Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Has Been Extended

[Steve TLT]

Hi there,

This is a very quick note to let you know that today Disney has allowed me to release the news that the 2014-2015 Disney Armed Forces Salute has been extended through late December!!!

While this has been in the works for a while I’ve had to keep quiet, but today I’m scrambling to get all of the updates and notifications done that I need to do.


I’m not going to take the time to type the details in this note. You can go to the links below to read all about the extension. But the extended timeframe does have an increase of the number of allowed tickets to 12!

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...isneys-armed-forces-salute-has-been-extended/

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Disney-Armed-Forces-Salute.html

http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Disneys-Armed-Forces-Salute-FAQ.html


Hoo Hoo, start planning that next trip,


Steve

 

[kaymil]

I'm soooo bummed the tickets only go through the 20th instead of the 21st like last year! Now we have to buy an additional ticket for that day So strange that the resort discount and ticket discount don't coincide!

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Disney's great offer for the military began on 28 September 2014 and runs through 20 December 2015 for tickets and 23 December for resort rooms.


Thanks, Steve and thanks Disney!! Had to change our dates by 2 days but it saved us a lot!

 

[crostorfer]

They increased the amount to 12??? That's fantastic! We've already used our 6 for 2015, last October and in March, so this means we can use another set over our long weekend this October!!!!!

 

[GatorMama]

Oh man! I want to extend my trip now!!

 

[roller99]

Can someone tell me if I want 5 or 6 day tickets, is it cheaper to purchase the military 4-day and a regular 1-2 day, or get a regular 6-day ticket?

 

[Steve TLT]

Lots of combos to try, you'll have to do the math for all options based on your desires (salute, MYW hopper, non-Hopper).

Salute 4-day Hopper or WPF&M = $177

Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way ticket prices at Shades (bases similar) - http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Tickets/Magic-Your-Way-Tickets.html

 

[roller99]

And another question:

Lots of combos to try, you'll have to do the math for all options based on your desires (salute, MYW hopper, non-Hopper).

Salute 4-day Hopper or WPF&M = $177

Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way ticket prices at Shades (bases similar) - http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Tickets/Magic-Your-Way-Tickets.html

Thank you!! I thought the salute 4-day hopper was the only military discount ticket, I didn't realize you could get other discounts. Looks like the regular military discount tickets will be the way to go in my case. Sounds like these have to be purchased in person at a military establishment? (Forgive all my questions, my dad is retired AF and is going with my family to Disney but I am doing the planning and purchasing.)

 

[Steve TLT]

No worries, just too hard for me to figure for you without knowing so many different preferences.

Yes, the Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets can only be purchased from military resellers (base ticket offices, Shades of Green, and the Orlando ITT).

Camp Pendleton will ship: http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...-military-discounted-disney-tickets-by-phone/

 

[roller99]

No worries, just too hard for me to figure for you without knowing so many different preferences.

Yes, the Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets can only be purchased from military resellers (base ticket offices, Shades of Green, and the Orlando ITT).

Camp Pendleton will ship: http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...-military-discounted-disney-tickets-by-phone/

Awesome! Will it be a problem if I call and order the tickets? What information of my dad's will I need to have to order?

 

[edk35]

??????? I thought that they ALWAYS started a new discount year starting on Oct. 1st?? SO what happens starting in Jan?????

 

[Ladyfish77]

Looks like the regular military discount tickets will be the way to go in my case.

Not sure how you are figuring out your costs. If the military 4-Day salute ticket is $177, then using two over six (or 5) days would be 177x2=$354. From the link that Steve supplied an adult hopper is $372 for 5 days and $382 for six days. It would be cheaper only if you aren't planning to hop at all. But since the salute ticket is a hopper ticket, comparing like tickets, then the salute tickets are a better deal even if you don't use the extra days.

Steve--thanks for keeping on top of this for us! I appreciate it and the fact that it is now 12 tickets rather than 6 makes it possible for a family larger than 3 to spend a week at the parks rather than just 4 days! Let Disney know that we appreciate their support of the military families!

 

[edk35]

Why an Extension and not a Renewal?
I’m really excited about this!

I’ve been waiting for a month to tell you all about this. I sat down with Disney in May to hear all the details and then had to wait until they allowed me to release the information to you.

As I mentioned above, the last two years there have been issues with resort discount availability in October through mid-November.

Last year a new issue presented itself, FastPass Plus.

The timing of the late July renewal announcement, mid-August ticket release date, and awful MWR ticket distribution system led to military guests being unable to make FastPass Plus reservations for the first half of October 2014, because they could not get their tickets in time to do so.

I’ve been telling Disney for years that something needed to be done, because the short time period between the announcement and renewal dates just didn’t work. I also pass on all of your issues and concerns!

Disney wants you to know that you have been heard!

The decision to renew each and every Salute offer requires numerous decision points at regularly scheduled meetings through Disney’s year. These meetings impact way more things within the company than just the Military Salute and as such have set dates.

Offering an extension with no new ticket stock needing to be distributed solves as best as possible the immediate October issues.

Disney wants you to know that, while not official yet they are hard at work on a 2016 Calendar Year Disney Armed Forces Salute.

Switching to a calendar year timeframe versus the Disney Fiscal Year timeframe that they had been using, moves the start date of any new Salutes that might be offered far enough from the decision points that the announcement can be made well in advance, thus eliminating the tight timelines that previously caused issues.

Blockout Dates
The Disney Armed Forces Salutes have always had blockout dates, these are dates during which you cannot use the room or ticket discounts.

While there are technically no blockout dates for this extension, you will see the Christmas blockout is already built in with the 20/23 December end dates.

I would expect a 2016 Disney Armed Forces Salute offer to begin either on 2 or 3 of January 2016 and to be announced in late summer 2015.

 

[roller99]

Not sure how you are figuring out your costs. If the military 4-Day salute ticket is $177, then using two over six (or 5) days would be 177x2=$354. From the link that Steve supplied an adult hopper is $372 for 5 days and $382 for six days. It would be cheaper only if you aren't planning to hop at all. But since the salute ticket is a hopper ticket, comparing like tickets, then the salute tickets are a better deal even if you don't use the extra days.

I wasn't even thinking of purchasing two 4-day tickets for each person, didn't realize i could do that! I was thinking one 4-day ticket per person plus a separate 1 or 2-day ticket. We will have 3 adults and 2 children, so to do that I would actually need 10 tickets which would be $1770. (There's not a children's rate for the salute tickets right?)

 

[fbb]

??????? I thought that they ALWAYS started a new discount year starting on Oct. 1st?? SO what happens starting in Jan?????

This is another canary in the coal mine for ticket changes in 2016.

 

[edk35]

This is another canary in the coal mine for ticket changes in 2016.

I hope they KEEP THE 12 TICKET OPTION

 

[Ladyfish77]

(There's not a children's rate for the salute tickets right?)

Right. One price for the Salute tickets. Yes you can use them consecutively. We never could before because we are a family of 4 and until now only allowed a total of 6 tickets per year!

Now I don't know whether you could activate them consecutively at the same time (ie go to guest services and have 2 consecutive tickets activated for one guest) or if you will just have to go to guest services on day one and again on day 5.

 

[roller99]

Right. One price for the Salute tickets. Yes you can use them consecutively. We never could before because we are a family of 4 and until now only allowed a total of 6 tickets per year!

Now I don't know whether you could activate them consecutively at the same time (ie go to guest services and have 2 consecutive tickets activated for one guest) or if you will just have to go to guest services on day one and again on day 5.

Thank you so much for the help! I think I will originally purchase one set of the Salute tickets in advance, and then if we need an additional day or two I can run over to Shades of Green and get some more. Then I will have a better idea of whether I should purchase an additional Salute ticket, or just a 1-day single park ticket.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

Just to clarify- if we have already used 3 tickets for the current 2014-2015 promo (that was supposed to end in October 2015) but are planning a trip in November, are we able to get 12 MORE tickets or just 9 (to equal the 12?)

 

[edk35]

Just to clarify- if we have already used 3 tickets for the current 2014-2015 promo (that was supposed to end in October 2015) but are planning a trip in November, are we able to get 12 MORE tickets or just 9 (to equal the 12?)

The way I read it is you can get 9 more.