Moonlight Magic at Disney’s Animal Kingdom 2025 – Review
Are you curious about what attending a Moonlight Magic event at Walt Disney World is like? I checked out Moonlight Magic at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on February 12, 2025!
What is Moonlight Magic?
Moonlight Magic is an after-hours event for members of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). As a DVC member, you can register to attend the event with up to five guests or the number of guests on a resort reservation that coincides with a Moonlight Magic event. DVC members with a resort reservation have the first opportunity for free Moonlight Magic tickets, which usually sell out. So, pro tip: if you want to attend an event, ensure you (or your friend with a DVC membership) have a resort reservation using your DVC points.
Events are held at Walt Disney World and Disneyland theme parks and water parks.
Moonlight Magic at Animal Kingdom
On February 12, 2025, the Moonlight Magic event at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Check-in for the event was available starting at 4:00 PM at the park entrance and the Up Country Landing Dock inside the park from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Guests without park tickets could enter the park at 4:00 PM, which is a nice perk!
Shh… Don’t Tell Anyone
If there’s a gap between the park’s closing time and the start of the Moonlight Magic event, then this is a great time to ride some attractions (if open)! On February 12th, the park closed to day guests at 6:00 PM, and we could ride Avatar: Flight of Passage with a 10-minute posted wait and walk right onto Na’vi River Journey.
Event Guide
When you check into the event, you’ll receive an event guide, snack certificates, and a wristband (which is how they tell you you’re an event guest). The guide provides information about the event’s highlights, open attractions, character greetings, merchandise, food & beverage, and more!
Snack Certificates
At this event, each guest was given three snack certificates, which could be redeemed for a snack at select participating dining locations. Pro tip: Some locations allowed you to use your certificates before the event officially started!
My group used some of our snack certificates at Mr. Kamal’s for fried dumplings and seasoned fries, fried lumpia at Pongu Pongu, and baked macaroni and cheese at Flame Tree Barbecue. I highly recommend using snack certificates at Mr. Kamal’s and Flame Tree Barbecue, especially if you want something more savory and filling.
Attractions
One bonus to Moonlight Magic is that wait times for the attractions are minimal! You should expect low wait times for attractions and longer wait times for character greetings.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom doesn’t have many attractions, so the only ones that were operating for this event were:
It’s Tough to be a Bug! (closing March 15, 2025)
Na’vi River Journey
Avatar Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
DINOSAUR (closing after 2025)
The most popular attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is Avatar Flight of Passage. I’d recommend riding it before the official event start time or toward the end.
Characters
Character greetings were between 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM.
You could meet:
Lilo and Stitch
Duffy
Tarzan and Jane
Donald and Daisy Duck
Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Chip ‘n’ Dale and Clarice
Timon and Rafiki
Launchpad McQuack and Darkwing Duck
In addition to those characters, we saw a tall walkaround Yeti near Expedition Everest!
Unfortunately, these character greetings didn’t have a PhotoPass photographer, so make sure to have your phone or camera ready to hand someone!
More Event Highlights
The event also featured free ice cream, including Mickey’s Premium Ice Cream Bars, the Tree of Life Awakenings show, DJ dance parties in Pandora and Discovery Island, a live band at the Mombasa Marketplace in Africa, and a photo spot at the Anandpur Theater in Asia (where the Feathered Friends in Flight bird show takes place). Again, there wasn’t a PhotoPass photographer at the photo spot.
Overall Thoughts
Moonlight Magic at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was fun. It was great to have a few surprises, like the walk-around Yeti and the attraction availability before the event officially started. However, the event could be improved by making it an hour longer and providing PhotoPass photographers for the character greetings and other photo spots.
Is it worth the price of a DVC membership to gain access to Moonlight Magic? Absolutely not. Even if you’re a DVC member, registering for Moonlight Magic can be challenging. “Disney After Hours” events provide a similar experience for about $125 to 175 per ticket.
