Disney Tickets- Military Deals & Steals

In 2009 Disney created the Armed Forces Salute program for members of the U.S. military and their families. The AFS includes steep discounts on park tickets and 30-40% off Disney resorts. Since I already discussed that our family size prohibits much of a savings on Disney resort rooms (even with a 30-40% discount), I'll focus on the AFS tickets in this post. If you have a smaller family size, the room discount could significantly impact your choice to stay on- or off-property.

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 

How have you made the Armed Forces Salute Tickets work for you? 

Our Dream Condo Rental

As you read in the on-property vs. off-property post, our family size is better suited for off-property living. My first step to finding a condo was to make a wish-list of the amenities I wanted our house to have. I used TripAdvisor to begin my search. A private pool and four bedrooms were at the top of the list. Having themed rooms for the kids was important to me as well since we'd be missing out on the extravagant theming of Disney's resorts. Finally, I knew I wanted to be near the parks making for easier mid-day breaks. We have stayed in the Davenport/Kissimmee area before and opted for that same area this time. I told TripAdvisor my wishlist and that I wanted to keep it under $800/week. That's right- $800/7 nights. Didn't think it was possible, did you? Not only was it possible, I had several options that I thought would work for our family, however, booking early is your friend. We couldn't lock-in dates until late January for a May trip. The least-expensive condo options that I wanted were already taken for our dates by the time I booked. Ultimately, I found a great spot in the same resort complex we stayed in before and still we are spending far less than if staying in a Disney resort.

Condo details:

• $105/night
• Private Pool (optional pool heat for $25/day <- this is a very common additional fee)
• Free Wireless Internet (Harder to come by than you would imagine)
• 4 Bedrooms
• 2 Themed Bedrooms( with twin beds in each; under-the-sea and  princess/fairies rooms)
• 15 Minute Drive to Parks
• Large Community Pool and Hot-Tub 
• Game Room (pool table, foosball, dress-up area for kids, and more)
• Fully Furnished Kitchen 

When you're booking a condo, expect a down payment of about 10%. Condo fees and taxes can be killer too- expect to pay 11-12% in taxes and watch for hidden booking fees. 

We opted to wait on the pool heat. If we pay for it before checking-in, it will be $25/day ($200 additional dollars to our tab). If we wait until after we check-in, they'll charge us an additional $25 as a maintenance fee. We plan on checking the weather before we arrive and choosing then whether or not to purchase it. 

Note: Some condos offer baby-care items for free, some charge for their use, and some don't offer any. If you have little ones in your party, definitely find out what your condo will provide and for how much! 

Finally, yes, the condo isn't as polished as some of the Disney resorts. It may be slightly dated even. However, the value is incredible. Having our own space is imperative for our family to have a fantastic trip, so any shortcomings can be easily overlooked. Check it out: 

      

If you're interested in finding more properties or this exact one,
check out Head For Orlando. Which condos have you stayed in on your Disney vacations? 

On-Property vs. Off-Property for a Family of 6

You've made the leap and have decided to take a Florida vacation to Walt Disney World. Now what?

Deciding where your family will stay can be daunting. There are so many options available:

• Walt Disney World Resort (Value, Moderate, Deluxe)
• Swan & Dolphin Resorts
• Shades of Green - For Military Families
• Area Hotels
• Area Resorts & Condos

A simple Google search will result in finding a blog dedicated to each WDW property, its benefits, and why one is best over the other. The main budgeting reasons many recommend WDW properties are:

• Extra Magic Hours (where resort-only guests get more time in the parks)
• Free Parking (at hotels and parks)
• Disney Dining Plan (meal plan for eating in the parks)

Our first challenge when booking a room is our family size. Most WDW resorts can't accommodate a family of six in anything I would consider economical (options and prices here - start at $270 in the value resorts) nor can Shades of Green military resort (starting at $275/night for a family suite-yikes!). Even with Disney's spring-time offers, the cost/night is just far more than we want to pay for someone else's bed! That said, you do have to take into consideration the other factors that will cost you when staying off-property.

Google, "Orlando condo rentals," and you'll find thousands of options which is more than a little overwhelming. When you're searching for a property, take into consideration all of the amenities you want it to have(here are a few):

• Private Pool
• Pool Heat
• Furnished Kitchen
• Themed-Bedrooms
• Number of Bedrooms
• Distance to Parks
• Resort Amenities
• Wireless Internet

Ultimately, we decided to stay off-property. Not only are the accommodations more spacious for us, the amenities can't be matched staying in a hotel-like atmosphere. We can more cheaply eat by making our own food than eating in the parks and because we're traveling with such a young group, EMHs aren't going to be vital for us. Paying for parking is no fun, but since we only have four days in the parks, the $68 that will cost us is negligible. 

Next post will detail where we're staying and how to find the vacation rental of your dreams! Have any of you with a 5+ family members stayed on-property? Where did you stay?