Military $99 5-Day Tickets

[Shan-man]

I posted this in another forum, but got no hits. I know we have military folks around here so thought I'd ask here too. Apologies for the double-post.

My parents are at Disney now and they just got Dad's free ticket and Mom's $99 ticket. The agent at SoG is telling them that they can buy another pair of $99 tickets for me and my wife to use when we come for Christmas with Mom. But, I am reading in various places that the serviceman must be with us when our tickets are first used, or 'activated'. Is that true? If so it will not work for us since we plan to arrive several days before Mom (who has military ID) and Dad won't be there at all that trip. I didn't see anything about activating the tickets in the rules posted on MouseSavers, but it does say military ID may be required for admission. I'm real nervous I may drop a couple hundred on tickets that I can't use. Has anybody done this?

TIA

 

[devores]

The service member MUST be present when the tickets are activated. You also must be present when they activate the tickets as well. There has been several differing opinions, and there has been people who were bitten in the rear end by not following the rules.

The rules state that all party members must be present and the military member must show ID when activating the tickets for the first time. After that initial activation, you can come and go as you please.

 

[Shan-man]

And I suppose this 'activation' is when they mate your biometric data to the ticket? So my parents can't 'activate' the tickets now and we use them later? And a military spouse cannot activate them either, it has to be the serviceman? Sorry for all the questions, just want to be sure.

 

[devores]

The spouse can activate them, but all tickets have to be activated at the same time and all ticket holders have to be present. You are correct, the activation is when they embed your info onto the card.

The activation can take place at anytime. It doesnt have to be the same day you goto the parks. So if there is another time all of you can get together to activate them, then you could do that then you can goto the parks whenever you want.

 

[ntsammy5]

There have been reports of people activating tickets without others being present, but it's kind of ify

 

[Shan-man]

Well, if Mom can activate them we might be able to make this work. We would just have to arrive closer to the same time and then have our alone part of the vacation afterward. Thanks y'all for the help.

 

[medic9016]

I thought I read that special is for active duty only.

 

[devores]

It is for active duty, guard, reserve, and retired.

 

[devores]

Well, if Mom can activate them we might be able to make this work. We would just have to arrive closer to the same time and then have our alone part of the vacation afterward. Thanks y'all for the help.

If your mom has a spouses ID card, then yes, she can activate them.

I would suggest this. Change your dates to arrive the same time at the park and then have the remaining time afterwards. I would not want you take the chance of her being able to activate them all and then loose out on the money because she couldnt.

Also, the tickets do not expire like a normal WDW ticket, BUT they must be used by 23 Dec 2009. After that date, they cannot be used anymore and any unused days are lost. So if your planning to go around the holidays (Dec timeframe) keep this in mind.

They can also be upgraded to park hoppers and water park fun and more for a mild fee. If this is something youd like, ask your mom to be sure to get that option added to your tickets.

 

[BigDaddyRog]

I am lucky enough to have been offered this discount by some very cool people who have served this country, and its my understanding that I have to be present WITH them when we pick the tickets up(I assume this is when they get activated) I dont THINK my wife & kids have to be there(though they probably will be with us just for the ride).So It sounds like the info that Devores is giving is correct.

 

[devores]

I am lucky enough to have been offered this discount by some very cool people who have served this country, and its my understanding that I have to be present WITH them when we pick the tickets up(I assume this is when they get activated) I dont THINK my wife & kids have to be there(though they probably will be with us just for the ride).So It sounds like the info that Devores is giving is correct.

Your wife and kids will all need to be present. When they activate the tickets, they do the fingerscans and embed thier info (name, address, birth date, etc) onto the card (or whatever they do-link it to the database??). The rules do state all ticket holders have to be present when activating the tickets. And just for clarification, picking up the tickets and activating them are 2 different actions. The tickets can be purcahsed from a number of different locations (military base, SOG, WDW ticketing) but can only be activated at a WDW customer service window. Any park and DTD CS can activate them, but it has to be at WDW. The military member can purchase the tickets alone, but must have all ticket holders present to activate them. Not to mention they all have to be activated at the same time. You cannot activate 2 on one day then 3 on another.

Once activated, they are regular tickets and can be used anytime, military member does not need to be present each time you enter the parks.

 

[ntsammy5]

and its my understanding that I have to be present WITH them when we pick the tickets up(I assume this is when they get activated)

I'm doing this in a couple of weeks Rog. The only place you can activate them is at guest Services at the Parks or DTD. There are a couple of threads around that talk about this and the reviews are mixed - sometimes the CMs let you activate them with people not present - other times not. That's why I'm not getting them at SoG and paying the taxes at DTD because I want to get them for a couple of people who won't be with us.

If I buy them all at SoG and can't activate some of them, then we can't get a refund, if I buy them at Guest Services I won't buy them if I can't activate them. I'll let you know how I make out.

Once activated, the service member doesn't have to be with you - and they don't expire in 14 days like normal WDW tickets - but they do expire 12/23/09.

Base Tickets are $99 and it's $25 more for PH and $25 for WP&M.


ETA: How's Gina doing?

 

[Shan-man]

Devores, thanks so much for your help both here and via PM... and for your service as well. BTW, my Christmas trip is from Nov 28-Dec 17, so we just make it under the cutoff... I'm pretty busy that next week! LOL

Well, Mom bought us the tickets. She says she spelled out the scenario in painstaking detail to the ticket agent at Shades of Green and was assured repeatedly that this will work. She bought the tickets and had them activated right then and there... with me 10 hours away (!), and claims that I can now use the ticket without accompaniment. I sure hope this is right. It would seem to best protect Disney's interests to require the cards to be activated, have the biometric data linked to the tickets, and have the military ID present all at the same time. Allowing it to be done like Mom just did, these tickets could just as easily end up on eBay as in my pocket. I don't know, but I'm hoping the gal at SoG ticketing knows her stuff... if anybody would know about military discount programs, I'd expect it to be them.

 

[mrsscooter]

Maybe I can get some first hand info for you. We live right by the Navy base and they have an ITT office that you can buy tickets just like you would to use at Disney, so I will see if they are open Saturday and if not, I will go on Monday. We are going with some friends that are having thier brother who is a Marine buy the tickets for them, but will not be going down with them, so I hope that you can activate them at the base. Wish me luck!

 

[seabee]

I have just returned from the base today. This is straight from the MWR/ITT office.... The military member or dependant spouse(with ID) MUST be present when activating the tickets. All parties MUST be present when activating the tickets, which means, every person who will be using them(child or adult). In order to activate them, you must go to the customer service window where they will take the tickets you have, and print new ones with each person's name on it. Then the tickets will be good to go. You can come and go as you please, you don't need the military member with you to enter the parks.

Shan,I might be reading your last post wrong, but from what I got, your mother says she got the tickets activated at SOG. I don't understand how your mother had your tickets activated at SOG, they can't do it there. You may want to do some questioning there, it's possible that the SOG rep. meant that she could go and activate yours at a later date, OR they misunderstood what she was telling them. We have purchased annuals from SOG, and the same thing applies, you have to take your ticket to customer service at the parks or DTD and have them reprint an activated ticket with your name on it. SOG can't do it.

Just trying to give insight into a question that has proven to produce A LOT of confusion on serveral boards.

 

[KingBee]

"Disney's Armed Forces Salute" tickets can be obtained only at participating U.S. military base ticket offices (including at the Shades of Green Resort at the Walt Disney World® Resort), or at main entrance theme park ticket windows. Tickets are not valid until activated at the main entrance theme park ticket windows. Valid military identification (including, for activated members of the National Guard or Reservists, orders showing active status after January 1, 2008) will be required to be presented by the service member (or dependent spouse with I.D.) for all ticket transactions (including to activate tickets at the main entrance theme park ticket windows). All parties must be present when purchasing or activating tickets at main entrance theme park ticket windows.

 

[Shan-man]

I have just returned from the base today. This is straight from the MWR/ITT office.... The military member or dependant spouse(with ID) MUST be present when activating the tickets. All parties MUST be present when activating the tickets, which means, every person who will be using them(child or adult). In order to activate them, you must go to the customer service window where they will take the tickets you have, and print new ones with each person's name on it. Then the tickets will be good to go. You can come and go as you please, you don't need the military member with you to enter the parks.

Shan,I might be reading your last post wrong, but from what I got, your mother says she got the tickets activated at SOG. I don't understand how your mother had your tickets activated at SOG, they can't do it there. You may want to do some questioning there, it's possible that the SOG rep. meant that she could go and activate yours at a later date, OR they misunderstood what she was telling them. We have purchased annuals from SOG, and the same thing applies, you have to take your ticket to customer service at the parks or DTD and have them reprint an activated ticket with your name on it. SOG can't do it.

Just trying to give insight into a question that has proven to produce A LOT of confusion on serveral boards.

Thanks so much for your research on this Nic. Are you talking about the $99 companion tickets specifically? Because it sounds more like an annual pass to me. I have bought multi-day tickets at Shades of Green before and what they hand you IS the ticket, not a voucher that has to be exchanged at GS. It doesn't have your name on it either. I'm not saying this ticket deal is like regular multi-day tickets, but that's what I've encountered in the past. I'll have to ask Mom if she had to go to GS before using her ticket the first time, since her ticket will be the same as the ones she bought me. I'll keep y'all posted.

Thanks Again,

 

[ntsammy5]

What Jim & Nicole posted is correct -you can ONLY get the tickets activated at Guest Services at the parks/DTD. In that regard it is essentially a voucher until it's activated. It does have the person's name on it too. It's put on at activation I think. I'll know for sure in a few days though.

 

[Shan-man]

Ok, just got off the phone with Mom. She says that she did have to take her ticket to the Guest Services window and show military ID to get her ticket activated... (at this point a shudder travels all the way to my toes) and, she did the same thing with our tickets and had them activated for us, with our names on them! Whew! So, according to SoG and GS our tickets are ready to use without accompaniment. Now, Mom is quite an eye-batting, sweet-taking finagler, so I think it might be a challenge to do the same without these "super-powers", but in this case it seems to have worked. We'll know for sure in late Nov. I guess!

An interesting aside: the biometric data is not encoded on your ticket, but stored in a Disney database and merely linked to your ticket upon first use.

 

[ntsammy5]

she did the same thing with our tickets and had them activated for us, with our names on them!

That's really good to know - I wanna get some for friends who won't be with us. Sounds like you're good to go.