2023 Moonlight Magic Dates

[JoeD07]

I had a great time at the Epcot MM last week. So much so that the family wants to try to hit the AK one in August. I just booked my resort for the stay covering 8/2. I haven't come across any rule that restricts the number of MM events you can attend per year. Is there any restriction aside from just being lucky enough to get tickets?

 

[erionm]

I had a great time at the Epcot MM last week. So much so that the family wants to try to hit the AK one in August. I just booked my resort for the stay covering 8/2. I haven't come across any rule that restricts the number of MM events you can attend per year. Is there any restriction aside from just being lucky enough to get tickets?

From the MM page on the member website:
Event Date Limits
In order to allow as many Members as possible to enjoy Moonlight Magic, only one event date for each participating park will be available per Membership.

 

[Pills]

So, while we're there, we can do an H2O Glow night at TL, or we can do Moonlight Magic.

I'm trying to find what the differences are, if any. I'm thinking that MM is likely going to be significantly less crowded, but does it go for the same amount of time? H2O Glow goes from 8-11, but you can get in at 6. I can't find the corresponding info on MM. I would think the food offerings are similar, but, again, I don't have much a comparison.

That all being said... is MM free?

Apologies for my naivety; never done MM before.

EDIT: I finally saw the word "complimentary" for MM, but my questions about the hours and food are still there.

 

[JoeD07]

From the MM page on the member website:
Event Date Limits
In order to allow as many Members as possible to enjoy Moonlight Magic, only one event date for each participating park will be available per Membership.

Ahh - nice find - for each park. Gotcha. Different parks are A-OK then! Great!

 

[tjkraz]

I had a great time at the Epcot MM last week. So much so that the family wants to try to hit the AK one in August. I just booked my resort for the stay covering 8/2. I haven't come across any rule that restricts the number of MM events you can attend per year. Is there any restriction aside from just being lucky enough to get tickets?

No, there is not.

One time per theme park, per year. But there is no limit on how many total events a member can attend in a single year. Given the current schedule, one member could theoretically attend up to 5 moonlight magic events in 2023. One time each at EP, AK, DHS, TL and DCA.

 

[gardenrooms]

The registration page for February 1 was open for days. Basically anyone within driving distance of DCA who wished to attend had little difficulty of registering. Even with 8 nights at WDW, many people will not get in.

I'm confused. Don't you have to be staying at a DVC resort? Meaning, in DL, GCV? Which are very difficult to book unless you do it quite far out? Thanks.

 

[naman1221]

I'm confused. Don't you have to be staying at a DVC resort? Meaning, in DL, GCV? Which are very difficult to book unless you do it quite far out? Thanks.

You could always get the general admission ticket if you get lucky enough.

 

[gardenrooms]

Ah, thanks. So they do go on sale. Do the tickets open up to DVC members first? We happen to be arriving at AKL the day AFTER MM at AK so we are thinking about adding on a day even though we won't be staying on site that night. But I don't exactly understand how these things work.

 

[naman1221]

Ah, thanks. So they do go on sale. Do the tickets open up to DVC members first? We happen to be arriving at AKL the day AFTER MM at AK so we are thinking about adding on a day even though we won't be staying on site that night. But I don't exactly understand how these things work.

No sorry - they dont go on sale. DVC Releases the tickets twice..once for people with reservations and once for general admission. It is free both times.

 

[gardenrooms]

Thank you all for all this wonderful information.

 

[naman1221]

Thank you all for all this wonderful information.

Was on my mobile but youre welcome. Better breakdown of the situation

Moonlight Magic Event scheduled

Ticket Release 1: Only for people with confirmed reservations by a preset date/time - vast majority of tickets are given away here

Ticket Release 2: remaining tickets are released for general DVC admission - usually a few weeks out from the event - these are EXTREMELY competitive and difficult to get

Hope that makes sense.

 

[gardenrooms]

My family is so anxious to go to the AK MM, I am going to reserve a room (36 points - ugh!) that we won't be staying in. lol we will go early entry to Universal, get a ride to AK for MM, back to Universal for our last night there and another early entry on 7/12 then to AKL to begin our "official" WDW stay. I'm exhausted just thinking about it (and I always used to arrange our trips to go to the EE park in the morning and hop to the Extra Magic Hours park to maximize our park hours!). Unfortunately, I forget the rules, but doubt if I'll be able to get my 36 points back if we don't get tix on 6/14 but that's how it goes I guess. Living in CA and only being able to come to WDW every 2 or 3 years, this is probably the only time we will ever have this opportunity.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm confused. Don't you have to be staying at a DVC resort? Meaning, in DL, GCV? Which are very difficult to book unless you do it quite far out? Thanks.

I’d think ala WDW you would be able to stay at DLH or PP. Would certainly check on that

I am going to reserve a room (36 points - ugh!) that we won't be staying in.

If you are going to do a throw-away room, why not just book the cheapest onsite room that will accommodate your family member number?

 

[gardenrooms]

I’d think ala WDW you would be able to stay at DLH or PP. Would certainly check on that

If you are going to do a throw-away room, why not just book the cheapest onsite room that will accommodate your family member number?

Thanks for your inpput.

For DL, I am going to keep an eye out for any other MM events with that in mind. Too late for us for 2/1.

For WDW, I did both, but we decided to risk the 36 points rather than waste the $400 for the cheapest cash accommodation (plus some people had system failure when they weren't staying in a DVC accommodation when trying to get their MM tix).

 

[zavandor]

Thanks for your inpput.

For DL, I am going to keep an eye out for any other MM events with that in mind. Too late for us for 2/1.

For WDW, I did both, but we decided to risk the 36 points rather than waste the $400 for the cheapest cash accommodation (plus some people had system failure when they weren't staying in a DVC accommodation when trying to get their MM tix).

If you rent 36 points for $16 (with a broker), you'd get $576. An after hours tickets, very similar to a MM, costs $99 for some dates with the DVC discount. How many people in your family? If it's not more than 5, I'd rather do a DAH than use 36 points on a room you'd not use.

 

[gardenrooms]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, we are now 6 (which means we need 2 bedrooms or 2 hotel rooms also). I'm too old to figure out how to use a broker lol.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

I don't exactly understand how these things work.

Sorry if you already know this, but to further clarify the breakdown of getting into MM…

Ticket Release 1: Only for people with confirmed reservations by a preset date/time - vast majority of tickets are given away here

Ticket Release 2: remaining tickets are released for general DVC admission - usually a few weeks out from the event - these are EXTREMELY competitive and difficult to get

Every person able to get a reservation (no actual ticket is given) must be a “qualifying” DVC member =must be eligible for membership extras =must be a blue card holding member. All MM reservations have that stipulation. Their guests, on the other hand, can be absolutely anyone they choose to invite!

 

[keishashadow]

For WDW, I did both, but we decided to risk the 36 points rather than waste the $400 for the cheapest cash accommodation (plus some people had system failure when they weren't staying in a DVC accommodation when trying to get their MM tix)

when the 1st MM Epcot event was announced this year, we decided to book a last-minute DVC bonus trip. Unfortunately, no rooms at the inn. Undeterred, we did manage to book a few days thru CRO at ASMu before the cut off date stipulated by DVC to be eligible to try to book. Also, we are blue card members

i had issues day of, posted here my experience here. Bit nerve-wracking to repeated get an error message. Took multiple screen shots and called MS, who put me on hold and managed to call technical to fix it. She said I was the first member of the day to have that issue, unfortunately, it appeared more than a few others were behind me.

MS deemed it a technical glitch not recognizing non DVC accommodations even though I did receive the email invite the day beforehand. . Not that I wish it upon any others, will be interesting to see if the snafu arises again the next round.

 

[E2ME2]

I had a great time at the Epcot MM last week. So much so that the family wants to try to hit the AK one in August. I just booked my resort for the stay covering 8/2. I haven't come across any rule that restricts the number of MM events you can attend per year. Is there any restriction aside from just being lucky enough to get tickets?

There is a restiction of only 1 MM event per park We were in SSR during both the 2/8 & 2/15 MM event.
We got tix for 2/8, but then when we tried to get tickets for 2/15 it denied it based on "1 MM event per park".
I just posted on another thread that we enjoyed the 2/8 MM at EPCOT, but it fell way short of our expectations, based on previous MMs we had attended. Anyone else have the same opinion?

 

[keishashadow]

just posted on another thread that we enjoyed the 2/8 MM at EPCOT, but it fell way short of our expectations, based on previous MMs we had attended. Anyone else have the same opinion?

our experience, it was far better than the previous EP MM we attended. Happy to attend & had a lot of fun, even making a special trip to include it

Inherently, EP seems to not translate well to this specific event as so spread out. We decided to not focus on rides this time, just enjoyed the characters & special FW etc.

For Deluxe hours there, we do GoTG and usually leave. Was nice to not have any specific itinerary that night TBH, just went with the flow.

my rankings of ones we attended:

1. MK
2. MGM
3. TL
4. EP #1
5. EP #2