Moonlight Magic - EPCOT 2022

[Doingitagain]

I don't think they had a lot of planning time for the Epcot ones. There wasn't a lot of time between announcement, registration, and the first event.

Personally, I think they raced to get something out so they could advertise Moonlight Magic as they start to sell some of the new direct resorts. Hopefully they will adjust going forward.

 

[The Jackal]

I don't think they had a lot of planning time for the Epcot ones. There wasn't a lot of time between announcement, registration, and the first event.

Personally, I think they raced to get something out so they could advertise Moonlight Magic as they start to sell some of the new direct resorts. Hopefully they will adjust going forward.

While this is true, they have had MM events there in the past, so they have a template to use. They decided not to use it. Hopefully it is a learning experience for them and the next one will be better.

 

[CraigInPA]

Food vouchers were only good at Disney owned places.The vouchers did not explain that; I didn’t care because we had planned to pay to eat counter service in France anyway, but when were in line there was a CM explaining where the vouchers could NOT be used, France was one of the places, Italy and more which I don’t remember It caused confusion for a lot of people. So, the vouchers weren’t exactly right, I think. Weren’t pastry’s in France a snack when dining plans existed? Lol

They handed out a 2 sided flyer with the bands and coupons. The flyer says about Food and Beverage:
Enjoy your Delectable Delight vouchers! For full details, see the vouchers you received upon check-in.
Prior to 9pm, redeem at participating food & beverage locations at Epcot, including selections at Festival Outdoor Kitchens, sides at quick service restaurants, plus a variety of other treats marked with (Disney snack credit logo) on the location's menu.

I'm not going to post the rest, since it talks about redemption after 9pm at Kringla, Sunshine Seasons, and popcorn carts.

The coupons stated the same thing, but in more detail, giving examples of (Disney snack credit logo) items such as pretzels with cheese, fountain soda, bottled soda, ice cream, etc...

So, it's entirely understandable that there was a great amount of confusion, since neither the flyer, nor the coupon, listed the "participating" locations, and the locations themselves didn't have signs that said "We don't accept DVC coupons".

In my case, I knew I wasn't getting the $12 bombolini (twice fried jam filled donuts) in Italy because it was too expensive to be a Disney snack credit item. However, I fully expected to be able to use my coupons in the French Bakery, since there were, historically, many items carrying the (Disney snack credit logo). A nice DVC person was outside the building to tell us that France, Italy, and Japan were not going to take our coupons even for (Disney snack credit logo) items.

 

[Dizzydizney]

I’ve been to an Epcot one in the past, but not this one. Now that I’m thinking about it, they did not have the water dispensers on the Tables there. I know they were at the AK one, but it was August and hot as blazes. At Epcot we used the water fountains that can be found outside of every restroom. You also could not go past Norway to go around to France. There was nothing there anyway. I’m sure they would have had to add many more cast members and it seems they didn’t have enough to begin with. I’m assuming they were probably cleaning that area and then waiting until 1 am to clean the rest.
We received a voucher for counter service to be used at Sunshine Seasons or another place...the Fountain I think..used to be by Mouse-works? No popcorn or special container. Mickey bars and fruit bars.
There was no Remy at the time. Test Track was down for quite a while (as usual ). The fireworks were really nice....a short show, but it was a nice surprise.
Crowd wise, I really don’t remember. We went in early and got our food at Sunshine first because we figured it would be a zoo. It seems this time the worst crowd was for the popcorn and bucket. Seems like the ride times were pretty good aside from the usual breakdowns. And lots of different characters.
Something for everyone. The thing about crowds is.....when you cap attendance, and it’s a low number, people get upset if they couldn’t get in. If they increase the cap, people get mad because it’s too busy. A no win. Frankly I’m surprised they brought MM back. I’m glad they did and would be happy to attend a scaled back version. Seems like everything is smaller (and more expensive) there.

 

[PetePanMan]

Frankly we had no problems using the vouchers - might have been luck!

what snacks did you get with your vouchers? Thx

 

[Peach026]

what snacks did you get with your vouchers? Thx

No problemo!
Flavor Full Kitchen - Salmon
La Isla Fresca - all 3 arepas & the Tres leches
Bauernarket (Germany) - both potato pancakes

note - I had 4 adults plus 2 kids, in order to get all the above we had to immediately split up. Arrived at 7 and could only visit one food booth (why we split)

 

[Lora]

We enjoyed the evening. This was our first event that I can remember. We never used to travel to WDW during busy times, so we probably had not really been in the parks for previous events. Having a few hours in the park with a smaller crowd was a nice relief from the spring break chaos.

We were in the park before 6pm to do a Soarin' and The Land LLs after spending the day in DHS. We went to get our bands on the bridge on the early side. The snack vouchers were nice, but not explained well in print or in person. I did a full circle of the park trying a couple locations (France/Germany) before returning to Seasons to redeem 3 of them for 2 cookies and a croissant. On the way up to Harmonious, where my husband was holding our spot, I grabbed a pretzel near Imagination. I'm glad I picked all of that up on the early side. I hoped to get the popcorn later in the evening along with the bucket, but could not stand in the line for an hour to get it.

We started at Remy's after the show ended and after waiting a while were told the ride had been down the last 2 hours of the evening. We decided to wait it out and it paid off since they got it up and running and we made it on the ride by 10:30. We also did:
Test Track - single rider
Walked to SE, but it was shut down for the evening. It would have been nice to have someone announce that so we didn't walk all the way there.
Mickey Bars - got our free bar and waited in a popcorn line which ended up being longer and SO much slower than I anticipated, so we left. Why didn't they pre-fill the buckets and have them on a table?
Frozen
Remy's again before leaving

One the way out of the gate, I mentioned to the CMs that I was disappointed to not get the popcorn buckets. I actually didn't care about the popcorn, but wanted the buckets. They sent me to guest relations and I got a couple empty buckets - made my night. (Silly, I know.)

 

[gharter]

We have only been able to attend one and loved it. We were not at this one, but it doesn't sound like it was planned out as well as the year we went.
That is unfortunate. But, you got a lot of stuff for free. Yes, those buying direct paid for everyone to go, but your cost was zero, either way.
Hopefully, they learn from this event and make future ones as amazing as the one we went to.
Food lines were short, ride times were short and lots of characters we had never seen in a park. such fond memories of that event,

 

[cindy_k]

I want to thank everyone who attended the first one for the reviews. I am going on Thursday night, this is definitely going to help me with planning.

 

[PetePanMan]

I suspect this would be too good to be true but was anyone able to redeem vouchers at the German caramel shop?

 

[hcortesis]

I suspect this would be too good to be true but was anyone able to redeem vouchers at the German caramel shop?

It was such a hit and miss that night that it wouldn't surprise me if some were told yes and some were told no. It certainly happened to us that night. (not at Germany)

 

[cindy_k]

I'm planning for us to get to EPCOT about 7pm and to use our snack vouchers before most things close for night. I'm hoping the Norway bakery will work. They have lots of Disney Snacks on their list. Then make our way over to France, before they close the back middle of the showcase to watch the Fireworks there, and the ride the rat ride first thing after the show.

 

[Tink415]

When we were waiting in line to order food at Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie a cm told us that we could not use the snack coupons there, and she mentioned several other countries where they couldn’t be used, I can’t remember which ones besides France and Italy. She said they could be used at Disney owned places, which I have no idea who owns what in the different countries LOL.
I also know dining snack credits COULD be used at Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie for some things in the past.

Disney knows the snacks were confusing and many weren’t able to use them, so hopefully they figure out better communication before the next event.

Also, lines for ALL food were HUGE. Our plan to get dinner at counter service in France took almost 2 hours.
We walked in from Beach Club at 7pm, briefly stopped at United Kingdom to get a scone, walk thru the gardens, then went directly to France to eat dinner. The food closed promptly at 9pm as we were eating dinner. YMMV.

 

[Doingitagain]

I talked to a DVC rep at AK today and he said they know there was confusion on the first night and are working to improve the experience,

 

[Peach026]

When we were waiting in line to order food at Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie a cm told us that we could not use the snack coupons there, and she mentioned several other countries where they couldn’t be used, I can’t remember which ones besides France and Italy. She said they could be used at Disney owned places, which I have no idea who owns what in the different countries LOL.
I also know dining snack credits COULD be used at Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie for some things in the past.

Disney knows the snacks were confusing and many weren’t able to use them, so hopefully they figure out better communication before the next event.

Also, lines for ALL food were HUGE. Our plan to get dinner at counter service in France took almost 2 hours.
We walked in from Beach Club at 7pm, briefly stopped at United Kingdom to get a scone, walk thru the gardens, then went directly to France to eat dinner. The food closed promptly at 9pm as we were eating dinner. YMMV.

Yes! We arrived at 7 - and it was too late to get all the food we had planned on. Our vouchers worked at :
-Bauernmarkt
-Flavor Full kitchen
-La Isla Fresca

We had four adults, each went to a diff booth to redeem… and it pretty much took all two hours to get one dish each

 

[Doingitagain]

Yes! We arrived at 7 - and it was too late to get all the food we had planned on. Our vouchers worked at :
-Bauernmarkt
-Flavor Full kitchen
-La Isla Fresca

We had four adults, each went to a diff booth to redeem… and it pretty much took all two hours to get one dish each

I feel sorry for the regular park guests who chose that evening to be at Epcot!

 

[Skicks35]

I feel sorry for the regular park guests who chose that evening to be at Epcot!

Eh, it was also St. Patrick's Day, so either those regular park guests knew what they were getting into or they planned very very poorly.

That said, DVC probably could have avoided some of the mess by not choosing 3/17 for the event, but who knows why that day was picked.

 

[beardedbil22]

Is there any DVC'er who has an extra registered guest for the Epcot 31st date, that is not being used? I have a family of 6 and can only register 5 since we are not staying on property. My kids are all over 3 so it is my understanding they all need their own registration? Just thought I would put this out there and see if anyone registered more guests and maybe someone dropped out in your party? If this is frowned upon or not allowed, please disregard and my apologies.

 

[Peach026]

Is there any DVC'er who has an extra registered guest for the Epcot 31st date, that is not being used? I have a family of 6 and can only register 5 since we are not staying on property. My kids are all over 3 so it is my understanding they all need their own registration? Just thought I would put this out there and see if anyone registered more guests and maybe someone dropped out in your party? If this is frowned upon or not allowed, please disregard and my apologies.

Sending you a message (… if I can figure out how lol)