September 26, 2024 • 23 mins
Ever wondered what it’s like to experience the magic of Disney after dark? Join us as we recount our unforgettable 48-hour adventure to the Moonlight Magic exclusive Disney Vacation Club event at Hollywood Studios on August 27th! Alongside our friends, we navigated through a night filled with thrilling rides, delicious snack vouchers, and enchanting character appearances. Learn how we secured our tickets through our DVC membership and get a glimpse of the special perks that made this event standout. Plus, hear our thoughts on how Hollywood Studios compares to a previous Moonlight Magic at Epcot, and why the characters at Epcot still hold a special place in our hearts.
Ready to plan your own magical Disney evening? We’ve got you covered with all the logistical tips and strategic insights you’ll need. From the advantages of annual passes to the genius of early planning, we unpack everything that made our night smooth and enjoyable. Discover why visiting during cooler night hours can enhance your experience and how shorter ride wait times added to the fun. We even share the best travel routes, like flying into Sanford Airport with Allegiant for a hassle-free trip. And as we close, a touching quote from Walt Disney himself perfectly sums up our love for these magical experiences. Don’t miss out—follow us on YouTube and our social media channels for more Disney magic. We’re Vanessa and Chris, and we’re excited to bring you along on this delightful journey.
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For all the latest news about our episodes follow us on Instagram @dislovewithvanessaandkris or on YouTube.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and
Chris.
I'm Vanessa Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Chris Johns.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We would like to welcome you to show number 144.
And for any listeners joiningus for the first time, our show
features things we love atDisney and in each episode, we
typically have a guest whocreates Disney magic for our
listeners at home or on theirDisney vacations.
From vacation planners toproduct producers, our guests
can bring Disney magic into yourlife.
(00:29):
And as a reminder to ourlisteners, please leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts or anyother platform where you listen.
That helps more people find theshow and, of course, helps us
grow and I know we've mentionedthis on another recent episode,
but you can also subscribe to usnow on YouTube, so if you
prefer to listen to your showsthrough there, you can download
them there as well.
(00:49):
And before we get started withour main show, chris, we have a
message.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
We sure do.
Our friends Eric and Alexa wantto help you have an awesome
trip to Disney World.
They are exclusive Baby Quipindependent quality providers.
What does that mean?
It means all the stuff that youneed for your little one who's
not quite walking ready atDisney.
They can help you with it andmore, but the main thing is
(01:16):
strollers, bassinets, cribs.
What else do they do, Vanessa?
Tell me, because you're a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Car seats, anything like high chairs if you're're
staying in a villa all kinds ofstuff.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yes, and actually we have folks in our subdivision
who are going to be going toDisney next week.
We've already told them aboutEric and Alexa, because it's one
less thing for them to have totake.
But the main thing is thatthere's two things they do.
Number one provide awesomecustomer service.
And number two they provide anexcellent product for you.
So, number one they provide anexcellent product for you.
(01:46):
So, number one they're going tobring it to you with a smile on
your face and what they bringyou is going to be top quality
for your baby.
So again, that is Eric andAlexa, and they are your baby.
Quip, independent qualityprovider serving Orlando.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
And I will have a link in the show notes for you
to be able to book right withthem Now, on today's show it's
going to be one of our specialepisodes and if you've listened
for a while you knowperiodically if we get a chance
to attend an event at the parkswe will try to cover it, or if
we go on a cruise or something.
So recently we did a very fastwhirlwind trip.
(02:20):
It was 48 hours.
It was quite an adventure.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It was very cool and we went to one of the Moonlight
Magic exclusive Disney VacationClub events and we talked about
one that we did at Epcot earlierthis year.
That just happened to be at thesame time.
We were on a trip, so we went.
We loved it so much we plannedthis whole trip around it.
It was at Hollywood Studiosthis time and it was on Tuesday,
(02:46):
august 27th, so just a coupleweeks ago our friends Shane and
Charlie flew in from Dallas andmet up with us and we had our
friends Nan and Morris, which wemet on our Alaskan cruise.
They joined us while we were atthe event too.
And these events are so much funif you are a DVC owner or if
you have a friend who's an owner, and have them get tickets and
(03:07):
invite you along.
Each person who is a DVC owneris able to get up to five
tickets.
And how it works is they openthe reservations just a few
weeks before the event.
So we actually planned our tripon the hope that we would get
tickets.
So how it works and I know wetalked about this a little bit
(03:27):
with the Epcot one if you have aresort reservation for the same
time as when the event istaking place.
So we had a night at theBoardwalk and a night at Grand
Floridian Villas.
You get first options to beable to book, and we had I don't
know I think we had like sixdevices open, didn't we?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
We sure did.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And there's a certain time that they open up
reservations.
You get in a queue just likeyou do for everything else at
Disney, and we did manage to getthe tickets.
So you are able to get up tofive tickets, so this time we
only used four.
Our friend Ann wasn't able tojoin us that night, but Shane
and Charlie and Chris and I went, and because it was such a
short trip, our daughter stayedhome.
(04:15):
And one of the things that thisis nice is it's no cost to DVC
members, which that wassomething when we first signed
up for the one at Epcot, Ithought we were going to have to
pay for it and it was a nice.
I guess technically they makeyou pay for it in your dues,
right, correct so.
But in theory it's not anadditional cost above anything
else that you're going toalready pay.
(04:35):
So this is great, because whathappens is they close the park
to day guests and you're able toride the rides.
You get some snack vouchers,which we're going to talk about
in a few minutes.
They will have specialcharacters out.
They also, at that evening theydid a special viewing of
Fantasmic.
(04:55):
When we were at Epcot they dida special viewing of the
fireworks there as well.
And so there's, I think, thefirst thing.
Let's talk about the characters.
I will say I like thecharacters at Epcot better than
the Hollywood Studios.
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Agreed.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Now here's an interesting fact, chris Guess
what, out of the MoonlightMagics Hollywood Studios is the
most difficult to get ticketsfor.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
That is ironic.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Do you know why?
What characters?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
are there that people love.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Unfortunately, star wars yes, so for any of our fans
out there that love star wars,this would definitely be the
night for you.
And there were characters thatI honestly didn't know for sure.
There was sabine wren, therewas chopper harris and doula.
There was the jawas.
So there was Sabine Wren.
There was Chopper Harris andDoola.
There was the Jawas.
So there was a lot of Star Warscharacters and we had friends
(05:50):
that stood in line for them.
We didn't see any of the StarWars characters.
Now we did go and see they hadsome Pixar characters, so they
had from.
Okay, I'm going to quiz you,chris.
So we saw Mike and Sully fromMonsters Inc.
Yes, do you know who the thirdcharacter was?
I have to admit I didn't knowhis name the orange guy.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
No clue.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
George Sanderson Good luck.
So we saw George Sanderson,mike Wazowski and James P
Sullivan or Sully.
They were together in PixarPlace and then we also got to
see Joy and Sadness together.
So that was fun.
And then they had Moon Girlfrom the one animated series.
I had no clue who Moon Girl was.
(06:37):
I actually had to ask ourfriend Nan who she was, and I
guess it is from the oneanimated series on Disney+, but
I guess that's kind of oneanimated series on Disney Plus.
But I guess that's kind of theneat thing, like that's an odd
character and if you like thatshow, that's kind of a neat
thing to be able to do.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Sure is.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And another thing they had is they had a dance
party which if you've been tothe Halloween parties or the
Christmas parties or just likeduring the day to Hollywood
Studios, like they have theDisney Junior Dance Party.
They had Mickey and MinniePluto and Goofy and then I heard
in a second rotation they hadDonald, daisy, chip and Dale.
(07:13):
But I cannot confirm thatbecause we only saw Mickey,
minnie Pluto and Goofy and theywere dressed in their tuxedos
and like in their Sunday well, Iguess I would say their formal
wear.
They were dressed in theirformal wear and it was fun
because they had the DJ goingand they were dancing and you
could dance with them or youcould catch like some selfies.
I thought that was fun to beable to see the characters
(07:34):
dressed up.
It was very nice, and so thatwas kind of rounded out all of
your characters.
If you go back and look atprevious years of Moonlight
Magic, it has rotated characters.
If you go back and look atprevious years of Moonlight
Magic, it has rotated.
Like one year they had likemore unique characters from
Rescue Rangers that you don'tget to see during the day and
they'll rotate other Star Warscharacters out.
(07:56):
There's been other Pixarcharacters.
So you it's kind of the luck ofthe draw you don't really know
who's going to be there untilyou go that night.
And, as I mentioned, there wasa little bit more of the Fab
Five, just in different outfits,at Epcot.
I'll put a link in the shownotes to that show as well if
you want to check that out andlearn about that.
(08:17):
Now, one thing that is niceabout Moonlight Magic is that
you get food vouchers.
So you get like these are snackvouchers, so you can use them
for the equivalent of a snack.
Then, besides these three foodvouchers, you also they have ice
cream that they give away.
So if you've ever been to theafter hours, you can get popcorn
and ice cream at these, as wellas pop and water At these.
(08:41):
They just give away the icecream.
Plus you have the.
So the ice cream bars, thefruit bars, plus you have the
snack credits.
I will say the snack creditswere a little bit of a downer at
Hollywood Studios.
What do you think, chris?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, it just it did not meet the Disney aesthetic.
In terms of just expectations,I don't expect a lot, but it
seems like for in terms of justthe price and the preparation
and everything that you do thatcomes along with it, it could
have been a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah.
So what he's talking about ismostly you had the options of,
you know, nicer ice creams orfrench fries, and there were a
few other places where if youwent to Woody's Lunchbox you
could get, like the Pop-Tartsand Tater Tots, but mostly there
was a lot of french fries, andso when we were at Epcot, our
(09:32):
friend Nan had given us a tipabout going to the stalls for
food, or that was during Flowerand Garden, so we were able to
utilize them there.
At Hollywood Studios there'sjust not as much depth of food
anyways, so I think that is whatimpacts the snacks there.
Now they had a few of the likespecialty desserts.
(09:52):
Like I got a Mickey browniesundae, I know our friends got a
Wookie cookie.
So there were some options thatwere a little bit different,
but mostly sweet stuff or friedstuff.
So if you're going for like whenwe were at Epcot, you got
lobster tail as one of thecredits I did, yeah, so keep
that in mind.
If you're going to, I've alsoheard from our friends, like if
(10:14):
you go to the Typhoon Lagoon one, or also Animal Kingdom, that
one those have less snackoptions.
The best ones are at epcot.
So it's something to keep inmind.
Now, one thing too that wementioned is that you get access
to the rides.
So we rode toy story, I think.
(10:35):
At least did we write it threetimes?
I think, yes, we did and then werode uh, at the very end of the
night our friends were good attiming stuff we went and rode
mickey's runaway railway.
Our friends, our other friendsrode tower of terror like very
short lines on the rides, evenlike the star wars rides there
weren't that?
(10:55):
I think people were in line forthe characters, not for the
rides per se.
So that was really great.
We also went and did thespecial showing of phantasmic.
They do you typically when yougo to these events.
If there's a nighttime show,they only have one special
viewing of it.
So we went and saw thephantasmic showing at 10 30 and
(11:15):
we were like row six orsomething we were.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It was when the fire comes out.
You, it was almost too hot yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So, and I didn't take our regular camera this trip, I
just had my phone and I gotgreat pictures, even though you
can't zoom in a lot on a phonebecause we were so close.
So that was super cool.
Now there was something thatwas a little special, that was
happening at this time, and whatdid we get to do?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
special at this event was happening at this time and
what did we get to do special atthis event?
We had the chance to beinterviewed by a production
company for a DVC commercial.
We don't know if we'll make itor where it'll be shown, but I
know, can tell you this Vanessadid an awesome job.
She hit all the main points.
What was neat is that theproducers had roughly three
questions for everybody that Icould tell that were just
(12:01):
pre-written, but then they askedus at least two additional
questions.
We did some B-roll.
Vanessa did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, so we'll see where that goes.
I know they were filming forseveral days over at some of the
resorts as well as at thisevent, so it could be just in a
promo.
It could be just on socialmedia, we'll see.
So it could be just in a promo.
It could be just on socialmedia, we'll see.
So it would be exciting to see.
That, I think, was probably asuper cool highlight from the
evening for the night, and sothat was something neat to be
(12:31):
able to experience and it justso happened it was when we were
there.
They had sent out an email andwe got a chance to find them in
the park, so that was super cool.
Now, one of the things that Ithink is nice with these is that
they offer them throughout theyear.
They just added, I think, threeadditional dates for animal
kingdom this year and theyreleased the 2025 ones actually
(12:56):
earlier this week.
So if you are planning a trip,I will say you are gambling if
you just plan a trip around this, like we did, because you have
to hopefully get those tickets.
But from what I've read, peoplewho have the reservations at a
hotel where you get that earlyregistration have much higher
(13:18):
odds than the general admissiontickets.
Now, one thing that is alsonice.
There's a couple of tips thatI'd like to talk about.
Number one making sure that yougo inside the park to get your
band.
So we all had annual passes,all of us in our group so
instead of waiting outside thepark in the long line, we were
(13:40):
able to go inside the park andget our wristbands and our
vouchers, because they have adistribution site inside.
If we had a couple of gueststhat didn't have tickets, they'd
be able to come to the eventwith us, but you'd have to wait
until they let you in, and sothere was quite a long line
outside the park gates.
So that's something to keep inmind.
And then, also, you also wantto be mindful of the fact that
(14:06):
you want to use your foodvouchers early.
The later it got in the evening, when more places were closed,
there were a lot less optionsand you had longer waits for the
different stalls that you mightgo to to get food.
So that's something to remember.
So, chris, I have a couple ofquestions I'm going to ask both
of us.
So the first one is what wasyour best overall memory from
(14:27):
the night?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I think, number one being with our friends Shane and
Charlie.
It was just a great night toenjoy with them.
And again, Nana Morris, we knowthem well from the Disney
cruise, but in terms of Shaneand Charlie, we're just
simpatico.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
The the four of us travel well you know we all like
the same rides, the same food.
It was just really fun kind ofexperiencing the night with them
.
Now I would say ditto to that,just seeing our friends and
hanging out with them at ourfavorite place for all of us.
And I will say it was supercool to be able to record, be a
part of that recording.
Who knows where it will go, butI I think that will be a top
Disney memory for sure.
Now here's your next question,now that we've done two of them
(15:09):
would you do Epcot or HollywoodStudios?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Epcot.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, me too.
I would do Epcot.
And, as I mentioned earlier,I've read on quite a few things
that Hollywood Studios is theharder one to get.
Earlier I've read on quite afew things that Hollywood
Studios is the harder one to get.
I do want to try Animal Kingdombecause I'm interested to see
what characters they might bringout at Animal Kingdom, as well
as the fact that I'd be curiousto see what they have open in
the evening.
I haven't looked to see.
(15:35):
Should have asked our friendswho've been to the other ones,
but I would like to try anAnimal Kingdom one at some point
.
They do not do these at MagicKingdom.
They do them at Epcot,hollywood Studios, animal
Kingdom, as well as TyphoonLagoon.
Our friends did say Nan hadwent to one of those.
She said that one, though as itgets later gets a little
(15:55):
chillier and you might not wantto be in the water as much.
She said they did a lot ofeating at that one.
But that's something to keep inmind.
And here's another questionChris, would you go to a
Moonlight Magic event again?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Even if it was Hollywood Studios.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, I mean I will say this From the characters, I
would give it an F minus.
I mean, I'm not a big MonstersU person, nor Inside Out,
definitely not Star Wars.
I mean the names, I didn't evenknow who they were, I don't
care.
But as part of it I think it'sjust.
What's nice is that it's atnight, which is helpful with the
(16:33):
Florida weather, because we'refrom Michigan.
It was hot, we're cold weatherpeople.
And then I think the main thingis just being able to ride.
I mean, some of the rides hadlike 45 minute wait signs, but
when I timed it it was less than25 and I'll take that all day.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, and same thing for me.
As I mentioned, I would like totry an Animal Kingdom one, just
because we've not been to that.
But, hands down, if I had achance to go to Epcot I would
definitely do it again.
Hollywood Studios would be a.
I mean, I think probably myfavorite thing about just the
evening was being so close forFantasmic.
That was super cool and I thinkour daughter would love that
(17:10):
even more than we enjoyed it,because we were so close to the
characters.
So that, I think, was thehighlight of the night in terms
of just attractions.
So, overall, I mean I givekudos to the DVC team because
these are really great eventsand, like I said, even if you
don't own DVC, just ask a DVCfriend to get you in for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Now that kind of wraps up our experience there.
We had, as we mentioned, a veryquick whirlwind trip.
We flew into our favoriteairport, sanford, on our
favorite airline, allegiant.
And no, they're not paying usto say that.
We just really like going intoSanford, it's so easy made our
trip easy, especially for such ashort amount of time.
(17:54):
It takes a lot of time andeffort to get in and out of MCO
and Sanford's just so mucheasier, even though you're a
little bit further drive.
We always get a great deal on acar rental so it's super easy
to get around.
We were able to get in and dosome the late night hours for
the deluxe guests.
(18:15):
On Monday night when we arrivedwe went to Disney Springs.
We saw the drone show had.
Tuesday we spent some time atEpcot.
We're able to get a little bitof rest before we went to the
event Tuesday night.
Then Wednesday we did acharacter meal, hit up Magic
Kingdom for a few hours and thenwe were on our way.
But would you do a 48, likewould you do a very quick trip
(18:38):
for one of these again?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I prefer this.
I just my critique with Vanessaand vacations that things are
usually one day too long, and Ithink the nice thing about this
is that when you're going for anexperience, you can be at
Disney during the day for threedays and really not experience
what we did in an afternoon foran evening.
So as part of that, you get tosee more.
You get to do more.
It's also at night which Iprefer, and I love Disney, but I
(19:03):
love coming home as well.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's true, and I think when you've been enough
times, you don't have to go fora week at a time.
It's nice to go for theseshorter bits and be able to
experience some of these extraevents and things like that, and
I would do the same thing for aHalloween party, for one of the
Christmas parties just have aquick getaway.
Now I will say it's differentwhen you have an annual pass
(19:26):
versus not having an annual pass, and I think we're going to be
at a point where, because we'regoing to Disneyland, we might
not renew our passes for a while.
But that's something that youalso want to keep in mind too,
because ticket costs could havean impact on those decisions as
well.
So, overall, great experience.
I will link to our Epcot one aswell, so you can check that out
(19:48):
, and that kind of wraps upeverything about the Moonlight
Magic.
Hopefully we'll be able to goto another one and report out to
you as well, but before we moveon to, we have our two-minute
trivia and we are going to doour trivia and our Wisdom from
Walt quote and we will haveChris up with trivia.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So we talked about characters and it's actually
kind of hard to pin down likerare characters because some are
not really retired per se,they're just not out.
But who is the oldestcontinuing Disney character
having In the parks In general?
I didn't say in the parks whois the oldest continuing Disney
(20:32):
character having first debutedin 1925?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Clarabelle.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Wrong.
One more guess.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I have no clue, pete.
Oh, that's why I couldn'tremember his name, okay, yeah, I
couldn't remember his name,okay.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah.
So initially he bore theappearance of an anthropomorphic
bear, but with the advent ofMickey in 1928, three years
later, he was defined as a cat.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Wow, I didn't realize that.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And that's according to the internet.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wow, that's very interesting.
I didn't know that at all.
Well, and before we wrap upwith our wisdom from Walt, quote
Chris, we have another messagefor our listeners we sure do.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Our friends Kevin and Amanda with when in the Park,
make scavenger hunt game packs.
They're fun and challenging foranybody who thinks they know
the park like the back of theirhand and for complete newbies
hoping to get a betterappreciation for all the detail
that Disney puts into creatingan immersive experience for
everyone.
The great thing is they're goodfor all ages, so you could have
somebody who is the younger onein the park as well as somebody
(21:48):
who's a more senior,experienced person.
So with that, not only do theyhave Disney parks on both coasts
, they also carry packs forUniversal Parks and we'll have
more coming soon for includingDollywood and King's Dominion.
Use the code DISLOVE10,d-i-s-l-o-v-e 1-0 through the
link in the show notes to save10% off your next order and to
have a challenge the next timeyou visit Disney World.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And we did do one of the Epcot packs when we were
down there and it was so muchfun and actually, chris, I think
, now that I think about it, wehave a pack.
Maybe we'll do a giveawayshortly, because we had a lot of
fun doing our pack.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
That would be awesome .
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, so thank you so much again for joining us today
.
Let's close out with our quotefrom Walt Disney, and in honor
of all the fun and excitementthat we always get when we go to
these special events likeMoonlight Magic, I thought this
was a great quote.
It's no secret that we weresticking just about every nickel
we had on the chance thatpeople would really be
(22:46):
interested in something totallynew and unique in the field of
entertainment, and isn't thatreally what gets us all going
back?
What gets us all going back?
We love all the special events,the new rides, the attractions,
anything that's different andnew, as well as, of course, we
hold on to those nostalgicthings that we remember from our
past visits as well.
So don't forget to check us outon our socials on YouTube, as I
(23:10):
mentioned on our website andfollow us on social media for
even more Disney magic.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this episode of the
Dislove Podcast with Vanessa andChris.
I'm Vanessa.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I'm Chris.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney
Company or its holdings, and itis intended for entertainment
purposes only.
Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and
Chris.
I'm Vanessa Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
And I'm Chris Johns.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
We would like to welcome you to show number 144.
And for any listeners joiningus for the first time, our show
features things we love atDisney and in each episode, we
typically have a guest whocreates Disney magic for our
listeners at home or on theirDisney vacations.
From vacation planners toproduct producers, our guests
can bring Disney magic into yourlife.
(00:29):
And as a reminder to ourlisteners, please leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts or anyother platform where you listen.
That helps more people find theshow and, of course, helps us
grow and I know we've mentionedthis on another recent episode,
but you can also subscribe to usnow on YouTube, so if you
prefer to listen to your showsthrough there, you can download
them there as well.
(00:49):
And before we get started withour main show, chris, we have a
message.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
We sure do.
Our friends Eric and Alexa wantto help you have an awesome
trip to Disney World.
They are exclusive Baby Quipindependent quality providers.
What does that mean?
It means all the stuff that youneed for your little one who's
not quite walking ready atDisney.
They can help you with it andmore, but the main thing is
(01:16):
strollers, bassinets, cribs.
What else do they do, Vanessa?
Tell me, because you're a mom.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Car seats, anything like high chairs if you're're
staying in a villa all kinds ofstuff.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yes, and actually we have folks in our subdivision
who are going to be going toDisney next week.
We've already told them aboutEric and Alexa, because it's one
less thing for them to have totake.
But the main thing is thatthere's two things they do.
Number one provide awesomecustomer service.
And number two they provide anexcellent product for you.
So, number one they provide anexcellent product for you.
(01:46):
So, number one they're going tobring it to you with a smile on
your face and what they bringyou is going to be top quality
for your baby.
So again, that is Eric andAlexa, and they are your baby.
Quip, independent qualityprovider serving Orlando.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
And I will have a link in the show notes for you
to be able to book right withthem Now, on today's show it's
going to be one of our specialepisodes and if you've listened
for a while you knowperiodically if we get a chance
to attend an event at the parkswe will try to cover it, or if
we go on a cruise or something.
So recently we did a very fastwhirlwind trip.
(02:20):
It was 48 hours.
It was quite an adventure.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
It was awesome.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
It was very cool and we went to one of the Moonlight
Magic exclusive Disney VacationClub events and we talked about
one that we did at Epcot earlierthis year.
That just happened to be at thesame time.
We were on a trip, so we went.
We loved it so much we plannedthis whole trip around it.
It was at Hollywood Studiosthis time and it was on Tuesday,
(02:46):
august 27th, so just a coupleweeks ago our friends Shane and
Charlie flew in from Dallas andmet up with us and we had our
friends Nan and Morris, which wemet on our Alaskan cruise.
They joined us while we were atthe event too.
And these events are so much funif you are a DVC owner or if
you have a friend who's an owner, and have them get tickets and
(03:07):
invite you along.
Each person who is a DVC owneris able to get up to five
tickets.
And how it works is they openthe reservations just a few
weeks before the event.
So we actually planned our tripon the hope that we would get
tickets.
So how it works and I know wetalked about this a little bit
(03:27):
with the Epcot one if you have aresort reservation for the same
time as when the event istaking place.
So we had a night at theBoardwalk and a night at Grand
Floridian Villas.
You get first options to beable to book, and we had I don't
know I think we had like sixdevices open, didn't we?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
We sure did.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And there's a certain time that they open up
reservations.
You get in a queue just likeyou do for everything else at
Disney, and we did manage to getthe tickets.
So you are able to get up tofive tickets, so this time we
only used four.
Our friend Ann wasn't able tojoin us that night, but Shane
and Charlie and Chris and I went, and because it was such a
short trip, our daughter stayedhome.
(04:15):
And one of the things that thisis nice is it's no cost to DVC
members, which that wassomething when we first signed
up for the one at Epcot, Ithought we were going to have to
pay for it and it was a nice.
I guess technically they makeyou pay for it in your dues,
right, correct so.
But in theory it's not anadditional cost above anything
else that you're going toalready pay.
(04:35):
So this is great, because whathappens is they close the park
to day guests and you're able toride the rides.
You get some snack vouchers,which we're going to talk about
in a few minutes.
They will have specialcharacters out.
They also, at that evening theydid a special viewing of
Fantasmic.
(04:55):
When we were at Epcot they dida special viewing of the
fireworks there as well.
And so there's, I think, thefirst thing.
Let's talk about the characters.
I will say I like thecharacters at Epcot better than
the Hollywood Studios.
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Agreed.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Now here's an interesting fact, chris Guess
what, out of the MoonlightMagics Hollywood Studios is the
most difficult to get ticketsfor.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
That is ironic.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Do you know why?
What characters?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
are there that people love.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Unfortunately, star wars yes, so for any of our fans
out there that love star wars,this would definitely be the
night for you.
And there were characters thatI honestly didn't know for sure.
There was sabine wren, therewas chopper harris and doula.
There was the jawas.
So there was Sabine Wren.
There was Chopper Harris andDoola.
There was the Jawas.
So there was a lot of Star Warscharacters and we had friends
(05:50):
that stood in line for them.
We didn't see any of the StarWars characters.
Now we did go and see they hadsome Pixar characters, so they
had from.
Okay, I'm going to quiz you,chris.
So we saw Mike and Sully fromMonsters Inc.
Yes, do you know who the thirdcharacter was?
I have to admit I didn't knowhis name the orange guy.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
No clue.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
George Sanderson Good luck.
So we saw George Sanderson,mike Wazowski and James P
Sullivan or Sully.
They were together in PixarPlace and then we also got to
see Joy and Sadness together.
So that was fun.
And then they had Moon Girlfrom the one animated series.
I had no clue who Moon Girl was.
(06:37):
I actually had to ask ourfriend Nan who she was, and I
guess it is from the oneanimated series on Disney+, but
I guess that's kind of oneanimated series on Disney Plus.
But I guess that's kind of theneat thing, like that's an odd
character and if you like thatshow, that's kind of a neat
thing to be able to do.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Sure is.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
And another thing they had is they had a dance
party which if you've been tothe Halloween parties or the
Christmas parties or just likeduring the day to Hollywood
Studios, like they have theDisney Junior Dance Party.
They had Mickey and MinniePluto and Goofy and then I heard
in a second rotation they hadDonald, daisy, chip and Dale.
(07:13):
But I cannot confirm thatbecause we only saw Mickey,
minnie Pluto and Goofy and theywere dressed in their tuxedos
and like in their Sunday well, Iguess I would say their formal
wear.
They were dressed in theirformal wear and it was fun
because they had the DJ goingand they were dancing and you
could dance with them or youcould catch like some selfies.
I thought that was fun to beable to see the characters
(07:34):
dressed up.
It was very nice, and so thatwas kind of rounded out all of
your characters.
If you go back and look atprevious years of Moonlight
Magic, it has rotated characters.
If you go back and look atprevious years of Moonlight
Magic, it has rotated.
Like one year they had likemore unique characters from
Rescue Rangers that you don'tget to see during the day and
they'll rotate other Star Warscharacters out.
(07:56):
There's been other Pixarcharacters.
So you it's kind of the luck ofthe draw you don't really know
who's going to be there untilyou go that night.
And, as I mentioned, there wasa little bit more of the Fab
Five, just in different outfits,at Epcot.
I'll put a link in the shownotes to that show as well if
you want to check that out andlearn about that.
(08:17):
Now, one thing that is niceabout Moonlight Magic is that
you get food vouchers.
So you get like these are snackvouchers, so you can use them
for the equivalent of a snack.
Then, besides these three foodvouchers, you also they have ice
cream that they give away.
So if you've ever been to theafter hours, you can get popcorn
and ice cream at these, as wellas pop and water At these.
(08:41):
They just give away the icecream.
Plus you have the.
So the ice cream bars, thefruit bars, plus you have the
snack credits.
I will say the snack creditswere a little bit of a downer at
Hollywood Studios.
What do you think, chris?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, it just it did not meet the Disney aesthetic.
In terms of just expectations,I don't expect a lot, but it
seems like for in terms of justthe price and the preparation
and everything that you do thatcomes along with it, it could
have been a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah.
So what he's talking about ismostly you had the options of,
you know, nicer ice creams orfrench fries, and there were a
few other places where if youwent to Woody's Lunchbox you
could get, like the Pop-Tartsand Tater Tots, but mostly there
was a lot of french fries, andso when we were at Epcot, our
(09:32):
friend Nan had given us a tipabout going to the stalls for
food, or that was during Flowerand Garden, so we were able to
utilize them there.
At Hollywood Studios there'sjust not as much depth of food
anyways, so I think that is whatimpacts the snacks there.
Now they had a few of the likespecialty desserts.
(09:52):
Like I got a Mickey browniesundae, I know our friends got a
Wookie cookie.
So there were some options thatwere a little bit different,
but mostly sweet stuff or friedstuff.
So if you're going for like whenwe were at Epcot, you got
lobster tail as one of thecredits I did, yeah, so keep
that in mind.
If you're going to, I've alsoheard from our friends, like if
(10:14):
you go to the Typhoon Lagoon one, or also Animal Kingdom, that
one those have less snackoptions.
The best ones are at epcot.
So it's something to keep inmind.
Now, one thing too that wementioned is that you get access
to the rides.
So we rode toy story, I think.
(10:35):
At least did we write it threetimes?
I think, yes, we did and then werode uh, at the very end of the
night our friends were good attiming stuff we went and rode
mickey's runaway railway.
Our friends, our other friendsrode tower of terror like very
short lines on the rides, evenlike the star wars rides there
weren't that?
(10:55):
I think people were in line forthe characters, not for the
rides per se.
So that was really great.
We also went and did thespecial showing of phantasmic.
They do you typically when yougo to these events.
If there's a nighttime show,they only have one special
viewing of it.
So we went and saw thephantasmic showing at 10 30 and
(11:15):
we were like row six orsomething we were.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
It was when the fire comes out.
You, it was almost too hot yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
So, and I didn't take our regular camera this trip, I
just had my phone and I gotgreat pictures, even though you
can't zoom in a lot on a phonebecause we were so close.
So that was super cool.
Now there was something thatwas a little special, that was
happening at this time, and whatdid we get to do?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
special at this event was happening at this time and
what did we get to do special atthis event?
We had the chance to beinterviewed by a production
company for a DVC commercial.
We don't know if we'll make itor where it'll be shown, but I
know, can tell you this Vanessadid an awesome job.
She hit all the main points.
What was neat is that theproducers had roughly three
questions for everybody that Icould tell that were just
(12:01):
pre-written, but then they askedus at least two additional
questions.
We did some B-roll.
Vanessa did a phenomenal job.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yeah, so we'll see where that goes.
I know they were filming forseveral days over at some of the
resorts as well as at thisevent, so it could be just in a
promo.
It could be just on socialmedia, we'll see.
So it could be just in a promo.
It could be just on socialmedia, we'll see.
So it would be exciting to see.
That, I think, was probably asuper cool highlight from the
evening for the night, and sothat was something neat to be
(12:31):
able to experience and it justso happened it was when we were
there.
They had sent out an email andwe got a chance to find them in
the park, so that was super cool.
Now, one of the things that Ithink is nice with these is that
they offer them throughout theyear.
They just added, I think, threeadditional dates for animal
kingdom this year and theyreleased the 2025 ones actually
(12:56):
earlier this week.
So if you are planning a trip,I will say you are gambling if
you just plan a trip around this, like we did, because you have
to hopefully get those tickets.
But from what I've read, peoplewho have the reservations at a
hotel where you get that earlyregistration have much higher
(13:18):
odds than the general admissiontickets.
Now, one thing that is alsonice.
There's a couple of tips thatI'd like to talk about.
Number one making sure that yougo inside the park to get your
band.
So we all had annual passes,all of us in our group so
instead of waiting outside thepark in the long line, we were
(13:40):
able to go inside the park andget our wristbands and our
vouchers, because they have adistribution site inside.
If we had a couple of gueststhat didn't have tickets, they'd
be able to come to the eventwith us, but you'd have to wait
until they let you in, and sothere was quite a long line
outside the park gates.
So that's something to keep inmind.
And then, also, you also wantto be mindful of the fact that
(14:06):
you want to use your foodvouchers early.
The later it got in the evening, when more places were closed,
there were a lot less optionsand you had longer waits for the
different stalls that you mightgo to to get food.
So that's something to remember.
So, chris, I have a couple ofquestions I'm going to ask both
of us.
So the first one is what wasyour best overall memory from
(14:27):
the night?
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I think, number one being with our friends Shane and
Charlie.
It was just a great night toenjoy with them.
And again, Nana Morris, we knowthem well from the Disney
cruise, but in terms of Shaneand Charlie, we're just
simpatico.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
The the four of us travel well you know we all like
the same rides, the same food.
It was just really fun kind ofexperiencing the night with them
.
Now I would say ditto to that,just seeing our friends and
hanging out with them at ourfavorite place for all of us.
And I will say it was supercool to be able to record, be a
part of that recording.
Who knows where it will go, butI I think that will be a top
Disney memory for sure.
Now here's your next question,now that we've done two of them
(15:09):
would you do Epcot or HollywoodStudios?
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Epcot.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, me too.
I would do Epcot.
And, as I mentioned earlier,I've read on quite a few things
that Hollywood Studios is theharder one to get.
Earlier I've read on quite afew things that Hollywood
Studios is the harder one to get.
I do want to try Animal Kingdombecause I'm interested to see
what characters they might bringout at Animal Kingdom, as well
as the fact that I'd be curiousto see what they have open in
the evening.
I haven't looked to see.
(15:35):
Should have asked our friendswho've been to the other ones,
but I would like to try anAnimal Kingdom one at some point
.
They do not do these at MagicKingdom.
They do them at Epcot,hollywood Studios, animal
Kingdom, as well as TyphoonLagoon.
Our friends did say Nan hadwent to one of those.
She said that one, though as itgets later gets a little
(15:55):
chillier and you might not wantto be in the water as much.
She said they did a lot ofeating at that one.
But that's something to keep inmind.
And here's another questionChris, would you go to a
Moonlight Magic event again?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Of course.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Even if it was Hollywood Studios.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yes, I mean I will say this From the characters, I
would give it an F minus.
I mean, I'm not a big MonstersU person, nor Inside Out,
definitely not Star Wars.
I mean the names, I didn't evenknow who they were, I don't
care.
But as part of it I think it'sjust.
What's nice is that it's atnight, which is helpful with the
(16:33):
Florida weather, because we'refrom Michigan.
It was hot, we're cold weatherpeople.
And then I think the main thingis just being able to ride.
I mean, some of the rides hadlike 45 minute wait signs, but
when I timed it it was less than25 and I'll take that all day.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah, and same thing for me.
As I mentioned, I would like totry an Animal Kingdom one, just
because we've not been to that.
But, hands down, if I had achance to go to Epcot I would
definitely do it again.
Hollywood Studios would be a.
I mean, I think probably myfavorite thing about just the
evening was being so close forFantasmic.
That was super cool and I thinkour daughter would love that
(17:10):
even more than we enjoyed it,because we were so close to the
characters.
So that, I think, was thehighlight of the night in terms
of just attractions.
So, overall, I mean I givekudos to the DVC team because
these are really great eventsand, like I said, even if you
don't own DVC, just ask a DVCfriend to get you in for sure.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Now that kind of wraps up our experience there.
We had, as we mentioned, a veryquick whirlwind trip.
We flew into our favoriteairport, sanford, on our
favorite airline, allegiant.
And no, they're not paying usto say that.
We just really like going intoSanford, it's so easy made our
trip easy, especially for such ashort amount of time.
(17:54):
It takes a lot of time andeffort to get in and out of MCO
and Sanford's just so mucheasier, even though you're a
little bit further drive.
We always get a great deal on acar rental so it's super easy
to get around.
We were able to get in and dosome the late night hours for
the deluxe guests.
(18:15):
On Monday night when we arrivedwe went to Disney Springs.
We saw the drone show had.
Tuesday we spent some time atEpcot.
We're able to get a little bitof rest before we went to the
event Tuesday night.
Then Wednesday we did acharacter meal, hit up Magic
Kingdom for a few hours and thenwe were on our way.
But would you do a 48, likewould you do a very quick trip
(18:38):
for one of these again?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I prefer this.
I just my critique with Vanessaand vacations that things are
usually one day too long, and Ithink the nice thing about this
is that when you're going for anexperience, you can be at
Disney during the day for threedays and really not experience
what we did in an afternoon foran evening.
So as part of that, you get tosee more.
You get to do more.
It's also at night which Iprefer, and I love Disney, but I
(19:03):
love coming home as well.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
That's true, and I think when you've been enough
times, you don't have to go fora week at a time.
It's nice to go for theseshorter bits and be able to
experience some of these extraevents and things like that, and
I would do the same thing for aHalloween party, for one of the
Christmas parties just have aquick getaway.
Now I will say it's differentwhen you have an annual pass
(19:26):
versus not having an annual pass, and I think we're going to be
at a point where, because we'regoing to Disneyland, we might
not renew our passes for a while.
But that's something that youalso want to keep in mind too,
because ticket costs could havean impact on those decisions as
well.
So, overall, great experience.
I will link to our Epcot one aswell, so you can check that out
(19:48):
, and that kind of wraps upeverything about the Moonlight
Magic.
Hopefully we'll be able to goto another one and report out to
you as well, but before we moveon to, we have our two-minute
trivia and we are going to doour trivia and our Wisdom from
Walt quote and we will haveChris up with trivia.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
So we talked about characters and it's actually
kind of hard to pin down likerare characters because some are
not really retired per se,they're just not out.
But who is the oldestcontinuing Disney character
having In the parks In general?
I didn't say in the parks whois the oldest continuing Disney
(20:32):
character having first debutedin 1925?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Clarabelle.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Wrong.
One more guess.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I have no clue, pete.
Oh, that's why I couldn'tremember his name, okay, yeah, I
couldn't remember his name,okay.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Yeah.
So initially he bore theappearance of an anthropomorphic
bear, but with the advent ofMickey in 1928, three years
later, he was defined as a cat.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Wow, I didn't realize that.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
And that's according to the internet.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wow, that's very interesting.
I didn't know that at all.
Well, and before we wrap upwith our wisdom from Walt, quote
Chris, we have another messagefor our listeners we sure do.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Our friends Kevin and Amanda with when in the Park,
make scavenger hunt game packs.
They're fun and challenging foranybody who thinks they know
the park like the back of theirhand and for complete newbies
hoping to get a betterappreciation for all the detail
that Disney puts into creatingan immersive experience for
everyone.
The great thing is they're goodfor all ages, so you could have
somebody who is the younger onein the park as well as somebody
(21:48):
who's a more senior,experienced person.
So with that, not only do theyhave Disney parks on both coasts
, they also carry packs forUniversal Parks and we'll have
more coming soon for includingDollywood and King's Dominion.
Use the code DISLOVE10,d-i-s-l-o-v-e 1-0 through the
link in the show notes to save10% off your next order and to
have a challenge the next timeyou visit Disney World.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And we did do one of the Epcot packs when we were
down there and it was so muchfun and actually, chris, I think
, now that I think about it, wehave a pack.
Maybe we'll do a giveawayshortly, because we had a lot of
fun doing our pack.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
That would be awesome .
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, so thank you so much again for joining us today
.
Let's close out with our quotefrom Walt Disney, and in honor
of all the fun and excitementthat we always get when we go to
these special events likeMoonlight Magic, I thought this
was a great quote.
It's no secret that we weresticking just about every nickel
we had on the chance thatpeople would really be
(22:46):
interested in something totallynew and unique in the field of
entertainment, and isn't thatreally what gets us all going
back?
What gets us all going back?
We love all the special events,the new rides, the attractions,
anything that's different andnew, as well as, of course, we
hold on to those nostalgicthings that we remember from our
past visits as well.
So don't forget to check us outon our socials on YouTube, as I
(23:10):
mentioned on our website andfollow us on social media for
even more Disney magic.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this episode of the
Dislove Podcast with Vanessa andChris.
I'm Vanessa.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I'm Chris.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney
Company or its holdings, and itis intended for entertainment
purposes only.
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