2017 Military Discount Released

[Kimber733]

This is indeed very exciting! We're not planning to go until 2018 but hopefully they renew again. We've used the tickets multiple times at Disneyland, and that 5 day WDW will be so awesome. Keeping an eye on hotel discounts because I'd love to stay at a Disney property but SOG is such a good deal.

 

[sharonabe]

This is indeed very exciting! We're not planning to go until 2018 but hopefully they renew again. We've used the tickets multiple times at Disneyland, and that 5 day WDW will be so awesome. Keeping an eye on hotel discounts because I'd love to stay at a Disney property but SOG is such a good deal.

Military discounts on Disney resorts are often BETTER than SoG, depending on your pay grade. Disney military discounts are 30% Values, 35% Moderates, and 40% Deluxe.

Don't forget to add in paying for parking at SoG if you're driving or taxi/rental car to get to SoG if you're flying.

 

[Kimber733]

Military discounts on Disney resorts are often BETTER than SoG, depending on your pay grade. Disney military discounts are 30% Values, 35% Moderates, and 40% Deluxe.

Don't forget to add in paying for parking at SoG if you're driving or taxi/rental car to get to SoG if you're flying.

That's what I'm hoping, that the discount makes it better! We're category 2 for SOG, and as a family of 5 it seems we're a bit more limited as to where we can stay all in one room on Disney property.

We do plan on renting a car because we also want to do things off property, like the space center.

 

[nicolemb]

This is indeed very exciting! We're not planning to go until 2018 but hopefully they renew again. We've used the tickets multiple times at Disneyland, and that 5 day WDW will be so awesome. Keeping an eye on hotel discounts because I'd love to stay at a Disney property but SOG is such a good deal.

Staying at a value was quite a bit cheaper than SOG (we are also category 2). Kids liked the theming. However, we are a family of 4 so space was not a problem for us.

 

[nicolemb]

Keep parking in mind if you have a car. It's $7 a day at SOG, $20 if you want to drive to the parks. If staying at WDW resort, parking is free. You can also make FP selections at 60 days out vs 30 days off site (which is what SOG is considered for FP selections).

EMH are extended to SOG guests though.

 

[Kimber733]

Keep parking in mind if you have a car. It's $7 a day at SOG, $20 if you want to drive to the parks. If staying at WDW resort, parking is free. You can also make FP selections at 60 days out vs 30 days off site (which is what SOG is considered for FP selections).

EMH are extended to SOG guests though.

The FP selection is definitely a huge bonus to staying on site and if that works out for us will be awesome! I'd love the all around immersion of staying at a Disneh resort, too. We're still so early in the planning process, and things are likely to change by the time we go, so just soaking it all in right now.

 

[lacy1101]

Yes! You buy the tickets separately from either SOG or an ITT, and then book a room only reservation with the military discount (or room+dining, no discounts for dining).

That's great! My daughter's boyfriend (soon to be fiance ) is currently deployed and when he returns they are going to Disney!

They will more than likely be traveling with two other couples (also military). Wonder if one of them should go ahead and get the tickets on their base instead of him waiting until he gets back in May (they will probably be going to Disney sometime later that month)? And as far as the room goes, he doesn't know right now what days he will get leave when he returns so he may not be able to book that for awhile. Think they'll be able to get a room? They may be interested in SOG, too, and I notice it isn't part of the promotion so that may not be an issue if that's the case.

 

[sharonabe]

That's great! My daughter's boyfriend (soon to be fiance ) is currently deployed and when he returns they are going to Disney!

They will more than likely be traveling with two other couples (also military). Wonder if one of them should go ahead and get the tickets on their base instead of him waiting until he gets back in May (they will probably be going to Disney sometime later that month)? And as far as the room goes, he doesn't know right now what days he will get leave when he returns so he may not be able to book that for awhile. Think they'll be able to get a room? They may be interested in SOG, too, and I notice it isn't part of the promotion so that may not be an issue if that's the case.

SoG always has a great rate, so I wouldn't worry about the rate, but they do book up, so the earlier they can make their plans the better. As to buying tickets now for next year, I'd wait a bit. I might even wait until January just to make sure they don't accidentally get THIS year's tickets which would be no good.

 

[DisBuckMan]

A question for the Armed Forces Salute tickets experts:

My brother is retired National Guard, so he qualifies for the Armed Forces Salute tickets. My wife and I are going to let he and his wife use some of our DVC points for a stay in January. Their plan is to take our 10 year old son with them. However, we have placed some fairly strict "conditions" on our son going since it will require him missing some school.

They will be ordering the AFS tickets from Shades of Green and have the tickets FedEx'd to them in the next few days. I know the AFS tickets from SoG come already pre-activated.

Here's my question...if our son does not meet his "requirements" we've set forth for him, and we don't allow him to make the trip, I don't think he would be able to use the AFS ticket for a later trip, even though it's already activated since my brother wouldn't be with us, correct? Would we be able to use his AFS ticket price to upgrade to a regular priced ticket for our regular family trip in May? I would hate to lose the purchase price of that ticket.

 

[sharonabe]

Here's my question...if our son does not meet his "requirements" we've set forth for him, and we don't allow him to make the trip, I don't think he would be able to use the AFS ticket for a later trip, even though it's already activated since my brother wouldn't be with us, correct? Would we be able to use his AFS ticket price to upgrade to a regular priced ticket for our regular family trip in May? I would hate to lose the purchase price of that ticket.

If they are still coming activated from SoG or they are able to activate it without him there, you SHOULD be able to use it. If for some reason they say you can't, you won't be able to upgrade it, but you should be able to use it toward the purchase of a new ticket. You'll just get the price paid for the ticket.

Edit: The more I mull this over in my mind, I don't know if you can use the ticket's purchase price for a new ticket. One of the possible difficulties would be that they are buying the tickets from SoG. I'm wondering if that will make a difference when you try to use it for a new ticket at a Disney ticket counter. You might get a quicker answer if you go ask Steve over at the Military Disney Tips website: http://www.militarydisneytips.com/

 

[Jen4400]

This year it seems they have very few rooms allocated to this promotion. Called today nothing was left at the poly and the contemporary only had club level rooms.

We were also hoping for the Poly and I have called two times over the past few days and checked multiple dates in February, October, and November 2017. The only thing available at the Poly was TPV CL. They seemed to have plenty of availability at some of the other resorts, so we booked for SV AKL. Good luck booking!

 

[JenLT]

And with the addition of that 5-day hopper with WP&M, the free dining is now back in play unless they change what is required for free dining. If they keep it at a 2-day PH ticket, that ticket is LESS THAN the Salute ticket, so you can book a free dining package with the 2-day ticket and then upgrade the ticket to the 5-day PH/WP&M at the gate. The downside is, you won't be able to make FP+ for more than two days ahead of time.

Wow, that would be awesome if it works. Has anyone done something like this? Can you buy Salute Tickets right at the gate? We've only gotten them from SoG.

 

[sharonabe]

Wow, that would be awesome if it works. Has anyone done something like this? Can you buy Salute Tickets right at the gate? We've only gotten them from SoG.

You can buy them at the gate, but you have to pay the tax on them at the gate and SoG doesn't charge tax.

As to the Free Dining then upgrade to Salute, people were doing it before they added the hopper option to the Free Dining pkg requirements. When Disney did that, the price of the Salute tickets was cheaper, so there was no way to upgrade. Even for 2017, the only one that will work is that 5-day with both PH and WP&M.

 

[JenLT]

You can buy them at the gate, but you have to pay the tax on them at the gate and SoG doesn't charge tax.

As to the Free Dining then upgrade to Salute, people were doing it before they added the hopper option to the Free Dining pkg requirements. When Disney did that, the price of the Salute tickets was cheaper, so there was no way to upgrade. Even for 2017, the only one that will work is that 5-day with both PH and WP&M.

Great. Thanks!

 

[Acedink]

Does DL also have a room discount? We've used the discount the last 4 years at WDW but are planning a DL trip in 2017.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Does DL also have a room discount? We've used the discount the last 4 years at WDW but are planning a DL trip in 2017.

Yes, but there are blackout dates

 

[tanya1221]

You can't do it the other way around...upgrade the Salute to a longer ticket, but you can upgrade a cheaper ticket to the Salute. It didn't work this year, because the Salute tickets were cheaper than the 2-day PH. And all the tickets for 2017 are cheaper as well, except for that 5-day PH/WP&M ticket.

You still need to run the numbers, though. The room discount plus paying OOP MAY still be cheaper than paying full price for the room and getting free dining.

What am I missing about free dinning in may?

 

[sharonabe]

What am I missing about free dinning in may?

There is no free dining in May, so that particular trick will not apply.

 

[tanya1221]

There is no free dining in May, so that particular trick will not apply.

Thanks, I must have read something wrong.