EPCOT Candlelight Processional Dining Package 2021

The EPCOT Candlelight Processional is a really beautiful event that takes place each evening at EPCOT during the Festival of the Holidays.

My daughter and I enjoyed the performance this past weekend and I wanted to share details about the Candlelight Processional as well as the Dining Packages that are available if you’d like to guarantee seating to one of the shows.

Let’s dive into a quick EPCOT Candlelight Processional overview and then we’ll cover the Dining Packages.

EPCOT Candlelight Processional

The Candlelight Processional is an hour long show that features a 50-piece orchestra, the Voices of Liberty, a cast member choir, and a celebrity narrator. The show tells the biblical story of Christmas with really beautiful music throughout.

At the start of the show the orchestra will begin by playing Christmas music. Then the Voices of Liberty will make their way to the stage to add to the performance. Followed by the cast member choir, and lastly the celebrity narrator.

There was an American Sign Language interpreter on stage as well! I am not sure if this is standard at all of the shows? Be sure to reach out to Disney’s Guest Services if you’re planning to see a show and require an interpreter.

This was my daughter’s very first time seeing the Candlelight Processional and she really enjoyed it. I think it was especially special for her because the voice of Moana, Auli’i Cravalho, was our narrator — and that’s someone she was excited to see!

Here’s a listing of the Candlelight Processional Celebrity Narrators for 2021:

Auli’i Cravalho
November 26 through November 28
Chita Rivera
November 29 through December 1
Jodi Benson
December 2 through December 4
Alton Fitzgerald White
December 5 through December 7
Bart Millard
December 8 through December 10
Lisa Ling
December 11 through December 13
Andy Garcia
December 14 through December 16
Ana Gasteyer
December 17 through December 19
Courtney B. Vance
December 20 through December 22
Steven Curtis Chapman
December 23 through December 25
Blair Underwood
December 26 through December 28
Pat Sajak
December 29 through December 30

Each night there are 3 different showtimes available:

The first showing is at 5:15pm, followed by a 7:00pm showing, and then an 8:30pm showing.

If you’re visiting EPCOT during the Festival of the Holidays I highly recommend you see the Candlelight Processional if you can! There are a few different ways you can enjoy the show.

You can wait in the Stand-By queue for a seat in the back of the theatre (this is free!), you can purchase a Dining Package for a guaranteed seat in the front of the theatre (this has an up-charge on the meal), or you can stand outside the theatre and listen (free!)!

I decided to do the Dining Package this year. Mostly so I could share with you how it works but also because I didn’t want to stand for hours with my daughter hoping to get a seat for the first show (knowing that it’s very possible that we wouldn’t make it in).

If you plan to dine at EPCOT anyways, I would consider the Dining Package. If you want to enjoy all of the Holiday Kitchens throughout the Festival of the Holidays, I would skip the Dining Package and either wait in the Stand-By queue or just listen from outside of the theatre.

One thing to keep in mind though is that as we get deeper into December, the lines for the Candlelight Processional Stand-By will start forming earlier and earlier. I know in years past I’ve heard stories of people who waited 3-4 hours for a seat and sometimes didn’t even make it into the next show.

Definitely scope out the Stand-By queue as you walk around the World Showcase. You’ll find it between The American Adventure pavilion and the Italy pavilion.

The Dining Package queue is on the other side of the theatre, between The American Adventure pavilion and the Japan pavilion.

Okay! Let’s look at the Candlelight Processional Dining Packages now!

Candlelight Processional Dining Packages

There are 4 different table service restaurants that are offering Candlelight Processional lunch or dinner packages.

Biergarten
Coral Reef
Garden Grill
Rose & Crown

There *also* are 2 quick service restaurants that are offering reserved seating this year.

Regal Eagle Smokehouse
Spice Road Table

The table Service restaurants will need to be reserved in advance via the My Disney Experience app. You will see the reservations listed as Candlelight Processional Dining Packages.

The quick service restaurants are available same day, no reservations. The seats are limited and you must purchase this package inside the restaurant (no mobile ordering).

Pricing is as follows:

Biergarten
- $62 adult | $32 children
Coral Reef
- $74 adult | $25 children
Garden Grill
- $71 adult | $46 children
Rose & Crown
- $63 adult | $25 children
Regal Eagle Smokehouse
- $39.99 per person
Spice Road Table
- $49.99 per person

The table service meals will either be a buffet or an all-you-care-to-enjoy family style meal, OR you’ll get to select an appetizer, entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage.

The quick service meal at Regal Eagle includes an entree, dessert, and non-alcoholic beverage.

The quick service meal at Spice Road Table includes 2 small plates, a dessert platter, and a non-alcoholic beverage.

After you dine, you’ll receive Dining Package stickers to wear on your shirt when entering the Candlelight Processional via the Dining Package queue (between America and Japan).

I found a day-before reservation for Garden Grill and was happy about that because I thought my daughter would enjoy it the most. Garden Grill is a really underrated character dining meal in The Land (near Soarin’ and Living with the Land).

You’ll get to see Chip ‘n’ Dale, Mickey and Pluto while you eat. We actually saw each character FOUR times! The restaurant is at about half-capacity, they are only seating people on the lower level in the booths. The characters make their way around the restaurant on the upper-level to interact with you.

The cast member suggested my daughter stand on the booth seat so that she could see the characters well. We had really wonderful character interactions.

You also can see inside the Living with the Land ride as the restaurant very slowly rotates! This is also a really fun feature for kids (and adults, I love looking around in there haha!).

Our meal was served family style and everything was delicious. There really isn’t a kids menu here so if you’re kiddos are pickier, this may not be the spot for you.

My daughter loved the macaroni and cheese, the steak and turkey, and the mashed potatoes.

The dessert was great too.

After your meal you’ll receive a postcard with the character’s autographs on the back.

Garden Grill is regularly $55 for adults and $36 for children so we did pay an up-charge of $26 for the guaranteed seating but I thought it was well worth it since we not only had a great meal, we also had wonderful character interactions, and second row seats to the performance!

After our meal we did rides and explored for a bit before making our way to the Dining Package queue at 4:30. They actually had just started seating guests at that time — so it was 45 minutes before showtime. We had no problem grabbing a great seat in the front of the theatre. You definitely do not have to arrive that early unless you want a front seat. You could arrive as late as 15 minutes before the show and still grab a spot without issue!

There are ropes up separating the reserved seating from the stand-by. There also will be sections roped off in the reserved seating area for Club 33 and VIP tours, etc.

For reference, the stand-by seating queue started entering the theatre 30 minutes before the start of the show.

I hope this information is helpful if you’re planning to visit EPCOT this year during the Festival of the Holidays!

The Candlelight Processional is truly a beautiful performance and we really enjoyed it! We also had a great meal at Garden Grill.

Follow along on all of our Walt Disney World fun on Instagram @brbgoingtodisney! I share tips and tricks LIVE from the parks each week on Stories! See you there!