Category — k. Special Circumstances at Walt Disney World
Key Details on Extension of Disney’s Armed Forces Salute are Out
Steve at MilitaryDisneyTips.com has posted key details on the extension of Disney’s Military Salute into 2012.
The details of the 2012 Military Salute are here, including blackout dates.
One key point: families can use both the 2011 program that ends in October 2011 and the program that begins in October 2011 and extends into September 2012.
So yes, you can use the Disney Military Salute program twice, once in the current program year and once in the program year of October 2011 to September 2012.
In case you are wondering, Steve’s post is based on an email exchange with Disney Military Sales, which he has copied me on (we do this for each other to make sure we have the details straight) so this is the real deal!!
May 24, 2011 No Comments
Update on Disney World Deals
A couple of major Disney World deals have been recently announced—an extension of the Disney Armed Forces Salute into the fall of 2012, and the return of free dining for late summer 2011.
DISNEY’S MILITARY SALUTE FOR 2012
Update May 24: key details for this Disney military deal are now out!! Click here for more.
The military salute extension was announced on ABC-TV about a month ago, as part of a White House initiative to show support for the troops and their families.
However, Disney’s web page for military families still reads “Details regarding the September 2012 pricing extension of this offer will be available soon. “
The missing details, while frustrating, don’t mean the deal is not happening. Rather, it’s that the details are still being worked out. Getting the details right means a couple of things—first, coordinating with the U.S. Military about its role in the eligibility setting and purchasing process, and second, getting the right blackout dates for 2012.
My suspicion—based on how the Disney military deals have unfolded in the past—is that coordinating and collaborating with the military is not as quick and simple as it perhaps should be—this will surprise no one with experience of DOD. All could be solved in one day by an empowered E-7…but Oprah has not yet tasked one.
The other issue likely is the blackout dates. These are not relevant to the military alone—blackout dates are about Disney World’s entire 2012 calendar, and I’m guessing that fixing that in stone now is outside of the typical management process, and is also creating some delays.
My belief is that Disney collaborated as a good corporate citizen with the White House to announce this extension as part of the initiative to support the troops, and the operational complexities of actually delivering on the specifics at this time of year weren’t high on anyone’s radar scope at the time the program was agreed to.
E-7s will also recognize this situation…
THE FREE DISNEY DINING PLAN AT DISNEY WORLD IN 2011
The recently announced free dining deal, in contrast, was built to the usual calendar, is in Disney’s full control, and is up and running.
Free dining at Walt Disney World follows the basic structure of the deals of recent years, but with a twist.
Those reserving a moderate or a deluxe resort, and meeting other criteria (dates, length of stay, at least two days per tickets) get the regular dining plan for free. Those staying at a value resort get the “Quick Service” dining plan—still a savings, but not as much of a deal as the regular dining plan.
The twist is that all reservations taking advantage of the free dining option must also buy a ~$100 photopass package—a new development in 2011.
This package reduces the value of the savings by the equivalent amount—at least for those who would not otherwise have bought this pass. Depending on family size and ages, this requirement may in effect wipe out the value of the first day or so of free dining.
This is in effect a surcharge over normal resort pricesduring this period. You could re-state the deal as “get free dining for $100.” This doesn’t make it a bad deal—juts not as good a deal as offered in the past.
This “surcharge” is consistent with Disney World’s current strategy of reducing the scope of the discounting it is offering as the economy continues to slowly rebound.
As noted elsewhere, I’m not yet convinced that this overall strategy will work as well in the short term as Disney hopes it will…but I also expect that enough families will find “$100 for free dining” a compelling enough deal that the best-loved Disney World restaurants—and many others—will book up quickly for the relevant August and September 2011 dates.
May 17, 2011 No Comments
Roundup of Orlando 2011 Military Discounts
MilitaryDisneyTips.com has published a series on various armed forces discount programs currently available for Orlando area attractions.
CURRENT DISCOUNTS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES
For the scoop on military discounts for Sea World and Busch Gardens, click here. (Sea World has no additional discounts for Navy Seals…it really should…ditto for the Frontierland Shooting Gallery.)
For details of Universal Orlando military discounts, click here.
For the perennial question of free theme park tickets for the military, click here. (Spoiler: there ain’t none.)
For Disney’s 2011 Armed Forces Salute and the little info that’s out so far on its 2012 extension, click here.
LINKS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
- Military Families at Walt Disney World
- Deals and Discounts
- Shades of Green
- Other Resources for Military Families
May 5, 2011 No Comments
Details Sketchy, but Disney Military Salute Extended Well into 2012
DISNEY ARMED FORCES SALUTE EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 2012
Update May 24: key details for this Disney military deal are now out!! Click here for more.
Steve at MilitaryDisneyTips.com is reporting here that Disney has extended its Disney Military Salute until September 2012.
As of now, details are sketchy, Disney’s web page has not been updated to show the new dates, and Disney reservationists cannot book beyond the current deal’s expiration.
As specifics emerge and the reservation system gets updated, I’ll post more about this.
LINKS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
- Military Families at Walt Disney World
- Deals and Discounts
- Shades of Green
- Other Resources for Military Families
April 19, 2011 No Comments
Update on the 2011 Disney Military Salute
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MILITARY FAMILY SAVINGS
My friend Steve at militarydisneytips.com tracks and posts on all kinds of stuff useful to military families considering a Disney trip.
He’s recently posted an update on the 2011 Disney Military Salute and other 2011 Disney Armed Forces discounts.
Helpfully, Steve includes his answers to the questions he’s most frequently asked about these programs.
You can find his post here.
Update–Steve’s post is part of a series recapping discount oportunities for military families all over central Florida–more on Sea World and Busch Gardens is here.
LINKS FOR MILITARY FAMILIES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
- Military Families at Walt Disney World
- Deals and Discounts
- Shades of Green
- Other Resources for Military Families
April 13, 2011 No Comments
Shades of Green News
Steve at MilitaryDisneyTips.com, in a post dated April 1, has some important Shades of Green news here.
On a related topic, I’ve heard rumors that a new Transportation Manager has been named at Shades of Green–a former light infantryman.
Reportedly he plans to cancel the Shades of Green bus service to the parks and replace it with forced marches with 90 pound packs.
The exception will be for transport to the Animal Kingdom, which will be via a low crawl.
On the positive side, frequency of departures will go up, and buses will no longer drop people off in the middle of steaming parking lots.
On the negative side, the low crawl to the Animal Kingdom is said to route through the tiger enclosure in the Maharajah Jungle Trek.
Dunno if any of this is true or not–but I do know that no lies were harmed in the creation of this post.
For more foolery, see this.
April 2, 2011 No Comments
