Making a special trip for Moonlight Magic?

[ShellyKP]

Hello all. We are new DVC members. Just purchased at Copper Creek earlier this month! One of the things we're extra excited about is those Moonlight Magic events. (I know. Perks are not guaranteed.) Since we're new to all this I was wondering....is it feasible to plan a "last minute" trip around an event? When are the dates typically released? I know I have to register quick before it "sells out" but I don't want to book a flight or a room until we know when the event is. Likely we will only be able to afford a quick (1-2 night) trip, just to attend the event and enjoy some resort time. Is this a bad idea? Are we crazy to try? We're definitely interested in the Magic Kingdom one but if that is the winter one (January/February like it was this past year) and dates aren't released until November of the previous year.....is that enough time to book something?

Thanks for the advice! I'm so excited to finally be a DVC member!

 

[bwvBound]

Welcome!

While the 2018 Moonlight Magic events were announced quite early ... this was a break from precedent. Typically they are announced with such short notice as to benefit those who happened to have a trip already booked for the mystery date.

Do you need a link to the remaining 2018 events? FWIW, we did book a special trip to WDW just to hit one of the fall dates. Registration hasn't yet opened but we've booked both DVC and committed to airfare. Hope it all works out ...

 

[ShellyKP]

That's what I was afraid of. So much planning goes into taking a trip in our house (sitters for the various pets and possibly the kid, if he doesn't go with us), time off from work, etc. It takes a while to put all that together. My husband is not a big Disney fan like I am. Not sure I can talk him in to taking a random trip just in case it's during an event. Bummer!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Getting a unit for one of the long-notice Moonlight Magics if you aren't planning shortly after the announcement is difficult.
For the short-notice events, like those that occur early in the year on 2-4 months' notice, it is possible, but you have to act fast, before registration for the event opens.

It's one of the reasons I tell people not to assign guaranteed economic value to MM when looking at perks. It can be quite random if you benefit.

 

[ShellyKP]

We definitely didn't buy DVC just for the free park time, but that was the one perk that we were most excited about. We're not AP yet and my husband gets really hung up on the cost of park tickets so the free events appealed to him. Heck, I'd fly down just to go resort hopping! I don't need to visit a park every time but it's definitely nice.

I would say, as soon as we found an event date that worked for us we'd book something. I just didn't know how much of a window we had to do so. Sounds like the date announcements are random so I will just have to keep checking.

 

[kniquy]

When are the dates typically released?

This year i believe it was November when they were released for the year. So needless to say booking a DVC room for the ones that took place in Jan/Feb was likely difficult. It was noted that as long as you had a reservation somewhere on property, even in a regular disney resort, you could make a reservation for moonlight magic. There were reports of many issue with people not being able to book online. So if you find out with short notice then you can book a disney room and make your reservation for moonlight magic and could make it a short 2 day trip. If for some reason you can't get the moonlight magic reservation then just cancel the room.

The April AK one happened to line up with our trip so it was a wonderful perk.

Is this a bad idea? Are we crazy to try?

You are not crazy if you can make it happen. It really is neat to be in the park with so few people. At AK we rode Everest a couple times with literally no wait. Then we walked over to the safari -- there was pretty much not a sole around during our walk over. Then later around 11pm we rode Navi and then my son and I jumped in line for FOP (wait said an hour at 12:15am, but figured it was worth an hour wait) we ended up waiting about 20 minutes. So attending these events is well worth it to take advantage of these rare opportunities.

I wish we could just book and pop in for these special events, but with kids/work/school/sports we just have to take what we can get. but now you have me thinking to keep an eye out for next years and maybe we will make an impromptu quick mom and dad trip!

 

[ShellyKP]

I wish we could just book and pop in for these special events, but with kids/work/school/sports we just have to take what we can get. but now you have me thinking to keep an eye out for next years and maybe we will make an impromptu quick mom and dad trip!

This was our plan, if we can manage it. It takes some pre-planning to sort things out at home. We only have one child so if he tags along, great. If not, there's only one schedule to coordinate and Grammy can come stay overnight to keep him company. We're very much long term planners but are also open to a spontaneous trip if the opportunity is there. Especially a kid-free one. We love to have him along but it's a totally different vibe and pace when it's just the husband and I. Less to plan for, less to pack and we can cover a lot more ground when little legs are not dragging behind us!

 

[ShellyKP]

And I'm willing to stay pretty much anywhere on Disney property. It doesn't have to be Copper Creek (although I'd prefer to use my points somewhere since I already paid for them.)

 

[disneynutz]

Many of the extra offerings IMO are more hype than substance. They are offered so that DVD can use them to make direct sales. Yes you can ride a few rides with a shorter wait, maybe. You get free ice cream and a hot dog, can watch a band, greet a character. Not worth a special vacation and IMO not worth dealing with trying to make a reservation, waiting on hold, dealing with website crashes.

Bill

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

We did a last minute (well, ok, 2 months out but that's last minute for us OCD planners!) trip just for Moonlight Magic in January. We saw a date on a Sunday, figured out we could both take a couple of days off at work. So we left Friday night and drove most of the way, staying the night at the cheap hotel near the GA/FL line, finished the drive Saturday morning to get there around 10. Did the parks Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, then drove back Tuesday. We are lucky that it's about a 9 hour drive so driving is completely feasible to us.

I do know we had already used our points for our UY, so we ended up staying at POFQ because we found a good discount. Only made one ADR because DH had never eaten at Sci-Fi. We were able to find FP for all of the rides we wanted, and did AK rope drop to hit FOP.

We are a young married couple with only a 4-legged child, and our boarding place really only fills up over holidays so we didn't have any issue getting her in.

All this to say, it really depends on how things align, but I see no reason you couldn't do it!

 

[4luv2cdisney]

It was totally worth it for us!

FWIW (also new to DVC) we booked the 2/6/18 MK event on 1/15/18 and we had our choice of value resort (around $100/nt) or SSR.

Honestly, we could have rented points for SSR at $8/pt thru one of the resale sites because it was so last minute. I was too afraid to do so, because everyone around us had the flu and I was afraid we'd need to cancel. At least with our own points we would have a chance to re-use them. However, it really wasn't a lot of $ risk and we should have just done it that way.

I think we snagged $49 - $79 flights (we used miles which for just 2 of us barely put a dent in what we have stockpiled). We barely spent any other money. We did Disney Springs the night we arrived and during the day before the party started and then visited AKL on the day we were leaving (later at night). We happened to stop at Paradiso 37 (quick walk from our SSR room) for one meal and were stuffed with an appetizer, shared meal and dessert which was super cheap with our 20% DVC discount.

So, we stayed 2 nights and bought maybe 3 meals plus one at the airport and a couple of snacks.

Walked on every ride we wanted to at the MK and there was plenty to eat and the food is already prepared and waiting - you don't lose much time to eat. Again, walk right up and they hand you whatever there was - drinks already dispensed, etc. There weren't a ton of options, but it was more than a hotdog - the food was a little different at each location. The only negative part was the ice cream..... it's in 1 location and we did kind of go out of our way and waste time to get it. The line was long, but went super fast (they're literally just handing you an ice cream bar) but we probably should have just skipped it.

Fireworks were great and everyone just kind of lounging around to view....not the elbow to elbow nightmare we usually experience. As for characters, we didn't stop for any, but if you're into it, there were ones we've never seen before in 13 or so years of trips.

 

[ShellyKP]

I feel like it would be worth it for us. We have enough airline points to make our next several flights free, the park time for the event is free (and it's about 8 or 9 hours, right...so basically a full park day) and if we use our DVC points wisely then the room is "free" (or at least pre-paid by points). It's a short flight from where we are and we are very light packers. It sounds like it would be a fun time for us to make a short spontaneous trip. Maybe once we do it we'll decide it's not worth it for next time but for now it sounds like something I'd love to do.

And yes I understand that everything DVC does is just to sell more property. They are a business, after all! But park time is park time. And if it's not costing me $100 then I'd feel foolish not to take advantage of that.

 

[limace]

Many of the extra offerings IMO are more hype than substance. They are offered so that DVD can use them to make direct sales. Yes you can ride a few rides with a shorter wait, maybe. You get free ice cream and a hot dog, can watch a band, greet a character. Not worth a special vacation and IMO not worth dealing with trying to make a reservation, waiting on hold, dealing with website crashes.

Bill

Bah! Humbug! You kids get off my lawn!

 

[dclpluto]

Many of the extra offerings IMO are more hype than substance. They are offered so that DVD can use them to make direct sales. Yes you can ride a few rides with a shorter wait, maybe. You get free ice cream and a hot dog, can watch a band, greet a character. Not worth a special vacation and IMO not worth dealing with trying to make a reservation, waiting on hold, dealing with website crashes.

Bill

What do you mean a hot dog? That sounds like only one. I had 4 of them. Don’t forget about the potato chips, apple slices, carrot sticks, cookies and soda.
Being serious now I do agree with you it’s not worth a trip. But if you are already there it’s worthwhile.

 

[gillep]

My husband and I really enjoy the MM events. When the 2018 dates were released we already had plans booked for around the April AK event and I was able to add one night to my reservation to include the MM event, it was at a different resort AKV vs CC, but it worked because the event was at AK anyway. There were also rooms available for the July Epcot event but we didn't book it as we weren't sure we would be able to make it because we had a wedding to go to, so I ended up just booking a room on cash. There was also availability for the HS event in October which also would have required we extend an existing trip by one night and at a different resort, but we decided we were not interested in HS. I don't remember there being any studios available (or at least ones I could afford) for the MK events, so again we booked something on cash, which worked well because we ended up having to cancel that trip at the last minute. We live in CA but I got the SW companion pass this year so my husband and I are flying all over the place for the year, not sure we will try for so many events if offered next year.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I feel like it would be worth it for us. We have enough airline points to make our next several flights free, the park time for the event is free (and it's about 8 or 9 hours, right...so basically a full park day) and if we use our DVC points wisely then the room is "free" (or at least pre-paid by points). It's a short flight from where we are and we are very light packers. It sounds like it would be a fun time for us to make a short spontaneous trip. Maybe once we do it we'll decide it's not worth it for next time but for now it sounds like something I'd love to do.

And yes I understand that everything DVC does is just to sell more property. They are a business, after all! But park time is park time. And if it's not costing me $100 then I'd feel foolish not to take advantage of that.

No, not a full park day. You typically can get in a couple of hours prior to the event starting and you are not allowed to make FP's so anything you do will be standby, very late in the day so with long lines until the event starts. Figure you will have 5-6 hours available to you. The last AKV event allowed you 5 1/2 hours in the park and the most popular things were packed as has been our experience at the Epcot event and even the MK event although it had more attractions so you could really skip the popular things and find something else to do.

I've done 3 of these events - all have happened to line up with existing trips. Not to rain on your plans although it will probably seem like it and we've enjoyed the events but I honestly would not go out of my way to make a special trip just because of them. You have points to cover the air fare but those are points that could go towards the airfare of a normal planned trip. You will be using points for the room which do have dues costs associated with them so it's not free. Overall I'd just plan a normal trip and save the associated costs of a trip to attend a Moonlight magic event and put it towards the regular park tickets or AP. If a moonlight event lines up with a planned trip then certainly go but if costs associated with a Disney trip are a concern to your DH I'd skip this as it actually has a pretty high cost for maybe 6 hours of an event.

If you would otherwise typically plan a short trip then it's not bad to try and line it up with these events.

 

[bwvBound]

My husband and I really enjoy the MM events. When the 2018 dates were released we already had plans booked for around the April AK event and I was able to add one night to my reservation to include the MM event, it was at a different resort AKV vs CC, but it worked because the event was at AK anyway. There were also rooms available for the July Epcot event but we didn't book it as we weren't sure we would be able to make it because we had a wedding to go to, so I ended up just booking a room on cash. There was also availability for the HS event in October which also would have required we extend an existing trip by one night and at a different resort, but we decided we were not interested in HS. I don't remember there being any studios available (or at least ones I could afford) for the MK events, so again we booked something on cash, which worked well because we ended up having to cancel that trip at the last minute. We live in CA but I got the SW companion pass this year so my husband and I are flying all over the place for the year, not sure we will try for so many events if offered next year.

Yep, CA with the Southwest companion pass, also! We are having fun this year ... sure will miss it next year ...

 

[ShellyKP]

No, not a full park day. You typically can get in a couple of hours prior to the event starting and you are not allowed to make FP's so anything you do will be standby, very late in the day so with long lines until the event starts. Figure you will have 5-6 hours available to you. The last AKV event allowed you 5 1/2 hours in the park and the most popular things were packed as has been our experience at the Epcot event and even the MK event although it had more attractions so you could really skip the popular things and find something else to do.

I've done 3 of these events - all have happened to line up with existing trips. Not to rain on your plans although it will probably seem like it and we've enjoyed the events but I honestly would not go out of my way to make a special trip just because of them. You have points to cover the air fare but those are points that could go towards the airfare of a normal planned trip. You will be using points for the room which do have dues costs associated with them so it's not free. Overall I'd just plan a normal trip and save the associated costs of a trip to attend a Moonlight magic event and put it towards the regular park tickets or AP. If a moonlight event lines up with a planned trip then certainly go but if costs associated with a Disney trip are a concern to your DH I'd skip this as it actually has a pretty high cost for maybe 6 hours of an event.

If you would otherwise typically plan a short trip then it's not bad to try and line it up with these events.

We're not thrill ride people so a lot of the most popular stuff we aren't even interested in riding. I think with a decent touring plan we could get a lot out of an event day. It really depends on what a full park day is for most people. For us, 10 hours in the park (with a break in between) is usually all we can handle. If we have even less time I think we'd be okay with that. I'm not there to ride every ride or meet every character. We do very few character meetups when we visit. So the rare characters don't really appeal to me. I hear of people waiting in line for three hours to meet one character. That's three hours I would be off doing something else!

And I'm paying those DVC dues whether I take a trip or not, right? There are actually a lot of non-park things that we want to do so taking a trip for a MM event would give us a chance to schedule more time for those non-park things. If we're paying for park time then I feel compelled to be in the parks as much as possible. If it's a free event and we're not doing paid park days then that gives us time to focus on non-park things, like my Star Wars loving husband doing The Void in Disney Springs which he missed out on during our last trip.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I hope it works out that you go to at least one. I extended our BCV stay this October so we will fit in the DHS one. We made a special trip to say Goodbye to The Great Movie Ride and Energy!