it went really well (for the most part.) I ran for 3 kids ages 9-12 and one other adult. In short, a good time was had by all.

There was only one issue that I feel could be a good discussion. One player (my son specifically) was VERY enthusiastic. This is not a problem exactly, except that he wanted to do EVERYTHING. With no turn structure in DW, I had to struggle to give some of the other players spotlight time. One of the other players is much more quiet/shy and could quickly be overshadowed. My son became frustrated a few times because I had to make him wait so other players could give responses. To be fair, this is still better than having players who are bored/passive.

This lack of structure was the only real issue I had. Everyone had a good time overall. I did have to break them of "looking at a list of moves" instead of just describing what they would like to do. For example: At one point, my son wanted to try to incapacitate an attacker without killing them. He says "well, I can't do that, hack and slash kills them." I had to let him know to just describe what he was doing and how, and that he'd be given the opportunity. Breaking habits from other more "rigid" games! However, by the end of the session they were getting it. At the end, the Paladin had an epic one on one battle with an Orc Chief that was full of all kinds of moves that were not just Hack n Slash.

Anyone else ever struggle with making sure the shy types don't get pushed out by the less reserved?

Is there some way to acquire The Divine or was that kickstarter only?

Except that Icons are not gods. They are just the major movers and shakers in the world. (Sure, they usually have immense power, but they do actually walk the world.)

I'd come at the problem from defy danger. (The danger being whatever you like from the old forest)
Depending on how the players narratively say they are traversing the old forest - fiction first always -  suggest the characteristic they are defying danger on and make the danger clear, transparent and present. That way on a 7-9 you can offer any of the suggestions listed above as hard bargains, ugly choices, difficult spots or perilous consequences. On a miss, well just make the hardest move you like.

I can see some of the wisdom in this. Hard choice: "Your instincts detect movement or danger ahead, but if you choose to navigate around it, you'll lose valuable time getting to the village."

I don't know how much hacking it really needs. You could really just take the Icons part of the game pretty much wholesale. It's already very story-game oriented.

Well, I didn't think of using perilous journey, because it was more in the context of "We could get to the village faster if we cut through the old forest." I was thinking of it as a few hours, not a long overland trek.

But I see how you could just shrink down the peril journey to a shorter time period.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Criticals: I look at critical failure this way: the riskier your action, the more it goes bad when you fail.