Is Moonlight Magic worth planning a trip around?

[heynowirv]

If I can shift the conversation little bit please.We are going to be there in April and there is a MM HS (but it cost 95) so it's open to the general public. Having never done one before is THAT worth it? What do you think the crowd size would be for that?

 

[bwvBound]

We are giving them another chance to get it right

Yep, I'm doing the same. So far, I'm tickled pink that they mailed the parking voucher in advance!

 

[bwvBound]

I found an RCI exchange into SSR (1BR unit) for the week of an Epcot MM event. I put it on 24-hour hold while hubby checks his work calendar ...
I am assuming that I can phone MS prior to MM registration to get the exchange week noted in my account ... ?

Edited to add: I just had a "chat" w/ MS to confirm that RCI inbound exchanges are eligible for early MM event registration. They count as a reservation ... just phone MS before the registration day to have the account noted.

Edited Thursday morning to add: I released the hold on the RCI exchange to SSR. I intend to put an application into the 2019 Extreme Mustang Makeover Challenge and hope to have a mustang in my yard this summer! My application is due Feb 1 ... gotta get working on a few logistics/facility issues! Whoo-hoo!

(One more edit: As we made our final decision this morning, over the phone as DH is in HI, he said, "But WDW would be sooooo easy. This other thing sounds hard. Are you sure??" LOL, thanks honey. Yeah, I want to do this (mustang) thing. It could be now or never!)

 

[bwvBound]

Well, I'm doing it again. I've a booked around a MM event at AK with hopes to attend. We'll see how it goes!

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.

 

[bwvBound]

If I can shift the conversation little bit please.We are going to be there in April and there is a MM HS (but it cost 95) so it's open to the general public. Having never done one before is THAT worth it? What do you think the crowd size would be for that?

It sounds like the event you mention is a Disney After Hours event rather than a DVC Moonlight Magic Event. We found MNSSHP last Oct to be jam packed, far more crowed than our expectations. It felt like typical day-time crowd levels ... but perhaps we were always in the wrong place, at the wrong time??

 

[heynowirv]

It sounds like the event you mention is a Disney After Hours event rather than a DVC Moonlight Magic Event. We found MNSSHP last Oct to be jam packed, far more crowed than our expectations. It felt like typical day-time crowd levels ... but perhaps we were always in the wrong place, at the wrong time??

Thanks

 

[Crystal824]

I agree with others. We went to MM at AK last year. We are going to MM at DHS next month. However, we already had those trips booked and it just worked out that way. While, we enjoyed the event last year, I would not book a trip just for MM unless I were a FL resident or we lived fairly close and traveled to WDW often.

 

[charzdis]

Moonlight Magic is worth it! If you can get tickets....