Why do people love moonlight magic SO MUCH?

[Orion Nebula]

I watch the dvc fan vlog, and have heard a lot of commotion over MLM returning in general. I didn't really know what it was. So last night I watched a few videos on it and followed the vloggers around through their evening adventures. But I just don't see why it's a big deal? After hours and some of the holiday events seem much better (I know I loved very merry). But to my surprise MLM looked extremely lackluster, with massive lines, no fireworks, almost pointless voucher books (due to options) and heavy crowds. Not to mention character appearances not on a schedule. So people kind of just randomly came across them.

Back to the bucket, I know how people freak out over them (I own some). But the lines to get them ALL NIGHT were massive. And the bucket itself is a bit "meh" I expected it to be really neat all things considered. Lastly the final show... I heard they use to have fireworks. But now it's almost like an ad for DVC. It pretty much was like "thanks for being a member" then a short period of lights being turned on in the lake.

So I am really confused on why people are losing their minds over it's return? You get technically only a few hours in the park due to lines for everything (albeit you can show up at 6). And then some mickey ice creams, which seemed like the highlight. What am I missing?

 

[DduzDis]

We went to one at AK in 2018 that was so much fun. My then 5 yo DD rode EE for the first time and got to ride it 5 times in a row pretty much walk-on. Plenty of entertainment, snacks and a huge park seemingly to ourselves. It looks to be very mismanaged these days so I don't know that we would go out of our way to try it again any time soon.

 

[Marionnette]

I watch the dvc fan vlog, and have heard a lot of commotion over MLM returning in general. I didn't really know what it was. So last night I watched a few videos on it and followed the vloggers around through their evening adventures. But I just don't see why it's a big deal? After hours and some of the holiday events seem much better (I know I loved very merry). But to my surprise MLM looked extremely lackluster, with massive lines, no fireworks, almost pointless voucher books (due to options) and heavy crowds. Not to mention character appearances not on a schedule. So people kind of just randomly came across them.

Back to the bucket, I know how people freak out over them (I own some). But the lines to get them ALL NIGHT were massive. And the bucket itself is a bit "meh" I expected it to be really neat all things considered. Lastly the final show... I heard they use to have fireworks. But now it's almost like an ad for DVC. It pretty much was like "thanks for being a member" then a short period of lights being turned on in the lake.

So I am really confused on why people are losing their minds over it's return? You get technically only a few hours in the park due to lines for everything (albeit you can show up at 6). And then some mickey ice creams, which seemed like the highlight. What am I missing?

Moonlight Magic events have been much better in the past. From the reports that I've seen, the recent one has been poorly run. We had a blast at HS and MK events prior to the COVID shutdown. Water, popcorn and ice cream were handed out quickly and efficiently. Lines for attractions were almost walk on with a few exceptions. From all reports, the recent event had too many guests and/or poor planning for the concessions.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Moonlight Magic events have been much better in the past. From the reports that I've seen, the recent one has been poorly run. We had a blast at HS and MK events prior to the COVID shutdown. Water, popcorn and ice cream were handed out quickly and efficiently. Lines for attractions were almost walk on with a few exceptions. From all reports, the recent event had too many guests and/or poor planning for the concessions.

Agreed - the reopening of MLM seems to be must less valuable than they were in the past. Hopefully, they'll get back to being more efficient and worthwhile moving forward. We did a fun and very nice one before Covid at AK, but we'll wait for awhile before trying another. The expectations around the MLM is that you have almost no wait for rides, and free food is everywhere - and that's just not the case with the ones they've recently re-opened. But again, hoping that improves.

 

[RoseGold]

I mean people seem to really love those backpacks too. I think they want to feel like this is some kind of special club with something special about it. That's how it's sold.

 

[CarolMN]

Moonlight Magic events have been much better in the past. From the reports that I've seen, the recent one has been poorly run. We had a blast at HS and MK events prior to the COVID shutdown. Water, popcorn and ice cream were handed out quickly and efficiently. Lines for attractions were almost walk on with a few exceptions. From all reports, the recent event had too many guests and/or poor planning for the concessions.

Agree. Pre-Covid, we went to one at the MK and one at EPCOT. Both had virtually no waits for anything except a few of the character meet and greets. Both had special fireworks (and we got in early enough to see the evening park-closing fireworks, too). I remember getting a free hot dog as well as other snacks. Those were really nice events. Sorry to hear the returning events are not what we experienced.

 

[Orion Nebula]

I mean people seem to really love those backpacks too. I think they want to feel like this is some kind of special club with something special about it. That's how it's sold.

Rumor is that they are getting rid of the backpacks.

 

[kanerf]

Free, free, free!

 

[hhisc16]

Are the moonlight magic events similar to deluxe extra evening hours?
We enjoyed the deluxe extra evening hours in Dec. 2021!

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

To be fair to DVC, this was the first MLM since the pandemic. There were definitely some challenges, but I think they will get it corrected for the next one. It didnt help that Remy went down at around 10pm too.

 

[Matty B13]

You would have thought since it was their first MLM event since the pandemic started, they would have made sure it ran smoothly, instead of falling back on the "we are understaffed right now" line. Really not a good look for your first blue card benefit out of the gate. Since they make everyone sign up and give specific attendance numbers to attend the event, they should have know how to staff this MLM.

 

[JETSDAD]

We love having a chance to meet rare characters that aren't generally available. Free food, some extra hours at night, and usually a great fireworks display other than at AK. We've attended 3 of them (AK, Epcot, and MK) and all were great. We don't use that time for things such as rides that we can do anytime.

 

[Sandisw]

I went to one at AK right before the pandemic and it was a great experience. It sounds like this was simply not well executed and hopefully, they will be able to fix before the next event. I think the one drawback of Epcot is the number of rides compared to other parks. If one is down (like Remy) it even adds to making the lines longer.

I also don't know if choosing March 17th was the wisest idea either, given that Epcot may have been the perfect place to end your day as a regular park guest. It certainly sounds like it was still quite crowded when the event started, which can't have helped the lines people had to wait in to redeem the food vouchers.

 

[Marionnette]

To be fair to DVC, this was the first MLM since the pandemic. There were definitely some challenges, but I think they will get it corrected for the next one. It didnt help that Remy went down at around 10pm too.

I'm not giving them a pass. They have blueprints to follow based on previous events. How hard is it to pull out the planner from previous events? Remy being down at 10 PM doesn't excuse the long lines for refreshments or the lack of communication regarding the meal vouchers.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

I'm not giving them a pass. They have blueprints to follow based on previous events. How hard is it to pull out the planner from previous events? Remy being down at 10 PM doesn't excuse the long lines for refreshments or the lack of communication regarding the meal vouchers.

I get it. It was clearly not planned well. They get a pass from me until the next one. If they don't adjust and improve, I'm jumping on the bashing bandwagon. I do believe the MLMs were announced and planned to demonstrate that DVC is trying to roll out perks again. I do believe its in response to the massive complaints from us that they keep taking. So while I agree the execution was poor... the intent was a step in the right direction.

 

[CraigInPA]

I went to the sh*t show that was the recent Epcot MLM. We all left feeling like it was a waste of time to attend.

The last one I went to before that was pre-pandemic at MK. At MK, there was a special fireworks show, rides were all walk-ons (except for a 15 minute wait for 7DMT), photopass photographers, and a meal (not snack) vouchers that could be used starting at 6pm. The only thing we had a minor issue with was that there was only one place to get the free ice cream, which was located in the Circus Big Top area (about as far away from anything as you could get). We all left that event pretty happy about it.

 

[CraigInPA]

To be fair to DVC, this was the first MLM since the pandemic. There were definitely some challenges, but I think they will get it corrected for the next one. It didnt help that Remy went down at around 10pm too.

Remy was down before 9. It took them until after 10 to fix it.

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

I will say one good thing about the Moonlight Magic Event the other night. I was able to ride Ratatouille. I had no luck getting the Individual Lightning Lane for it so this was my only chance, (although I could have gone to extended hours for this as well.)

I did not eat thinking there would be snacks available. I went home hungry.

 

[Best Aunt]

The one I went to Pre-COVID at Epcot gave us food vouchers. I remember getting the chicken dinner at Sunshine Seasons in the Land. We kept walking past cast members giving out Mickey Bars. Soda from the machines was free at Electric Umbrella. The fireworks were really good. We got to see characters who aren't normally out, but we waited in long non-moving lines to do so.

 

[UofMGuy423]

For the 3/31, I'm largely using it as a free park day. We're going to enter the park at 6pm, eat at Rose and Crown at 6:35pm and then basically wonder around and see where the night takes us. I likely won't bother with the popcorn bucket if it's a long line. We've got plenty of Disney popcorn buckets in the basement.