Ready for round 2? In Part 1 of this series, I laid out some of the more well known ways to save at Disney World. In this post, I’m covering two of the lesser known military discounts, plus I’ll do a quick comparison to show just how much money you can save by taking advantage of Disney’s military discounts. I’ll wrap up with a few other things you should keep in mind when visiting Disney World as a military member or veteran. Okay? Let’s go!
Special Event Tickets
Shades of Green’s ticket office also offers discounted tickets to some of the special events held at Disney World. Two of the most popular Disney World special events (known as hard-ticket events) are Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). I haven’t been to either of these events yet, but I’ve heard really good things about them. (Update: I went to a MVMCP in November 2017 – it was incredible! Definitely worth it.)
Typically these parties are pretty pricey. As in, $74-$115 per adult for MNSSHP and $89-$109 per adult for MVMCP. And that’s before tax! Oy. Children’s tickets are slightly cheaper…slightly.
Instead, military members can buy them through Shades of Green for a pretty significant discount. For instance, for this year’s MNSSHP the normal admission cost on September 24th is $74 for adults, $69 for children. The Shades of Green price is $53.25 for adults and $49.75 for children.
And for MVMCP, the normal price on opening night (November 9th) is $89 for adults, $84 for children. The Shades of Green price is $67.75 for adults and $64.25 for children.
One thing to note about the special event tickets from Shades of Green is that they aren’t good for every night. For instance, for my upcoming trip they don’t have any military tickets available for the night I’m planning to attend the Halloween Party. Make sure you check with them in advance to see if they have tickets available during the days you will be there.
Advance Tickets for Special Event Parties
Since you have to buy the party tickets through Shades of Green, you used to have to wait until you were already at Disney World to buy the tickets. Not good for planning! In 2017 Shades of Green began offering Advance Ticket sales that can be delivered via FedEx Express (yay!). You pay a fee for the delivery, but it’s still a big savings. I paid $10 for delivery. The charge is $30 to Alaska and Hawaii.
NOTE: Though it doesn’t say this on the form, I think you can only send tickets to US addresses. I’m honestly not sure. They only include the CONUS and Alaska/Hawaii prices in the email, which makes me think that’s true. However, they also mention that if you are overseas you need to include an email address because they can’t call overseas numbers. If you are overseas, definitely clarify this with them when you call!
When you call the Shades of Green ticket office (407-824-6191 Option #2), they probably aren’t going to answer. Leave a message with your phone number that you can be reached at during the day and your email address if overseas. I had to play phone tag a couple of times before I was able to speak to somebody.
Memory Maker Military Discount
Have you ever been at Disney World and seen the Disney photographers? They will take photos of you and your party with your own camera, but they also have professional equipment that they use for the PhotoPass service. You can buy the photos individually through PhotoPass, or get all of them with Memory Maker.
Memory Maker grants you unlimited digital photos taken of your vacation. There are hundreds of locations throughout the property, including at some restaurants which is great for character meals! Memory Maker also includes ride photos, which I think is a nice touch because they can be expensive! I’ve never used it myself (I’m not much of a picture person) but I know a lot of people who really like it.
The 2017 Military Salute program includes Memory Maker for only $84. Memory Maker’s normal price is $199, so you are getting a huge discount through the Military Salute program. If you want to take advantage of this, you have to purchase Memory Maker at Disney World theme park ticket windows. You can’t buy it from Shades of Green or your base ticket office.
Comparing Military Discounts to Disney Vacation Packages
Families that go to Disney World love to take advantage of the discounted vacation packages that are released occasionally. One of the most popular is the Free Dining package that is released around April of every year and is usually good from about early September to about mid December, give or take a couple weeks.
The Free Dining package is extremely difficult to get, though. Packages are limited and some sell out quickly – like within hours of being released. If you can’t get free dining, your next bet is usually to get a room and ticket package, which usually means the room is discounted 25% or so but you have to buy full price tickets.
My last two Disney World trips, as well as my upcoming one, have all fallen into the Free Dining timeframe. As a result I’ve been tracking the Free Dining packages pretty closely. What I’ve found is that while they can be good bargains for non-military families, they really don’t save military families any money. In fact, your vacation could end up costing more if you are eligible for the military discounts and choose not to use them, even with a discount package. That’s because while you receive portions of the Disney package for free or reduced price, you have to pay full price for everything else. And that can add up.
Here is the comparison I’ve put together for a sample trip. This is based on the following:
- A 6-night stay for a family of four (2 adults, 2 children ages 8 and 5): November 12-18, 2017
- 5-day Park Hopper tickets
- A Quick Service dining plan or the equivalent cost ($48.19 per day for adults, $20.88 per day for children)
- The cheapest hotel I could find – All Star Music
- All prices are after tax
A quick comment on the dining plans:
The Quick Service dining plan includes 2 quick service meals and 2 snacks per person, per night and a drink mug (free refills only at your hotel). Personally, I don’t find them to be a good value. I don’t eat enough food to warrant using one, and they only save you money if you are going to be eating some of the priciest menu items. However, a lot of people love how convenient they are and want to not have to think about food costs while at Disney. Or, they do eat enough to make it worthwhile. If you are thinking about getting a dining plan (which does not offer military discounts), make sure you compare prices and determine what’s right for you.
My Experiences with Military Discounts at Disney
In general, I’ve found Disney World to be extremely military-friendly when it comes to saving money.
Shades of Green is a fantastic resource, both for the cheap (by Disney standards) rooms and the ability to buy discounted tickets and merchandise. I didn’t mention this in Part 1, but Shades of Green also offers everything tax free since it’s technically federal government military property. And it’s not just Disney stuff you can find there – you can also buy discounted tickets to Universal Studios, Sea World, and other attractions around Orlando.
I also prefer to purchase my own food separately rather than use the dining plans, so I find the separate military discounts for rooms and tickets to be much better than the packages. For instance, while the daily price for an adult on the dining plan is $48.19, I typically spend about $35-$40 per day if I’m eating only quick service meals. In order to use the Dining Plan you have to purchase a Disney vacation package, so I’d end up spending more money all around. Not a good deal, for me.
Other things you should know
Dates
All of the Military Salute ticket, room, and Memory Maker discounts are limited to January 1, 2017 through December 19, 2017. There was a two week period in April where they were also blocked, but since April is over I won’t cover that in detail. If you are planning a trip after December 19th, look for other options – like staying at Shades of Green!
2018 and beyond
There is no guarantee that Disney will continue the Military Salute discounts next year. They started this program in 2009 after the economic recession caused a dramatic downturn in tourism. For the last few years, they’ve announced the following year’s deals in September, so check back in September 2017 to see if we have a deal for 2018. I’ll try to keep you updated. The 2017 discounts were, in my opinion, the best yet because this is the first year I’d seen a 5-day ticket. It’s hard to do everything at Disney World in four days, so I really appreciated that. Hopefully 2018 will have more great additions!
Larger Families
If you have more than six people in your group, you can ask to receive more than six Military Salute tickets. Disney policy states that “Exceptions should be made (to the 6-ticket limit) for immediate families larger than six people.” Note: immediate families. Disney defines that as the parents and minor children. You probably aren’t going to be successful asking for more than six tickets to bring in friends. Grandparents, extended family, and adult children also may not be included, although if you are lucky maybe you could convince Customer Service. And you do have to contact Disney’s Customer Service to get more than six tickets – resellers (like Shades of Green and your base ticket office) are limited to only selling you six tickets.
Flag Retreat
Finally, just a fun little additional item unique to military members at Disney World. This isn’t a discount, but it certainly has value. Every day, there is a Flag Retreat ceremony at Magic Kingdom. It’s held at 5pm at the square just inside the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. If you have a chance, you should check it out. Even better, each day they choose a military member or veteran to participate in the ceremony. The participant receives a photo of the event, a certificate, and a pin.
You used to be able to volunteer for this, but apparently now they select someone “at random.” I’m not sure just how randomly you can select a military member or veteran, but you get the point. Some websites recommend wearing military-distinctive items to stand out, such as camo backpacks, hats, and t-shirts. While it’s entirely possible that’s how people are identified, it seems more likely to me that they track who is using a Military Salute ticket to enter the park and then ask one of them to participate. But, I don’t know that for sure. If you really want to be in the Flag Retreat, telling a Disney castmember when you walk in can’t hurt!
That’s all for this mini-series on Military Discounts at Disney World. Did I miss anything? If you know of more discounts, leave a comment below!
As retirees we have taken the grands to DisneyWorld every other year for the last eight years.
I highly recommend the dining plan if you are traveling with children. We always get the deluxe (one table, two quick services). We hate to stress about the cost of food. Why not plan it in?
We call several times to ask about rooms. We often book the least expensive room at the time, but something could come up. Last time we bumped from All Stars to Boardwalk for a very small increase. It was worth it.
Make sure to stop into Main Street if you have mobility issues. Both of our former service members have leg issues. They were given passes for the front of the line. What a blessing that was.
Disney is expensive. It just is. It is cheaper to take the kids to Europe, but Disney is (in face value) safer and easier to move around. Until the littles are ready for their first trip to Rome, we will continue to do Disney on a bi yearly basis.
You do not have to purchase the Disney vacation in order to purchase the dining plan. I have stayed in property using the military discount and was also able to purchase the dining plan without purchasing tickets.
Yes but I was specifically comparing to the Free Dining Package which does require you to purchase tickets through Disney. If you use military tickets, a military discount on the room, and purchase a dining plan separately that is the cheapest method to use a dining plan (as shown in my calculations). Avoiding the dining plan altogether is even cheaper for most people, but I wanted to show comparisons including the dining plan.