Hi Nancy, welcome to planDisney!
You are visiting The Most Magical Place on Earth on the most magical day of the year, which sounds like tinsel for the soul. The
EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays is my favorite place to find Christmas spirit. The Candlelight Processional retells the Christmas story like you've never heard it before with celebrity narration and a full orchestra and choir. Steven Curtis Chapman wrote the first song my husband and I danced to at our wedding and is the celebrity narrator on December 25.
My parents recently spent the day in EPCOT. I made them a lunch reservation at Le Cellier Steakhouse, which is one of my favorite table service restaurants in all of Walt Disney World Resort. A Christmas feast involving Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup and filet mignon sure sounds good to me!
Advance reservations for Le Cellier Steakhouse, and other table service dining destinations, can be made online up to 60 days in advance. Start by clicking the blue "Check Availability" button on the right side of the restaurant's
website. Select your desired party size and date and cross your fingers. I must prepare you for the likelihood that reservations for this popular restaurant on Christmas Day may already be full, but I'll also say there's reason to hope that something may open up closer to your travel dates. Restaurant availability changes in real time as Guests are constantly reimagining their park days. When I'm trying to snag an elusive dining reservation, I typically check once a day and bump up to twice a day for the week before my desired date.
A couple of other recommendations for great steak within walking distance of the Walt Disney World Dolphin are
Ale & Compass Restaurant and
Yachtsman Steakhouse at Disney's Yacht Club Resort. Another recommendation for EPCOT dining is
Chefs de France. All three of the restaurants I just mentioned have reservation availability on Christmas Day.
As a Guest of the
Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Nancy, you are eligible for
Early Theme Park Entry and can enter Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park as early as
8:30 a.m. on December 26, 2023.
Kilimanjaro Safaris doesn't open until 9:00 a.m. so I recommend using your gift of time to experience one of the
Pandora - The World of Avatar attractions: Avatar Flight of Passage (big thrills) or Na'vi River Journey (breathtakingly beautiful). If you plan on entering the park at 8:30 a.m., I recommend being at the bus stop outside your hotel by 7:30 a.m.
Keep those thoughtful questions coming, Nancy;
planDisney's here to help!
Choose magic,
Jennifer