New Military Discounts update

[baloo's girl]

Free dining was never a part of the military discount. The only way to work in free dining is to have 2 separate packages/reservations.

I have a free dining package with tickets for 4 nights dining and 5 days of tickets. I also have an extra night hotel, using the military room only discount (for a separate reservation).

The only reason I did this, is because the hotel and dates I wanted were not available with the military discount. And we wanted more than 4 days of tickets.

When I compared prices, for my family and our needs (we like the dining plan), the Free Dining package and the Military Packages came out to be almost identical in cost.

 

[2ofUs]

For a family of 9 in a 2 bedroom villa, buying the DDP and 3 extra tickets (1 adult, 2 kids), plus cost of 6 passes from base, friends of mine saved $1300 with the military discount.

They previously had 2 bed villa w/savanna view at Kidani w/DDP (free with Pin code) and tickets for $8900. They had to give up the view to get the discount, but for them it was a better fit to have the extra $1300 to use for some extra meals/tours.

 

[POOHsie]

I had 3 nites room-only with AAA discount at Pop Century, then 8 nights with FD at ASMo. Today I changed each reservation to Military Dine. I had to cancel my Pop room-only resv and book a new package resv to get the Military Dine. Now the Pop resv is Military Dine QSDP, ASMo is Military Dine DDP. The 30% Military room discount beats the AAA discount, and it also beats FD because of the room discount and because you don't have to buy the 2-day base tickets. Even with adding 3 nites of QSDP, the total trip is less than I had booked originally. Thank goodness for the Military discounts. Every little bit helps.

 

[csw531]

Question for you all about the tickets.

We will be heading to the World in the Spring and using the discount for our hotel stay. However like many of you will be staying longer than 4 days. Have looked at the ticket pricing with the military discount and after adding the extra 3 days we need for our entire stay found it is cheaper to just go directly through Disney.

Came accross this FAQ about the tickets:

How many Armed Forces Salute Theme Park Tickets can I purchase?

"Eligible Service Members" may now purchase up to 6 of the Military Salute Tickets during the entire offer period.

Unaccompanied spouses may purcahse up to 5 of the Military Salute Tickets.

My Dad is the retired military person so he can purchase the 5 tickets we will need for our group but the 4 days are not enough. Can my mother also purchase tickets and we combine them all and use them for our entire trip or is that not allowed?

Just curious how you all handle your tickets when you do travel for more than the 4 days that the tickets currently allow.

Thanks for the help!!!!

 

[jce2]

Are you sure going directly thru disney is your cheapest/best method? At Shades of Green you can buy a 7 day (1 park) ticket for $281 (adult) / $264 (child). A Magic Your Way Stars & Stipes Option ticket (includes water parks and park hopper) at Shades of Green runs $338 (adult) or $322 (children). All the spreadsheeting I have done shows this is easily the cheapest route.

 

[csw531]

Are you sure going directly thru disney is your cheapest/best method? At Shades of Green you can buy a 7 day (1 park) ticket for $281 (adult) / $264 (child). A Magic Your Way Stars & Stipes Option ticket (includes water parks and park hopper) at Shades of Green runs $338 (adult) or $322 (children). All the spreadsheeting I have done shows this is easily the cheapest route.

I am pretty sure that it is $367 (adult park hopper no water park) for 7 days (2013 rate). Would love to get the water park addition though. Do you have to go to Shades of Green to get the tickets? We don't rent a car so that would be tough. No way would my Dad take a taxi there to pick up tickets. He is very type A and needs all in order before he gets on that plane!

Also have you looked into AAA ticket discounts and how it compares to Shades?

 

[jce2]

Alas, the only way (that I know of) to get those tickets is to buy them on-site at Shades of Green. If someone with a military ID felt industrious on your first day, they could ride Disney transportation over to the Polynesian. From there it is a short walk over to Shades of Green.

 

[csw531]

So how do most of you purchase your tickets if you are going for more than 4 days? SOG is most likely not an option for us so is it just Disney for us or maybe AAA?

Thanks for the help!

 

[my2princessgirls]

So how do most of you purchase your tickets if you are going for more than 4 days? SOG is most likely not an option for us so is it just Disney for us or maybe AAA?

Thanks for the help!

We always get ours from SOG, the tax savings alone usually makes it the best deal. Why is it not an option for you?

 

[Nomad70]

Alas, the only way (that I know of) to get those tickets is to buy them on-site at Shades of Green. If someone with a military ID felt industrious on your first day, they could ride Disney transportation over to the Polynesian. From there it is a short walk over to Shades of Green.

You can also go to the T&T center and take the shades of green bus over. We always purchase our tickets on post before we leave, but Shades is a good place as well. THere isn't much of a savings really, but then without taxes it can add up.

 

[crostorfer]

So how do most of you purchase your tickets if you are going for more than 4 days? SOG is most likely not an option for us so is it just Disney for us or maybe AAA?

Thanks for the help!

My ITT, pardon my French, SUCKS. I have never had anything but problems trying to get tickets through them. (Our ITT doesn't have tickets on hand, they have to send away from them.) As a result, I just started cutting them out of the picture completely and calling the ITT office at NAS Jacksonville myself and ordering through them. They fax me a form, I fill it out, they Fed Ex me my tickets. They are wonderful!

We go for a week, but we always just use the 4 day tickets. We take at least two days and do water parks. If you do that, you can use those 4 day tickets over 8 days.

 

[csw531]

My ITT, pardon my French, SUCKS. I have never had anything but problems trying to get tickets through them. (Our ITT doesn't have tickets on hand, they have to send away from them.) As a result, I just started cutting them out of the picture completely and calling the ITT office at NAS Jacksonville myself and ordering through them. They fax me a form, I fill it out, they Fed Ex me my tickets. They are wonderful!

We go for a week, but we always just use the 4 day tickets. We take at least two days and do water parks. If you do that, you can use those 4 day tickets over 8 days.

My DH suggested doing water parks for 2 days but we know that we will want to head to the parks for more than 4 days. Just not sure how to pay for the extra 2 or 3 days of park tickets we wil want.

 

[csw531]

We always get ours from SOG, the tax savings alone usually makes it the best deal. Why is it not an option for you?

In reality it is an option. In my father's mind it is not. He is the retired military person and we are heading down with my parents this trip so we plan on using the hotel discount and are looking into the ticket options. There are 4 adults and 2 children (one is under 3).

He is very type A, and needs to have all in order. The fact that his park tickets won't be on his keys to the world card is going to be hard for him. (or are they?)

We have explained the options but it just gets him more nervous about it every time we talk about it.

So, it will just be easier to have all organized before we head to DW so we can have a pleasant trip!

 

[crostorfer]

In reality it is an option. In my father's mind it is not. He is the retired military person and we are heading down with my parents this trip so we plan on using the hotel discount and are looking into the ticket options. There are 4 adults and 2 children (one is under 3).

He is very type A, and needs to have all in order. The fact that his park tickets won't be on his keys to the world card is going to be hard for him. (or are they?)

We have explained the options but it just gets him more nervous about it every time we talk about it.

So, it will just be easier to have all organized before we head to DW so we can have a pleasant trip!

At the ticket window you can take your military tickets and pull them off of your hard ticket and have them put on your KTTW card.

Really, there is nothing to the Shades ticket window. The only thing is that the wait can be very, very, very long there. Still, it will save you quite a bit of money, in tax alone, to purchase tickets there. We're talking $50 a person at least. If you are traveling with a small group that savings per person adds up.

I HATE going over to Shades of Green and standing in that line to forever, but for a deep discount, I will do it. I'm doing it for my Universal Studios tickets next weekend.

 

[baloo's girl]

We usually go in October. Last year, to give us an extra day in MK, we got the MNSSHP tickets. Not the cheapest route-but the kiddies wanted to go to the party. You can order these online. If you're going during party dates, this might be something for you to consider.

 

[csw531]

At the ticket window you can take your military tickets and pull them off of your hard ticket and have them put on your KTTW card.

Really, there is nothing to the Shades ticket window. The only thing is that the wait can be very, very, very long there. Still, it will save you quite a bit of money, in tax alone, to purchase tickets there. We're talking $50 a person at least. If you are traveling with a small group that savings per person adds up.

I HATE going over to Shades of Green and standing in that line to forever, but for a deep discount, I will do it. I'm doing it for my Universal Studios tickets next weekend.

Thank you for letting me know we can add them to the KTTW card. Can you do that at your hotel or just at one of the parks?

My DH would head over to SOG with my Dad in a heart beat to get the tickets. Just need to work on my Father a bit more. $50 a person is HUGE.

 

[crostorfer]

Thank you for letting me know we can add them to the KTTW card. Can you do that at your hotel or just at one of the parks?

My DH would head over to SOG with my Dad in a heart beat to get the tickets. Just need to work on my Father a bit more. $50 a person is HUGE.

That's a great question. I think it has to be done at the ticket window, but don't quote me on that. I always have to stop at the ticket window to activate my Military Salute tickets, so that is the only place I have done this.

 

[csw531]

That's a great question. I think it has to be done at the ticket window, but don't quote me on that. I always have to stop at the ticket window to activate my Military Salute tickets, so that is the only place I have done this.

Maybe I will make a call to one of the hotels to find out? Hopefully they will be helpful.

 

[csw531]

I have one more question and I thank you all in advance for your help.

I was taking a look at the Star and Stripes ticket prices and wondered if they were park hopper and/or water park tickets. I couldn't find that info.

Also saw they offer discounted Magic Your Way tickets but those are for folks not staying at SOG or a DW hotel right?

Thanks!!!!!!!!

 

[csw531]

Found my answer!

Stars and Stripes Tickets offer admission for the specified number of days to the Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, as well as Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Downtown Disney Pleasure Island, Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park, and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex (some events require an additional admission charge) with the freedom to visit multiple parks on the same day. (Some activities or events may be separately priced)

So hopper and water park are included! YAY!!!