Armed Forces Salute and free dining???

[mrsjmf]

I'm trying to decide between free dining and 40% off room price. The one thing throwing me off is that you have to buy a 1 day base tkt in order to get free dining. I know someone on here said they just took the one day tkt to the customer relations desk and had the tkts refunded and the amount put toward her (armed forces salute)AFS ticket--problem is, we are going in Sept, so we have to buy the AFS tkt before we go. Can we just get the one day base tkts refunded back to us without applying it to anything???

 

[Ariel on Land]

No, there's no need to do that. When you book your resort stay- tell them you're taking advantage of the military offer. They'll book you a room only + dining package. You are then free to buy your tix either at Shades of Green or at your ITT office on base! If anyone tells you that you have to buy a one day base ticket, this is FALSE. (As long as you're going within the dates of the promotion that is, and booked by the expiration date, which I think is in July.)

ETA: Oh wait-- never mind, I see you're trying to decide between FREE dining... not just the dining plan! In that case... I'm not sure!

 

[LilyWDW]

I'm trying to decide between free dining and 40% off room price. The one thing throwing me off is that you have to buy a 1 day base tkt in order to get free dining. I know someone on here said they just took the one day tkt to the customer relations desk and had the tkts refunded and the amount put toward her (armed forces salute)AFS ticket--problem is, we are going in Sept, so we have to buy the AFS tkt before we go. Can we just get the one day base tkts refunded back to us without applying it to anything???

I doubt they would let you return the ticket on your package for money pack. Disney doesn't even refund the difference if your new ticket would be less then the original tickets.

Also, free dining is requiring a 2 day base ticket this year.

 

[POOHsie]

You are getting confusing answers. Here is the thread with most answers for you (or search 2010 Armed Forces Salute):
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2352579

Disney tickets (under normal circumstances) are not refundable, if you are buying them to do the free dining. I think that is a dead end for you because of the purchase deadline for the military 4-day tickets. But, if you are going to WDW in the future, you can hang on to the tickets, because they never expire until the first day you use them. That might be helpful to you.

For me, the 40% room discount works better than free dining. We will go over to Shades of Green when we get there, and pick up regular MYW tickets. For the 10 day tickets we need, the 4-day military tickets won't work. There is savings to you on the MYW tickets, because you don't pay tax. Depending on how many days you go, the military 4-day tickets might not save you that much. Here is the Shades of Green web page with WDW MYW ticket prices. Just pull down the price window for options such as Park Hopper.
http://www.shadesofgreen.org/WDW.htm

If you want the free dining, you can get the 1-day base tickets and take them to SOG and "trade them up" tax-free for MYW tickets with number of days you need. If you buy all your days' worth of MYW tickets in advance when you book your free dining package, you will pay tax on all those days' tickets.

Whatever you do, act quickly. Resorts are getting full in Sept. because of free dining guests.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

In GENERAL:

Value resorts: free dining is the better deal
Moderate resorts: it'll work out about the same either way
Deluxe resorts: 40% off is better

But, it will depend on the number and compositin of your family. You have to do the math.

Last year, we did the free dining at a modeate (with 3 adults and 1 chld it saved about $200 over the % off). We got the 1 day base ticket to get the free dining (this year it would have to be 2 days). After we got our tickets, we took them to guest services and upgraded them to the military salute tickets (about $30/ticket). So, we were able to get free dining and the miliary tickets, but paid rack rate for room (a GREAT deal: room was about $165/night with the 3rd adult, dining plan would have cost about $140/night))

Unfortunaley, as you are going in Sept, you can't do this, as the upgrade would have to be done prior to Aug 31, which you obviously can't do.

You need to do the math. But, you can get the 2 day base ticket for the free dining plan, but save those tickets for another trip, and use the military salute tickets instead.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you want the free dining, you can get the 1-day base tickets and take them to SOG and "trade them up" tax-free for MYW tickets with number of days you need. If you buy all your days' worth of MYW tickets in advance when you book your free dining package, you will pay tax on all those days' tickets.

SoG does not have the capability to do upgrades, They only have the capability to sell tickets.

 

[POOHsie]

SoG does not have the capability to do upgrades, They only have the capability to sell tickets.

I did not know that. Last year I bought the military 5-day tickets, plus MYW tickets for 6 days. We decided to stay two days longer. I thought I would have to buy new 2-day tickets for the extra time. Instead, SOG added 2 days to our existing 6-day ticket for only the cost of day 7 and day 8. Was that not an upgrade? Is this a different situation for OP, since she will not have purchased original MYW ticket from SOG? It is all very technical to me, and I am no expert.

 

[LilyWDW]

If you want the free dining, you can get the 1-day base ticket

Just for clarification again... this year Disney is requiring a 2 day ticket for free dining.

 

[POOHsie]

Just for clarification again... this year Disney is requiring a 2 day ticket for free dining.

Thanks, I missed that requirement.

 

[mrsjmf]

You are getting confusing answers. Here is the thread with most answers for you (or search 2010 Armed Forces Salute):


Disney tickets (under normal circumstances) are not refundable, if you are buying them to do the free dining. I think that is a dead end for you because of the purchase deadline for the military 4-day tickets. But, if you are going to WDW in the future, you can hang on to the tickets, because they never expire until the first day you use them. That might be helpful to you.

For me, the 40% room discount works better than free dining. We will go over to Shades of Green when we get there, and pick up regular MYW tickets. For the 10 day tickets we need, the 4-day military tickets won't work. There is savings to you on the MYW tickets, because you don't pay tax. Depending on how many days you go, the military 4-day tickets might not save you that much. Here is the Shades of Green web page with WDW MYW ticket prices. Just pull down the price window for options such as Park Hopper.


If you want the free dining, you can get the 1-day base tickets and take them to SOG and "trade them up" tax-free for MYW tickets with number of days you need. If you buy all your days' worth of MYW tickets in advance when you book your free dining package, you will pay tax on all those days' tickets.

Whatever you do, act quickly. Resorts are getting full in Sept. because of free dining guests.

Thank oyu for all the information. This is just what I was looking for. I think we might buy the 2-day base and just use them at a later date. (If I can convince DH that I am spending extra money now to save it later). I have to buy one for each person on the reservation, right?? Will they just add the cost of those tickets into the pkg when I book, or will I need to get the tickets separately?

Again, thank you. I will be booking next week when I get home

 

[POOHsie]

I think we might buy the 2-day base and just use them at a later date. (If I can convince DH that I am spending extra money now to save it later). I have to buy one for each person on the reservation, right?? Will they just add the cost of those tickets into the pkg when I book, or will I need to get the tickets separately?

You first line made me chuckle. In the movie Moonstruck, that's what Cher's rich plumber father used to say to get people to buy his copper plumbing, "You spend money, because it saves money."

For the free dining, you have to buy a 2-day MYW base ticket for each guest on your reservation. They will add the cost in when you book. Then you will have to prepay 45 days before arrival for your entire package. (Room-only reservation = 1 night's deposit, balance on arrival.) When you check in, your KTTK card will contain the tickets in its memory.

You have to do the math on using the room only 40% hotel discount versus free dining. As it is, you are outlaying a lot of money up front (over $200+13.00 tax/each for tickets that you can't use now). That money could be in the bank for other uses.

Look at my trip. Our moderate hotel, PORFQ is $149 full price, $10 more for Fri, Sat. With 40% off, it's $59.50 less. As a military family not getting free dining, we don't have to buy the 2-day base ticket because of the AFS tickets. We can BUY the dining plan for $41.99/day/each, and I believe we could also opt for the QS DDP for $31.99/day/each. My food selections are actually increased by not getting ANY dining plan. I really don't want dessert at all (diabetic); so that is a waste of food dollars to me. I would like to try some appetizers in place of a big entree, and DDP doesn't include them. Lots for you to think about.

If you get the free dining, make your reservations asap. Times are already getting pretty filled up.

 

[marie1203]

This will be our 4th trip during free dinning and military salute we done moderate and deluxe. With 2 adults it was always cheaper to do the military salute with the dinning plan than the free dinning. I also helped one good friend plan her trip and she has 2 kids military salute was still a better deal than free dinning.