Hi Vickie,
Welcome back to planDisney! Thank you for trusting our advice over the years as you plan the details of your special Walt Disney World Resort vacations. The holiday season is my favorite time to visit, and the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays with the Candlelight Processional is not to be missed. A dining package is a wonderful way to have reserved seating for this special performance, so I’m happy to help you know what to expect.
Unfortunately, we don’t yet have all the details for this year’s holiday season so like visions of sugarplums, the dining package planning will have to keep dancing in our heads for now. I also love to plan ahead for my Disney trips, so let’s review what historical information is available to help manage our expectations. The Disney Parks Blog will be your source of breaking news for this special event; last year, Candlelight Dining Package details were published at the end of September and went on sale in early October. You can make these reservations up to 60 days in advance, so you should still have plenty of time before your trip to secure a favorite dining reservation.
The following restaurants were available in 2022 – please know these are all subject to change and perhaps we’ll have some new offerings for 2023, but there is always a wide variety to choose from:
- Biergarten Restaurant
- Coral Reef Restaurant
- Garden Grill Restaurant
- Le Cellier Steakhouse
- Rose & Crown Dining Room
- Regal Eagle Smokehouse (same day only)
- Spice Road Table (same day only)
I’ve enjoyed dining packages at Tepan Edo (not offered in 2022), Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria (not offered in 2022), and Biergarten Restaurant. I love knowing I have a reserved seat for this incredible experience – please
see some details in an answer I provided to another Guest about my experience. Please also
see these details specifying that you must make a reservation for the package to receive these benefits and not just dine at the participating restaurant.
There’s nothing like the holiday season in our magical place, Vickie! Keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog in the coming months, as we love to celebrate “halfway to the holidays” with some special content and perhaps some more details will be available sooner than we think! I hope you’ll plan time for non-theme park activities such as the
Christmas Tree Stroll in Disney Springs or visiting the unbelievable gingerbread displays and majestic trees at select
Disney Resort Collection Hotels. I can almost smell the spices and pine just thinking about it!
Please
write me back directly if you’d like to keep talking about the most magical time of year together! I’d love to help you think through all the details of this vacation, or our whole team is always here for any other questions you have.
With tidings of good cheer,
Amy