Military tickets - what if plans change

[nicolem]

My dad, a retired Marine, ordered our tickets several months ago so we could book FP+ for our June trip. Unfortunately, he's had some medical issues in the past few weeks that have made it very hard for him to walk, and he's afraid that even with a scooter he won't be able to do much because he can't walk well from the scooter parking areas to the line (he's been many times before, once with a scooter, so he's aware of distances between scooter/stroller parking and rides). My mom is trying to talk him into cancelling the trip altogether. And now I'm in a panic, because we can't use the military tickets unless the person who purchased them for us goes with us the first time we use them!

What are are options here, if my dad decides not to go? Can we go to guest services and just pay the difference between military tickets and the regular price? Or will we have to buy new tickets? (Honestly, that's not even an option for us - I can't afford a whole new set of tickets for me, DH, and five kids).

 

[jmccoy18]

Can you move the trip back? The AFS tickets are good until December.

 

[nicolem]

I don't think so. Between the kids' schedules and DH already getting his vacation time approved (and the trip beginning in less than 2 weeks), and potentially losing the money we paid for our condo, we're pretty much stuck with it. And I'm not sure if/when my dad is going to recover at this point.

 

[jmccoy18]

Is there anyway your dad can go and activate the tickets? He doesn't have to enter the parks with you once they are activated. I'm sorry I'm not much more help.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Could he go but not ride the rides? I know that's not ideal, but I couldn't ride most things last trip (pregnant) and still had a great time.

 

[Accident]

My dad, a retired Marine, ordered our tickets several months ago so we could book FP+ for our June trip. Unfortunately, he's had some medical issues in the past few weeks that have made it very hard for him to walk, and he's afraid that even with a scooter he won't be able to do much because he can't walk well from the scooter parking areas to the line (he's been many times before, once with a scooter, so he's aware of distances between scooter/stroller parking and rides). My mom is trying to talk him into cancelling the trip altogether. And now I'm in a panic, because we can't use the military tickets unless the person who purchased them for us goes with us the first time we use them!

My daughter twisted an ankle in 2014 and most rides she stayed on it until the very last second and many she didn't need to get off. You may want to review the disabilities board on this forum to get more up to date information on what rides you need to get off the ecv and if so how far they are. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

What are are options here, if my dad decides not to go? Can we go to guest services and just pay the difference between military tickets and the regular price? Or will we have to buy new tickets? (Honestly, that's not even an option for us - I can't afford a whole new set of tickets for me, DH, and five kids).

Call disney and let them know what's going on. They are very fair and things happen. They may just let you use the tickets but if not, you can probably get them refunded so you can get new tickets.. who knows maybe there is a killer package deal right now and it actually comes out less.

 

[Nornster]

We've gone the past several years with my dad (retired Army) buying the Salute to Armed Forces tickets. He's disabled from a stroke, and normally walks slowly with a cane - the first year we rented him a scooter, but we were constantly nervous about him rear-ending pedestrians in the crowded parks, so after that we talked him into letting us rent him a wheelchair and wheel him around. (He does say that sitting in the wheelchair starts to hurt his butt after awhile.) Maybe your dad would agree to that? A lot of rides you can stay in the wheelchair throughout the line, instead of having to park the scooter a ways away. (Dad could get out of the wheelchair to load onto rides like It's a Small World or the Jungle Cruise but would skip rides with moving walkways like Haunted Mansion.) And he enjoyed watching my daughter go on the Grand Prix cars, or Dumbo, and there's still lots he could do - the parades (got FastPasses for those), shows in theaters, restaurants, even the Frontierland shooting arcade. He even just likes sitting back and watching the camel spit on people in Adventureland.

Other posters are right - he doesn't actually have to go with you when you go to the parks, as long as he accompanies you at first to activate the tickets - we did ours at the TTC (he can scooter right up to the ticket booths) and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Grand Floridian, which he loved. Or he can activate the tickets at downtown Disney. My dad gets tired more easily now, and only did two of the four park days with us, but with those Salute to the Armed Forces prices, you really can't beat the deal, even if not everyone utilizes all four days. We asked dad if he wanted to go with us on those two days, but he said he really didn't mind staying back at the resort - it was just fun for him to be with the whole family on the vacation, and we made a point of not leaving him alone all day (did a half-day at Hollywood Studios, left the Magic Kingdom for an afternoon break, planned one resort-only day).

If you haven't been to disneymilitarytips.com yet, they can probably answer your specific questions like if you can convert military discount tickets or get a refund - I suspect you can't, but the experts there would really know.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you! If your dad does decide to go, let him know that my dad always makes it a point to wear his "US Army" baseball cap to the parks and at resorts. Lots of people will stop and thank him for his service, other veterans will compare notes, and characters even "saluted" him from the Festival of Fantasy parade.

 

[wed100105]

Does your mom have a dependent card? She can activate the tickets if so. I'm sorry to hear about your dad's health and the stress it is adding to your trip.

 

[kellylfitz]

I have converted military salute tickets to regular tickets on multiple occasions because we always end up wanting more days than the salute tickets offer. Not all guest service cast members know how to do it so they might tell you no, but just go to another window or ask for a supervisor. I have probably done this on three occasions and have always been able to get it done. Or as mentioned above, if your mom is still going, she can activate the tickets as well (five at least since one needs to be used by the military member/retiree). Hope you're dad gets to feeling better.

 

[BeerMe]

I have converted military salute tickets to regular tickets on multiple occasions because we always end up wanting more days than the salute tickets offer. Not all guest service cast members know how to do it so they might tell you no, but just go to another window or ask for a supervisor. I have probably done this on three occasions and have always been able to get it done. Or as mentioned above, if your mom is still going, she can activate the tickets as well (five at least since one needs to be used by the military member/retiree). Hope you're dad gets to feeling better.

I didn't even know this could be done. Good information.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

My dad, a retired Marine, ordered our tickets several months ago so we could book FP+ for our June trip. Unfortunately, he's had some medical issues in the past few weeks that have made it very hard for him to walk, and he's afraid that even with a scooter he won't be able to do much because he can't walk well from the scooter parking areas to the line (he's been many times before, once with a scooter, so he's aware of distances between scooter/stroller parking and rides). My mom is trying to talk him into cancelling the trip altogether. And now I'm in a panic, because we can't use the military tickets unless the person who purchased them for us goes with us the first time we use them!

What are are options here, if my dad decides not to go? Can we go to guest services and just pay the difference between military tickets and the regular price? Or will we have to buy new tickets? (Honestly, that's not even an option for us - I can't afford a whole new set of tickets for me, DH, and five kids).

Where did he order them from? The Base ITT offices have vouchers and not the actual ticket that must be activated at GS. I believe Shades of Green are the only place to get an activated ticket, not a voucher. If your Mom is going and has An ID card she can activate them. http://www.militarydisneytips.com/b...isney-armed-forces-salute-theme-park-tickets/

Semper Fi to your Dad!

 

[sharonabe]

I didn't even know this could be done. Good information.

What the PP did with their tickets has no benefit at all. You cannot bridge the military tickets and get more days. Essentially, they paid the same for whatever ticket they ended up with as they would have had they not had the military tickets at all.

The information does help the OP, since they know they can use the tickets toward purchasing a ticket that can be used, but it won't save them any money.

They may just let you use the tickets but if not, you can probably get them refunded so you can get new tickets.. who knows maybe there is a killer package deal right now and it actually comes out less.

I love your optimism, but trust me, there is no better discount out there that will come out less. Disney is VERY generous with our U.S. Armed Services Personnel and we are VERY grateful for what they do for us.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

What the PP did with their tickets has no benefit at all. You cannot bridge the military tickets and get more days. Essentially, they paid the same for whatever ticket they ended up with as they would have had they not had the military tickets at all.

The information does help the OP, since they know they can use the tickets toward purchasing a ticket that can be used, but it won't save them any money.



I love your optimism, but trust me, there is no better discount out there that will come out less. Disney is VERY generous with our U.S. Armed Services Personnel and we are VERY grateful for what they do for us.

Yes and we are VERY grateful too. And the best place to get info on these tickets is http://www.militarydisneytips.com/

Steve has worked with Disney on these discounts and he is your best source.

 

[BeerMe]

The information does help the OP, since they know they can use the tickets toward purchasing a ticket that can be used, but it won't save them any money.

But they don't lose any money either. If you couldn't exchange the tickets you'd lose $200!

 

[kellylfitz]

What the PP did with their tickets has no benefit at all. You cannot bridge the military tickets and get more days. Essentially, they paid the same for whatever ticket they ended up with as they would have had they not had the military tickets at all.

The information does help the OP, since they know they can use the tickets toward purchasing a ticket that can be used, but it won't save them any money.



I love your optimism, but trust me, there is no better discount out there that will come out less. Disney is VERY generous with our U.S. Armed Services Personnel and we are VERY grateful for what they do for us.

Actually there is a small benefit because even though the tickets were purchased tax free, Disney applies the amount with tax towards the new tickets. Not a big benefit and not the reason I did it. I did it because we wanted more days in the parks and as you mention, you can't add days to military salute tickets.

 

[ellie05]

Op I hope you didn't buy more salute tickets that your dad is entitled to activate. It is a total of 6 a year and that included one for either him or the spouse that it is activating the tickets. That only gives your father 5 extra tickets and it seems you are a family of 7. It is about $198 (depends where the tickets were purchased) difference per ticket from the salute hopper to the the regular 4 day hopper.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Op I hope you didn't buy more salute tickets that your dad is entitled to activate. It is a total of 6 a year and that included one for either him or the spouse that it is activating the tickets. That only gives your father 5 extra tickets and it seems you are a family of 7. It is about $198 (depends where the tickets were purchased) difference per ticket from the salute hopper to the the regular 4 day hopper.

Exceptions can be made at the parks for immediate families larger than 6 people. I activated Salute tickets a couple months ago for an Air Force family with 9 children. Quite nice folks, very patient while I had a coordinator come over to make a note about the circumstance.

 

[ellie05]

Exceptions can be made at the parks for immediate families larger than 6 people. I activated Salute tickets a couple months ago for an Air Force family with 9 children. Quite nice folks, very patient while I had a coordinator come over to make a note about the circumstance.

Yes for immediate families that have more children, but since this is the grandparents and not parents that qualify for the offer I don't think they qualify. I thought this rule was specifically done for military families that have more than 4/5 children. Because if that was the case I could have bought my family of 16 salute tickets (grandparents, dad, half brother, etc). But we didnt because we knew that would be an abuse of the promotion.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Yes for immediate families that have more children, but since this is the grandparents and not parents that qualify for the offer I don't think they qualify. I thought this rule was specifically done for military families that have more than 4/5 children. Because if that was the case I could have bought my family of 16 salute tickets (grandparents, dad, half brother, etc). But we didnt because we knew that would be an abuse of the promotion.

You're right, I didn't read the OP's post closely enough - I just saw "me, DH, and five kids." I need another caffeine jolt this morning.

 

[SillySallySews]

First I would find out exactly what type of tickets your Dad purchased. With that many people it doesn't sound like he purchased salute tickets (the ones that are deeply discounted), since those have a limit of six per year unless you have a larger immediate family. Does he have actual hard tickets? Or vouchers that have yet to be activated? I hope you are able to get things straightened out, and hoping for a speedy recovery for your Dad!