Candlelight Processional Dining Packages To Begin Booking October 26

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 17, 2021

 

Following a COVID-19 hiatus last year, the much-loved Candlelight Processional is returning to the Festival of the Holidays at EPCOT. And one of the best ways to ensure your seat, especially for certain uber-popular celebrity narrators, is to grab dining reservations at one of the restaurants offering prix-fixe “Candlelight Processional Dining Packages.”

The “Candlelight Processional” is a Disney Parks tradition dating back to 1958 at Disneyland in California, and Disney World in Florida in 1971. The Processional started at the Magic Kingdom, but moved over to the America Gardens Theatre at EPCOT in 1994. The show features celebrity narrators retelling the traditional Christmas story, surrounded by a massed choir and a 50 piece orchestra. The Processional is free to park guests.

 

“Candlelight Processional Dining Packages” go on sale online on October 26, and will be available for four EPCOT restaurants, including:

 

• Biergarten (Germany Pavilion) - $62 per adult, $35 per child

• Coral Reef Restaurant (The Living Seas) - $74 per adult, $25 per child

• The Garden Grill Restaurant (The Land Pavilion) - $71 per adult, $46 per child

• The Rose and Crown Dining Room (United Kingdom Pavilion) - $63 per adult, $25 per child

 

Dining Packages include an appetizer, entrée and dessert, or one full buffet (depending on the restaurant), along with a non-alcoholic beverage. Guests booking the package also receive one guaranteed seat per person to the Candlelight Processional (held on the same day), and will be given Candlelight Seating badges at the restaurant after their meal. The badge will specify the date and show time they have reserved, and will allow guests to enter America Gardens Theatre in a separate queue. Dining Package guests will be seated on a first-come, first served basis. However, their seating is guaranteed.  

 

Guests without a dining package enter through a different queue, and are also seated on a first-come, first-served basis, but as seating in the amphitheatre is limited, seating for non-dining package guests is based on availability and not guaranteed.   

 

(In order to enter EPCOT for the Processional, both a theme park reservation and valid theme park admission are required. EPCOT admission is not included in the price of the dining package.)  

 

So far, Disney has announced the appearance of seven celebrity narrators, with additional narrators to be announced as schedules are confirmed.  The current line-up includes:

 

• Chita Rivera  (November 29 through December 1)

• Jodi Benson (December 2 through December 4)

• Alton Fitzgerald White (December 5 through December 7)

• Lisa Ling (December 11 through December 13)

• Steven Curtis Chapman (December 23 through December 25)

• Blair Underwood (December 26 through December 28)

• Pat Sajak (December 29 through December 30)

Celebrity narrators and dates are subject to change or cancellation without notice.

 

The Festival of the Holidays takes place at EPCOT from November 26-December 30, 2021. The Festival features traditions from around the world, holiday kitchen booths offering up a wide variety of seasonal flavors, costumed storytellers, and activities such as the Holiday Cookie Stroll, Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt, and lots of live entertainment around World Showcase.

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

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“Candlelight Processional” Returning to Disney World This Holiday Season

 by Beth Keating

News/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 23, 2021

 

Many years ago, our family celebrated the start of the holiday season with a trip to Disney World, with a night at “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.” It was a festive evening, filled with falling “snoap” at the Magic Kingdom, hugs and visits with beloved characters in holiday costumes (imagine that??), and all the Christmas cookies you could eat. Wooden soldiers paraded down Main Street alongside dancing gingerbread men, and Santa himself made his appearance. It was a gloriously exciting evening, especially for the preschooler we had in tow.

 

And while that might have been an enchanting way for our family to ring in the start of the holidays, there was an even more meaningful event still to come. Several days later, we attended our first “Candlelight Processional,” a moving nod to the sacredness of the reason for the holiday, and a fitting way to give meaning to the season. 

Courtesy of the Walt Disney World website

Our first celebrity narrator was actor Edward James Olmos of Miami Vice and Battlestar Galactica fame, but in years since, we’ve also been back to hear actor Gary Sinise, among others, bring their own renditions of the nativity story to life.  It was a treasured way to kick-off the holidays for our family. 

 

Last year, the Covid-19 pandemic silenced the annual tradition at Disney World, but this week, Disney Parks Blog announced that the decades long event will be returning to EPCOT as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. The 2021 Festival will run November 26 – December 30.

 

The “Candlelight Processional” has been around for more than 60 years, beginning first at Disneyland in California in 1958, making its way to the East Coast and Disney World in 1971. The Processional started at the Magic Kingdom, but moved over to the America Gardens Theatre at EPCOT in 1994. 

 

The “Candlelight Processional” is a production of epic proportions, with a massed choir comprised of cast members (and, some years, visiting choirs), a live 50-piece orchestra, and a celebrity narrator offering a retelling of the traditional Christmas story, accompanied by the spectacular music. Unfortunately, because of COVID precautions, this year’s production will not feature visiting choirs. Disney will release the list of celebrity narrators as soon as the schedule is confirmed.

 

While the Processional is free to park guests, seating is first come, first seated for each of the performances.  Special dining packages will be available, however, with reserved seating for the show. Packages with both lunch and dinner options will include an appetizer, entrée and dessert, or one full buffet (depending on the restaurant), along with a non-alcoholic beverage. 

 

More information about the Candlelight Processional is available on the Disney World website.

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

Please support the efforts of DisneyBizJournal.com to bring news, analysis and commentary on Disney to readers such as yourself. Make a contribution right here via PayPal. Thanks!