Feature Article: Disney Admission Options for Military Families - Military Family Series - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
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Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Feature Article: Disney Admission Options for Military Families - Military Family Series
Disney Admission Options for Military Families - Military Family Series by Sarah Mudd
When it comes to travel, military members have a handful of options for purchasing their attraction and theme park tickets. I am constantly amazed that there are so many military families that don't know that these options exist or just what they can get from using this benefit. So, my military friends (and friends of military friends) I am here to shed a little light on your options when it comes to saving money on tickets! One constant benefit that military members have is their local base Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) office. They offer discounted tickets for attractions local to your particular base’s area as well as some hotels and seasonal events, plays, ice skating and ballet performances. Most MWR ticket offices offer Walt Disney World tickets and only some (mostly west coast bases, but some in other areas of the country) offer Disneyland tickets at fairly great discounts. If your local office does not stock the particular ticket that you need, do ask about it because oftentimes they can order them for you!
One ticket that all MWR offices are offering is Disney's Military Salute tickets for 2010 and 2011! These tickets are available for purchase through September 28, 2011 and must be completely used by October 1, 2011.
At Walt Disney World, you can get a 4-day ticket with either Park Hopper option or Water Parks Fun and More option added for $138 each or you can add both options for a total of $165 per ticket. The resort hotels are also offering a discount under the military salute. 40% off of deluxe, 35% off of moderate and 30% off of value resort rooms. The resort rooms are limited in number so if you are planning on using this discount, call Disney, your local MWR folks or your travel agent to book now and lock in your discount! Disneyland is offering a 3-day Park Hopper ticket for just $99, which is an amazing deal! The same ticket with the same perks purchased at the gate costs $186, so the savings thanks to the Military Salute is great!
As part of the offer, each member/sponsor (or spouse) may only purchase six total tickets. They all must be purchased at the same time so if you need three tickets for one trip and two tickets for a trip a couple of months later, they all must be purchased at the same time! If you purchase the tickets at your MWR office or at Shades of Green Resort at Walt Disney World, you will not have to pay any sales tax on your purchase. However, sales tax will apply if you choose to purchase the tickets at a Walt Disney World or Disneyland ticket window.
There are blackout dates on the tickets that will apply. At Walt Disney World, all four main theme parks will be blacked out on December 27-31, 2010 and April 17-23, 2011. July 4, 2011 will be blacked out at the Magic Kingdom only. At Disneyland, the blackout dates are this Christmas Eve through New Year's Day, February 18-21, April 17-23 and July 1-4, 2011.
If you aren’t able to make it to a MWR ticket office before your trip to the Orlando area, you can stop in to Shades of Green Resort to purchase discounted tickets. They offer tickets to all of the major Florida theme parks as well as local dinner shows and attractions such as Gatorland, Boggy Creek Air Boat tours, and the Richard Petty Experience.
To compare prices, Shades of Green offers the Richard Petty Rookie Experience for $361 (no tax is charged). If you were to book that through Disney, it was cost you $449 plus tax, so taking advantage of the Shades of Green ticket sales benefit can lead to significant savings!
Likewise, comparing Walt Disney World tickets, purchasing a 4-day Magic Your Way base ticket at the park gates will run you $247.08. If you purchase that same ticket at Shades of Green, it will cost only $228. If you use your MWR benefit on base, it could be the same if not cheaper for you! For example, here at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, where we are stationed, the 4-day base ticket costs $227.75. Naval Air Station Jacksonville offers the same ticket for $219 and in the San Diego area, the 4-day ticket with Park Hopper option added would only cost $2 more than the gate price of a base ticket!
Vacationing can be expensive. Thankfully, our military takes good care of us families and provides us with ticket options that every military member of every rank can afford. Do your homework, crunch and compare numbers to find the best deal! As I mentioned earlier on, if your MWR office doesn’t have a particular ticket that you need, it can’t hurt to ask about them ordering it for you. Do be sure to go in with plenty of time to spare before your trip to allow for shipping (to either your house or the MWR office). As always, keep an eye out for news on military deals and promotions at DisneyWorld.com/military, at MouseSavers.com and, of course, on the PassPorter message boards!
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
I wrote the above article before Disney made a final decision on this (therefore I didn't mention it ), but there is a new addition to the Military Salute for visitors to Disneyland this year!
Disneyland Resort is offering military families (ID required at check in) 40% off of regular room rates at their 3 resort hotels! Rooms are limited and the deal ends on October 1, 2011.
Thanks for the information. hubby is retired Army& National Guard, I just found out about this 2 months ago, googling military discounts. A friend & I are staying at POFQ in May on military discount. After I booked the room, I went I checked the same resort& time frame. Wow what a difference. I'm glad I was able to find the info
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Just an update for the Disneyland military salute $99 deal. You do not have to buy all 6 tickets at once. We are stationed in San Diego and have purchased these tickets 3 separate times in the last 9 months. 1 ticket the first time, 2 the second and 1 the last time. These were purchased at the DL ticket window, we did not pay tax. Also, they are keeping count. The last visit the CM let me know I could only purchase 2 more of these tickets. And lastly you do not have to be with the person you purchased it for when going through the gates.We have AP's so we purchase these when we have friends and family visit. Just wanted to share our experience
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), but there is a new addition to the Military Salute for visitors to Disneyland this year!
what a difference. I'm glad I was able to find the info 
[SIGPIC]Ricky, Sharon R, Richard
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