Candlelight Processional at Disney World – 2023 Celebrity Narrators Announced

 by Beth Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

October 6, 2023

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays at Walt Disney World is getting closer, and Disney has announced which celebrity narrators will be helping the massed choir bring the Christmas story to life for 2023.

Courtesy of Disney Parks Blog

This year’s Festival of the Holidays kicks off from November 24 to December 30, 2023, with lots of music, storytellers sharing traditions from around the globe in the World Showcase, more than 15 yummy Holiday Kitchens (food booths), and the always-popular cookie stroll!

 
The EPCOT Candlelight Processional is the centerpiece of the festival, with a celebrity narrator sharing the Christmas story alongside a massed choir, 50-piece orchestra, and the Voices of Liberty leading the music. This year, nine new narrators, including Brendan Fraser, Jordan Fisher, and Eva Longoria, will be coming to Florida, joining many of guests’ returning favorite stars.

   

The 2023 celebrity narrators include:

 

• Chrissy Metz: Nov. 24-25 (NEW)

• Luis Fonsi: Nov. 26-27 (NEW)

• Ann-Margret: Nov. 28-29 (NEW)

• Simu Liu: Nov. 30-Dec. 2

• John Stamos: Dec. 3-5

• Neil Patrick Harris: Dec. 6-8

• Marlee Matlin: Dec. 9-11

• Brendan Fraser: Dec. 12-14 (NEW)

• Eva Longoria: Dec. 15-16 (NEW)

• Joey McIntyre: Dec. 17-18 (NEW)

• Sterling K. Brown: Dec. 19-20 (NEW)

• Jordan Fisher: Dec. 21-23 (NEW)

• Steven Curtis Chapman: Dec. 24-26

• Audra McDonald: Dec. 27-28 (NEW)

• Lisa Ling: Dec. 29-30

 

The concerts are free to EPCOT guests, and traditionally held at 5:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. in the America Gardens Theatre. Limited seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, but guests can assure themselves of a seat (an important point for certain especially popular narrators) by reserving dining packages at select EPCOT restaurants, which also include a pass for a reserved seat at the Processional.

  
Dining packages go on sale October 17, and will include:

 
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion
  ($71.00-$83.00 adults; $45.00-$53.00 children)

• Biergarten Restaurant in the Germany Pavilion
  ($65.00 adults; $37.00 children)

• Coral Reef Restaurant at The Living Seas
  ($78.00 adults; $32.00 children)

• Garden Grill Restaurant in The Land Pavilion 
  ($63.00-$78.00 adults; $40.00-$50.00 children)

• Le Cellier Steakhouse in the Canada Pavilion

  ($104.00 adults; $42.00 children)

• Rose & Crown Dining Room in the United Kingdom Pavilion

  ($66.00 adults; $29.00 children)

• Spice Road Table in the Morocco Pavilion

  ($55.00 adults; $24.00 children)

In addition, some same day dining packages will be available without advance reservations at Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue in the American Adventure Pavilion for $41.00.  At Spice Road Table, diners will receive two small plates and one nonalcoholic beverage per person, plus a tagine and dessert platter for your party to share.  At the other restaurants, the dining package will include an appetizer, entrée and dessert, or one full buffet/family-style meal, as well as a nonalcoholic beverage.  Each package comes with one guaranteed Candlelight Processional seat (on the same day) per diner.

Reservations and additional information on Dining Packages will be available at DisneyWorld.com. Don’t forget, you will need separate admission to EPCOT for the day of the show; your dining package does not include theme park admission.

 

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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.

OK with the Disney+ Price Hike?

 by Ray Keating

News/Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 29, 2021

 

On Friday, March 26, the monthly subscription price for Disney+ went from $6.99 to $7.99, which also meant that the bundle price for Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu increased from $12.99 to $13.99 per month.

 

By the way, the most popular subscription level for Netflix increased by $1 to $13.99 per month in October of last year.

 

So, what’s heading to Disney+ to help people feel better about paying $12 more a year for the service?

Courtesy of Disney+

Well, Disney announced today that its Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, starring Ewan McGregor as the Jedi Master, will start shooting in April. It takes place a decade after the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. In addition to McGregor, the cast includes Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader, along with Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.

 

Also, new episodes of the popular Marvel series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which premiered on March 19, will arrive each Friday in April, running to the finale on April 23. That will be followed by Assembled: The Making of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on April 30.

 

Also, installments of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, a 10-episode season, will continue to be released on Fridays in April and into May.

 

And a new series, Big Shot, starring John Stamos, will tip off on April 16. The series features Stamos as Coach Korn, a hothead coach who lost his NCAA men’s basketball coaching job, and has to take a position as coach at an all-girls high school. (Can anyone say some kind of spin on Hoosiers – which, if you’re going to go that route, would be mighty shoes to fill given that Hoosiers ranks as one of the all-time great sports movies? John Stamos is likeable, but he’s no Gene Hackman.)

 

A good deal more comes to Disney+ in April, but these clearly are the big highlights. Of course, much more has been announced for Disney+ over the coming months – including the Marvel Loki series, starring Tom Hiddleston, arriving on Disney+ on June 11 – and even years. So, it seems pretty clear that especially fans of Marvel and Star Wars will not have much of a problem forking over the extra buck a month.

 

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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of the  Pastor Stephen Grant novels and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.

 

The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?

 

Keating has two new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. 

 

You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York  from Amazon or signed books  at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know. 

 

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