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Disney World Military Discount 2012



By Dave Shute

DISNEY MILITARY DISCOUNT 2012

The military discount for Disney World in 2012 is up and detailed on Disney’s special offers page.

The Disney Military Discount for 2012 is in effect an extension and doubling of Disney’s military discount for 2011.

Eligible personnel may buy and activate a total of twelve 4-day tickets for $138 each over the period from the beginning of the 2011 program to the end of the 2012 program.

The 2012 program ends September 30, 2012.  There’s a different program that begins October 1 2012 and extends into September 2013.  Click here for more on the FY13 military salute.

ONE MILITARY DISCOUNT PROGRAM FOR 2011 AND 2012

There is in effect just one military discount program that covers the period ending September 30 2012.

So families that already bought some military discount Disney World tickets in 2011 can now buy more, up to a total of 12 including those already bought; families that have not yet bought any can buy, activate and use up to twelve between now and September 30, 2012.

However, only 6 tickets can be activated or used in any 7 day period.

The price is a savings of ~$100 per ticket compared to Disney’s normal 4-day ticket prices.

Those eligible to purchase these Disney Military Salute tickets include active and (career) retired members of the US Military, including the National Guard, Reservists, and the Coast Guard, and their spouses.

My friend Steve of MilitaryDisneyTips.com notes that permanently disabled veterans with military ID with a DAVPRM status are also eligible for this offer.

Valid military ID is required at the parks themselves to activate the tickets.

For more, see this page.

DISNEY MILITARY ROOM RATE DISCOUNTS

Disney World is also offering discounted room rates to service families.  See this page for more.

ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS

Steve’s MilitaryDisneyTips.com is a great resource for military families.  He answers frequently asked questions about these programs on this page.

LINKS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

RELATED STUFF

18 comments

1 Michael { 07.20.12 at 10:18 am }

I am in the Air Force Reserves and will be activated during the month of July and August. A friend of mine will be taking care of my kids during this time. He will have a power of attorney of my daughter and she has an active ID Card. Would it be possible for them to use this discount. IT would be my daughter, my friend who will be in charge of her and his daughter. Thank you for your help

2 Dave { 07.20.12 at 10:42 am }

Michael, I’m not sure, and will see if I can find out more, but I strongly doubt it. The policy is that the member or spouse must activate in person at the gate…and they are pretty strict about this, as its the only way for them to make sure that the deal is going to whom they intend it for..

3 Deb { 07.20.12 at 11:47 am }

Hi,
I purchased the military discounted tickets for my son and grandchildren and have a family emergency and cannot attend with them. They alreayd have their hotels, car rental etc so they cannot change their trip. I copied my military ID and wrote a letter with it stated the issue. I bought them at the local ITT office and the ticket states ticket to activiate just go to the turnstile. Will a letter from me be enough for him to get in?

4 Dave { 07.20.12 at 2:42 pm }

Deb, I’m not sure, but I don’t think they will be able to get in…I’ll see if I can find more info…

5 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 07.20.12 at 4:58 pm }

Hi Gang, Dave asked me to tag in on the last poster’s questions.

First I’ll outline the two different types of military discounted Disney tickets that are available currently at Base ITT (Ticket Offices).

The 4-day Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets ($138/$165) are a fantastic offer that has been going since 2009 are very restrictive. There are restrictions on the number of tickets allowed and also that the military member or spouse must be there at Disney to activate the tickets, and must have one for themselves. The last day these tickets will be able to be used is 30 Sept. 2012.

Disney makes this special offer so the member can go with family and/or friends before or after a deployment to spend time together in the parks, or so the spouse can take the kids while the member is deployed.

The other type of tickets are the regular military discounted Disney Magic Your Way tickets. These are slightly discounted tickets (4%-8% based on length and options) just like you could buy at Disney’s ticket windows at the parks. With these there is a very important consideration. When Disney sends these tickets to base ticket offices there are two different kinds that they could send. Those that are ready for use and those that need to be exchanged at the parks.

6 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 07.20.12 at 5:12 pm }

Hi Michael,

I just retired form the AF Reserve in March. Be sure to see my ticket description above.

Since you can’t go I don’t think that Disney will allow your friend to activate Armed Forces Salute tickets. As I see it you have 2 options:

Play it safe and get the regular discounted tickets and save a little, be sure they are ready for use!

Or roll the dice, have them go there without tickets and try to buy AFS tickets from a Disney ticket booth with your daughter’s ID and the power of attorney. I really don’t think it will work, but it might, the Disney ticket sellers seem to have quite a bit of latitude to stray.

If they won’t let them buy the AFS tickets they could go by Shades of Green to try to get the slightly discounted tickets, also this might or might not work.

Do you have a buddy at Patrick, MacDill, or Homestead who’d drive over to activate the AFS tickets for them when they are there? You’d have to buy him a ticket too.

7 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 07.20.12 at 5:22 pm }

Hi Deb,

Be sure to see my ticket description above. Did you buy the $138 or $165 Armed Forces Salute 4-day tickets? If so they will not be able to activate them you must go with them. I’m sure you were told when you purchased them that they are non-refundable.

If this is the type you have there is only one option: There is a possibility that a Disney Manager could make an exception to policy, that they might be allowed to use the ticket’s value toward the purchase of regular gate price tickets which they could then use.

If this is done, Disney will allow the value of the tickets at the price Disney sold them to the military for (which is less than the $138/$165) to be applied toward the purchase of regular tickets.

Note, as this would be an exception to policy and they might not find a manager who will approve it.

If they are the slightly discounted military Magic Your Way Tickets they will be able to use them if they are the “ready for use” type and don’t have to be exchanged.

8 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 07.20.12 at 5:23 pm }

I hope I helped somewhat Michael and Deb.

If you have anymore questions feel free to contact me through my site!

Steve

9 Dave { 07.21.12 at 8:25 am }

Steve, wonderful help as always–I don’t know what I’d do without you!

10 SHINE { 07.24.12 at 8:45 pm }

My family and I went to Disney in November 2011 and we have a few days left on our cards. Unfortunately, I misplaced all of the cards and we are going back in two weeks. What do I have to do to enter the parks without purchasing additional tickets?

11 Dave { 07.25.12 at 7:19 am }

Hi Shine. If you have your receipt it’s possible that they can re-issue your tickets (assuming that you paid for the no-expire option–otherwise your days expired 14 days after first use), but without it or the tickets you will probably have to purchase a whole new set.

12 liz { 08.05.12 at 6:31 pm }

For SHINE — My family did the same thing! We lost our military tickets TWICE. Disney’s guest relations could pull up our info by our names and reissued tickets with the correct remaining days, for FREE. We did this at the guest relations outside one of the waterparks, you could do it at any of the parks.

13 Dave { 08.06.12 at 9:55 am }

Thanks Liz!

14 Marti { 06.10.13 at 1:07 am }

Hi… I’m a 100% vet… My friend who is active duty bought tickets for me. My question is can I use them without her being with me? I tried to call shades of green and they never returned my call.

15 Dave { 06.10.13 at 12:36 pm }

Hi Marti, if she bought the 4-day Military Salute tix, then yes, she does need to be there to activate them.

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16 Michele { 02.28.14 at 9:28 pm }

Dave,
My daughter is 18 and her father is retired Navy Seal. He just got 100% disable veteran. Her ID card has the DAVPRM. Can she get any of the discounts? She is an adult dependent. She is planing a trip with her boyfriend. Does she get any discounts at any of the resorts?
Thanks for any information.
Michele

17 Dave { 03.01.14 at 8:33 am }

Michele, watch for a response from Steve, the site’s military expert.

18 Steve From MilitaryDisneyTips.com - YourFirstVisit.net Military Moderator { 03.01.14 at 11:06 am }

Hi Michele,

Unfortunately Disney’s Armed Forces Salute is only for the member or spouse. it’s not for dependents. So no discounts for her via that program.

But dependent’s can buy the Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets from Base Ticket Offices. These tickets are slightly discounted versions of the tickets sold by Disney.

Here is my price list for Shades of Green (the military resort at WDW) the prices on base would be within a dollar. Note: Disney just had a roughly 5% ticket increase and that is not yet reflected on these prices. The base may need to order them so allow time (2 weeks).

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Tickets/Magic-Your-Way-Tickets.html

So your daughter or her dad could get these on base, or she could get them at the Orlando ITT:

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Tickets/Orlando-ITT-Ticket-Office.html

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