I’ve known for a long time that Lacey Chabert is a Disney stan, as she was once shocked on air when one of her Hallmark co-stars said they refused to take their kids to Disneyland. Apparently, for years, she’s been pushing a big collaboration between the Disney theme parks and Hallmark, and the upcoming Hallmark schedule will finally see her dream come true. I'm certain 2026 is going to be a big year, and there's a lot to be excited about, but I just have to unpack this movie title before we get into details.
Chabert took to social media to announce the brand new Hallmark production this week, and she seemed very excited about the prospect. Her announcement post also featured cameos from Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse and was very cute. Take a look!
As you’ll notice, Ms. Chabert mentions the title of the movie in this post, and it is not for the faint of heart. The new movie – and drumroll – will be called Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True. Yes, the “wish come true” part does seem to be a nod to Cinderella’s famous “the dream that you wish will come true” line, which is cute. Still, given the length and the blatant Disney branding, I’m giving this title a meh grade at best.
All in all, I’m really excited to see how the new movie plays out, and I assume using Holiday Ever After as a starter at the front of the movie name leaves the door open for several follow-up Holiday Ever After movies with a different addendum should this one be successful. I get it, truly. I just feel like we’ve gotten a little long with the movie titles of late, and Hallmark’s been doing it a lot more with movies in a series, such as the recently awkwardly worded Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story.
Colloquially, we just refer to that one around the office as the Bills Hallmark movie, and I’m guessing the same thing will happen with this Chabert production. The Disney World Hallmark movie it is! Don't worry! That still has the Disney branding.
Despite my slight beef with the long name, the project is cool in several ways. In fact, it marks a few firsts for Hallmark and Lacey Chabert. It’s the “first” time the network has announced a new movie “a whole year ahead of schedule,” and we're getting hints about the 2026 TV schedule hyper early. It’s also a collab that has been on the actress’ bucket list for a long time, as she said in a second post she’d been the little birdie in Hallmark’s ear talking about a potential collaboration. It's very cool it finally worked out.
We don't know a ton about who will be joining her on her Disney escapade or what new Walt Disney World attractions will be highlighted, but I can't wait to learn more.
Hallmark's made a push to do more on-location movies recently, and the holidays are the most wonderful time of year for magic at Walt Disney World, so a team-up makes the most sense in the world. While I wouldn’t want to be the one figuring out the logistics of a hot set in a theme park (are they gonna film in the middle of the night?), this is definitely on my list of most hotly anticipated upcoming Christmas movies next year, title or no!
