Question about military discount/SOG Stars and Stripes tickets

[Momtwofour]

We are looking at planning a trip to stay on property June 2107. I know the current discount offer for military expires Dec 2016. And after contacting SOG about tickets, they said the Stars and Stripes tickets expire then also. However we cant squeeze a trip in before this date.
Anyone have an opinion on if they think they will renew this promotion? I know they have in prior years.
And I am guessing that tickets purchased from SOG must be uses by the expiration date??

 

[brinkley07]

There is an expiration date for all Military Salute tickets which is in Dec of this year, and tickets must be used by that date(I think it's Dec 19). I would hope they would continue with the discount, but with all of the nickel and diming they are currently doing I wouldn't be surprised if they change the discount program. Even if they discontinue the Military salute ticket the MWR always has some type of discounted military ticket. This year we just bought a standard 7 day ticket with military discount because it more cost effective for the number of days we needed. Good luck!!!

 

[marydis]

They will likely have a discounted ticket again…. they have been doing it for quite a few years now… It was up a bit this year.. ( 4 day park hopper for 196) .. you can purchase a limited number of these….. I think 6 in a year.. and the Military Salute ticket has been around for a long time.. I would plan your trip and count on some form of a discounted ticket.. If you have never stayed before at SOG.. You will love it.. it is a beautiful resort and it really is a great location! I have stayed there many times… although now I am a bit spoiled and prefer the deluxe WDW resorts… they tend to have great military discounted rates for rooms too.

 

[Momtwofour]

They will likely have a discounted ticket again…. they have been doing it for quite a few years now… It was up a bit this year.. ( 4 day park hopper for 196) .. you can purchase a limited number of these….. I think 6 in a year.. and the Military Salute ticket has been around for a long time.. I would plan your trip and count on some form of a discounted ticket.. If you have never stayed before at SOG.. You will love it.. it is a beautiful resort and it really is a great location! I have stayed there many times… although now I am a bit spoiled and prefer the deluxe WDW resorts… they tend to have great military discounted rates for rooms too.

We plan to stay at a Disney resort. I am looking at Port Orleans Riverside. I am crossing my fingers they extend both the tickets and the WDW military rates My son has his heart set on taking his daughter for her 5th birthday. He is medically retired from the army so his income is limited. I did contact Disney and they said if we book and the discount is extended they will apply it.
I love that they offer such great deals for those that serve/have served

 

[marydis]

We plan to stay at a Disney resort. I am looking at Port Orleans Riverside. I am crossing my fingers they extend both the tickets and the WDW military rates My son has his heart set on taking his daughter for her 5th birthday. He is medically retired from the army so his income is limited. I did contact Disney and they said if we book and the discount is extended they will apply it.
I love that they offer such great deals for those that serve/have served

I have stayed at the POR.. It is nice.. Your son is eligible to stay at the SOG as a DVA.. btw.. ( and THANK YOU to him for his service and sacrifice!! ) The military discount at Disney resorts is quite good as well! I am sure that the discount for the tickets will still be there… I think they announce it in Sept…

 

[margot31]

militarydisneytips.com is a great website to use for military. He keeps things very updated as much as possible.

 

[Momtwofour]

I have stayed at the POR.. It is nice.. Your son is eligible to stay at the SOG as a DVA.. btw.. ( and THANK YOU to him for his service and sacrifice!! ) The military discount at Disney resorts is quite good as well! I am sure that the discount for the tickets will still be there… I think they announce it in Sept…

We stayed at POR a few years ago and I loved it!! I love that it doesnt feel like a hotel and the buildings are all just 2 floors.
He really wants to stay on property to use the dining plan. I have heard wonderful things about SOG and they were very helpful last year when we ordered our tickets.

 

[Momtwofour]

militarydisneytips.com is a great website to use for military. He keeps things very updated as much as possible.

Thank you!! I will bookmark this site!

 

[kengquist]

militarydisneytips.com is a great website to use for military. He keeps things very updated as much as possible.

Awesome! Thanks for the link

 

[sscott87]

Renews every year and will be shocked the year it doesn't (though at this rate with new and increased costs...). Our first trip was 2010 and we purchased the military tickets then, though they were only 3-day park hopper tickets for around $150. So with that said, there's a chance they are slightly different in price and even a slim chance they change to different number of days or whatever, but they'll renew and be available in some similar (or identical) form.

 

[Lynne G]

I bought the stars and stripes this year for my trip in October. I could have bought 2 salutes to use back to back, but then I couldn't do fast passes 60 days out for the 8 days. Plus, I needed only 7, and there was no way I could use the last day before it expired. I also looked at discounted (well, generally the discount of no tax), and for me, the cost of the stars and stripes ticket was the right choice. I'm staying at FQ. Yes, I think SOG offers this kind of ticket all the time. It's a cross between a regular ticket and the military salute one. With the stars and stripes, it's good for the water parks and hopping, but not the mini golf, like a water fun and more addition to a ticket. It's also limited to the number of days you are staying at SOG or another Disney resort. You need to show them 1, your identification that you can buy the ticket, and 2, your reservation number and where you are staying.

I found the ticket office at SOG easy to deal with, but sometimes slow, as they usually have a line.

 

[Amanda Hall]

I bought the stars and stripes this year for my trip in October. I could have bought 2 salutes to use back to back, but then I couldn't do fast passes 60 days out for the 8 days. Plus, I needed only 7, and there was no way I could use the last day before it expired. I also looked at discounted (well, generally the discount of no tax), and for me, the cost of the stars and stripes ticket was the right choice. I'm staying at FQ. Yes, I think SOG offers this kind of ticket all the time. It's a cross between a regular ticket and the military salute one. With the stars and stripes, it's good for the water parks and hopping, but not the mini golf, like a water fun and more addition to a ticket. It's also limited to the number of days you are staying at SOG or another Disney resort. You need to show them 1, your identification that you can buy the ticket, and 2, your reservation number and where you are staying.

I found the ticket office at SOG easy to deal with, but sometimes slow, as they usually have a line.

Why could you not book FP 60 days out? As long as both tickets are linked wouldn't it work? We have only used 1 salute at a time.

 

[Lynne G]

Why could you not book FP 60 days out? As long as both tickets are linked wouldn't it work? We have only used 1 salute at a time.

because we could only enter 1 salute ticket at a time. So, we did get 60 days for the first 4, then after we used them all, did fast passes for the next 4 days when we activated them. That's why this time, I bought the stars and stripes. While a little more in price, and needing only 7 days, I get to use 60 days for all 7 days. But it is very nice of Disney to let us use the salutes back to back. Have done it both at DL and WDW.

 

[Amanda Hall]

because we could only enter 1 salute ticket at a time. So, we did get 60 days for the first 4, then after we used them all, did fast passes for the next 4 days when we activated them. That's why this time, I bought the stars and stripes. While a little more in price, and needing only 7 days, I get to use 60 days for all 7 days. But it is very nice of Disney to let us use the salutes back to back. Have done it both at DL and WDW.

Good to know in case we need to stay longer!

 

[TeamH5]

We stayed at POR a few years ago and I loved it!! I love that it doesnt feel like a hotel and the buildings are all just 2 floors.
He really wants to stay on property to use the dining plan. I have heard wonderful things about SOG and they were very helpful last year when we ordered our tickets.

Just food for thought. I'm planning our family trip for this December, during Free dining plan. We've already booked SOG at $100/night(which I believe he is eligible as tier 1 as well being disabled) I asked a Travel agent to price out an onsite resort to see what it would be, so we could use the DDP. First thing to remember is that you can't use the SALUTE tickets if you get a Pkg that includes the DDP. So you'd have to pay extra for the DP if you use any type of military discount, even for the room. The resort she quoted happened to be POR, and below is the breakdown:

SOG: $100/night x 7 nights=$700. No taxes.

POR w/o DP: $1261(for 7 nights in a room for 6 people)

POR w/ DP: $2574 (2 adults, 3 kids on DP)

The room included the military discount, no tix as we'd still have to get SALUTE tix. She wouldn't even give me a quote if we did the whole pkg no discount (so face value resort and tix to get the free DDP) because she said it was not cost effective at all.

So for $700 for a week's stay at SOG, $200 each for park tix ($4-600 for them depending if he's married), and, for the 2 or 3 of them, $1,000 would be more then plenty for food. You're looking at $2300 for 3 people, and that's staying for 7 nights. We're extending our time by going to Sea World one day (free for military and should be for him), spending a day at DS, and purchasing tix to MVMCP for another day.

Point being, if he's limited on funds but wants to take his daughter, staying at SOG, using SALUTE tix and paying full price for food will be cheaper than staying on property (and SOG is considered on property for some things like EMH) and using the DP. And that's taking into consideration price of Character meals too. We're also doing things a bit cheaper by eating breakfast at SOG every day ($5.99 and $9.99 respectively children/adults). Other than that, we will eat when/where we want and STILL make out cheaper than using the DP and staying on property.

 

[Momtwofour]

Just food for thought. I'm planning our family trip for this December, during Free dining plan. We've already booked SOG at $100/night(which I believe he is eligible as tier 1 as well being disabled) I asked a Travel agent to price out an onsite resort to see what it would be, so we could use the DDP. First thing to remember is that you can't use the SALUTE tickets if you get a Pkg that includes the DDP. So you'd have to pay extra for the DP if you use any type of military discount, even for the room. The resort she quoted happened to be POR, and below is the breakdown:

SOG: $100/night x 7 nights=$700. No taxes.

POR w/o DP: $1261(for 7 nights in a room for 6 people)

POR w/ DP: $2574 (2 adults, 3 kids on DP)

The room included the military discount, no tix as we'd still have to get SALUTE tix. She wouldn't even give me a quote if we did the whole pkg no discount (so face value resort and tix to get the free DDP) because she said it was not cost effective at all.

So for $700 for a week's stay at SOG, $200 each for park tix ($4-600 for them depending if he's married), and, for the 2 or 3 of them, $1,000 would be more then plenty for food. You're looking at $2300 for 3 people, and that's staying for 7 nights. We're extending our time by going to Sea World one day (free for military and should be for him), spending a day at DS, and purchasing tix to MVMCP for another day.

Point being, if he's limited on funds but wants to take his daughter, staying at SOG, using SALUTE tix and paying full price for food will be cheaper than staying on property (and SOG is considered on property for some things like EMH) and using the DP. And that's taking into consideration price of Character meals too. We're also doing things a bit cheaper by eating breakfast at SOG every day ($5.99 and $9.99 respectively children/adults). Other than that, we will eat when/where we want and STILL make out cheaper than using the DP and staying on property.

Thanks for the comparisons! I have been bouncing around numbers for June based on this years prices. We really like the convenience of the dining plan so hoping we can stick with on property. I know a lot of people aren't a fan of it. Last June we booked AoA w military discount/dining plan and bought Stars and Stripes tickets. Our numbers just increased for our June 2017 trip so we may end up back at AoA just because of the number of people we can sleep in a room.
We also planned a last minute trip for October just my 2 sons, myself and my sons girlfriend. Ended up at SSR splitting the room 4 ways, which really made it cheap for everyone!
And I did not know Sea World is free for military!! I will have to look into that. We haven't been in years.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

They almost always do the stars and stripes tickets. I would be shocked if they didn't next year. Also, SOG is awesome, so do consider it if you can. If not and you are set on staying in an official disney resort, look at Wilderness Lodge. WL has great accessible rooms and it's gorgeous and many times it's getting a deluxe resort for similar to moderate prices like POR.

 

[Momtwofour]

They almost always do the stars and stripes tickets. I would be shocked if they didn't next year. Also, SOG is awesome, so do consider it if you can. If not and you are set on staying in an official disney resort, look at Wilderness Lodge. WL has great accessible rooms and it's gorgeous and many times it's getting a deluxe resort for similar to moderate prices like POR.

My son had his heart set on AKL but with the increase of people going, that may be out of reach for us.
I am following Military discount tips so I know as soon as they renew the room discount.

 

[Happy_Haunt999]

My son had his heart set on AKL but with the increase of people going, that may be out of reach for us.
I am following Military discount tips so I know as soon as they renew the room discount.

May I ask how many people are going? There is a set amount of military tickets you can get. Also, AKL is amazing.

 

[Momtwofour]

May I ask how many people are going? There is a set amount of military tickets you can get. Also, AKL is amazing.

We will have to purchase some tickets at regular price. Not sure of the number of people yet. It was 6 but could be as high as 10 or 11
When it was just going to be 6 or 7 of us we were planning on getting two rooms at AKL. Now we may either end up w 3 and have to be somewhere two can be connecting or consider a villa if we can get a good deal. We are staying in a 1brd Villa at SSR in October. We were originally at POR paying rack rate because all the military rates were gone and were able to change to SSR for $200 more, which we are all splitting. Not sure if we can afford this as a large group so we decided to splurge a little and enjoy the deluxe! We have never staying at a deluxe before so I am really excited!!
My granddaughter loves animals so I would really love to be able to swing AKL!