DATES Announced for the 2023 Candlelight Processional at Disneyland Resort

It’s no secret that Disneyland is already getting ready for the holiday season.

Snow is on the castle

The snow is already on Sleeping Beauty Castle. Holiday merchandise is starting to kick Halloween merchandise out of stores. That’s right, we’re getting ready to say goodbye to Halloween and hello to everything festive. Now we have some more details about what to expect in Disneyland this winter, and that includes a fan-favorite event.

According to the Orange County Register, the Candlelight Processional will be returning to Disneyland this holiday season. This special event includes a 600-member choir accompanying a celebrity narrator telling the story of Christmas. It takes place in Disneyland in front of Disneyland’s Town Square.

2022 Candlelight Processional

This year’s event will take place on December 2nd and 3rd at 5:30PM and 7:45PM. However, Disneyland’s Candlelight Processional is a little different than the one in EPCOT. For starters, Disneyland doesn’t do much to promote the event because it would cause traffic problems at the front of the park (where it’s held).

2022 Disneyland Candlelight Processional

Reserved seating is extremely limited to several hundred invited guests, including members of the community, the media, civic leaders, select representatives, and VIPs. If you don’t fall into that exclusive group of people, though, you can still catch the show in the limited standing-room-only spot behind the seating area. Yes, that means if you want to catch it, you might just need to nab your spot first thing that day and wait.

Seating area

The logistics of the events do cause some traffic flow issues, but several backstage passageways behind Main Street, U.S.A. are usually open during the Candlelight Processional. Expect the event to also affect some rides and shop hours.

2021 Candlelight Processional

As far as celebrity narrators, they are not announced ahead of time like Disney does for the EPCOT Candlelight Processional. Instead, it’s a surprise, but past narrators have included Cary Grant, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Dick Van Dyke, Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Ginnifer Goodwin, Jane Seymour, and James Earl Jones. Yes, this tradition goes all the way back to 1958.

What Child Is This?

Expect park pass reservations for those days to go quickly, too, so if you do want to try and catch it, you’ll need to get those ASAP.

We’ll keep an eye out for more Disney news, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

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Have you ever seen Disneyland’s Candlelight Processional? Let us know in the comments!

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