Military Tickets:
If you or your spouse is active-duty or retired from the U.S. military (including Reservists, Coast Guardsmen, and National Guardsmen) you are eligible to purchase up to six Military Promotional Tickets during each offer period (current offer valid September 2014-October 2015). Military Promotional Tickets (a.k.a. Armed Forces Salute tickets) have extensive savings:
- 4-Day Park Hopper Ticket for $177 OR
- 4-Day Water Park Fun & More Ticket for $177 OR
- 4-Day Combo Ticket for $207
- When you buy on base- these are tax free!
- No expiration date within the 09/2014 - 10/2015 timeframe
Who can use the Armed Forces Salute tickets:
- Anyone accompanying the service member (friends or family!)
- Anyone accompanying the service member's spouse in absence of the service member
How these tickets activate:
You will receive a voucher upon purchase that can be linked to My Disney Experience to set up your FastPass+ passes, however, you will still have to activate the voucher and exchange it for plastic card tickets at any one of the parks on your first visit. All members of the party using the Armed Forces Salute tickets must be present for activation, but then your party can split up if needed/wanted.
If your immediate family has more than six individuals, Disney will allow you to purchase additional tickets for them at the above prices. Note that this courtesy is only available for dependent family members. If your family has only two or three members, you could purchase double your needed tickets(up to six) and use them back-to-back on the same trip, allowing for a total of eight park days per person! Just think of the amazing Disney honeymoon a newly married military couple could take with these tickets- 12 blissful days in the Most Magical Place on Earth for just over $1000!
If you need additional days for your park tickets, the Armed Forces Salute Tickets can be upgraded at Walt Disney World to Annual Passes. Otherwise, you can purchase the Magic Your Way tickets at a base ITT office or Shades of Green and receive a small discount (typically about 5%). Note that the MYW tickets with military discount CANNOT be purchased at Walt Disney World gates/ticket offices.
Let's see some savings in action. My family of six needs 5 tickets (child under 3 is free and we still have one of those!):
- Armed Forces Salute Tickets 4-Day with Park Hopper = $885 (no tax)
- Magic Your Way 4-Day Tickets with Park Hopper = $1901.05 (with FL tax)
To be fair in comparison pricing, you have to really consider which options you'd purchase if you had to buy tickets without any discount. The first thing we'd nix would be the Park Hopper option. Even for an adults-only trip we took, we didn't park-hop. It isn't worth the extra money for the way we tour the parks. For some it is invaluable. You have to decide how your family will visit WDW and if that is important.
If you were willing to fork over $1900 for four days hopping parks, then check out what you can get if you drop that Park Hopper. If I were taking my family of six (one baby) to WDW and I chose to nix the Park Hopper option from my plans look at what I could afford:
- Magic Your Way 10-Day Ticket No Options = $1879.75 (with FL tax)
Balancing that against my family's needs and our price-range I wanted to know what I could get for all six of us in the $885 range when shopping on Disney's site. My answer:
- 2-Day MYW Tickets No Options (this actually costs $980 with tax)
If you choose the Armed Forces Salute Tickets with both the Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More option - you end up getting two additional days (one each for Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) outside of your four Disney World days plus entry to several other Disney attractions. We don't have a group that is great with swimming yet- so we will save that option for a later trip since it would add $150 to our ticket total.
The Armed Forces Salute Tickets are an amazing deal for a minimal amount of park days. If you're lucky enough to have a family size (or age group) that will allow two of your six tickets to go to Grandma & Grandpa, just think of the amazing memories you can make together!
Additionally, this blog is an amazing resource: Military Disney Tips
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