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Auli'i Cravalho No Longer Listed for EPCOT's Candlelight Processional Opening Nights, as Benjamin Bratt and Josh Groban Fill Two Empty Slots
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Auli'i Cravalho No Longer Listed for EPCOT's Candlelight Processional Opening Nights, as Benjamin Bratt and Josh Groban Fill Two Empty Slots

Michael Travels
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Disney filled the two blank dates in the 2026 Candlelight Processional lineup on Tuesday, and opened up a new one in the process. Benjamin Bratt and Josh Groban are in. Auli'i Cravalho, who was announced for opening weekend back in September, is no longer on the list.

The updated Disney Parks Blog lineup, posted October 6, now lists Nov. 27 and 28 as "To Be Announced." When Disney first published the 2026 narrators on September 8, those two nights belonged to Cravalho, the voice of Moana.

What changed since September

  • Nov. 27 and 28: was Auli'i Cravalho, now To Be Announced
  • Dec. 2 and 3: was To Be Announced, now Benjamin Bratt (marked NEW)
  • Dec. 13 and 14: was To Be Announced, now Josh Groban (marked NEW)

Every other block is the same as the September list. Disney has not said why Cravalho is no longer listed, and the post does not mention her at all.

A conductor in black faces an orchestra and a choir in gold and green robes on a stage at EPCOT's America Gardens Theatre, with a star above a choir tree and an orange and red video wall behind

The Candlelight Processional at EPCOT's America Gardens Theatre. Photo: Disney

The full 2026 lineup, as of October 6

  • Nov. 27 and 28: To Be Announced
  • Nov. 29 to Dec. 1: Gary Sinise
  • Dec. 2 and 3: Benjamin Bratt (new)
  • Dec. 4 and 5: Whoopi Goldberg
  • Dec. 6 and 7: Robin Roberts (new)
  • Dec. 8 and 9: Jason Kelce (new)
  • Dec. 10 to 12: Neil Patrick Harris
  • Dec. 13 and 14: Josh Groban (new)
  • Dec. 15 and 16: Lauren Daigle
  • Dec. 17 to 19: Ralph Macchio
  • Dec. 20 and 21: Henry Winkler
  • Dec. 22 and 23: Lacey Chabert (new)
  • Dec. 24 and 25: Jodi Benson
  • Dec. 26 and 27: Simu Liu
  • Dec. 28 to 30: Eva Longoria

That makes five narrators Disney tags as new this year, up from three in September: Bratt, Roberts, Kelce, Groban and Chabert.

Why the timing matters

Booking for Candlelight Processional Dining Packages opens Wednesday, October 14, eight days from now. Disney's route to a guaranteed seat is the package: you eat at one of the select EPCOT restaurants in the program, then get a reserved seating badge for your booked showtime. Everyone else uses first-come, first-served seating, which Disney says "often fills up fast."

That puts opening weekend, Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28, in an odd spot. Anyone who was planning to book those nights for Cravalho now has no named narrator to book around. If Disney names someone before October 14, that gap closes. If not, it is the same choice we described in September for the two blank December dates: book a package without knowing who is on the podium, or take your chances in the first-come, first-served line.

Late changes are not new. As we noted in our September 8 lineup story, Disney swapped Susan Egan in for Jennifer Garner on two December dates in 2025, after the lineup was published and packages were already selling.

Wide view of the Candlelight Processional stage at night against a blue starry video wall, with a choir in gold robes on risers, a choir tree of singers in green, an orchestra and conductor at left, a woman in black standing in front of the choir and a lit Christmas tree at each side

Behind each narrator, Disney says, are the Voices of Liberty, a 51-piece orchestra and a choir of 150-plus cast members and community singers. Photo: Disney

The basics

Disney bills this as the show's 55th year at Walt Disney World, its 32nd at EPCOT. Shows run nightly at 4:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the America Gardens Theatre during the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, which runs November 27 to December 30. Those show times are 15 minutes earlier than in 2025, a change we flagged in September.

Disney's post sums up the narrator roster this way: "Each celebrity narrator brings their unique touch to the story, and we're thrilled to welcome new and returning narrators to the stage."

EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays 2026 logo, presented by AdventHealth, with a gold ribbon reading Nov. 27th - Dec. 30th, beside Spaceship Earth lit in red and white at night

The 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays runs November 27 to December 30. Image: Disney

So, who do you think gets opening weekend, and does a narrator change which night you book?

Sources

Image credits: Disney (both Candlelight Processional photos and the Festival of the Holidays key art).

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

EPCOT Candlelight Processional 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays

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