On Friday, February 24, Disney Vacation Club hosted the fiirst of two scheduled member-exclusive evenings at the Magic Kingdom for 2017. Unprecedented attraction access, unique fiireworks and free food were among the event's highlights.
Moonlight Magic is DVC's new term for its exclusive after-hours theme park parties. The events first debuted in 2016 as part of the timeshare program's 25th anniversary celebration. By popular demand, DVC decided to bring them back for 2017 in an expanded form.
A total of 23 Magic Kingdom attractions were open throughout the park. Included were all of the Magic Kingdom "mountains", along with other popular favorites including Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Among the attractions not available during the event were Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Enchanted Tiki Room and Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
Reports from attendees suggest that park crowds were massive when Moonlight Magic admission began at 8:00pm. The park did not close to day guests until 10:00pm and its overlap with the runDisney Princess Half Marathon and many schools' winter break resulted in very crowded conditions. Guest levels thinned dramatically after the 10pm party start time.
Throughout the evening, most attraction wait times remained very reasonable. With the execption of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train--which reportedly experienced a 40 minute wait--most other attractions remained in the 10-15 minute range. An unexpected outage at Space Mountain undoubtedly contributed to other attraction wait times.
Disney Vacation Club made some changes to the complimentary food offered during the event. In 2016, similar events offered guests beverages and ice cream snacks. This time around, the ice cream was eliminated and replaced by all-you-can-eat hot dogs and chicken strips.
Unique character photo opportunities, a dance party and DVC executive meet-and-greet were also featured.
At midnight, an exclusive fireworks display was offered, whcih can be viewed in the video above.
A second Magic Kingdom event is planned for this Friday, March 3. The event is already sold out. Other Moonlight Magic exclusives are planned for later this year at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, Epcot and Disneyland.
