One thing I love about visiting the Disney Parks is that no two Disney days are ever exactly the same. From the interactions with Cast Members and other guests to the Fastpass+ reservations you score, each day in the parks for me has led to new memories! After being out of the parks for over two months (which really doesn’t sound like long, but when you visit at least once a month it seems longer!) I booked a quick weekend trip with local friends and absolutely no plans.

About a week before I left for Orlando, my friend asked if I’d want to attend the DVC Moonlight Magic event that would be happening the night I flew in. I of course answered yes — I’m not one to pass up a special event at Walt Disney World! Since I’m not a member of DVC right now, this is something I never thought I’d be able to do but just like that Disney magic set in.

What To Expect

Moonlight Magic takes place on select nights throughout the year at a specific theme park or water park on property. These events require I reservation from Disney Vacation Club members, which helps to keep the crowds lower during the event! DVC members are allowed to register themselves and up to three guests per Membership for these after hours events.

As the Moonlight Magic name implies, these events take place after park hours which means cooler temperatures, extra time in the parks, and a different kind of park experience. Event nights usually begin around 9:30 PM and end by 12:30 AM. Although the event doesn’t start until 9:30, you’re welcome to head to the park earlier to enjoy the last few hours of park operation before it closes to the public.

Check In

Check in for Moonlight Magic begins a few hours in advance. For example, on the night of my Moonlight Magic event check ins began around 6:00 PM that day! At check in you’ll receive your Moonlight Magic wristband, food voucher, map, and other event information.

The details and offerings may vary from park to park, but for our event we had a meal voucher with a few dinner options and two tickets to use at the carnival in Dinoland U.S.A.! As someone who doesn’t normally play the carnival games in Dinoland, it was nice to have the chance to check them out with friends during the event at no cost.

Food

The meal voucher for Moonlight Magic is a pretty great perk in my opinion! You’re given 3-4 choices for quick-service locations to order from and your meal comes with an entree of your choice and one non-alcoholic drink.  Before Moonlight Magic, I’d never tried Satuli Canteen in Pandora so I figured this free meal voucher was the perfect opportunity!

In addition to the dinner voucher, there are also complimentary refreshments served throughout the event. At our Moonlight Magic event the complimentary ice cream station was at Creature Comforts and you could grab strawberry bars and Mickey Premium bars all event long!

Pro Tip: Wait to eat! Everyone is eating first when they get to event, which means you’ll waste time in line at a quick service place that you could spend enjoying attractions. Wait a little while after the event has started to go eat dinner and you’ll see much more reasonable wait times on food.

Characters

Moonlight Magic is known for great (and sometimes rare) character meet and greets. For example at the Disney’s Animal Kingdom event we had the chance to meet characters like Carl Fredricksen and Tarzan! Carl Fredricksen is one character who I’ve always wanted to meet, so he was a big priority for me at Moonlight Magic. 

He was meeting at Dug and Russell’s usual character spot and the line started forming about 45 minutes before the event started. If you know there’s a character that you want to meet at Moonlight Magic, I suggest knocking that experience out first. You can wait in line before the event begins and right as the character meet and greets open you’ll be one of the first in line! Afterwards you’ll have the whole night ahead of you to ride attractions, eat, and enjoy.

Pro Tip: Meet Rare Characters FIRST.

Attractions

Most regular park attractions remain open for Moonlight Magic, which means you can enjoy all of your faves with little to no wait! Since these events are RSVP only, the number of guests in the park is much, much smaller than normal park attendance. So if you really enjoy Slinky Dog Dash, Flight of Passage, or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train you can conquer these popular attractions without wasting the whole event in line!

Another great perk of Moonlight Magic is enjoying the beauty of the park at night. The signage of attractions really comes to life once the sun goes down, and without all of the extra traffic in the parks you can really take the scenery in. If you’re doing to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic, you have to visit Pandora – World of Avatar at night! That area after dark is like a whole new world.

Pro Tip: Ride until you can’t anymore! And take in the beauty of you surroundings.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom wouldn’t be defined as my favorite park, but getting to experience it during the special ticket event was definitely one of my top park memories of 2019! This night was full of Disney firsts, and now I’m just hoping I’ll find my way to another DVC Moonlight Magic event someday. Planning to attend a Moonlight Magic event in the future? Check out this page for information about upcoming events for DVC members.

Have You Ever Attended A Moonlight Magic Event?

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