Moonlight Magic is BACK!

[DonMacGregor]

The CM today at MS said that Yes, had to be booked with Direct Points to attend MM.

To clarify, your stay needs to be booked with direct points to enjoy the on-site stay early reservation window, correct? You don't "need" a resort reservation to attend MM, just to enjoy early registration.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

OK this makes me angry now. The CM wouldn't allow me to use resale points to book claiming I wouldn't receive registration email so I had to borrow my RIV points to stay at the only resort left which was SSR. I would have never done that. Ugh!!!

I think there was one or two times that DVC increased the restrictions and were not allowing bookings if they were on restricted resale points. That came out of the blue and surprised people when they were trying to reserve the event. Wish I could recall exactly what that was. Anyway it was kind of a mess and contrary to what was understood that a Qualified membership (blue card) gets you. But setting that aside MS CM's do get confused about the difference of qualified points and qualified memberships.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The CM today at MS said that Yes, had to be booked with Direct Points to attend MM.

Since the announcement expressly states you can be booked on cash I think odds are that information is still incorrect.

 

[MinnieSueB]

My CM today was saying that staying at Pop would have to be booked thru MS using points or using cash thru blue card.
Bottom line: WHO KNOWS?! Maybe they changed it after shut down but we'll see once the 1st MM happens. Disney is having a harder time getting their act together & definitely the guest experience is suffering as they make billions a quarter. Let's see how long it lasts.

 

[MB_Ellie]

My CM today was saying that staying at Pop would have to be booked thru MS using points or using cash thru blue card.
Bottom line: WHO KNOWS?! Maybe they changed it after shut down but we'll see once the 1st MM happens. Disney is having a harder time getting their act together & definitely the guest experience is suffering as they make billions a quarter. Let's see how long it lasts.

Yeah, it is quite a mess, but what the CM said contradicts what is on the Moonlight Magic page: "Resort Reservations must be made by the person listed as the “owner” using that Membership or with cash through the Disney Reservation Center or a travel provider. Please Note Members that have a Resort Reservation booked under another Member's Membership are not eligible for early booking."

This implies that eligible stays at hotels like Pop could have been booked without MS.

 

[Skicks35]

As many have already stated, my guess/assumption is that the registration eligibility is based on the blue card membership, not the actual reservation. Otherwise, it makes no sense to list non-DVC resorts as eligible resorts on the notification.

But I do have a related question: after the announcement, I made a cash reservation through MDE (i.e. outside of MS). My DVC blue card membership is linked to my MDE account. This reservation should allow me early registration, even though it was made outside MS, correct?

 

[PatMcDuck]

To weigh in, I have booked the party a couple times while on a cash reservation booked normally, not thru MS. And got my tickets on the earlier distribution day. (I am a blue card member with one contract, resale ineligible on another contract).

Last time I think I didn't get an email so called to verify eligibilty. I believe you could click a link to register on a an email, or thru the DVC site entering your reservation number? It is hard to remember the exact details, I remember I was worried but it worked out fine.

This year I again booked a short stay at Pop and expect to register on the earlier date.

 

[Doingitagain]

I expect to receive an email on Feb 22 with a link. How early on Feb 23 will the link be active?

In the past, how quickly did the reservations go? Minutes, hours, days?

 

[MushuHill]

What time in the past have they sent out the email? Am I staying up until midnight, checking at 8 AM, or is it completely random to keep people on their toes?

 

[Geomom]

What time in the past have they sent out the email? Am I staying up until midnight, checking at 8 AM, or is it completely random to keep people on their toes?

If you don't get an email, there should be a link on the DVC site that morning, in the moonlight magic info area. Just have your reservation and membership numbers ready. (Some people never get emails, even if they qualify for it.)

 

[Doingitagain]

If you don't get an email, there should be a link on the DVC site that morning, in the moonlight magic info area. Just have your reservation and membership numbers ready. (Some people never get emails, even if they qualify for it.)

Does it open at midnight or 6 am or 7 am?

 

[MinnieSueB]

Does everyone register on Feb 23 or is that just for people going to the Epcot MM in March?

 

[MushuHill]

It says online that registration date is for the Epcot events.

 

[Geomom]

Does it open at midnight or 6 am or 7 am?

8am? The registration time is not listed online yet. Clicking the link early is the same as clicking right on time. You get put in a random queue...entering at the same time could put you at #2, #200, #2000, etc. It's a random number generator. It's for all the dates for that particular park, so don't worry if you have a high #, also many people do it on multiple devices, so they're taking multiple spots and will drop them all once they've registered. It can take a couple hours to get to your number if it's high. The system will keep you updated when a date is close to full.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The CM today at MS said that Yes, had to be booked with Direct Points to attend MM.

Going back to this - I read thru all the fine print and it even states that bookings thru RCI, cash etc are eligible. If that is so then there's no possible way that booking with only qualified points should matter.

 

[Skicks35]

Going back to this - I read thru all the fine print and it even states that bookings thru RCI, cash etc are eligible. If that is so then there's no possible way that booking with only qualified points should matter.

I have a cash reservation booked for 5/24 and a MS chat representative confirmed for me yesterday that my reservation is in fact eligible. So I agree, I don’t think the CM that stated reservations must be booked with direct points is accurate

 

[Boopuff]

I have a cash reservation booked for 5/24 and a MS chat representative confirmed for me yesterday that my reservation is in fact eligible. So I agree, I don’t think the CM that stated reservations must be booked with direct points is accurate

According to the DVC site:
Important Information about Membership Extras:
Membership Extras, such as vacation options in the Disney and Concierge Collections which are subject to availability and block-out dates may apply, including high periods of demand such as Christmas and New Year’s Day. To receive any Membership Extras, purchasers must present a valid Disney Vacation Club Membership Card along with a corresponding valid photo ID. Disney and Concierge Collections options are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. will not have access to Membership Extras. Theme park admission is not part of the ownership interest and is sold separately.
I understand that to be blue card only.

 

[Doingitagain]

According to the DVC site:
Important Information about Membership Extras:
Membership Extras, such as vacation options in the Disney and Concierge Collections which are subject to availability and block-out dates may apply, including high periods of demand such as Christmas and New Year’s Day. To receive any Membership Extras, purchasers must present a valid Disney Vacation Club Membership Card along with a corresponding valid photo ID. Disney and Concierge Collections options are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. will not have access to Membership Extras. Theme park admission is not part of the ownership interest and is sold separately.
I understand that to be blue card only.

I believe many of the people have blue cards, they just aren’t using those specific points for a reservation.

 

[Skicks35]

I believe many of the people have blue cards, they just aren’t using those specific points for a reservation.

Correct - the consensus (unless something major changes post-covid) is that eligibility is based on your blue card membership, not your specific reservation (as long as it’s a Disney resort)

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

According to the DVC site:
Important Information about Membership Extras:
Membership Extras, such as vacation options in the Disney and Concierge Collections which are subject to availability and block-out dates may apply, including high periods of demand such as Christmas and New Year’s Day. To receive any Membership Extras, purchasers must present a valid Disney Vacation Club Membership Card along with a corresponding valid photo ID. Disney and Concierge Collections options are not available for ownership interests not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. after March 21, 2011, and, effective April 4, 2016, Members who have not purchased an ownership interest directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. will not have access to Membership Extras. Theme park admission is not part of the ownership interest and is sold separately.
I understand that to be blue card only.

That is a statement that non-qualified members do not have access to the extras. To be a qualified member you must have grandfathered points or have purchased direct points at the various levels that DVC has gone thru requirements to be a qualified member. However the early booking is listed to be available to a myriad of ways of booking a room (points, cash, RCI trades) plus of course you must be a qualified (blue card) member. By March 8th any Qualified (Blue card) member could reserve if there are still spots available and they do not need to have a room reserved onsite.