Ever since Lacey Chabert announced she was heading to Walt Disney World for an upcoming Hallmark movie, I’ve had so many questions about what that was like, and how it all came together. The good news? She answered some of these in a recent interview covering her downtime at the Florida theme parks and revealing she literally lived at the resort for an entire month. Yes, a whole month. It's giving the NBA during Covid vibes.
Apparently, when Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True was figuring out the logistics for the 2026 TV schedule, the Hallmark powers that be asked Chabert if she wanted a rental house near the property. If you know anything about the actress, you probably know she’s always been a Disney girl, and she wanted a more in-the-moment experience. So, she told Live! when I was watching the other morning that she actually asked if she could stay at the resort for the entire time the movie filmed.
When they called and asked me to be a part of it, I actually was on camera. I fell off camera! I started crying. [I was at Disney] a month. At the beginning they were like, ‘Do you wanna rent an apartment or do something so you can cook?’ I was like, ‘Hold on, is staying at a Disney Property and option?’
They looked into it, and turns out if you are Lacey Chabert, you can do what you want. So, they put her up at Animal Kingdom Lodge for the entirety of the time Holiday Ever After was filming. I’m just picturing grabbing morning coffee and sitting on a balcony while the zebras and giraffes are ushered in every a.m. for a whole month! What a dream.
Chabert also admitted there were a lot of Mickey waffles consumed during the making of the movie, telling the daytime TV show:
I had them almost every day.
It gets better. What does one do with downtime whilst filming at Disney? One spends more time in the parks.
Along With Staying At The Resort, The Cast Had A Lot Of Fun In The Parks
We actually already knew Lacey Chabert, her co-star Travis Van Winkle, and other Disney afficionado Christy Carlson Romano got up to some fun outside of work at the Magic Kingdom and more. In fact, Chabert took her co-stars on some of her favorite Disney rides. In addition, they actually documented a lot of their downtime while making the movie, including this adorable Toy Story Land video from Hollywood Studios with Van Winkle.
So, it’s clear the Holiday Ever After movie allowed the cast to really get around and have some fun in between night shoots and more. Chabert confirmed they did this a lot on their off time too, saying on live they liked to "go and have fun" in the parks when they weren't working long hours.
They were also filming for weeks on end in the parks, filming happened at the end of 2025 and 2026, and Chabert describes the work as a "pinch me" moment. I assume they shot in that window, despite that being a busy time in the parks, because Walt Disney World would already be dressed for the holidays during that time. So shooting in late 2025 for a late 2026 Christmas movie release makes so much sense.
We've still got some time to wait, but this is one Hallmark movie I am genuinely jazzed about (even with the long title.)
