Earlier this week we were supposed to be attending a special event for Disney Vacation Club members called “Moonlight Magic,” but unfortunately due to COVID-19 it was canceled. We were just reminiscing about our first after hours event which happened to be this past fall at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. Curious about what a Moonlight Magic party is like? Read on to hear about our fun night at the water park after dark…
About Moonlight Magic
On select dates throughout the year Disney Vacation Club (DVC) schedules special after-hours events for members and their guests inside Disney parks. After official closing time the party starts and attendees get access to:
Enjoy shorter-than-usual wait times on popular attractions
Meet some Disney Characters
Savor complimentary refreshments
Let loose at high-energy dance parties
While these parties are free to attend, registration is required. Each event will have a booking window starting with guests with resort reservations first. Members may register to attend only one event date for each participating park. You can read more details and see upcoming Moonlight Magic events here.
About Typhoon Lagoon
One of Walt Disney World’s two water parks Typhoon Lagoon is a tropical themed paradise complete with a shrimp boat perched atop Mt. Mayday. This 56-acre themed water park is home to the largest wave pool in North America. You can sunbathe on a sandy beach, glide down Castaway Creek lazy river, and explore lots of different water slides.
Check-in
While the official event was scheduled for 6:30-9:30pm we were able to arrive early at about 5:30 with no problems. There was some special DVC signs making it easy to see where to check-in. We simply had to show a membership card and ID for them to look up our reservation. Upon arrival everyone received:
An event wristband
A special map for the evening
A meal voucher
(It’s also good to note there were free towels being distributed but lockers did require a fee.)
It was neat to be entering the water park at closing time.
Check-in was quick and easy.
Everyone received wristbands.
And a food voucher ticket.
Event Highlights
This Moonlight Magic event offered a lot of fun happenings:
Open attractions throughout the park
Complimentary Food & Beverage
A meal and beverage for each person
Unlimited Ice Cream
Character Meet & Greets
Mickey & Minnie
Donald
Goofy & Pluto
Entertainment
DJ Dance Party near the surf pool
Pirate Duck treasure hunt
A special map just for the event.
Lots of useful info (click to enlarge)
And a map of all the attractions and dining spots (click to enlarge)
Park Attractions
We had a great time enjoying many attractions with little to no waits. We explored many of the water slides and spent some time in the lazy river. It was neat to be at the park as the sun went down, instead of in the middle of the day.
A view of Miss Tilly on top of Mt. Mayday.
A few of our favorite slides.
We always love the lazy river.
Food
Complimentary Meals
The food vouchers were able to be redeemed at three different restaurants:
and Surf Doggies
We stopped by Leaning Palms and were each able to order a meal and a drink from the menu. The chicken nugget meal and fries were standard for quick service and good. Unfortunately we have to say the burger may have been the most bland we have ever had on property. (Since it was free we can’t complain, but would probably have chosen Typhoon Tilly’s next time we visit this park.) We also each received a fountain drink.
We chose to eat at the Leaning Palms restaurant.
The Leaning Palms Menu
We each received a free meal and drink.
Complimentary Ice Cream
There was also an ice cream station near the Crush ‘n’ Gusher. You could go back as many times as you want to enjoy a Mickey Ice Cream bar. (There were also dairy free sorbet bars as well). We were quite happy to enjoy just one treat, but we did see many others enjoy them all night!
The ice cream station was easy to find.
Mickey treats taste even better when free.
Exclusive Merch
Inside Singapore Sal’s there was a special display of event specific merchandise featuring a fund Donald Duck design:
Moonlight Magic Tech Tees (Andrew ended up purchasing one!)
Moonlight Magic drink tumblers
Moonlight Magic Hats
and exclusive DVC Jenga games
Andrew ended up buying this tech shirt.
Event specific hats.
DVC special edition board games.
A Moonlight Magic tumbler.
Entertainment
On the beach there was a dance party with a DJ playing popular music. There were fun party lights and pirates and characters dancing too. Everyone had a great time dancing in the sand! When we finally headed out for the evening we also caught a glimpse of some Epcot fireworks too which were a fun surprise!
It was fun to dance to DJ beats in the sand.
Dale dancing with members.
We happened to catch Epcot fireworks in the distance too!
Final Thoughts
This was our first Moonlight Magic event and we had a blast! It was so cool to not only be at an exclusive party with short lines, but to receive free food was a nice bonus too! It was interesting to be at a water park late on a Tuesday night, and something we would love to do again. We hope that we will be able to schedule another event soon when the parks open back up again. We love being DVC members and appreciate special perks like this one. (If you want to learn more about our experience with DVC make sure to check out our article all about Disney Vacation Club here!)
Recently we were named a local expert and quoted on the ApartmentGuide blog. Check it out…