Halloween might not be over yet, but Disney World is already looking forward to the holiday season.
We’re already super excited about the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays, especially now that Disney has released more details about this year’s Candlelight Processional, including the list of narrators. However, we noticed one thing that could make getting a standby seat at this year’s Processional more difficult.
As you may know, seating for the Candlelight Processional is pretty limited at American Gardens Theatre. However, standby seating can be obtained if you’re willing to wait for it. You can also get a guaranteed seat by booking a Candlelight Processional dining package. When we looked at the dining packages available this year, one thing stood out: there are many more restaurants to choose from this year — maybe the most we’ve seen since before 2020.
Last year, you could get the dining package at eight EPCOT restaurants. This year, that number has gone up: you can now book dining packages at a whopping 15 restaurants! Yep, that’s quite an increase. So how does this cause a problem? Well, now that there are even MORE options for the dining packages, more people will be booking them and therefore, more seats will be reserved for those with guaranteed seating through the dining packages.
That means that there will probably be less seating available for those who need standby seats and don’t book dining packages. So if you don’t want to book the dining package, you may have to get in line even EARLIER if you want to try to nab a seat. For an idea of how it can get, here’s a photo of the line to get into the Candlelight Processional back in 2021.
If the Candlelight Processional is a priority for you during your EPCOT visit, your best bet might be to just go ahead and book a dining package so you can grab a guaranteed seat. Otherwise, you’ll just have to count on luck (which isn’t always reliable) to nab a seat.
Check back with AllEars again soon for more.
Disney CONFIRMS Major Change for the 2024 EPCOT Candlelight Processional
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Will you be booking a Candlelight Processional dining package this year? Let us know in the comments!
It’s unlikely more people will pay the surcharge if they have not been paying for it before. It is fairly steep and for many with kids sitting through it is not a possibility.
Yes we always book a dinning package. Got to eat!!! Might as well!!!