Trip Report Bucket List Trip - Festival of the Holidays and Candlelight Processional

Who: Paul (67) and my wife Sheila (72) Yes, we are seniors and very proud of that fact.
What: Christmas Around the World
Where: Disneys Riveria Resort
When: December 9-12, 2025
How: Planes (no train, no automobile) but Meers Bus, Skyliner and Monorail

 

[pkkurz]

We left our home in Louisville,Ky for our 725am flight. It was a balmy 27 degrees. It’s a 2 hours and 10 minutes flight to Orlando. I am a right leg amputee and travel in a motorized wheelchair. That can be a bit of a challenge going through TSA even with Pre-check. This morning it was smooth sailing. Wheel chair users are usually pre boarded and this flight was no exception. The only hiccup was that Southwest now requires the batteries to be removed and stowed in the overhead bin.

We arrived on time and wheelchair users are usually the last to get off the plane. It takes a few minutes for the ground crew to get the wheelchair up to the ramp. We headed to catch then fonerail to the terminal. Here we ran into a major delay in the fact that only one side is operational as they are in the process of replacing them. We were routed to a bypass that took us outside down a series of ramps and onto the tarmac. Then a bus to take us to the other side of the terminal and up another series of ramps. It was very frustrating.

 

[Tuvalu]

(The trip report, not the airport hassle!)

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looking forward to more.

 

[pkkurz]

We made our way to the luggage carousel, retrieved our luggage and headed to check in at the Meers counter on the other side of the airport. Oh how I miss the days of Magic Express. We were boarded fairly quickly and started our journey. It was pretty much uneventful. Once on property we made numerous stops before finally arriving at the Riveria. Did I mention how much I miss Magic Express.

Our room was not ready (it was only around 1130). We checked our stuff with bell services and made our way to Primo Piatto to grab some lunch. I mobile ordered Citrus Glazed Chicken Strips for myself and a Bacon Cheddar Burger for my wife. No pictures as we were starving and devoured our lunch. We made our way to the Skyliner for our quick journey to EPCOT. BTW we have never stayed at the Riviera Resort before and chose this resort for Skyliner access. There was also a decent Passholder Discount too.

We entered Epcot and decided to visit as many of the storytellers as possible for The Festival of the Holidays. The weather was glorious. Much better than the frigid Kentucky we had left this morning. We headed towards France and at luck would have it Pere Noel was making his way to the designated spot for his presentation.

 

[Wicked Sisters]

What a great start to your report. Looking forward to the next chapter.

 

[pkkurz]

After France we made our way to Norway. We made a quick stop at the American Pavilion as the timing was right to catch the Voices of Liberty in full Dickens attire.

We arrived in Norway with only about 5 minutes to spare before the presentation of the Mischievous Magical Barn Santa.

Next up was Germany with Micha’s Adventskalender Puppetry. As the shown progresses we meet Krampus, the Easter Bunny, the Christ Child, Heinz, and Bernie the Badger. The puppeteer did a fantastic job of explaining Germany’s holiday traditions.

 

[pkkurz]

We decided to head to Creations as my wife had her eye on the 2025 Festival of the Holidays Sweater. On the way there we got our room ready text. While checking out the sweater, my wife decided it looked better online than in person and decided to pass.

We garbed a quick dinner at Connections and headed to the resort to check into our room.

 

[pkkurz]

Our room was a handicap accessible room on the second floor with preferred view. We were close to the elevator and there was lots of space for my wheelchair. Here are the obligatory room pictures.

It had been a long day and we had accomplished much more that we originally thought possible. We decided it was best to call it a night as we had been up since 4am.

 

[pkkurz]

The next morning (Wednesday) we grabbed a quick breakfast at Primo Piatto and headed out. Today was Candlelight Processional day and we had a 1pm lunch reservation for our dining package tickets. We caught the Skyliner for a quick trip to Epcot. We entered the International Gateway entrance and turned to the left to the England pavilion. We had to wait a few minutes wait and I snapped a couple of pictures. Such a quiet place.

We were waiting for Father Christmas and he told us the stories and customs of the English people. He was very animated and had a proper English accent.

Next up was Japan and the Daruma Storyteller and the customs of the Daruma Doll and the celebrations of the New Year.

We had a bit of a photo shoot in the American Pavilion.

 

[pkkurz]

We had some time to kill before our next presenter so we popped in to catch the Voice of Liberty (again - but can you ever really see them enough). The costumes are stunning.

We backtracked a bit to the Italy pavilion to see La Befana, the kindhearted witch who visits sleeping children on the Eve of Epiphany. She was very dramatic and her story very interesting.

It was time to head to our lunch reservation. Look what we passed on our way.

 

[pkkurz]

And where was our Candlelight Processional Lunch Package?

The Biergarten of course!

Decked out in all her Christmas Glory.
The food was wonderful and the entertainment (Christmas Music) was great.

 

[pkkurz]

We left the Biergarten and decided to take our time and visit the shops there. Our plan was to try and catch the new 2D version of Ratatouille. Wait time was 90 minutes that was a big nope for us. We strolled that way hoping the time would drop. After we passed America we noticed that the dining package line (5pm performance) was already starting to form. It was about 330pm. We felt it was best to join the queue. Wise decision as they started seating people shortly after 4pm.

Our narrator for the evening was Leslie Uggams. She read the Christmas story from the Bible, the chapter of Luke, between songs. She also spoke of her life and her career, singing with Ella Fitzgerald as well as Ertha Kitts. She paraphrased Martin Luther King in saying “Why can’t we just all get along.” She wished us all a season of peace and the performance concluded with The Hallelujah Chorus.

It was a fabulous experience. I saw this a few days later on her Facebook page and had to share.

 

[pkkurz]

We spend the rest of the night exploring Epcot in the dark and enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations. I didn’t take many pictures as we just enjoyed being in the moment. The tree at the entrance to world showcase was quite stunning.

We decided to head on back to the resort before Luminious and beat the crowd. Thankfully so, the handicap access to the Skyliner was already quite long when we arrived and we sent a good 45-50 minutes in line before boarding. This was by far the longest we had waited.

The next morning we had breakfast at Topolinos Terrace. We have dined here several times before, but it was glorious to just catch the elevator from right outside your room and make your way to the top floor.

The food and service was excellent. The character interaction was fun. We thoroughly enjoyed our morning.

 

[Disstevefan1]

We see you are having a great time!

 

[pkkurz]

From the Riveria we boarded a bus for MK. We had spent all of our time so far at Epcot. I needed a trip up Main Street to see all the Christmas decorations. We made our way to the Castle and turned right and headed to Tomorrow Land for a ride on the People Mover. It was a glorious trip. We exited to hopefully visit John and family on the Carousel of Progress, alas it was not to be as the show was temporarily closed. I checked wait times for The Haunted Mansion and it was listed as 95 minutes. Nope, we didn’t need to see the happy haunts that bad. We made our way thru The Emporium to see if there was anything we couldn’t live without. Finding nothing we decided we were ready to hop the Monorail and head to Epcot. I took no pictures during our MK visit as we just enjoyed being in the moment.

We arrived back to Epcot and continued our visits with the storytelling presentations. First stop was “Joyful”

We made our way to the Mexico Pavilion for the Las Posadas Celebration.

 

[pkkurz]

From Mexico we backtracked to Canada to see the Canadian Holiday Voyagers.

At this point we made our way to The Land Pavilion. Soarin was posted as a 20 minute wait so we headed in. It was basically a walk on. We headed to the farm ride next or as it was currently known as “The Glimmering Greenhouses”. It was a great experience.

 

[pkkurz]

We headed back to our resort. The line was much shorter for the Skyliner tonight. This was on the b d when we entered the room.

The next morning (our last day) we went downstairs and had breakfast from Primo Piatto. Back to the room to finish packing and have our luggage stored for our afternoon departure to MCO. My wife enjoying the last of her coffee as we waited for Bell Services.

They arrived quickly and we then made our trip to the Skyliner. It was a short trip to Epcot and we only had one last storyteller to visit. The Hanukkah Storyteller (The only one we did not see was the Chinese Lion Dancer and Si-Zho Trio as there were no scheduled performances during our stay)

He was quite informative and mixed stories of traditions with Hanukkah songs for a very entertaining presentation.
We made another trip around world showcase and ended our time with a ride on Figment. It was an uneventful trip back to the resort to await our Meers bus for our trip to the airport.

Meers arrived about 10 minutes passed our scheduled pickup appointment (we were there and waiting way before the requested 15 minutes before our arrival time). We made several stops at other resorts and ended up with an almost full bus load of folks.

We arrived and made our way to the counter and got our luggage checked in pretty quickly. TSA was also a breeze and the Fonerail was working to get us to the terminal without all the drama that we experienced on our arrival day. We had time to get a grab and go supper and ate while we waited our time to board.

As a wheelchair user I am normally one of the first allowed to pre board. The gate attendant had me follow her down the ramp as she push a lady in a manual wheelchair. They got her sorted and I was folding up my chair and removing the batteries as is now required by Southwest. I realized that my wife was talking with the flight attendants and all of a sudden is missing. I look up to see this.

We may never make it back to Louisville

 

[pkkurz]

FINAL THOUGHTS

We had an absolutely amazing trip. It was everything we wanted. The crowds were very manageable and the parks were beautiful with all the Christmas decorations. The storytellers were very dramatic and engaging. I also noted that every presentation started exactly on the time scheduled

The only thing that we will do differently in the future is that we will use a taxi or Minnie Van to travel back and forth to MCO. We have used Meers for our last two trips now and all of the extra stops just become frustrating. Oh for the days of Magic Express.

Thanks for following along. As of now, our next trip will be in April for spring break with our daughter’s family. (If we manage to wait that long. ) We love being in Disney with the grandkids.

 

[cgersic]

What a great time and thank you for doing this report. I generally try to stop for the Storytellers in World Showcase as well, but it really depends on the weather. Since the majority of them are in the full on sun, if it's a warm trip, I get too hot and lose my patience. Can't wait for the next report!