Tips for Making Epcot Candlelight Processional Dining Packages
At Epcot’s Candlelight Processional, guests can experience celebrity narrators, the Voices of Liberty acapella ensemble, a 50-piece live orchestra and glorious massed choirs as they present a retelling of the traditional Christmas story.
A Candlelight Processional Dining Package includes lunch or dinner at a participating Epcot restaurant and guaranteed admission to the show.
Is a dining package required to see Candlelight Processional? Nope! Standby guests who line up early will almost certainly get into the show.
For the dining package, you can choose from several restaurants at EPCOT that offer Candlelight Processional Dining Packages. Each package includes:
An appetizer, entrée and dessert or one (1) full buffet (where applicable), along with a non-alcoholic beverage
One (1) guaranteed seat per person to a Candlelight Processional performance held on the same day
The reservation time you select determines which performance you’ll go to. There are at least 2 performances each night.
Tips for Getting a Candlelight Dining Package
Dining reservations are extremely difficult to secure at Walt Disney World and Candlelight Processional Dining Packages are no different. They sell out within within minutes going on sale.
While there’s a lot of luck involved here are a few things you can do help increase your chances.
1
First, make a park reservation for Epcot on the day you want to make the Candlelight Dining Package reservation, or at least make sure reservations are available.
If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can begin park hopping at 2 pm (subject to availability).
2
Link a credit card to your My Disney Experience account, under the My Profile section. This way you can speed through the checkout process by not having to spend time entering your credit card information. A credit card hold is required to make the reservation.
Also, keep a credit card handy just in case. Sometimes the system doesn’t see that you have a card on file and makes you enter it again.
3
Know the date, time and restaurant you want in advance. For a list of participating restaurants, see my Candlelight Processional article here. It’s also a good idea to have a backup option, but you’ll need to work fast if your first choice isn’t available.
4
Log into your My Disney Experience account at least 5 minutes before the packages go on sale. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the dining reservation system.
5
If someone in your party has their own My Disney Experience account, they can also try for a reservation as well.
NOTE: You cannot have multiple people signed into the same My Disney Experience account at the same time.
The system will automatically log the other person out when it detects a new log in.
You may not realize you have been logged out until it’s time to check out and the system asks you to log in again. At this point you’ll likely lose your time slot to someone else.
6
Locate the Candlelight Processional Dining Package from the list of restaurants. It has a seperate listing, do not look up the restaurant by name - look up the “Candlelight Processional Dining Package” instead.
You can also search for these packages using the search tool on the app and website to find them faster.
7
When the site unlocks at 6 am ET, you’ll need to move fast. Enter the date, restaurant, party size and time. Do not spend time choosing the people in your party in the drop down menu.
Disney just needs to have the headcount. You can go back and fill in names later if you want, once your reservation is confirmed.
Tips if you Don’t Get a Candlelight Dining Package
Go standby! People will begin queuing up about 60 minutes prior to each show. At Disney, waiting 60 minutes for an attraction is no big deal, right?
Odds are very good you’ll get into the show.
If there is a popular narrator, like the voice of Olaf, Josh Gad, I recommend checking out the line situation starting 2-3 hours prior to the show.
This will give you an idea of when you should get in line for the second show.
Ask a Cast Member at the American Gardens Theater what time they recommend you get in the standby line.
Cast Members work the show every night and have a good idea of when people have been forming a line. They will happy to help you.
Book a same-day dining package. Same-day Candlelight Processional Dining Packages have returned to Regal Eagle Smokehouse and Spice Road Table. Regal Eagle is a terrific value because it’s cheaper, and you get the exact same ticket as those paying a lot more for lunch and dinner.
Last year I had such great luck with same-day dining reservations that I’m planning on doing it again this year.
My tip: get to Regal Eagle at 11:30 am, the restaurant opens at 11:45 am.
Last year there were plenty of same-day dining packages available when I checked.
The regular cashiers at Regal Eagle sell the package, there’s no special area to purchase them.
If you don’t want to wait in standby or do a dining package, you can stand on the World Showcase promenade and watch the show from there.
You just can’t stand in the main walkway.
You’ll actually have a very good view of the stage, but of course, you should arrive early.
Related:
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Darren is a Disney-focused travel agent with Magical Vacations Travel and has over 13 years of experience. Readers of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World rate him as a Best of the Best Disney Travel Agent. Darren is also an Orlando-based travel writer with topics ranging from theme parks to cruise lines.
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