Military resort room discounts for October

[rontu78]

I am helping a friend plan her first trip to WDW with her family. Her husband is a retired veteran, so they are eligible for the military salute tickets and also a significant discount on their resort rooms ... but she told me she called Disney and was told NO rooms are available at any value resort for October using that discount. Is this information correct?

From what she told me, the cast member sounded confused. I'm wondering if she needed to give a certain code or other information? She asked for the Military Salute room only discount and then added the dining plan and Halloween party tickets. They know they can't get the discounted military ticket discounts for the Oct. 6 party but are doing it anyway. The room discount made a big difference for her party, though, especially since they have two rooms.

 

[DLgal]

The military discounts are really very limited. They are not available at all resorts all the time. They put a set number of rooms eligible for the discount, and when they are booked, they disappear.

In order to really take advantage of this particular discount, you have to be very flexible AND often book as soon as the discount is released. October is extremely popular, so it is not surprising that there was no availability.

I am taking a solo trip in Nov and I called last weekend and the only options I had with the discount were All Star Sports, Coronado Springs (king room business class) or Animal Kingdom Kidani Studio room, none of which I wanted. I booked the Dolphin instead.

Has your friend tried Shades of Green?

 

[rontu78]

Thank you for the response! They weren't interested in Shades of Green because they intend to use the dining plan and eat quite a few character meals. (They were also shocked they couldn't get a "princess" meal for October in June.)

 

[margot31]

Sometimes you have to call often. When I went last year I had one resort booked under military and it was my back up if I couldn't get my dream resort. I called every so often and was finally able to go in. This was for a Dec trip.

 

[jhoannam]

Tell her to keep trying... I would check online to see what availability they had, when I saw that they had several discounted rooms at CSR (3 different classes) I called and sure enough they military rates available. Another tip would be to play with the dates, there was nothing available for 6 nights, but they did have rooms for 5 nights, so I have 2 reservations. One with the military discount for 5 nights and a one night with a fall discount rate.

 

[mommyrosa2]

Thank you for the response! They weren't interested in Shades of Green because they intend to use the dining plan and eat quite a few character meals. (They were also shocked they couldn't get a "princess" meal for October in June.)

Just as another PP mentioned, October has become an extremely busy month and since they only allot so many rooms for each discount, those rooms go pretty quickly if folks don't book as soon those discounts come out. Same applies when it comes to making reservations for the more popular dining venues. Most of the "harder to get" reservations must be booked 180 days in advance but that's not to say people won't cancel.

As been suggested, have them keep looking and checking daily for cancellations...many folks have gotten lucky, myself included. Good Luck!

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

In order to get the discount you have to very flexible with dates and time. The past 2 years I have had to change dates in order to get the discount as the limited number of rooms were booked. This year I had to change dates from Oct. to Nov. Keep checking and Good Luck!

 

[MDarling]

Things must open up for military frequently! 2 years ago we made an end of July trip VERY last minute. We were saving for Disney while my husband was deployed. He injured his shoulder and came back about 3 months early and we decided to plan a trip for that same month - we called Disney the first week of July asking for a military discounted room from July 27-August 2 and were very easily able to get one. So keep trying!