Hallmark just announced that “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True,” the first-ever Christmas movie filmed at Walt Disney World, has wrapped filming. Here’s the latest, plus what we know about shooting locations and how this could impact projects going forward.
As basic background, Walt Disney World and the Hallmark Channel have teamed up on an all-new, original holiday movie called “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True.” The movie is set to premiere during Hallmark Channel’s 17th annual Countdown to Christmas in 2026, and was shot on location at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Ryan Landels is the writer and director of “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True.” Starring Lacey Chabert, Travis Van Winkle, Richard Kind, Christy Carlson Romano, Bryce Durfee, Taegen Burns, and Asher Alexander, with Patrick Renna in a cameo role, this first-ever Walt Disney World holiday movie is soon-to-be classic Christmas romance.
In “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True,” Lindsey (Chabert) and her extended family head to Walt Disney World to spend a magical Christmas together. But the dream of a jolly holiday gets dashed when Lindsey discovers her room is next door to Philip (Van Winkle), a disastrous first date she recently had, who’s also there on a family trip.
As Lindsey and Philip’s paths cross throughout their Walt Disney World trip, the frost starts to thaw as they learn they’re not so different from each other after all. Thanks to the magic of Disney, the holiday wish Lindsey made in Cinderella fountain just might turn their rivalry into romance. Maybe. This is Hallmark, so endings are always unpredictable and happiness is never guaranteed.
A new Hallmark Channel Instagram Post shared by Disney Parks, confirmed that “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” filming has wrapped. It doesn’t indicate when that happened, but it’s safe to surmise that it was at least a couple of days ago.
Here’s the Instagram post:
One thing that’s interesting to me is the production timeline for “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True.” Filming kicked off shortly before the official announcement on December 7, 2025. We know this because multiple readers reported seeing crews and celebrities around Walt Disney World in the week leading up to the announcement.
If the volume of social media sightings is any indication, Magic Kingdom served as the primary filming location for the Hallmark Christmas movie. Multiple sightings occurred around Cinderella Castle and the Wishing Well, which makes sense given, ya know, the title. (Heads up that possible spoilers follow, but I mean c’mon, is it really possible to spoil a Hallmark film? Anyone who regularly watches them could probably guess the entire plot right now with 90% accuracy.)
Crews were spotted filming a “glass slipper moment” between the leads near the wishing well in mid-January, with the full principal cast present including Richard Kind. The production worked quickly during park operating hours, temporarily blocking off small sections of the parks while capturing footage before reopening the areas to guests.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios also hosted filming. Crews were spotted in Toy Story Land, as nothing screams “romance” like literal screaming children and the most chaotic area in all of Walt Disney World. I would assume this was largely a synergy play, and we’re going to see a lot of locations that Walt Disney World wants to highlight. I’d assume there was also filming at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom, although I don’t recall seeing reports of it.
Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort was confirmed as another filming location. This is one of the more quintessential ‘vacation mode’ Walt Disney World resorts…and also home to the new Island Tower, which is still in active DVC sales. According to the plot synopsis, the story involves the main character discovering her hotel room is next door to a disastrous first date, so the resort setting likely plays a significant role.
I’m honestly a bit surprised that they didn’t mockup a model room for Disney Lakeshore Lodge, film in that, and then circle back for B-roll later this year once that project progresses to a point where the exterior is in finished form. It’ll undoubtedly be in active sales by then, although perhaps even Disney realizes the exterior is a tad too generic? My hope was/is that portions were also filmed at the Grand Floridian (highlighting its recent renovation) or Wilderness Lodge (my personal favorite), which would be logical locations for a Christmas movie.
Based on what we know, the filming timeline for “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” was approximately 3 months. The first scattered reports of filming surfaced in early December and Hallmark confirmed it had wrapped in late February.
That’s actually a really long timeline for Hallmark movies, which are famously produced on tight schedules on shoestring budgets. What made this production unique was the complexity of filming in active theme parks and resorts rather than on closed sets or small towns that can be more easily controlled.
Not quite the same as shooting in one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations during one of its busiest seasons. Although I’d imagine there was after hours access, it was probably limited because that time is expensive. The crew largely had to work around operating hours, and there was probably far less time per day during which they could shoot.
Even so, it’s probably safe to assume that filming didn’t last an uninterrupted 3 months. There was some filming in December, much of which was probably B-roll during the heart of the holiday season, and then it looks like principal photography kicked into high gear in January, after the Christmas crowds subsided. That gave the crew a couple of weeks with the decorations still up, plus another month or so with the vanilla parks.
It’s also probably fair to say that the Walt Disney World movie is going to be the blockbuster of Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas 2026. Even today, the original announcement is still the pinned post on several of their social media channels, and the reaction it received dwarfed everything else the company and its stars have posted recently. So the typical timeline is probably largely irrelevant here.
This is marketing for Walt Disney World, so they’re likely foot the bill for a portion of production while also allowing expanded (and again, costly) after hours access to the parks. Between that and the fact that this movie will have wider appeal, we’d expect a far bigger budget and production quality than almost every other Hallmark movie ever. This is probably why it features Hallmark’s heavy-hitter in Chabert and an otherwise strong cast by Hallmark standards.
We also wonder if “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” is the reason why the cranes have yet to appear around Cinderella Castle. Crews have made impressive progress on that project while remaining largely invisible, which was not the original plan. To the contrary, Walt Disney World announced in late December that cranes would appear over a month ago.
It’s possible that Walt Disney World figured out project logistics to allow for painting without the cranes up until a certain point. It’s also possible that one hand didn’t know what the other was doing, and cranes up around Cinderella Castle in the morning hours would’ve posed a challenge for Hallmark filming crews.
We’ll probably never know one way or the other, but whatever the reason, it’s been great to see so much progress without seeing so many cranes. Kudos to Walt Disney World on that! It’ll be interesting to see whether cranes appear at any point, or if the entire project can be done without them. (Hopefully that bodes well for the future installation of Dream Lights!)
Did you hear the news? #WaltDisneyWorld magic meets @Hallmark holiday joy in an all-new movie coming in 2026! pic.twitter.com/2jkWKzFJbn
— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) December 7, 2025
More About “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True”
“Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” is a collaboration between the Hallmark Channel and Walt Disney World; it marks the first time ever that these holiday powerhouses will team up for a new, original movie.
“The partnership between Hallmark and Disney dates back decades, when a shared Kansas City connection and friendship between Hallmark’s founder, J.C. Hall, and Walt Disney himself led to our first-ever licensed products, including the very first greeting card featuring Mickey Mouse,” said Darren Abbott, Chief Brand Officer, Hallmark. “We’re thrilled to expand our relationship beyond the products we create together and onto the screen with this heartwarming and joyful Christmas movie that embodies the very best of both brands.”
“Storytelling is at the heart of both Disney and Hallmark, and that magic shines even brighter during the holidays,” said Sally Conner, VP Global Content. “We’re thrilled that Walt Disney World will serve as the immersive setting for a Hallmark holiday movie highlighting the cheerful festivities of the season. Across our theme parks, resorts, and beyond, countless unique stories unfold and new memories are made every day with our guests. This film is a wonderful way to share that joy and pixie dust with fans everywhere.”
We are really looking forward to “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True.”
Hallmark Channel Christmas movies are our ultimate guilty pleasure during the holiday season. We watch a lot of them–easily two-dozen per Christmas. I’m not even going to pretend it’s against my will. They’re nice to put on in the background.
The ending of every single one is predictable from about the 10-minute mark. There’s almost always a small town character (and setting) in a relationship with a big city character who isn’t right for them, or a big city character rediscovering their roots in a small town. Sometimes there are cats and/or castles. I really like these ones.
My one big hope is that they don’t overproduce “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” or lean too hard into the ‘free marketing’ angle.
A bit of Toy Story Land is okay, but I really hope there’s no a 10 minute tangent about going on a search for the missing ingredient in grandma’s famous Christmas cookies, and soliciting the help from the Tiana’s Foods team. That might be a bit much.
Part of the secret sauce of Hallmark Channel movies is that they have this b-movie quality to them. They are cozy, like a warm hug. Part of why many fans have stopped watching the ABC Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade is because it’s whatever the exact opposite of that is. It feels overly-commercial. (A bit ironic since over-commercializing holidays is like Hallmark’s whole thing!)
My hope is that “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” threads the needle and ends up becoming a guilty-pleasure cult classic. It doesn’t need to be good-good or so-bad-it’s-good. The movie just needs to have just the right amount of cheesiness, Hallmark sentimentality, and Christmas at Walt Disney World window-dressing.
This generation really needs what mine had back in the day with the Top 10 TV Shows Set at Walt Disney World and Top 10 Walt Disney World TV Specials. It’d be nice if “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” becomes a new entry on that second list!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie set at Walt Disney World? Looking forward to “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True”? Any predictions about settings or plot points? Any questions we can help you answer? 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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