Moonlight Magic is returning to Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort in 2026, with dates at EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Hurricane Lagoon, and California Journey! Throughout these free after hours events, DVC members can expertise an evening of enjoyable: low crowds, rides with low wait occasions, uncommon character sightings, unique leisure, and free meals!
We can not wait. Moonlight Magic is one in every of our favourite occasions of the 12 months, and it’s free (with the large asterisk of getting to spend tens of hundreds of {dollars} on a Disney Trip Membership contract, plus a whole lot to hundreds extra {dollars} in annual dues–minor element). We’ve executed Moonlight Magic just about yearly for the final decade. We’ve attended Moonlight Magic at each Walt Disney World park besides Blizzard Seaside (I don’t assume they’ve ever executed the occasion there…however I could possibly be incorrect) and often have a blast. Extra on that within the commentary.
Throughout a Moonlight Magic occasion, eligible Disney Trip Membership Members can go to a choose theme park at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort for a particular celebration after the park has closed to the general public! Get pleasure from a night of enchantment, leisure and a lot extra because the park turns into your playground.
Highlights for DVC’s privileged partiers embody:
- Shorter-than-usual wait occasions for fashionable park points of interest
- Disney Characters greetings
- Distinctive leisure
- Complimentary particular treats and delectable delights
Now we’ll flip to registration & occasion dates for the following year-plus. Let’s begin with the bonus 2025 Moonlight Magic dates at Walt Disney World…
2025 Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic Dates
- October 29, 2025
- November 18, 2025
- December 15, 2025
Early registration opens on October 2, 2025 – The early registration window for the October 29, 2025, November 18, 2025 and December 15, 2025 occasions is open to eligible Members with qualifying Resort reservations. See the “Know Earlier than You Register” part for extra info.
All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on September 28, 2025. Modifications to your Resort reservation celebration measurement after September 28, 2025, won’t enhance your celebration measurement for the occasion.
Common Registration opens on October 9, 2025 – The overall registration window for the October 29, 2025, November 18, 2025 and December 15, 2025 occasions is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
Listed here are the occasion dates for the 2026 Moonlight Magic events at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort…
2026 Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic Dates
Early registration opens on December 16, 2025 – The early registration window for the January 20, 2026 occasion is open to eligible Members with qualifying Resort reservations. See the “Know Earlier than You Register” part for extra info. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on December 10, 2025. Modifications to your Resort reservation celebration measurement after December 10, 2025 won’t enhance your celebration measurement for the occasion.
Common Registration opens on December 19, 2025 – The overall registration window for the January 20, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
2026 EPCOT Moonlight Magic Dates
- February 12, 2026
- September 10, 2026
February occasion early registration opens on December 16, 2025 – The early registration window for the February 12, 2026 occasion is open to eligible Members with qualifying Resort reservations. See the “Know Earlier than You Register” part for extra info. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on December 10, 2025. Modifications to your Resort reservation celebration measurement after December 10, 2025, won’t enhance your celebration measurement for the occasion.
February occasion common registration opens on December 19, 2025 – The overall registration window for the February 12, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
September occasion early registration opens on June 4, 2026 – The early registration window for the September 10, 2026 occasion is open to eligible Members with qualifying Resort reservations. See the “Know Earlier than You Register” part for extra info. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on Might 31, 2026. Modifications to your Resort reservation celebration measurement after Might 31, 2026, won’t enhance your celebration measurement for the occasion.
September common registration opens on June 11, 2026 – The overall registration window for the September 10, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
2026 Disney’s Hollywood Studios Moonlight Magic Dates
- April 22, 2026
- July 20, 2026
For the April 22, 2026 Disney’s Hollywood Studios occasion, early registration opens on February 26, 2026. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on February 22, 2026.
Common Registration opens on March 5, 2026. The overall registration window for the April 22, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability) beginning March 5, 2026.
For the July 20, 2026 Disney’s Hollywood Studios occasion, early registration opens on June 4, 2026. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on Might 31, 2026.
Common Registration opens on June 11, 2026. The overall registration window for the July 20, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability) beginning June 11, 2026.
2026 Hurricane Lagoon Moonlight Magic Dates
- June 25, 2026
- August 4, 2026
- August 20, 2026
For the June 25, 2026 Disney’s Hurricane Lagoon occasion, early registration opens on February 26, 2026. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on February 22, 2026.
Common Registration opens on March 5, 2026. The overall registration window for the June 25, 2026 occasion is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
For the August 4, 2026 and August 20, 2026 Disney’s Hurricane Lagoon occasions, early registration opens on June 4, 2026. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on Might 31, 2026.
Common Registration opens on June 11, 2026. The overall registration window for the August 4, 2026 and August 20, 2026 occasions is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
2026 Disney California Journey Moonlight Magic Date
For the February 23, 2026 Disney California Journey occasion, early registration opens on December 16, 2025. All Resort reservations and modifications—together with altering your celebration measurement—have to be accomplished by 11:59 PM Jap Time on December 10, 2025.
Common Registration opens on December 19, 2025. The overall registration window for the February 23, 2026 occasion at DCA is open to all eligible Members (restricted availability).
Just one occasion date for every taking part park might be out there per Disney Trip Membership Membership, per calendar 12 months. Which means that, in principle, you possibly can do each the December 13 and February 27 Moonlight Magic events at Animal Kingdom since one is that this 12 months and the following is in 2024.
2026 Moonlight Magic Guidelines
One Occasion Per Season – With a view to enable as many Members as attainable to get pleasure from Moonlight Magic, Members are eligible to register for one occasion date throughout every occasion season no matter whether or not your registered occasion date was confirmed throughout early registration or throughout normal registration.
2026 Occasion Seasons:
- Winter: January – March
- Spring: April – June
- Summer time: July – September
Moonlight Magic Eligibility – To be eligible for Moonlight Magic, you have to be a “blue card” Disney Trip Membership member, that means that you simply bought instantly from Disney or purchased earlier than the resale restrictions had been applied again in April 2016. When you’ve got a member card, you’re good. This additionally signifies that anybody renting Disney Trip Membership factors just isn’t eligible for Moonlight Magic. Not like different on-site perks, Moonlight Magic relies on the membership and never the keep.
Early Reserving Eligibility – To qualify for the early reserving window, the resort reservation have to be booked within the state the place the Moonlight Magic occasion is happening. Eligible resorts booked utilizing your Membership embody each on-site lodge with “Disney” in its title, and never simply the DVC resorts. Which means, for instance, that All Star Sports activities, Pixar Place Resort, Vero Seaside Resort…and every part in between is eligible!
Get together Dimension Limits – A Member can register themselves and as much as 4 extra company per Membership (for a complete of 5) —or as much as the variety of Company on their Resort reservation. Youngsters youthful than 3 years of age don’t have to be registered for this occasion.
Modifications and Cancellations – This occasion can’t be booked or modified by Member Companies. If a Member needs to vary their celebration measurement or the date that they’re attending Moonlight Magic, they could modify their occasion registration by the hyperlink discovered of their affirmation electronic mail.
Please Notice:
- In the event you cancel your Resort reservation which was used to entry early registration, your occasion registration might be cancelled mechanically. This doesn’t apply to Resort waitlists. A Resort waitlist match, cancel and rebook, doesn’t have an effect on the Moonlight Magic occasion registration.
- Cancelling and rebooking an occasion registration will increase the chance of dropping one’s registration.
- Modifications or cancellations of an occasion registration can’t be made the identical day as reserving.
- Members are requested to cancel at the least 48 hours prematurely.
Different Vital Data
- Complimentary admission to the after-hours occasion is legitimate during the occasion. In the event you want to enter a park earlier than the occasion, legitimate theme park admission and reservation are required.
- This supply is complimentary, nontransferable and can’t be bought. It’s topic to availability, change or termination with out discover.
- Attendees beneath 18 years of age have to be accompanied by a taking part father or mother or guardian.
- It is a rain-or-shine occasion; some experiences could also be cancelled because of inclement climate.
- Lightning Lanes should not out there to be used throughout Moonlight Magic Occasions.
- Resort reservations have to be made by the individual listed because the “proprietor” on the Membership.
Occasion registration is required to attend the 2026 Moonlight Magic occasions. Register on-line when your registration window opens. Registration durations for company with and with out resort reservations will range, as will the window for numerous parks.
The entire under data is boilerplate based mostly on how issues labored this 12 months. One factor we’d be aware is that registration could be very aggressive, so that you need to be on-line and able to be a part of the digital queue ASAP when your window opens. Even then, you danger being shut out!
Register for Moonlight Magic:
- Go to this web page and choose “RSVP On-line”. Remember to have your Member quantity prepared.
- You’ll enter a digital ready room, which secures your home in line. Don’t refresh the web page.
- When it’s your flip, you’ll be despatched to the registration type to join an evening of Moonlight Magic!
Vital Registration Data
- Registration is required and restricted. Sadly, walk-ins won’t be permitted.
- The Member who registers have to be in attendance and be the one that checks of their full celebration.
Checking In
When checking in, please take into account:
- Your legitimate Disney Trip Membership Digital Membership Card and picture ID are required at check-in.
- The Member who was chosen throughout the occasion registration course of have to be in attendance to test of their full celebration.
- All the celebration should test in collectively to achieve entry to the occasion.
- Entry previous to the occasion mix-in time requires a separate paid theme park admission and park reservation.
Our Moonlight Magic Experiences
As famous on the prime, we’ve attended many Moonlight Magic events because the occasion started a number of years in the past. We’ve had many highlights, from stumbling upon uncommon characters from “a bug’s life” with zero traces to taking part in mini-golf with Disney Afternoon characters at DCA to being supplied a whole field of cookies from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Get together.
Most lately, we’ve executed Moonlight Magic every of the previous couple of winters at Disney California Journey. Over the course of those occasions, we’ve loved good meals, low crowds, and uncommon characters. One 12 months, we ‘captured’ one in every of our white whales that we thought we’d by no means see once more: OG Disney’s California Journey Minnie & Mickey Mouse.
The next 12 months, it was uncommon characters from Disney Afternoon, together with each Rescue Rangers and TailSpin. (Characters from Treasure Planet and/or Atlantis had been additionally current, and appeared superb…from what little we keep in mind of these motion pictures.) Most lately, it was Duffy and ShellieMay.
In trying again at a few of our outdated celebration stories, I see there have been downsides to every occasion. There have been cases of surprisingly lengthy traces for meals, characters, or points of interest because the starting. There have been additionally occasions early on when some members actually introduced coolers to replenish on ice cream and different snacks, inflicting the kiosks to expire.
Nonetheless, we largely ‘clean over’ the negatives in our minds, fondly recollecting the positives–particular fireworks, uncommon characters, free meals, and different distinctive moments having fun with (largely) empty parks. Even with points right here and there, the Moonlight Magic occasions are completely improbable.
I’d say that within the final two years, Moonlight Magic has actually hit its stride at all the occasions we’ve attended, however particularly DCA. That’s the celebration we attend 12 months in and 12 months out, whereas we’ve executed DHS, EPCOT, and Hurricane Lagoon as soon as every throughout that very same timeframe.
It hasn’t been all excellent. Whereas there’s been an considerable uptick in uncommon characters within the final couple of years, leisure has been lighter than regular, notably unique nighttime spectaculars or particular fireworks.
There additionally appears to be fewer Moonlight Magic occasions than pre-closure, though which will now not be the case with the bonus Animal Kingdom dates. I additionally suspect that Disney Trip Membership elevated the attendance caps, leading to bigger crowds.
That is additionally notably occurring as Disney Trip Membership continues to open new properties and sells extra factors. Disney’s Riviera Resort, Villas at Disneyland Resort, Villas at Grand Floridian, and Island Tower on the Polynesian are all new or newly-expanded. By the point a few of these 2026 events roll round, there additionally could also be new additions on the market on the large Disney Lakeshore Lodge, too! All of this implies extra members consolidated into fewer nights.
In the end, Moonlight Magic continues to be nice, and the professionals of the free occasion far outweigh the cons. Most significantly, it appears to me that Moonlight Magic is trending in the suitable path. The occasions we attended in 2024 had been higher than 2023, and this 12 months has been pretty much as good or higher than final 12 months; DVC appears to be remedying a few of these points and studying classes.
Even with the hiccups, Moonlight Magic is a superb occasion that’s basically a free model of After Hours for DVC Members, with just a few additional enhancements that make it higher than After Hours, in our view. It’s a terrific perk for individuals who are in a position to take benefit; we’ve beloved attending through the years, and hope the 2026 Moonlight Magic events have just a few surprises in retailer!
In the event you’re eager about becoming a member of DVC, you should definitely learn our Final Information to Disney Trip Membership. This covers the professionals & cons, resale v. direct, how a lot cash you’ll save, and different necessary issues to know earlier than taking the plunge. In the event you nonetheless can’t determine whether or not membership is best for you, “strive before you purchase” with the suggestions in The way to Save BIG on Deluxe Disney Lodging Renting DVC Factors.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Planning on registering for one of many 2026 Moonlight Magic celebration nights? Excited to see this free occasion returning as a profit for DVC members? Have you ever attended one of many Moonlight Magic occasions at Walt Disney World and Disneyland? Did you meet any uncommon characters or get pleasure from particular leisure? What did you consider the expertise? Any questions or ideas about something on this celebration report? Listening to your suggestions about your experiences is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas or questions under within the feedback!
