Tell me about military discount tickets.

[PhDisney]

I'm having some trouble with this because all the information is about the armed forces salute tickets. We ARE NOT using the armed forces salute tickets.

I'm going on a large family trip to Disney next year. (25-30 people!) I have an uncle who is a civilian military worker who can get us MWR tickets. But I can find very little info on how these function.

So questions:

1) will they be tickets or vouchers? Will we have to activate them at Disney? (Obviously regular tickets are preferable and less hassle!)
2) if they are vouchers, will my uncle have to show his ID for everyone? Part of the group is travelling the day before him and not everyone will go to the same parks so I'm worried if we have to activate them, especially if he needs to show ID for all 25+ people.
3) do we still get fastpasses and can we link these tickets to MDE as normal?
4) can we bridge these up to AP? My parents and my fiancé and I are hoping to.

Any answers are so helpful! Like I said these aren't the armed forces salute tickets but MWR tickets that he can get through work. Any other advice would be helpful. All we know so far is 1) we're pretty sure price includes tax and 2) he can apparently buy as many as he wants and they're just very slightly cheaper than under cover tourist.

 

[Mrsb1234567]

If he is buying that many tickets he needs to do it far in advance. Anytime we have purchased tickets at MWR we had to activate them at Disney so I would plan that he had to be there. He needs to talk to the MWR office where he plans to purchase them.

 

[Christine]

For all of the MWR tickets I've bought as a DoD civilian, I've never had to be present. I bought my son and his friend two of them last year and they were on the trip without me.

What I cannot remember is the whole activation thing. I believe I got to actual "cards" and I recall linking them to his MDE. I think that was really it. These tickets don't have the same restrictions as Military Salute.

I've also bought him Universal tickets (as well as Busch Gardens). That is a voucher with a bar code. When you get to the parks with those, you insert the credit card the tix were purchased with and scan the code and you get tickets.

Sorry, wish I had a better memory.

 

[Jen4400]

I think the easiest option is to purchase them through Shades of Green. Your uncle would have to email them and they will contact him and ask for whatever info they need. They will mail you actual tickets, and you can link them right away and book your FP+ when your booking window opens. Since they are tickets and not vouchers, there is no activation required and your uncle won't have to be there when everyone uses their tickets for the first time. As someone else mentioned, with that many people, it would good to get the tickets sooner than later. Have a great trip!

 

[DLgal]

Regular discounted MWR tickets are the same tickets you would get if you bought them anywhere else. They are NOT vouchers. They do NOT have to be activated. We bought 4 of these for our 10 day WDW trip last year because we needed 10 days, and the Armed forces salute are maximum 5 days.

My husband went to the base ticket office and ordered them (our local base is in CA and doesn't keep WDW tickets on hand although most bases on the east coast DO). A week later, they had arrived and he picked them up. They were just plastic Disney tickets that we were able to add to our MDE account and that was that. We didn't even bring the plastic tickets with us on the trip. Didn't have to do anything special to enter the parks. No showing ID or anything. Those rules about the ID and the activating ONLY apply to Armed forces salute tickets.

 

[PhDisney]

Regular discounted MWR tickets are the same tickets you would get if you bought them anywhere else. They are NOT vouchers. They do NOT have to be activated. We bought 4 of these for our 10 day WDW trip last year because we needed 10 days, and the Armed forces salute are maximum 5 days.

My husband went to the base ticket office and ordered them (our local base is in CA and doesn't keep WDW tickets on hand although most bases on the east coast DO). A week later, they had arrived and he picked them up. They were just plastic Disney tickets that we were able to add to our MDE account and that was that. We didn't even bring the plastic tickets with us on the trip. Didn't have to do anything special to enter the parks. No showing ID or anything. Those rules about the ID and the activating ONLY apply to Armed forces salute tickets.

That is SO great to hear - literally our best case scenario!

 

[pcoleman]

If the tickets are purchased through a base then they will need to be activated. When activating tickets at guest services, everyone must be present with ID. Each military person can only purchase 6 tickets. If the tickets are purchased through Shades of Green then the tickets will already be activated. They are easy to link to your Disney account. If you are staying on property you will be able to make fastpasses 60 days ahead. If not, you will make your fastpasses 30 days ahead. They do make exceptions for large families, meaning the minor dependent children. Friend of ours has six children so that meant he needed 8 tickets. Your uncle will not be able to purchase 25 tickets.

 

[Neverbeast]

If the tickets are purchased through a base then they will need to be activated. When activating tickets at guest services, everyone must be present with ID. Each military person can only purchase 6 tickets. If the tickets are purchased through Shades of Green then the tickets will already be activated. They are easy to link to your Disney account. If you are staying on property you will be able to make fastpasses 60 days ahead. If not, you will make your fastpasses 30 days ahead. They do make exceptions for large families, meaning the minor dependent children. Friend of ours has six children so that meant he needed 8 tickets. Your uncle will not be able to purchase 25 tickets.

This is all true for the Salute Tickets, but not applicable to the regular military discount tickets the OP will be buying.

 

[lorenae]

I thought there was a limit of something like 6 tickets per military person/spouse?
And they have to be with you to activate. Not sure, but my son is active duty, and I cannot use any discount without him present (and I'm his closest relative).
I CAN use my veteran status for myself for tickets in January, but only then or in September.
I don't think it'll fly that one guy buys 30 tickets and isn't present. He'll have to talk to MWR, but I don't think it'll work.

 

[lorenae]

I was just thinking more about this- if they are not actual "MWR" tickets (ie military, retired, etc), but simply regular discounted tickets, that should be ok. He really needs to verify it with the MWR office.

 

[Neverbeast]

I was just thinking more about this- if they are not actual "MWR" tickets (ie military, retired, etc), but simply regular discounted tickets, that should be ok. He really needs to verify it with the MWR office.

This is what OP is saying- there are two military discounts. The one with limited amounts is a voucher that you have to activate WITH the eligible servicemember is the salute discount that is about 50% off. The other discount is a ticket that can be purchased by a service member for for more like 10-15% off and then used by anyone even without the service member present. It’s still a good deal and not limited by the same restrictions as the Salute discount vouchers.

 

[Christine]

This is what OP is saying- there are two military discounts. The one with limited amounts is a voucher that you have to activate WITH the eligible servicemember is the salute discount that is about 50% off. The other discount is a ticket that can be purchased by a service member for for more like 10-15% off and then used by anyone even without the service member present. It’s still a good deal and not limited by the same restrictions as the Salute discount vouchers.

And to add to that, it's not strictly a military ticket. I'm a DoD civilian and can buy these tickets.

 

[PhDisney]

And to add to that, it's not strictly a military ticket. I'm a DoD civilian and can buy these tickets.

Yeah, my uncle is DoD - I don't think he could even get military salute.

 

[PhDisney]

I was just thinking more about this- if they are not actual "MWR" tickets (ie military, retired, etc), but simply regular discounted tickets, that should be ok. He really needs to verify it with the MWR office.

Yeah, this has been what's so confusing. I think because the military salute is more well-known and has a lot of restrictions, there's more information out there and often they're referred to as the same thing. But the MWR had those military salute listed separately (and I don't think we even qualify - he's a civilian in the DoD). But there was so little info easily available on the MWR regular discount tickets.

 

[Christine]

Yeah, this has been what's so confusing. I think because the military salute is more well-known and has a lot of restrictions, there's more information out there and often they're referred to as the same thing. But the MWR had those military salute listed separately (and I don't think we even qualify - he's a civilian in the DoD). But there was so little info easily available on the MWR regular discount tickets.

I was at Quantico MWR yesterday and was going to ask for you but the line was too long!!

I am 99.9% sure that these will be actual tickets and anyone can use them. But as another person said, you could just order them through SoG ticket office to be sure. Many smaller MWR offices don't stock the hard tickets anyway.

 

[Neverbeast]

Have you tried this site? It’s a little hard to navigate but had a ton of information about “regular Disney military discount” if you click around or use the custom search.
www.militarydisneytips dot com (sorry that’s not a link, the forum won’t let me post a clean one.)

 

[Baby Groot]

Yeah, this has been what's so confusing. I think because the military salute is more well-known and has a lot of restrictions, there's more information out there and often they're referred to as the same thing. But the MWR had those military salute listed separately (and I don't think we even qualify - he's a civilian in the DoD). But there was so little info easily available on the MWR regular discount tickets.

I usually get these tickets at my local bases as a DOD civilian but ALSO as a Florida resident and here’s how mine work. They are not military salutes. I can get as many as I want, they are not taxed, and they are vouchers (maybe because of the Florida resident part?). I can use the numbers on them to link them in MDE as soon as I have them. When we get to Disney, everyone over 18 must show Florida ID but NOT military ID to get actual tickets. Sometimes I am on the trip, sometimes I get them for others who are Florida residents and going without me. (One time they were asked for military ID to get the tickets, but I think the CM was confused and they eventually got them without me there). The tickets I recently got work on any days between now and December, and I think they said all days must be used within six months of first use...not sure if that last part is right though. Seems like they’re saying I could use one day by December and the rest into next year? Anyway, hope that helps!

 

[DLgal]

I usually get these tickets at my local bases as a DOD civilian but ALSO as a Florida resident and here’s how mine work. They are not military salutes. I can get as many as I want, they are not taxed, and they are vouchers (maybe because of the Florida resident part?). I can use the numbers on them to link them in MDE as soon as I have them. When we get to Disney, everyone over 18 must show Florida ID but NOT military ID to get actual tickets. Sometimes I am on the trip, sometimes I get them for others who are Florida residents and going without me. (One time they were asked for military ID to get the tickets, but I think the CM was confused and they eventually got them without me there). The tickets I recently got work on any days between now and December, and I think they said all days must be used within six months of first use...not sure if that last part is right though. Seems like they’re saying I could use one day by December and the rest into next year? Anyway, hope that helps!

The restrictions you listed are because of the FL resident status. Those are likely specially priced. If you buy standard Disney tickets, there are no "use by" restrictions. The tickets the military bases carry are the lowest tier price for tickets, since they introduced variable ticket pricing. For example, if you wanted to buy a 1 day park hopper on base, it would be the lowest price tier, regardless of what day you use it. Vouchers are not issued for standard tickets, only AFS tickets and local promotions like resident discounts.

 

[DLgal]

These are the park hoppers we ordered from our CA base last year. No restrictions. Scanned them into DME and left them at home. We added 2 more days to these during our trip and only had to pay the difference between face value and the additional days, which was like $20 total on each ticket for another 2 days.

 

[studog100]

the military discounts are different than the dod civilian discounts. to use the military discount, you would buy the tickets at MWR and you would receive a voucher that must be redeemed by the military (active/retired ) member at a disney ticket counter at WDW. DIsney wants to validate that someone in the party is active or retired.
However, The DOD civilian discounted tickets are just regular tickets but are tax free. You get actual tickets and you go straight to the gate.