Is Moonlight Magic worth planning a trip around?

[snoopy5386]

We have PAPs for the first time in a long time and so I am planning on taking my girls (DD9 and DD13) to WDW this August for a few days to do water parks and do the parks mostly at night because of the heat. We have no real schedule to work around, we are all off in the summer. Thinking about trying to plan the trip around Moonlight Magic at AK on 8/8 (if we can get tickets of course, but planning would have to take place before that obviously). It's not ideal timing, but we could work with it - it would mean we'd likely stay at least one or two weekend days, and since we had no real schedule I was hoping to do a stay that only fell on weekdays to save points. We did MM at Typhoon Lagoon in 2018 and we loved it, but we didn't have park tickets at the time so it was a special treat that happened to fall during a trip we already had planned. We live far enough away that attending MM is a rare event for our family. We have all been to Pandora already, so that would not be new for us. Would you do it? Or would you just plan a trip for whenever and rely on evening EMHs?

 

[JETSDAD]

I love the MM events and yet I wouldn't plan a trip specifically around that. If there was an event close in dates to a trip we had already planned then I'd consider tweaking our dates to fit it in.

 

[bwvBound]

Last year we planned a trip around the later HS MM event as we could cancel the room reservation w/out penalty if we didn't get the MM admission. We ended up committing to airfare and adding an after-hours hard ticket party (MNNSHP) which meant we were going ... regardless of the MM outcome.

If we would have stayed with our original plan (room, 1 after hours ticked party, 1 after hours free party) we would have been just fine. Instead we added APs during the trip which sent us running to parks non-stop. Pretty exhausting ... but lots of fun.

Would I, in the future, build a trip around a MM event? Yes.
I've juggled the AP question around my brain both ways. Having the APs means that the trip won't be w/out parks ... but if you have the AP was MM really all that special? I find that I view MM as a greater perk when I wouldn't have had any access to that park w/out it. As such, I've given up my DL AP as I'm now enjoying alternating visits to DL/DCA through DVC's MM. Yeah.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I vote no...... I would not, and we have been to 2 DVC after hours, MK and Studios.

But I love the After hours paid events, I have done MK twice.

 

[SpaceMountain77]

I agree with @JETSDAD . If a Moonlight Magic is close to your reservation, then, yes, adjust it according. I would not, however, plan a trip because of a Moonlight Magic offering.

 

[seelyt2]

We enjoyed our time in August for MM (Epcot), which just happened to coincide with our dates. The evening went by so fast and we ended up waiting in lines for more than anything, it felt like. The kids had the best time at the dance party, oddly enough. It was great but I wouldn't build my trip around it. Plus, you have to hope and pray you are lucky enough to get a ticket!

 

[crisi]

I wouldn't. We were pretty disappointed with the MM event we went to at AK.

 

[keishashadow]

The 2017 TL MM was highly enjoyable. Nice to not have to purchase tix for my guests & organized events geared to the kids.

Lucky enough in 2018 to do MK, EP & MGM events.

MK - loved it, rare characters and so many attractions. Seriously, hated to leave the park that night.

Ep - found it boring, not much different than regular experience. Didn’t help many of the rides were experiencing technical difficulties. we left for bus stop before FW, which were supposed to be ‘special’. Nothing at all along line of the amazing 4th of July one. The newly instituted ability to order ‘dinner’ was nice touch.

MGM - appreciated the lower crowds to introduce family to TSM. would rank it a leaps ahead of Ep if only for the easy to navigate Fantasmic.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Because it’s not guaranteed that you could get in, I would not plan a vacation in the hope of getting into a MM.

 

[gdrj]

We enjoyed the Water park magic night,

 

[Henwen88]

We have done TL, HS, and MK - and the only one I would remotely 'plan a trip around' would be MK. We attended one of the first ones - can't remember if it was 2 or 3 years ago, and it was truly magical. I felt like I was walking around the MK of my childhood - pavement visible everywhere! Plus the firework show was top-notch. Actually, now that I think about it, we have done the MK twice - the first one had better fireworks, the second one had better organization for food/ice cream distribution.

That being said, we did add an earlier start day for our summer weekend trip to try to snag a spot at the AK MM!

 

[Dean1953]

I had to cancel our Christmas trip, so I decided to go to MM MK on February 5, booking rooms at All Star Music (and cancelling if I couldn’t get tickets). I’ll be there February 4-8 and have AP’s, so no extra ticket costs. Having gone to MM TL last June, I’m excited about it.

 

[kniquy]

Would you do it? Or would you just plan a trip for whenever and rely on evening EMHs?

We attended an AK moonlight magic last year. It was a good time and was an experience to be in AK with less people. It is still busy, lines for food were crazy (give out free food and people flock). If you were already planning on going and could shift to cover a moonlight magic time I would do it. If you are solely planning a trip just because of it - no not really. It really depends how much extra it is going to cost you to go. Seeing you were already planning on going and already planning on the extra costs of food, flights/driving costs then i would change my dates to attend.

Going with no real plan and AP sounds like a great time. Less stress and more relaxation. Plus your kids seem to be at a good age where attending moonlight magic and staying up late would be fun. When we went it was with 5DD twin boys 12 and my DD made it to midnight but basically had to be carried out of the park. One of my twin boys stuck around with me and we were able to it FoP one more time before the event closed. You want to be able to make the most of your time at the event so if you have little ones it really limits what you can do.

I say go and have fun!

 

[sharkyandbones]

I agree with most here. The MM are not worth planning a trip around. It's a nice perk, but really it's just a few extra hours of play time. They're a little overhyped IMHO. Lines are still going to be long, the only difference is that there is no FP+ to make them longer than they really are.

 

[Duchie]

We shifted a trip a couple of years ago to take advantage of a MM. Our dates were flexible and we figured why not. If we hadn't been able to get tickets we'd have been OK with it, but it worked out and we had a great time seeing AK at night. I wouldn't necessarily plan a trip just for that, but shifting a little (if it's not too much trouble) would be fine.

 

[mrsR123]

I booked a trip for the August AK date. It’s the first time that an after hours was offered when we could go. It is a time that I have visited in the past, so I am hopeful that it will be a good experience— come on rare characters- but I would not feel like I lost out if it’s only okay.

 

[TexasChick123]

We have been to the TL and HS MM events. I wouldn't plan a trip around either. They were fun and a nice perk, but they certainly weren't worth planning an entire trip around either event. Both of the dates worked out to be during out trips. This is the only way I would do it.

 

[LSchrow]

On 1/28, MS told me that the MK MMs still had lots of openings. Considering that registration for onsite started 1/9, & for all on 1/19, it appears that the new rules has made a difference in availability.

FYI, we were interested in attending the 5/20 Epcot MM. Our stay is: 5/16 on a qualifying membership, 5/17-22 on a non-qualifying membership, followed by DRC 5/22-5/28 (linked reservation, so hopefully, same room). It took about 20-30 minutes, but MS was able to connect the stay to the qualifying membership. if anyone is in the same position, they recommend that you call before the signup for an event begins.

 

[jbh275]

Not a change!

 

[MikeRx]

I have a slightly different opinion based on the "trip" and not the event...My wife and I are going to the MM event at Disneyland tomorrow and look at it as a "date night in Disneyland". Our nearly 11 year old son (very jealous that we are going) will stay at home with his grandmother (silly school thing) and we will enjoy dinner, the event and a relaxing day on Friday in the park and Trader Sam's before our flight home. The MM event simply gave us a reason to treat ourselves.

If we based the experience on the November event at DCA we'd run away fast! We are giving them another chance to get it right and if not we will still have a relaxing time in our "laughing place".
Mike

btw...he will be there in 2 weeks for his 11th birthday...we aren't that mean.