I will get flamed or ridiculed for this, but here goes anyway...

[PrestonatorSR]

My DW and I had been anxiously awaiting our opportunity to register for Moonlight Magic at AK in July during our already scheduled vacation for that time. Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen out-of-state work retreat at a remote location, I did not get online for the 9 a.m. opening time for early registrations. Instead, as soon as I flew home last night I tried to get on and found that early registration had already reached capacity.

Hey, I get it--those are/were the rules/procedures in play and--bottom line--I didn't get it done. Life is tough all over, life isn't fair, etc. But here's the thing--I imagine many folks find themselves in work obligations or other conflicts that precludes them from being on the computer at precisely 9 a.m. for the race to register. Others--who face no such obstacles--obviously get the preferred track every time.

So, this leads to my question: Why not have a lottery system? Everyone who is interested in attending is entered into a random lottery drawing of successful applicants for the event. This is what they do, for example, for the exclusive Firefly watching event in the Smoky Mountains every year. And I imagine it happens for many events all over the world in such a fashion. This seems like it would even the playing field and give everyone an EQUAL chance, not just an EQUITABLE chance. That's an important distinction, I think.

Look, I get it, at the end of the day, there are far greater disappointments in life than not getting in for Moonlight Magic at WDW. And we will get over it, I'm sure, in rather short order. But the whole sequence of events got me to thinking about this system. (Self serving I know--because I likely wouldn't have raised this issue had I gotten on the computer at 9 am yesterday).

That's my whine for the day. Thanks for reading...

 

[zavandor]

Why should you be flamed? I think it's a reasonable proposal. However I don't think DVD will implement it. Parties are a marketing tool, they do not want to make explicit they're difficult to book. A lottery system to make clear to everyone the inherent nature of those parties, being limited in dates and capacity. Much better to say: "you can attend a free party per park per year, 5 in total! You just need to register for it". That "just" hides the difficulty of booking it.

 

[jerseyduke]

DVC itself is a first come first serve system. Try getting a studio at the VGF the 2nd week of December. I own there and gave up on even trying at the 11 month mark because unless you walk your reservation, its next to impossible.

I get your angst, but I book week long trips around Moonlight Magic. If that becomes a lottery then I am picking a week based on "hoping to have a chance".

But I get your point, and you can keep trying. I would also reach out to the community here. I am sure people make reservations for more people then they end up needing, be it on purpose or on accident.

I would not be surprised at all if you were able to find someone willing to give you 2 of their 'tickets' by sending you a text and having you meet them at the check in station the day of event. Off topic, but I do not think what happened guarantees you are not going.

 

[CarolMN]

Moonlight Magic events are at their heart, a marketing tool. There's no way to avoid disappointing a large number of members, no matter which method is used to select attendees. (I'm bummed that there aren't any happening during our next vacation, but not as much as I would be if I qualified to try and then failed to get in).

Sorry you missed out, but I believe they hold out some spots for those who didn't have a qualifying reservation. Try again on Wednesday June 12 and we'll hope it works for you. Good luck!

 

[GoingSince1990]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think there should be a charge for these events. A small charge but enough to encourage people to only register if they definitely plan to go, and refundable so that people are more likely to return tickets that they won’t use, so others can use them. Maybe $30 per person?

 

[Anthony1971]

Do not feel bad if you went online at 9AM you would be way back in line and may not have even got in.... We have obligations but one of us made sure to clear time..... My wife was on well before 9AM and she ended up having 4600 in from of her..... I went on a few minutes after 9 and had 7800 in front of me -- My wife got in but according to the meter it was more than 75% booked at her turn -- note there were 3 days booking. While your suggestion is fine and certainly far more stress free than this was and she did wait 35 minutes..... I would believe that a lot of people would question the validity of the results when there family if not chosen. It is lose lose either way you look at it... unless you get inn.

 

[ScubaCat]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think there should be a charge for these events. A small charge but enough to encourage people to only register if they definitely plan to go, and refundable so that people are more likely to return tickets that they won’t use, so others can use them. Maybe $30 per person?

Or perhaps they could do the $10 no-show fee like with dining. The only thing is they probably account for the extra bookings, and it's not like the park couldn't handle a swing of a few hundred people either way. And in either case (with a charge or no-show fee) they'd have to integrate collection of payment information with the 3rd-party that manages event registration, so that's another challenge they probably don't want to deal with.

Ultimately, It's just a FOMO-inducing marketing tool. Thus, charging or even requiring a credit card for it wouldn't really be the best thing for those purposes anyway. Also, it's late, so people often unexpectedly tire out by that time. We booked for 3 a couple of years ago at AK and the other 2 in my party got too tired and didn't go. I'd have been happy to release the reservation or invited someone else to come in with me if possible but I didn't see an easy way to do that at the time.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I mean, I said this on another thread, but it's true. If you're a member, this event really isn't about you or your happiness. They're paying for these from a marketing budget, and talking them up as a direct perk. They use this as a carrot for people who have not yet bought.

Once you're in, you've given them their margin. They don't seem to have a lot of concern around lifetime value or cross-division value.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

They do already have a lottery in place— it just starts at 9am. We had two windows open and got wildly different numbers, definitely randomly distributed. I think it is a pretty fair system as is, just not a nice system regardless, as not everyone gets in. I think under the OPs proposal you would still have people complaining about implementation. And the current process seems easier to administer. We went into the process assuming that we would not get in and were surprised when we did. I would not have been disappointed if we had not because I never thought of it as a guarantee.

 

[zavandor]

We don't even know if those parties will continue in 2020. Now they have much bigger and meaningful restrictions for resale, they might find they have no use for parties and free extras.

 

[wdw4rfam]

It ultimately is a lottery even at 9:00. Everyone was sitting waiting when the clock hit 9:00. Everyone was instantly assigned a number in line ranging from 1-8000+. No rhyme or reason to what number you got. I had 3 devices going and had 2300, 3200, 6600ish. I work. I went in late. I took a chance and it paid off. I knew I might not have got a spot. I know not everyone can do that. But like another person said, no matter what system they use, let’s face it, everyone who wants in isn’t going to get in and people will be disappointed. There’s way more members than spots for these events. I personally think 1 per member per year would help since I see people that booked rooms for each of the events ( each park) since the dates were released so far in advance.

 

[jlwhitney]

Probably an unpopular opinion but I think there should be a charge for these events. A small charge but enough to encourage people to only register if they definitely plan to go, and refundable so that people are more likely to return tickets that they won’t use, so others can use them. Maybe $30 per person?

I don't want a charge but I think it is silly that if you cancel the tickets don't go back into the system. They should just do it like dining reservations but make it like 3-4 days out you have to cancel or you get charged the $10 no show fee. Then put the cancelled reservations back in the system to book

 

[Tigger1]

I would agree with the lottery system, I missed out on a PAssholder party because I do work and can not look for a e-mail from Disney 24/7.

I find it that only if your going to Disney particular nights of the year that these partys' are even an option for members out of state.

I would rather see $$ spent on something all members benefit from, such as, member lounge at AKL, HS or MK.

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

It's already a lottery system. If you logged in before 9 am, you were assigned a random number. The bottom line is that Disney wants to always create a system where some people get in and some don't. That's what keeps everyone going back. It's all marketing. Supply and demand. Supply is low which keeps the demand falsely high.

 

[js]

Don't think you would be flamed either and get both sides.
Why didn't your wife do it so you didn't have to wait until you returned home for 9 am?
I would have tried to show my dh or tried on my phone but I think you have a reasonable request although those that plan around them may see otherwise.

 

[Lehuaann]

Unfortunately, you can’t assume AK will still be open later on in the day like MK due to capacity and, perhaps, animal environment.

After successfully booking MM with cash reservations in the past, the lesson I learned this time around: don’t assume the system will auto recognize your cash reservation, and call MS one week in advance to have it linked. Thankfully the system has gotten better by catching fraud, but it still needs work.

Hopefully you can get someone to rsvp for you in the future.

 

[PrestonatorSR]

Thank you all for your replies; they were all very polite and well reasoned. Many points of view to consider and all have merit. I simply stand by my original assertion that a true lottery system would be most equitable. (Being required to get on the computer by 9 a.m. is not a lottery; it's a "performance" competition that requires being online at precisely the right time in a very narrow window to have a chance.) Going back to the firefly example, the process was straightforward and simple: 1. Here's the lottery registration window: "Date to date." 2. All registrations go into an auto generator/selector (whatever they call it) and winners will be drawn on x date. 3. Once lottery "winners" have been randomly drawn, you will be notified either way. That is just plain and simple an equitable system. Losing in a true game of chance is a lot easier to swallow than not having the ability to sit at your computer at precisely the right moment--and for an extended period of time. Just saying... but hey, I'm getting old anyway, I'll probably be too tired at that time of night, anyway . Cheers all!

 

[Chirple]

@PrestonatorSR, is there a limit on the number of people for each lottery win in the Firefly example? I think it would be harder to implement a lottery for Moonlight Magic because party sizes vary greatly. If one has a DVC reservation that happens to fall during one of these events, that reservation could be for as many as 12 or as few as 1.

Personally, I would not book a vacation in anticipation of one of these events occurring because I would be setting myself up for disappointment if I could not get a reservation. The two times we attended in the past happened to be during our already-booked vacation (as in your scenario). Honestly, the first time we attended, which was close to when DVC rolled these out, it was great. The second one was just okay. We would rather spend the money on DAH.

 

[PrestonatorSR]

@PrestonatorSR, is there a limit on the number of people for each lottery win in the Firefly example? I think it would be harder to implement a lottery for Moonlight Magic because party sizes vary greatly. If one has a DVC reservation that happens to fall during one of these events, that reservation could be for as many as 12 or as few as 1.

Personally, I would not book a vacation in anticipation of one of these events occurring because I would be setting myself up for disappointment if I could not get a reservation. The two times we attended in the past happened to be during our already-booked vacation (as in your scenario). Honestly, the first time we attended, which was close to when DVC rolled these out, it was great. The second one was just okay. We would rather spend the money on DAH.

Hey, great points about the varied size of the parties--that does complicate it a fair amount (though I'm sure the computer algorithms could account for that). And, just to be clear, we didn't book with this event in mind--it was a happy coincidence. But I think you are right on the larger point--it's not an end of the world "miss" for us. Thanks!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I agree about it not being the end of the world. It is only 3 hours and it is quite late in the evening. Depending on your schedule, you and your family may be too tired to enjoy it. Or the weather could be horrendous. Rainy or oppressive heat, or both. We were nervous booking the Halloween party last year in August because we had seen someone’s miserable looking photos of the same party in the rain. People looked both sweaty and wet at the same time (if that is possible). Yuck! Hopefully in the future they will figure out a better way to give more people access to the dvc “magic” events. I personally like the idea of limiting people to one a year.