Military ticket experiences--please post here!

[rjthkids]

Has anyone had experience traveling without their AD military member and using the tickets?

My husband is not traveling with us. I have been assured repeatedly that I can activate the tickets as the spouse, but I'm nervous for some reason. I'd feel better hearing from someone who has traveled without their spouse and done it without issue!

 

[live4christp1]

Can someone please provide hours of operation for activation at the DTD location? Also exactly where in DTD am I going to do this?

Thanks!
Cristy

 

[gt1562b]

I'm glad to hear that there was no hassle using the tickets after the initial activation.

Really looking forward to getting down there in 5 days.

 

[becca_n_wa]

Can someone please provide hours of operation for activation at the DTD location? Also exactly where in DTD am I going to do this?

Thanks!
Cristy

We activated ours at the Disney Quest ticket booth
Not sure about the ticket hours but DQ is open 11:30am - till 10:00 or 11:00 (depends on day)

 

[CSJLJJK7]

Cristy,
There is also a location in the Marketplace, it is kind of hard to describe where it is, just ask any CM and they can show you. Unsure of the hours. Good Luck,

Scott

 

[live4christp1]

We activated ours at the Disney Quest ticket booth
Not sure about the ticket hours but DQ is open 11:30am - till 10:00 or 11:00 (depends on day)

Thanks! Did you have to go in Disney Quest at all or can you just activate the tickets there?

 

[CSJLJJK7]

No we just activated there. It was really quick and painless.

Scott

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Has anyone had experience traveling without their AD military member and using the tickets?

My husband is not traveling with us. I have been assured repeatedly that I can activate the tickets as the spouse, but I'm nervous for some reason. I'd feel better hearing from someone who has traveled without their spouse and done it without issue!

If you are the spouse and thus have an active Military ID, you will be able to activate the tickets just fine. The only thing you won't be able to do is get the FREE Military member pass.

Have fun and don't worry!

 

[buffettgirl]

Has anyone had experience traveling without their AD military member and using the tickets?

My husband is not traveling with us. I have been assured repeatedly that I can activate the tickets as the spouse, but I'm nervous for some reason. I'd feel better hearing from someone who has traveled without their spouse and done it without issue!

If you are the spouse and thus have an active Military ID, you will be able to activate the tickets just fine. The only thing you won't be able to do is get the FREE Military member pass.

Have fun and don't worry!

agreed. All along, the official documentation from disney has always said that spouses can activate as long as they have ID. that's never been in question. enjoy.

 

[southie722]

We arrived on 3/4 as a party of 6. We were staying at All Star Music. My father is the military guy so he and I took a cab to Shades of Green where we got the tickets. 1 complimentary, 5 companion, upgraded to park hopper. My dad showed his military id and they didn't ask where everyone else was nor asked for my id.
The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and we had to go to Guest Relations to have the cards activated. Again, just myself and my dad went to guest relations, while everyone else was sitting on a bench waiting. My dad gave them all 6 cards, along with his military id and we were activated. Then we could do as we wanted. A few days my dad stayed back at the hotel and we had no problem getting into the parks.

 

[llqool]

thanks for the info, southie722! You have answered many of the questions I have had about this promotion. I have emailed/called SOG, emailed/called WDW and never gotten a straight answer. In fact, I just received my third "canned" email from Disney giving me the same exact information that is on the website (even though I included their previous replies in the body of the email). So frustrating!

Not trying to mis-use this great offer, but since the companion tickets *are* $100 each, I don't want to plop down $500 just to find out they can't be used.

I have a follow-on question: what exactly does "activation" mean? Is it that the cards are now able to be used as valid passes, or do they "take" one day off as they activate it? In other words, could we activate companion tickets and not use them and then come back a few months later and still have 5 days remaining? Our problem is that we have two different groups of relatives that we want to use companion tickets for (since we have annual passes already), and they are not traveling at the same time -- some will travel in May, others in the fall.

 

[southie722]

Activation just means that they are now ready to be used. It doesn't take away a day until you insert your card and enter the park through the turnstyle

 

[JoanneNC]

We arrived on 3/4 as a party of 6. We were staying at All Star Music. My father is the military guy so he and I took a cab to Shades of Green where we got the tickets. 1 complimentary, 5 companion, upgraded to park hopper. My dad showed his military id and they didn't ask where everyone else was nor asked for my id.
The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and we had to go to Guest Relations to have the cards activated. Again, just myself and my dad went to guest relations, while everyone else was sitting on a bench waiting. My dad gave them all 6 cards, along with his military id and we were activated. Then we could do as we wanted. A few days my dad stayed back at the hotel and we had no problem getting into the parks.

Thanks for the recap - this is very helpful.

 

[appleorchard]

Keep the real life experiences coming, people! I'm debating about getting an AP for me (so we can purchase the TIW card) for our May trip with my mom and sister and using one of the companion tickets for one of our kids when we go with them in December. Because they're getting there two days before us, we had decided to use the military tickets in May(extra trip, yay!) But I'm having a hard time giving up the TIW discount!

 

[Order66]

We haven't gone on our trip yet, but here's my experience to add and perhaps help someone else out.

We ordered our vouchers back when this offer first came out. The other day my husband told me to ask my mother to come along if she'd like. I called the ITT to see if I could purchase another voucher. They couldn't have cared less that we purchased 4 of them in 2 seperate transactions.

So if anyone has purchased less than 5 and wants to buy more, it's possible.

regards

 

[JoanneNC]

We haven't gone on our trip yet, but here's my experience to add and perhaps help someone else out.

We ordered our vouchers back when this offer first came out. The other day my husband told me to ask my mother to come along if she'd like. I called the ITT to see if I could purchase another voucher. They couldn't have cared less that we purchased 4 of them in 2 seperate transactions.

So if anyone has purchased less than 5 and wants to buy more, it's possible.

regards

What you did is fine - what you can't do is take 3 vouchers to Disney - activate them and then return months later to buy 2 more. ALL of the allowed 5 companion tickets MUST be activated at once but not used at all once

 

[Order66]

Actually the "rules" state the companion tickets must be made in one purchase and that the service member or spouse can buy them but not both. We did. So we all know how well the "rules" are being followed day to day CM to CM right? Basically the ITR doesn't care when, how or who buys them. I totally understand that the activation must be done at one time and at the park and I'm sure Disney will not sell them twice having recorded you've already been there.

So just putting it out there in case anyone else was in the same boat of having a last minute addition to their trip and thought they were out of luck to purchase another voucher, before activing any of course.

regards

 

[Cruella 66]

I haven't read the whole thread but I'll post my experience today here:

We bought our tickets for our June trip today. We live in the Norfolk area and they are running out of the tickets ALL the time!

Anyway, we bought 4 companion tickets and it only came to $387. I thought the companion tickets were $99 each (plus tax if you bought them off base) but we were only charged $96.75 a ticket. Does anyone know why??? I'm not complaining just want to know if this is what everyone else in paying.

 

[LadyZolt]

Anyway, we bought 4 companion tickets and it only came to $387. I thought the companion tickets were $99 each (plus tax if you bought them off base) but we were only charged $96.75 a ticket. Does anyone know why??? I'm not complaining just want to know if this is what everyone else in paying.

As the Disney World site says with regard to the military promotion, "Actual prices may be less." Glad to hear that this line is true in some places!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[Cruella 66]

Yeah, surprise for me! Thank you for posting to both threads. I am still wondering if everyone is actually paying the $99 or if they are also getting to 'pay less'???