Candlelight Processional Celebrity Narrator List and Dates for 2018

The Candlelight Processional is a time honored tradition at Epcot during the holidays. It's a full-scale 40 minute production that takes place three times each night during Epcot's Festival of the Holiday's overlay (i.e. all the normal park stuff, plus even more holiday food, entertainment, decorations, and gifts).

Each night, a celebrity narrator tells the biblical tale of a savior born to a virgin in Bethlehem all while being backed by a live 50-piece orchestra and a mass choir (which on most nights is more than 100 members strong).

The list of celebrity narrators is "THE" piece of information that everyone is looking for each year for advanced planning. Below is the complete list for the 2018 season.

• Chita Rivera
  November 22 to 23, 2018 (Thursday and Friday)
  
  
• Helen Hunt — NEW
  November 24 to 25, 2018 (Saturday and Sunday)
  
  
• Alfonso Ribeiro — NEW
  November 26 to 27, 2018 (Moday and Tuesday)
  
  
• Robby Benson
  November 28 to 30, 2018 (Wednesday through Friday)
  
  
• John Stamos
  December 1 to 2, 2018 (Saturday and Sunday)
  
  
• Neil Patrick Harris
  December 3 to 6, 2018 (Monday through Thursday)
  
  
• Whoopi Goldberg
  December 7 to 9, 2018 (Friday through Sunday)
  
  
• Bart Millard — NEW
  December 10 to 12, 2018 (Monday through Wednesday)
  
  
• Blair Underwood
  December 13 to 14, 2018 (Thursday and Friday)
  
  
• Gary Sinise
  December 15 to 17, 2018 (Saturday through Monday)
  
  
• Pat Sajak
  December 18 to 20, 2018 (Tuesday through Thursday)
  
  
• Auli'i Cravalho — NEW
  December 21 to 23, 2018 (Friday through Sunday)
  
  
• Joey Fatone
  December 24 to 25, 2018 (Monday and Tuesday)
  
  
• Jodi Benson
  December 26 to 27, 2018 (Wednesday and Thursday)
  
  
• Cal Ripken Jr.
  December 28 to 30, 2018 (Friday through Sunday)
  

The 2019 list will be updated as we get information for next year's festival (it starts out with quite a few TBD's each year). Be sure to bookmark our main landing page for Epcot's Festival of the Holidays to see that list — which is usually posted beginning mid-2019.

The production is well thought out and finds a nice balance between the religious side of Christmas, all while still being accessible to guests of different faiths and religions. Even though the celebrity narrators (more or less) read from the same narrative script — "who" you decide to see, has a bigger impact on just how faith-based the presentation unfolds. The celebrity narrators do not "sing" as part of the presentation, even if they have a great singing voice.



While the Candlelight Processional is included with park admission, the "stand by" line is getting longer and longer each year. Show times are generally listed as being 5:00pm, 6:45pm, and 8:15pm. It is not uncommon to get into the "stand by" line 90-120 minutes before the listed show time.

Most guests decide to take part in the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package, which (for the cost of dinner), at least gets you a seat in the theater to watch the show at a pre-selected time. While the "dinner package" line itself is long and doesn't guarantee you a "great" seat… it does guarantee you "a" seat… provided that you arrive at the American Gardens Theater no less than 30 minutes before the show begins.

For more information about the Candlelight Processional Dining Packages, please click here to visit the official Disney site page with booking and pricing information for the various dining package options.