Road Table and had a fantastic meal. In fact, we think Spice Road Table might be EPCOT’s best Candlelight Processional Dining Package spot. It’s certainly one of the most cost-effective!

On the table service front, we highly recommend Biergarten Restaurant. This is always our top pick thanks to its jovial Christmas atmosphere, music, and value for money. Read Our Christmas Feast at Biergarten Restaurant for what the holiday time experience is like there.
If you’re wondering whether it might be worth doing plus some ideas for making the most of the Candlelight Processional Experience, we have some tips & tricks and a review in this post…

While the America Gardens Theater where Candlelight Processional is held can seat over 1,000 guests per performance, between 50% and 75% of these seats are reserved for guests who purchase dinner packages. All of these dinner package guests are guaranteed seats in one of the three nightly Candlelight Processional performances.
The higher the percentage allocated to dining packages, the more “competitive” the standby line for Candlelight Processional performances. Ridiculously long.
So long that if you’re a tourist or visiting on vacation, you should get a lunch or dinner package for the Candlelight Processional, especially when a popular narrator is presenting. When Neil Patrick Harris last presented, we saw people lining up for the 5 p.m. performance of Candlelight Processional around noon!

The dinner packages include a meal consisting of an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage (or full buffet “experience,” where applicable) and reserved seating at one performance of Candlelight Processional. For what you get, the dining package is not that expensive (or at least the cost is not badly inflated).
Your time on vacation is definitely worth the price. I know the three hours or so of waiting in line that we’ve saved by purchasing the dining package has been well worth it–to us at least!

If you elect not to do the dinner package and don’t want to wait hours in line, you have a couple of options. First, show up to the standby line ~15 minutes before the last show of the night starts. Depending upon the popularity of the narrator and how busy EPCOT is that evening, sometimes this last showing will still have seating. If not, at least you didn’t waste a ton of time standing in line.
In many scenarios, that strategy will work just fine. You may not have the best seats, but you’ll still be able to see the show and have a seat. If the theatre is already full, we recommend trying to watch from the walkway behind the America Gardens Theatre.

Cast Members will manage crowd flow back here in the walkway, but you can simply stand behind the theater (not in the walkway) and watch the show. This is actually a really good view for Candlelight Processional. Think of it as sitting (well, standing) in the balcony of the America Garden Theatre.
While we strongly recommend the dining package for those wanting good, guaranteed seats, if you’re on a tight budget or Candlelight Processional is not as much of a “must-do,” we think those strategies are good alternatives to save a bit of money, which can be spent on other holiday entertainment at Walt Disney World.

A lot of people absolutely love the Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World. We like it quite a bit, but we aren’t absolutely gung-ho, call Disney Dining the very first day the packages go on sale, crazy about it like some people. It’s very beautiful, but definitely not the highlight of our trip.
Our favorite narrator for Candlelight Processional is Neil Patrick Harris. We’ve seen him a couple of times, and as NPH fans, we enjoyed this. I cannot say he really invigorated the show–it’s pretty solemn irrespective of host–but it was cool to see him.

One time, we booked the package and arrived at the return line early in order to see John O’Hurley, or J. Petermann, as fellow Seinfeld fans may know him. We also had reserved seating to see Whoopi Goldberg, because seating was included with a D23 package. Whoopi Goldberg was okay, but on the “cool scale” she just doesn’t stack up to NPH or J. Petermann for us.
Overall, Candlelight Processional, at the bare minimum, has “do it at least once” status. Some people love it to the point that it’s their favorite Christmas offering at Walt Disney World. Others find it too dry and slow, and are not moved by the story. I don’t think it’s quite fair to compare Candlelight Processional to a Christmas Eve church service, and I think there’s a good chance that even those who are not religious will enjoy it.

You really don’t know until you try it–and in order to try it, you really should book one of the dinner packages. With that said, if your budget doesn’t allow for both Candlelight Processional and the Christmas Party, I’d recommend the latter over the Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages without hesitation.
For comprehensive tips for planning your Christmas-time trip to Walt Disney World, check out our Ultimate Guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World. Additionally, you can download our free eBook, Vacation Kingdom at Christmas, which offers tips for visiting Walt Disney World during the holiday season. This eBook is 75+ pages, with 100+ photos, and tons of great recommendations & information! For more details on how to get this totally-free ebook, click here.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Are you a fan of Candlelight Processional? Which narrator have you seen for Candlelight Processional? Do you usually book the dining package or wait in line? Do you have any strategy for seeing Candlelight Processional without waiting in line? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
How is seating assigned for the dining package? Are the more expensive restaurants able to secure closer seats, etc? Is the 5 pm showing dark enough outside to enjoy?
Also, how is Gary Sinise as a narrator in your experience, compared to say NPH?
BTW, love the pics of Baby Bricker — this will be such a special holiday for her as she grows and becomes more aware of all things Disney (lucky baby). Enjoy every minute! Thank you, as always!
Your article says dining packages have been released but they haven’t as of this morning(10/13/24), any ideas when they will be ready for booking?
Everything says you can book starting Oct 29 as long as you are within your 60 day window.
5th October but no announcement yet. Hopefully soon!!
Will the crowds at Epcot be higher on nights when then Candlelight Processional is on? What would the potential impact for ride wait times be when it’s on?
Do we know for certain which restaurants will be “Candlelight Package” restaurants for 2024/
If I make a reservation for one of those before the information is published, will it come
with the ticket to the concert?
Candlelight Processional Dining Packages are a separate booking category. If you make a reservation now for any of these restaurants, it will NOT offer reserved seating.
My sister and I are already planning on dinner at Garden Grill when we visit in early December. Do you know if I could make an ADR at our regular 60 day window, and then change that to the Candlelight Processional dining pkg once those are open for reservations? Would you suggest that I make a new reservation and then cancel our initial one? Or would it be better to call WDW to ask them to change our existing reservation to the dining package?
Does Disney save some tables that can’t be gobbled up in the normal 60-day reservation bookings for each participating restaurant, so there will be some available reservations for Candlelight? It would make much more sense to open all reservations at the same time
Tom, can you use your pull with the Disney higher-ups to land Patrick Warburton as a narrator this year???
Tom,
We will be using the Disney dining plan for the first time in December. Can you use the dining plan when booking processional dining package or Fantasmic dining package?
Great question ! I’m interested in an answer to this also. I’m new to visiting WDW at Christmas and am not sure how the candlelight processional dining packages are reserved. Are they reserved via the app like other ADRs or will I need to call? Thank you!
I strongly disagree that a late annoucement is better for families trying to make plans. I wish they made the announcement at least 60 days out. We will have MVMCP tickets purchased and dining reservations already made. So our scehdule will already be set. It would be very hard to change what night we’ll be able to see the processional if there is a different narrator we want to see, unless we don’t plan on getting a dining package and hop over just for the processional- but I don’t want to stand in line for hours and risk not even getting a seat. Also, if we’ve spent the day at another park if we park hop to Ecpot for a dinner dining package we’ll probably be going to the last show and our family does not have the stamina for that.
We are a family of 7 and reservations for 7 are few and far between. We have to make a lot of split reservations even 60+ days out and then hope we can be seated together. Then add in a couple hard to get reservations and we’ll be basing our schedule on those.
Nope. I think Disney is not being thoughtful to families who have to schedule their days and dining 60 days out, but then have to find a way to reschedule things to make the Candlelight Processional work.
I take your point, but I also remember the chorus of complaints in past years when multiple narrators were cancelled and/or a narrator lineup was released that was half blank. What it seems like you want is a full and final schedule and dining packages 60+ days in advance–but that’s not how it worked in the past. The actual choice is between a partial schedule far in advance or a complete one later.
There’s no perfect solution to this that makes everyone happy. About the only way to avoid some version of this problem is to stop using celebrities as narrators, but I don’t think a lot of people would be happy about that, either. I guess another alternative is not announcing the narrators ahead of time at all (this is what Disneyland does), and it’s a day-of surprise. Again, can’t imagine many WDW fans would like that.
Typically what time does Disney post the Processional schedule?
Most of the narrators were announced on October 5th last year. I vaguely remember Dining Packages opening up a week or two after that.
Experience the wonder of Christmas at the EPCOT Candlelight Processional! Witness the heartwarming story of the nativity come alive through the combined talents of celebrity narrators, a live orchestra, and a captivating choir.
Agree!
This was THE #1 HIGHLIGHT of my entire company conference Disney World trip in December 2023. The concert was even better than I’d hoped. The complex arrangements and the masterful attention to detail gave this concert a magical feeling that catapulted it to truly classic status. I had tears in my eyes at several points. SO moving. Broadway level quality and showmanship while still anchored in a foundation of the traditional classic carols of Christmas. Particularly delightful in my mind was the way Derric Johnson’s arrangements elevated even somewhat obscure tracks like the Gaither tune “Rejoice With Exceeding Great Joy”. Even if you don’t get preferred tickets, it may still be worth a multi-hour standby wait – it’s that good. NOT TO BE MISSED!
Agree!!
What are thoughts on doing standby seating for Candlelight Processional during the week after Thanksgiving, with the lower crowds? Worth chancing, get the dining package, or the answer depends on the narrator? Planning to make a trip that week next year and I think that the Processional is going to be a must do for us, but if we can avoid forking over the cash for the dining package for our family, that would be ideal.
Bart Millard was great. He was funny and a great speaker. Laughed at all his jokes. Great show, my favorite show at Disney.
I will be very surprised if Jordan Fisher does not cancel, as he has just taken over the leading role in the Broadway show “Hadestown.”
Good catch! I don’t follow Broadway, so I hadn’t seen that. Seems like a given, so I wonder why Walt Disney World hasn’t already announced something? If that ends up being another last-minute change, it’ll be frustrating–they undoubtedly already know there’s a conflict.
SO angry! We scheduled our entire vacation around seeing Candlelight Processional for the first time ever tomorrow because my son was so excited about seeing Simu Liu (Legend of the Ten Rings, Asian Ken in Barbie) as the narrator, wake up early the day reservations opened to buy a way overpriced dining package, and they send an email late THIS afternoon, when it is way too late to change plans, to say so sorry, we are replacing him with some nobody you’ve never heard of. I understand people drop out, but to change this at the last minute, and replace a movie star who was a big hit this year with a singer whose best song peaked at #71 back in 2001 is pitiful. The restaurant has no regular reservations open tomorrow. Do you know if I can switch a dining package to a much cheaper regular reservation, since this guy isn’t going to fill the room?
I am100% with you. We also booked our trip because of him. What a ridiculous replacement. How is that even comparable?! We cancelled our package. His posts on social media suggest he’s just fine. Out doing stuff…. and really Disney, MercyMe? Ugh
Not sure if any of the social media I found on him was actually his (intended to comment on this), but to cancel a 3 day contract was likely not due to illness. If it was actor’s strike, you’d think he could have given more than a day’s notice (unless Disney was at fault for waiting to announce). For something where they make SO much money, you’d think Disney could have some better contingency “celebrities” in the wings.
Simu Liu posted a statement on social media attributing the cancellation to health scares. He narrated last year and has an ongoing relationship with Disney, so I doubt he’d simply blow it off for no reason. These cancellations do happen from time to time–I wouldn’t be surprised if he simply got sick at Thanksgiving and doesn’t want to elaborate.
With that said, I’d absolutely be cancelling my Candlelight Processional Dining Package. You’ll be able to see the replacement narrator with much less effort. Obviously, he is not as popular as a Marvel star.
I’ve seen Mercy Me in concert several times. Bart Millard is a very good public speaker and I think will bring a lot to the reading. Hopefully that can be a comfort for those who are unfamiliar with his work.
We were there tonight and thought he was fabulous!
We were there tonight and he did a wonderful job. We thought it was great
Yes, you can. We did it last year.
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