Robin Roberts, Jason Kelce and Lacey Chabert Join EPCOT's 2026 Candlelight Processional Narrator Lineup
Disney has released the celebrity narrator schedule for the 2026 Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, running nightly from November 27 through December 30 during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. Robin Roberts, Jason Kelce and Lacey Chabert are new to the show, Jodi Benson again has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and two dates are still unassigned.
Disney has released the celebrity narrator schedule for the 2026 Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, and three names on it have never told the story from the stage of the America Gardens Theatre before: Robin Roberts, Jason Kelce and Lacey Chabert. The show runs nightly from November 27 through December 30 as part of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, with two dates still unassigned.
The 2026 Candlelight Processional Narrator Schedule
Narrators rotate every two or three nights across the run, and Disney has stressed the list is subject to change — late swaps happen most years, usually when a shooting schedule or a sports commitment moves. As announced, the 2026 lineup is:
- Nov. 27–28: Auli‘i Cravalho
- Nov. 29–Dec. 1: Gary Sinise
- Dec. 2–3: To be announced
- Dec. 4–5: Whoopi Goldberg
- Dec. 6–7: Robin Roberts (new)
- Dec. 8–9: Jason Kelce (new)
- Dec. 10–12: Neil Patrick Harris
- Dec. 13–14: To be announced
- Dec. 15–16: Lauren Daigle
- Dec. 17–19: Ralph Macchio
- Dec. 20–21: Henry Winkler
- Dec. 22–23: Lacey Chabert (new)
- Dec. 24–25: Jodi Benson
- Dec. 26–27: Simu Liu
- Dec. 28–30: Eva Longoria
The returning names carry most of the run. Gary Sinise, Whoopi Goldberg and Neil Patrick Harris are all veterans of the show, and Jodi Benson — the voice of Ariel — again has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the two most sought-after nights on the calendar. Auli‘i Cravalho opens the run on November 27.
What the Candlelight Processional Actually Is
The Candlelight Processional is a retelling of the biblical Christmas story, read by a celebrity narrator and built around a 50-piece live orchestra, the Voices of Liberty and a mass choir arranged on risers behind the stage. It is one of the oldest continuously running traditions at Walt Disney World — more than 50 years at the resort, and more than 30 of those at EPCOT after the show moved over from Magic Kingdom.
Performances run three times a night: 4:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., at the America Gardens Theatre in the American Adventure pavilion. All three are included with regular park admission.
Key Details
- Where: America Gardens Theatre, American Adventure pavilion, EPCOT
- When: Nightly, November 27 – December 30, 2026
- Showtimes: 4:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- Cost: Included with EPCOT admission; no separate ticket
- Guaranteed seating: Candlelight Processional Dining Packages, bookable from October 14, 2026
- Still open: Dec. 2–3 and Dec. 13–14 have no narrator announced
Getting a Seat Without Standing for Two Hours
Standby seating is first-come, first-served and capacity at the America Gardens Theatre is limited, so on a night with a popular narrator the queue can build along the World Showcase promenade well before the first show. The reliable alternative is a Candlelight Processional Dining Package: book a meal at a participating World Showcase or Future World restaurant, and the package includes one guaranteed seat per person to a same-day performance. Guests receive a seating badge at the restaurant after the meal, stamped with the date and showtime, and enter the theatre through a separate queue.
Packages open for booking on October 14, 2026, and the strongest narrator dates go first. If a specific night on the list above matters to you, decide the showtime before that morning and pick the restaurant second.
Two standby strategies still work. The last show of the night usually has the shortest queue, and the sightlines from the outer sections of the theatre are perfectly good — the choir and orchestra fill the stage, and this is a show you listen to more than watch.
The Rest of Festival of the Holidays
The Candlelight Processional anchors the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, which runs the same November 27 to December 30 window. Around it, the festival puts seasonal food and drink at Holiday Kitchens around the park, stations holiday storytellers through the World Showcase pavilions, drops a holiday overlay onto Living with the Land, and runs Santa meet-and-greets.
Two Nights Are Still Blank, and October 14 Is the Date That Matters
Disney has left December 2–3 and December 13–14 unassigned, so two more narrators are still to come — and in past years those late additions have included some of the bigger names on the list. Anyone building a December trip around a particular narrator should watch those two windows.
The practical deadline is earlier than the show. Dining packages open October 14, roughly six weeks before opening night, and that is the day the guaranteed seats for the marquee dates disappear. Everything after that is standby, an early arrival and a willingness to take the 8 p.m. show.