Magic Bands and Military Tickets

[momimouse27]

Okay. I'm back, maybe this info will help someone else. You CAN buy the discounted military tickets at the Disney theme park ticket windows. The only difference is that there is tax on the tickets at the theme parks. .

 

[Sydney2977]

Sorry if this has already been answered, but I'm a little confused.

We have the green paper military salute "Exchange Certificates." We also got magic bands in the mail becuase we have a room reservation and dining linked on those. We are arriving on a Sun. afternoon but not going to do a park day till Mon.
BIG QUESTION: Can we go to a park or TTC when we arrive Sun. to "activate" the paper certificates and switch them out for real cards, or can we only do that the first day we plan to use them in the park?

The reason I ask is that I've been hearing a lot of conflicting info. on the fp+. I already linked our certificates and picked fp+ times for the four days we plan to be in parks. If I have to switch the certificates for cards and basically start over with fp+ I'd rather do this Sun. afternoon evening. I also figure it would save time Mon. morning if we already have real tickets in hand and can walk right into a park.

Thanks in advance for answers!

 

[momimouse27]

Sydney, if I'm not mistaken, I think you can do that. Anyone else?

 

[TeamH5]

Sydney, if I'm not mistaken, I think you can do that. Anyone else?

That's what we did. We bought our tickets about 3 weeks in advance, and activated them at GS at Animal Kingdom the day we went. We were told by the CM at Epcot we could activate them at any GS desk whichever park we started at.

It took all of 5 minutes for the 5 of us and we left with a collection of buttons for everything from 1st visit to Birthday boy to celebrating and everything in between!

 

[Sydney2977]

That's what we did. We bought our tickets about 3 weeks in advance, and activated them at GS at Animal Kingdom the day we went. We were told by the CM at Epcot we could activate them at any GS desk whichever park we started at.

It took all of 5 minutes for the 5 of us and we left with a collection of buttons for everything from 1st visit to Birthday boy to celebrating and everything in between!

So we don't have to use them the day we activate them right? We can wait till the next day to actually use the first day of the four day ticket?

 

[KerryCM]

So we don't have to use them the day we activate them right? We can wait till the next day to actually use the first day of the four day ticket?

That is right. We have used the salute tickets for the past 4 years on our family trips. We activate them at the International gateway, we stay at an Epcot resort, and then go into the parks the next day. We are doing this again in December. Once we have the tickets we can then do FP+.

 

[Sydney2977]

Thanks you three for the verification!!! Makes me feel much better and more relaxed now. I'm trying to plan ahead now so the whole trip will be smooth and stress-free. I don't know why I get worried before. Even with some hiccups we've had for trips (DH having ankle surgery right before & having to use an ecv, one of us getting sick here or there, DS's allergic reaction to something from F&W, etc.) we always have awesome trips. I mean, how can we not? We're at Disneyworld! But thanks again!

 

[TeamH5]

Does anyone know if we can combine FD with a RO discount?? Or would we have to forgo the military discount and take a package deal to get the FD? I'm looking at booking a trip around November 2014 to do the christmas party in Magic Kingdom, but obviously would like to use our military discount for room and tickets..

 

[Sydney2977]

Does anyone know if we can combine FD with a RO discount?? Or would we have to forgo the military discount and take a package deal to get the FD? I'm looking at booking a trip around November 2014 to do the christmas party in Magic Kingdom, but obviously would like to use our military discount for room and tickets..

If it is still the same for next year as it is now, then no- you can't get military discount on tickets and room and get free dining.
I originally booked our Nov. trip as RO with no discount back in Jan. Then when military room discounts came out I called back to change and get the ddp. The CM I spoke to first did confirm that you can't combine free dining with militray discount, but you can add on the ddp since you are getting your military discount tickets separate.
I ended up having to call back a second time because the original resort we wanted had no more rooms with military discount available, so I had priced some others and said I'd call back. The second CM I spoke to a few days later confirmed what the first had said.
For us it was better to get the RO discount and the tickets cheaper and pay full price for ddp, but price it out yourself to see. The CM's on the phone were very patient and did some figuring for me too. It will depend on where you chose to stay as well. There are different % off for different resorts.
Hope that helps!

 

[auralia]

Anyone confirm that linking the vouchers for FP+ works when you get your actual ticket at the window?

 

[cd0219]

I would like a confirmation of this too please. Right now I have the paper tickets that you must exchange for the real ticket. I have fast pass+ selections linked to the paper tickets and really hope that they will transfer when we activate the real tickets. If anyone has done this successfully, please let us know.

 

[auralia]

I spoke with disney today and the guy said he gives it a 90% chance they will NOT transfer but to try anyway. I'm out nothing if I try and should have no problems linking the new tickets according to him. I hope he's right and that one person can have 2 tickets linked to them.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

I was concerned that my already activated military tickets that I booked my fast passes on would all be gone once we got to the park and upgraded to season passes but it didn't! Everything was still linked even though our actual tickets changed, they just had to do something to sync it to our bands... Magic! I'm hoping it works like this again with our daughters because we are buying two military tickets and hoping to do all out fast passed ahead of time. Only thing is we stay on site so the magic bands are available for us with it without tickets.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[texascutie]

I am planning our military family reunion for June '14. We already have our rooms, DDP, and air booked for 12 days. We initially tried to get 10 day, w/hopper and water park features and were told our base could not order them. Called SOG and they said to get the Salute 10 day ticket as it was considerably less money and included everything. Great, except we can only get them when we arrive. From what I am hearing, we won't be able to get any fast pass+ times since we wont have our tickets to link and will be about 60 days behind everyone else making fast pass times. Help anybody? Do I have this right?

 

[auralia]

I am planning our military family reunion for June '14. We already have our rooms, DDP, and air booked for 12 days. We initially tried to get 10 day, w/hopper and water park features and were told our base could not order them. Called SOG and they said to get the Salute 10 day ticket as it was considerably less money and included everything. Great, except we can only get them when we arrive. From what I am hearing, we won't be able to get any fast pass+ times since we wont have our tickets to link and will be about 60 days behind everyone else making fast pass times. Help anybody? Do I have this right?

There is no 10 day salute ticket the salute tickets are only 4 days no exceptions.

 

[cd0219]

I am planning our military family reunion for June '14. We already have our rooms, DDP, and air booked for 12 days. We initially tried to get 10 day, w/hopper and water park features and were told our base could not order them. Called SOG and they said to get the Salute 10 day ticket as it was considerably less money and included everything. Great, except we can only get them when we arrive. From what I am hearing, we won't be able to get any fast pass+ times since we wont have our tickets to link and will be about 60 days behind everyone else making fast pass times. Help anybody? Do I have this right?

There is a 10 day ticket that is offered at a military discount although it's not the Salute ticket. But you are right about having to wait until you get your tickets to make your fast pass+ choices. I know someone who bought their tickets once they got to SOG and were able to make their fast pass+ choices without trouble. Not sure how things will be in June but hope it goes well for you.

 

[Wishes Count]

There is no 10 day salute ticket the salute tickets are only 4 days no exceptions.

There is a 10 day Stars and Stripes ticket, that can only be purchased at SOG.

 

[faylynn24]

There is a 10 day Stars and Stripes ticket, that can only be purchased at SOG.

I can confirm there is a 10 day ticket too we where offered it.

 

[texascutie]

So sorry, I meant to say the other Military tickets, Stars and Stripes that are available from 2 to 10 days, include the hopper and water parks and more, and expire one day after the days purchased. They are a real bargain! However, the issue of the Magic Bands and Fast Pass+ is still the issue as far as I see. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[texascutie]

There is a 10 day ticket that is offered at a military discount although it's not the Salute ticket. But you are right about having to wait until you get your tickets to make your fast pass+ choices. I know someone who bought their tickets once they got to SOG and were able to make their fast pass+ choices without trouble. Not sure how things will be in June but hope it goes well for you.

Thank you, thats it! I did pose the question to Steve at Military Disney Tip's, and he did confirm they are aware of this and will hopefully address the issue. That alone helps! Once everyone has 60 days to make Fast Pass+, I think it will be like trying to make ADR's on the day of arrival. Finger's crossed it gets resolved for all the Military tickets offered.