File this under: least surprising news ever. Walt Disney World appears to be throttling Advance Dining Reservation availability for Candlelight Processional Dining Packages, which initially seemed to have sold out immediately. Here’s what we think is going on, how to successfully score ADRs, pitfalls of this approach, alternatives, etc.
Let’s start with the basics. Candlelight Processional Dining Packages can be booked online starting today. Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) are highly recommended and can be made up to 60 days prior to your visit. This means that as of today, ADRs are available for anyone to book Candlelight Processional Dining Packages up until December 13, 2025.
Note that all Advance Dining Reservations are subject to the 60+10 rule, which means that on-site guests are able to book for the next 10 days of Candlelight Processional, but off-site guests are not. Candlelight Processional Dining Packages will continue to be released on a rolling basis each day after October 14th, which will continue to be subject to the 60+10 rule. If you’re staying off-site, you very well might get shut out even at the 60 day mark for those later dates during the peak weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
I was up bright and early for the Candlelight Processional Dining Package ADR drop day, and it seemed mostly uneventful to me. That doesn’t mean everything went flawlessly–c’mon, this is Disney IT we’re talking about, so ‘success’ is very much graded on a curve. What it means is that there was not another Beak & Bar ADRrrr Day Debacle where no one could secure anything and there was a relaunch later.
By comparison, the launch of the Candlelight Processional Dining Packages was a smash success, but there were a few things that I noticed:
ADRs did open right at 6 am (+/- a couple minutes), but the My Disney Experience app kept displaying a “check back October 14th” message and didn’t load availability. It took me force-closing and relaunching the app to get it to work. (You might still see this message right now, as it was oddly displaying hours later on Sarah’s device.)
The direct link on DisneyWorld.com worked just fine, right away.
This is precisely why the #6 recommendation in our Guide to Advance Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World is “Multiple Devices, Computer Priority.” I was refreshing furiously, so I saw this issue on Mobile, but was not impacted. Sometimes it pays to be a Disney IT whisperer. (It mostly “pays” in frustration and lost sleep, so I’ll take the wins where I can get them.)
I strongly suspect that not everything was loaded into the system at 6 am. Or since then, for that matter, as I’ve been spot-checking the hours that have followed and still haven’t seen a few restaurants, period.
There’s once again some monkey business happening with solo travelers and couples.
This post focuses on those last couple of points, which are where the secrets to success in (still) scoring “sold out” Candlelight Processional Dining Package ADRs lie…
While checking right at 6 am, there were several restaurants that I don’t recall seeing, period. A few caveats are in order here. The first is that ADR availability can go fast, and there are often times when planners claim there was nothing when it was really just gone in the blink of an eye. I’m not immune to this, and it could’ve happened here.
I basically had just rolled out of bed when ADRs launched, was not properly caffeinated, and was doing a mix of research and reservation-making. The only restaurant for which I was actively trying to find reservations was Biergarten, which is one of the easiest of the bunch. So it’s possible that the restaurants in the Mexico and Italy pavilion were just gone in an instant.
It’s also possible that they weren’t loaded to begin with at 6 am, or were there in very limited quantities and that inventory was scooped up ASAP. Again, this is my strong suspicion, and there’s plenty of precedent for this–including past Candlelight Processional Dining Package launches!
This actually already happens with all Walt Disney World restaurants all the time. You just probably don’t notice it because there’s not a tremendous amount of demand for most ADRs anymore, so even the limited releases are not fully booking up.
In any case, what frequently occurs is that a conservative number of ADRs are offered 60+ days out; more are released in batches as dates draw nearer, as staff is scheduled and other logistics are worked out.
This is why it can seem like ADRs are still competitive ~60 days out for certain restaurants, when in reality, they get a lot easier a couple of weeks out. Most restaurants also have Walk-Up Waitlist as a demand lever, so there’s not as great of a sense of urgency from the restaurant’s perspective to fill as many tables as possible 60+ days out.
To the contrary, in a high demand environment–as is the case with Candlelight Processional Dining Packages–it’s actually advantageous for the restaurants to strategically throttle availability. It’s all going to sell out eventually, so it makes sense to play games with it or see how capacity shakes out.
We’ve seen this most recently with both Beak & Barrel and GEO-82, which have had multiple ADR refills. Not just pop-up availability, which is common everywhere, but true refills–where entire date ranges have reservations fully replenished.
In the case of Candlelight Processional Dining Packages, we also saw the return of an old trick from Walt Disney World’s ADR playbook…
The what’s old is new again wrinkle is that Walt Disney World is not showing availability for parties of 1-2. This used to happen a lot, and still does from time to time. From our ADR guide:
For more in-demand restaurants and during peak season dates, Walt Disney World sometimes hides availability for smaller or odd-numbered parties as part of its never ending quest for yield management and revenue maximization.
The theory behind this is that a party of 1 only utilizes half the capacity of a table for 2, and is statistically likely to spend less. Given the imbalance between capacity and demand, Disney would thus rather turn those parties of 1 away. Same idea applies for a party of 3, although we’ve seen this less in practice.
The solution to this for odd-numbered parties is to search for your party size, and the size of the table to which you’ll be assigned. Meaning that a party of 3 should search for 4, a party of 5 should search for 6, and so on. During the mobile check-in process (or sometimes before), you can modify the reservation downward to reflect your actual party size. Just be sure to only search for +1 your actual number–going any higher (or lower) is a recipe for problems.
This is a variation of that, which we saw back during the physical distancing days when Walt Disney World blocked off parties of 1-2 almost completely in favor of parties of 3 or more guests. The theory at that time was that leaving the 2-person tables empty was better (revenue-wise) than empty tables for 4.
Here are Candlelight Processional Dining Package searches for parties of 3-4:
No matter what dates I search, there is ADR availability. In some cases, there’s a ton of options–for almost every single seating of the day.
The very charitable theory is that there’s simply more demand for the two-tops. That this is all organic, and there’s nothing to see here–tables for parties of 1-2 just sold out faster. After all, Candlelight Processional appeals more to couples than it does families.
I would find this plausible and compelling if there were still some ADR availability for parties of 1-2, and only a bit more for parties of 3-4. But that’s not the case at all. The gap is colossal. Equally significant, Biergarten has a ton of availability for larger parties, and that’s communal seating. There should not be a material difference between two parties of 2 and one party of 4 there!
Unfortunately, it’s my understanding that you cannot just book an ADR for a party of 3 and show up with 2 people when it comes to Candlelight Processional Dining Packages. (Which is precisely what we recommend with a normal ADR.)
I’ve heard scattered reports about this over the years, and Walt Disney World is generally not as “forgiving” with last-minute differences in party size when it comes to Candlelight. This is one of those things that’s always at the discretion of the individual restaurant, but I’ve heard of a range of outcomes: being charged no-show fees for the missing guest or ADRs being not honored at all unless the guests paid for the number of packages on the reservation.
I’ve also heard of guests running into no issue whatsoever. Again, it’s discretionary and a your mileage may vary kind of thing. Again, our target restaurant was Biergarten. Had our party size not been available, I had every intention of booking 2 or 4 and hoping for the best. This is one restaurant where it generally does not make a difference, and that’s a gamble I would’ve been willing to make. It’s not a risk we’d recommend everywhere.
Instead, what we would recommend doing is just making the ADR now for the party of 3.
I would then call or chat to see if it would be possible to modify the reservation for a party of 1-2. If not, I’d try again later. It’s not uncommon for different call center Cast Members to give different answers. (Seriously.)
If that worked, great. If not, I would keep the reservation for the time being, and continue monitoring the Candlelight Processional Dining Package page for more availability that matches my actual party size. If it becomes available in the days or weeks to come, I’d book that and cancel the incorrect ADR.
Given the previous point about throttled ADR availability, I’d fully expect more reservations to open up. I’d also expect this to happen because clearly Walt Disney World is prioritizing larger parties.
If there’s still availability a few weeks into the future, they’ll probably break those up into smaller party sizes. (I wouldn’t count on this happening–those 3-4 person ADRs will probably fill up by this weekend.)
Even if Walt Disney World doesn’t release more availability, there will be other planners making incorrect ADRs, modifying, cancelling, rebooking, etc. One way or another, more reservations will appear. It’s just a matter of being ready to pounce on them when they do.
Whenever we recommend this type of thing, someone always asserts themselves as the moral authority and explains how this is a bad practice that “steals” ADRs from other guests. My response, as always, is: don’t hate the player, hate the game.
This nonsense wouldn’t happen if Walt Disney World didn’t create a system conducive to nonsense. They are the party best situated to stop the nonsense; if a nonsense-free environment is what you’d like to see, take it up with the company trying to maximize its revenue–not your fellow guests trying to juggle multiple moving parts of an expensive and stressful vacation.
(As discussed recently in Why Walt Disney World Resort Hotels Are Still Sold Out Despite Lower Crowds, this exact same thing happens with 1-2 night stays. These games they play are frustrating. Guests shouldn’t take it out on one another when Disney is the one creating this needless friction in their neverending quest to maximize revenue.)
Tips & Tricks for ADRs
Finally, some additional recommendations for Candlelight Processional Dining Package ADRs. First and foremost, review our Top 10 Tips for Hard to Book Advance Dining Reservations at Walt Disney World.
If you’re still striking out, all hope is not lost. There are several ADR finder services, some of which are free and some of which are paid. These dining reservation finders notify you when an ADR you want becomes available. It’s then up to you to act fast and get it reserved.
For the longest time, we resisted the temptation to use ADR notification services. We mentioned them in dining guides, saying it would be “a dereliction of duty to not at least mention their existence.” But we didn’t use them ourselves because they felt a bit unfair.
GEO-82 and Beak & Barrel finally broke me. These two spots have so difficult to book inside of 60 days (which is when we always do ADRs) to the point where it seems like everyone scoring the ADR drops is using notification services.
What can I say–it’s like the Steroid Era of the MLB; everyone is juicing. You’re at a disadvantage with these ADRs if you don’t use a notification service to level the playing field. Or so I tell myself.
I use MouseDining. They have several subscription options; I just use the free tier.
I’ve found this is sufficient for my purposes since there are only 3-4 restaurants (pretty much the two mentioned here, plus Space 220 and another wildcard in case I’m forgetting something). You might prefer the paid option if you want text message alerts, as time is of the essence with Candlelight ADRs.
With that in mind, our strong recommendation would be to not pay for a reservation finder far ahead of your trip or for a year-long subscription. Disney has shut other ADR finders down in the past, so don’t spend anything you wouldn’t be upset about losing if the service vanishes overnight. We’d also only recommend signing up if you strike out at the 60-day mark and “need” notifications. Hopefully, you won’t get to this point!
Even if you strike out with the notification service prior to your trip, keep looking until the absolute last minute. As discussed above, many restaurants are not dropping all of their ADR availability ~60 days ahead of time. Some even hold back bookings until same-day or one day in advance.
On top of everything else, many Walt Disney World visitors hoard ADRs, and cancel their unwanted ones the night before or even a couple of hours prior to their meals to avoid being penalized. As a result of both of these realities, there’s usually pop-up last-minute ADR availability even for the most popular restaurants.
The most common times that we check for Advance Dining Reservations are between 9 pm and 11 pm the night before, as well as around 10 am and 2 pm same-day. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen nothing for many restaurants ~30 days in advance, only to find numerous options for lunch and dinner released the morning of or one day in advance. This is my manual version of an ADR finder! It’s what I always did, to great success, before I decided to start juicing.
Failing everything else, same-day Candlelight Processional Dining Packages will be available at Regal Eagle Smokehouse. If past precedent is any indication, there will also be Walk-Up Waitlist availability on a near daily basis at Spice Road Table.
If worst comes to worst, you could always take your incorrectly-sized ADR to the restaurant’s host stand early in the day, explain the situation, and see what they say. If the answer is not to your liking, you can cancel without penalty at least 2 hours in advance. In all likelihood, that’ll still offer sufficient time to score a spot at Regal Eagle. This is all a lot, but that’s what we’d do if push came to shove!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Did you try to book a Candlelight Processional Dining Package ADR? Were you successful or did you strike out? Were you able to book a restaurant in Mexico or Italy? What about for a party of 2? Do you use a reservation notification service, or are you anti-juicing? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
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