Disney World Military Discount 2012

55 comments

1 CartoonsForHire.com { 08.28.11 at 10:00 pm }

Hello would you willing to share my $5 custom Mickey Mouse animation gig to your readers: http://bit.ly/mickeytoon

It is really great for anyone who might be going to Disney World and need a custom message from Mickey! Cheers!

2 Cari S. { 10.27.11 at 1:53 pm }

Please adjust your website to reflect the correct information!!!!! According to 2 different Disney reps (407-W-Disney), and two different military base MWR/ITT’s, you are authorized NO MORE THAN 6 tickets per calendar year unless your sponsor’s dependents are more (like if you have 5 kids.)
I know you say your website is “unofficial” but you should at least attempt to get the information somewhat correct. The OFFICIAL military Disney website is http://www.disneymilitarysales.com.
Thank you.

3 Dave { 10.27.11 at 2:47 pm }

Hi Cari!

I agree that I should “at least attempt to get the information somewhat correct.”

So here’s what disneymilitarysales.com says: “Details regarding the September 2012 pricing extension of this offer will be available soon” (emphasis added)

Not much help there.

But Disney’s special offers page on this ticket deal at http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy11military&market=fy11military#important says this:

“No more than twelve (12) Disney 4-Day Military Promotional Tickets may be purchased, activated and/or used by any Eligible Service Member or spouse during the life of this promotion, and no Eligible Service Member or spouse may purchase, activate and/or use more than six (6) Disney 4-Day Military Promotional Tickets during any single week of the promotion.” (emphasis added.)

Moreover, the head of Disney Military Sales confirmed in July and August via email the understanding I have written on the page. He said you can buy 6 tickets twice as long as its 7 days apart.

However, these promotions in the past have been subject to both changes and confusion. It may be that Disney’s special offers website is now wrong, and that the emails from the head of Disney Military Sales are out of date. I’ll check on that!!

But until these two official sources change or I can confirm them to be wrong, I’m leaving my material as it is.

4 Don { 10.27.11 at 9:18 pm }

Cari the website you note as the “official” source does not say what you claim it does, it absolutely does not say anything about a “calendar year.”

Unfortunately either you’ve talked to workers who are misinformed or Disney has changed its policy without yet updating any of its official communications.

I know of no other Disney website which is researched in a more through manner than Dave’s yourfirstvisit.net!

5 Patricia Harrison { 11.09.11 at 11:40 am }

My spouse is medically retired from the military and has all the benefits, but was not a “career” member of the military, E5 status. Can we still use the retired military discounts?

6 Dave { 11.09.11 at 11:47 am }

Hi Patricia, thank you for his–and your–service! If he is permanently disabled with a military ID with a DAVPRM status, he is indeed eligible for all these plus, Shades of Green too.

For more, see Steve’s comment on this here: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2010/02/22/2010-military-deals-and-discounts-at-walt-disney-world/comment-page-1/#comment-16759

7 Alanna McKenzie { 11.17.11 at 1:30 pm }

My husband served in the Army for 2 years active and 6 years reserve. Does this qualify us to receive a military discount?
Thanks!

8 Dave { 11.17.11 at 2:19 pm }

Hi Alanna! Unless he’s still in–e.g. as active reserve–or disbaled, it doesn’t. The offer applies to actvie duty, career retired, and fully disabled vets. The fine print is on this page: http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy11military&market=fy11military

9 Ben { 12.01.11 at 1:57 pm }

My uncle(retired) wants to get tix for us as a gift for Xmas, but he wont be going with us.
Can we get in?
It does say “military family & friends”.
Would “friends” all have to be with military ID too?

thanks
Ben

10 Dave { 12.01.11 at 4:19 pm }

Hi Ben. Sorry but only he, in person, at Disney World, can activate the tickets–so he has to go (at least for that moment of activation.) One of the tickets can be used only by him–the rest can be used by anyone he chooses…

11 william kean { 12.03.11 at 4:01 pm }

I think it is very small minded of disney to limit there park tickets to such a small selection of the military. It seems to me that vetrans and disabled vetrans should be elligable for the same discounts. After all they have payed quite a price allready.

12 Dave { 12.03.11 at 8:01 pm }

Good point, William.

13 Vicky { 12.20.11 at 10:58 am }

What about tickets for Christmas 2012? What is cost and when can we buy?

14 Dave { 12.20.11 at 1:31 pm }

Hi Vicky, tickets for xmas are the same as regular tickets and you can buy them now–they don’t have a “use on” date attached to them. See this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/06/12/disney-world-2011-2012-admission-ticket-prices/

15 Josh Santos { 12.31.11 at 5:23 am }

I am active duty stationed in Germany….are there any military discounts/promotions for military members at Disney Paris?

16 Dave { 12.31.11 at 9:44 am }

Hi Josh, I’m sorry but I don’t track DLP. Suggest you check disboards.com…

17 Pat T { 01.06.12 at 4:38 pm }

My husband US Army retired passed away this past summer. Am I eligible for the discount tickets? I have a spouse ID card.

18 Dave { 01.06.12 at 6:49 pm }

Hi Pat, thank you for your (and his) service. I just read the fine print on the offer, and I think you are eligible, but am not sure. I’m gonna reach out to a military disney expert to see what he thinks…

19 Pat T { 01.06.12 at 7:28 pm }

Thanks for checking

20 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 01.06.12 at 8:28 pm }

Hi Pat,

Dave asked me to chime in. Yes, with your ID you will be eligible for discounts at Disney Theme Parks, Resorts, and at Shades of Green the military resort at Disney World.

Here are the applicable parts of Disney’s policy on the current Armed Forces Salute:

Disney Military Promotional Tickets may be purchased now through September 27, 2012 … by Eligible Service Members or their spouses…

And

Unaccompanied spouses purchasing the 4-Day Disney Military Promotion Tickets must present valid and active U.S. Military I.D. Spouses of activated members of the National Guard or Reservists must present a valid Military ID.

They’ll just want to see your ID when you purchase/activate your tickets. This also applies to room discounts.

Shades of Green is a deluxe resort at WDW, wonderful rooms and they also sell military discounted tickets for Disney, Universal, SeaWorld and many other local attractions.

This is from Shades of Green’s eligibility policy:

Unremarried surviving spouses of personnel who died while on active duty or while in retired status ID is DD Form 1173 or 1173-1

I’ll echo Dave and say thanks for your husband’s service!

Pat, if you have any other questions that I can help you with feel free to email me at: questions@militarydisneytips.com

Steve

21 Dave { 01.06.12 at 8:33 pm }

Steve, thanks a million!

22 R.Gummert { 01.08.12 at 12:34 pm }

Does the military salute program and ticket discounts apply at DisneyLand Paris, in Europe? I was assuming so since on their website, they showed military men in uniform under “Special Offers”.

Thanks so much!

23 Dave { 01.08.12 at 2:07 pm }

I don’t track Paris…Sorry… Suggest you try asking Steve at the Military DIsney Tips blog http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/ or check the DLP section of disboards at http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=676c3d4ae999ee8bd39d2f0897baeafd&f=77

24 SB { 01.18.12 at 9:05 pm }

I keep getting mixed responses – so I guess I’ll try here with this question:

My son, 3, is a card carrying dependent of any active duty soldier – my ex-husband. I have physical custody of him. I also happen to be an Army civilian employee.

Some people have told me that I can use these tickets for both me and my son because my son has an ID card. Some people have told me that I can use the ticket for my son only. And some have told me that unless my ex-husband goes with us, neither of us can use the discounted ticket.

So…what’s the truth. It’s not a big deal if I don’t get the discount on my ticket, but shouldn’t my son be able to have it? It’s kind of lousy that circumstances like this aren’t considered.

25 Dave { 01.19.12 at 7:46 am }

Hi Stephanie–here’s my take. Once the tickets are bought and activated by the service member, anyone can use them, whether or not they have an ID or not. So the issue is not whether your son has an ID or not–it’s that only active (or retired) service members can buy them, and they have to be physically present at the turnstiles at first use to activate them…

26 Lisa { 01.27.12 at 11:30 am }

My husband was in the National Guard/Military police div. for 6 years did the time he was suppose to do with the program he was with, and voluntary resigned/retired, honorable discharge. He still has a ID card, can he still use this for a discount? We used it last year with no problems but just wanted to make sure it’s ok to use again.

27 Dave { 01.27.12 at 2:06 pm }

Lisa I’m not sure–did he resign after you used it last year? The discount is supposed to apply only to career retired (and active).

28 Gass { 02.16.12 at 11:51 am }

You can purchase 6 tickets at Shades of Green or a MWR Office, but Disney will let you purchase additional tickets at the gate for the same price but with tax… You can also take your purchased ticket to the gate before or after you have used it and upgrade the ticket to a Season Pass by subtracting what you paid for the ticket off the price of a Season Pass. Call Disney and they will verify this….

29 Dave { 02.16.12 at 12:01 pm }

Hi Gass, are you talking about regular tickets or the military discount tickets?

30 Gass { 02.16.12 at 1:49 pm }

The military ticket. We were able to upgrade the military ticket to season passes at Disney. Since we are Disney Vacation Memberswe were given the Disney Vactaion Club price for the Season Pass which is $100 lower and then subtract our military priced ticket from that. The members of our party that were not members of Disney Vacation Club upgraded their military ticket but from the regular price of a season Pass without the $100 discount. They did not need a military person there to upgrade. They just needed their ticket and Photo ID .

31 Gass { 02.16.12 at 1:52 pm }

I don’t think you can upgrade at Shades of Green or MWR offices. Everyopne I know did it right at Disney. Might be worth a call to Shades of Green to see if they do it…

32 Gass { 02.16.12 at 1:54 pm }

You can also upgrade regular tickets for Season Passes at Disney. I haven’t…but when I upgraded my military ticket I was told you could upgrade regular tickets.

33 Dave { 02.16.12 at 6:11 pm }

Yup–you can apply what you arleady spent to the cost of an upgrade!

34 Amy { 02.23.12 at 2:49 pm }

Dave, I sure hope you can clear this up for me….I am a disabled veteran collecting 40%disability from the VA. DO I qualify for the military discount? If so, what forms, veteran paperwork do I need to bring with me to Disney next week on the 29th of February?

35 Dave { 02.23.12 at 5:34 pm }

Hi Amy, if you have a military ID card with “DAVPROM” on it, you are eligible. To get the tix, you have to go to a base–”participating military sales outlet” as Disney puts it on the red tape on their page on this offer here: http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy11military&market=fy11military

36 Frederick { 03.17.12 at 9:49 am }

Dave,

Just activated mine yesterday – my question is how do they track or make the connection to the service member/sponsor; via address or SSN? I didn’t ask unfortunately, but it seemed to me they just wanted my address – they said that if any one of the tickets gets lost that the family/friend just needs to provide the address of the sponsor. Appreciate you providing the information here – helps a lot of people with taking advantage of a great program.

37 Dave { 03.17.12 at 10:49 am }

Hi Frederick, and thanks for the kind words!

I’m not sure–I think it’s through SSN, with the address option just being a less-privacy-sensitive way to replace lost stuff. I’m gonna see if I can get an expert to weigh in tho…

38 Steve from militarydisneytips.com { 03.17.12 at 5:07 pm }

Hi Frederick,

It is the ssn that’s tracked. To activate your tickets you had to hand your ID (CAC) to the Disney ticket seller, that’s when they recorded it.

If your spouse was to have activated the tickets your ssn is on her ID also. this is how they keep the member and spouse from activating more than allowed by the program.

39 Dave { 03.18.12 at 9:39 am }

Thanks Steve!

40 Stacy { 03.22.12 at 3:34 pm }

Dave,
I was wondering if we were staying eight days, can we buy a 4 day pass and also use another 4 day pass for the remainer of the stay at disney? There is 2 adults and 2 children in our family.
Thanks!

41 Dave { 03.22.12 at 7:56 pm }

Hi Stacy!

You can use the military salute tix for 4 days and then buy a regularly priced Disney ticket for 4 more.

But you can’t use two military salutes tix for 8 days unless there’s a seven day period separating the last day of the first ticket and the first day of the second…Does this answer the question?

42 John { 04.09.12 at 4:09 pm }

It seems the 6 total tickets every seven days does give you the opportunity to use two 4 day tickets back to back as long as you are not over the 6 per week activation. If this is not the case, when does the 8th day start? Does it start after the last day you use the ticket or the first day?

43 Dave { 04.09.12 at 4:38 pm }

John, you are right. You can activate 6 on day 1, use three for four park days each, then three more for 4 more park days.

44 sal { 04.10.12 at 12:16 pm }

I am an honorably discharged marine.. I have a disability rating from VA. I am not currently on active duty or reserves.. Does the discount still apply? They way I am reading it, it doesn’t apply.. Is that true?

45 Dave { 04.10.12 at 4:02 pm }

Hi Sal, you are eligible for the discount if you have an ID with “DAVPROM” noted on it…

46 Renea { 04.20.12 at 5:38 am }

Hello…My uncle purchased tickets for our family, 2 adults and 2 children. He lives on the East Coast and was planning on coming to CA for a vacation in May. He is now unable to come to CA and isn’t sure if we would be able to use the tickets without him being present, as we aren’t military at all, only he is. He was under the impression without the service member present the tickets are not about to become active. Do we loose our money, due to our inability to active the tickets? Is there anyway we can utilize the tickets without him being present? Thanks for your response.

47 Dave { 04.20.12 at 7:26 am }

Hi Renea, unfortunately your uncle is right–he needs to be at DL in person at the time of activation…he can then turn around and leave, but you can’t use the tix unless he can make it to activate them…

48 Pam { 04.20.12 at 5:27 pm }

Hi Dave:
First thanks for all the answers and time you put into getting all this answers.

Having read as much as I can, I can see nothing on wether Canadian Military can take advantage of these offers. We did have a friend from here go to Sea World a few weeks ago with family and they gave them all free entry.(young Kids) My family is husband, myself, 21 and 18 yr old. Also a niece with her husband in military going. Any Disney coverage? Thanks for your response I appreciate it.

49 Dave { 04.20.12 at 6:22 pm }

Hi Pam, I’m not aware of any current non-US military discounts. A Canadian forces base would have someone, somewhere, who would know if such does exist, as would a canadian travel agent with great expertise in Disney. See also this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/04/15/who-is-eligible-for-which-military-discount-at-walt-disney-world/

50 Anonymous { 04.29.12 at 10:52 pm }

my mother have the id and she want to know if she have to buy too the ticket to activate us the tickets because she dont want to enter the parks thanks

51 Dave { 04.30.12 at 7:42 am }

She doesn’t have to enter the parks, but she does have to be at the ticket booth at the first park…

52 jordan { 05.12.12 at 5:52 pm }

Hi, I was wondering if my boyfriend’s parents (who have military IDs and his dad is active in military) if they could purchase my family’s tickets? They aren’t attending, but my boyfriend is 19 and has a military ID, but I haven’t read anything about a military’s son being able to buy the tickets and being the one to activate them at the parks. We would only be going for three days for the $99 discount, and it would only be me, my nanny, and papa – along with my boyfriend.

53 Dave { 05.13.12 at 8:35 am }

Jordan, whoever bought the tickets–the parent in the military, or the spouse–has to be present in person at the park to activate the tickets. They can then go away having been with you for just that moment–but they have to be there then…

54 Rose { 05.17.12 at 8:56 am }

Hello, I was wondering if there were any discounts for honorably discharged Veterans ?

55 Dave { 05.17.12 at 9:30 am }

Hi Rose, see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/04/15/who-is-eligible-for-which-military-discount-at-walt-disney-world/

Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem