Military Salute tickets amidst COV-19

[Ladyfish77]

So this is interesting and I was wondering if anyone else was able to do the same. I have a 6 night Disney resort stay and 4-Day PH military tickets. I made my Disney Park Pass reservations yesterday and was able to book 5 park passes. I'm keeping the extra day in case more information comes out for the military ph tickets. Maybe the tickets will turn into 5 day base passes?

Did you notice in MDE that your pass said 4 days or 5 days before booking the park passes? Sounds like pixie dust to me!

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Does anyone think if I send in an email to purchase a salute ticket tomorrow, will it be held until ticket sales resume, or will they just say ticket sales are suspended and try again when they reopen?

I sent an order form in just to see what would happen a few days ago when I was looking for AFS tickets. They got back to me saying that sales were suspended but they would call me for payment on that order as soon as they opened sales again. So it seems like it would at least put you "in line", but I don't think that is really any benefit since we don't expect crazy sales quantity limits or anything of that nature.

 

[alafond83]

Did you notice in MDE that your pass said 4 days or 5 days before booking the park passes? Sounds like pixie dust to me!

All the passes still say 4 Days left

 

[denecarter]

My nephew is Air Force and they are traveling with us in December. We have APs, but they will need tickets. What is the difference between buying from SOG and on his base?

 

[alafond83]

My nephew is Air Force and they are traveling with us in December. We have APs, but they will need tickets. What is the difference between buying from SOG and on his base?

Ticket bought from base are vouchers, they will have to go to the ticket counter on arrival to their first park and get them activated. SOG are already activated - no need to go to the ticket counter. If you do go SOG route and not staying at SOG you will have to pay extra for shipping the tickets to your home.

 

[alafond83]

.

 

[MIndy S]

My nephew is Air Force and they are traveling with us in December. We have APs, but they will need tickets. What is the difference between buying from SOG and on his base?

Shades of Green: Tickets will be mailed via Fed Ex, which takes 1-2 weeks. They are already activated, so it is less to deal with once you get to the parks. They may be a little more expensive than ITT.

ITT: Tickets may be in stock on base, or they may have to be ordered. They are not activated, so he will have to show his ID at Guest Services to activate the tickets before they can be used. ITT prices can vary, but may be a bit cheaper (plus you don't have to pay for shipping). Even though they are not activated, they can still be used to secure park reservations and Fast Passes (if FP returns before then).

 

[Tink6584]

I sent an order form in just to see what would happen a few days ago when I was looking for AFS tickets. They got back to me saying that sales were suspended but they would call me for payment on that order as soon as they opened sales again. So it seems like it would at least put you "in line", but I don't think that is really any benefit since we don't expect crazy sales quantity limits or anything of that nature.

 

[Tink6584]

We have been going back and forth with tickets. We first order back in March and received e-mail closed until further notice.
We have been trying and trying. Today we received another e-mail from Shades of Green saying all tickets are suspended till further notice . If you have reservation please
buy tickets from Disney. Which we did and a cast member said no you must purchase tickets at Shades of Green or we will cancel your reservation . See we are going around the “merry go round” too. We are very
upset. We don’t want to lose our ten days this year. We don’t think next year we could go. Is anyone else having this issue?

 

[ZellyB]

I didn't see this posted here so I wanted to share. According to https://www.militarydisneytips.com/...-armed-forces-salute-ticket-extension-update/

"When Salute Ticket sales do resume, the expiration date for Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets sold through December 15, 2020 will also be extended to 26 September 2021. (instead of December 18, 2020) This date will be printed on all newly sold Salute Tickets."

No word on when sales will resume though. I have a February 2021 trip booked and I am so eager to purchase tickets for it.

That’s great news. Hopefully won’t be too much longer until ticket sales resume.

 

[jlwise]

I don’t understand. Shades told you to purchase from Disney, and you did... but then Disney told you to purchase from Shades? I think you have to get the Salute tickets from Shades or the base for Disney World. I’m also curious when these tickets will be back on sale, and now that they will include next year up until September, do you think they will also offer the military resort discount? We lost our trip this May and pushed it to next May but of course when we did this back in April, the CM said that we couldn’t keep our discount. Do you think they will offer the military room discount for next year?

Thanks in advance!

 

[MIndy S]

I got a response from SoG today:

"We may sell Disney tickets when Disney resumes our ticket sales. We do not currently know when that will be. You may check our website for updates on this.
You need to inquire with and make theme park reservations directly through Disney"

They also attached the order form, but the fine print on it still says expiration of Dec. 2020, so I'm not going to send it in until it is confirmed that new tickets are extended thru Sept. 2021.

 

[Ladyfish77]

My nephew is Air Force and they are traveling with us in December. We have APs, but they will need tickets. What is the difference between buying from SOG and on his base?

Really depends on the base. Sometimes the local MWR subsidize the tickets so it can be a few $ cheaper. My DH works at the Pentagon and his group offers a discount on the Salute tickets, but they don't keep them in stock (even if they were for sale) so they'd have to order them. Those would not be activated. I like to order from SoG and even with the fee to FedEx the tickets, I like having them already activated.
I'm going to send in a purchase request. I'll let you know when/if I hear from them.

 

[Dizgirl0628]

How are you guys handling new 2021 bookings? I *hope* military room discounts for 2021 will be offered later this year, but who really knows. We don't have military tickets yet. Should I book a room and ticket package for 2021 so I have somewhere to stay, and then hopefully apply a room discount and tickets later? Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[jlwise]

How are you guys handling new 2021 bookings? I *hope* military room discounts for 2021 will be offered later this year, but who really knows. We don't have military tickets yet. Should I book a room and ticket package for 2021 so I have somewhere to stay, and then hopefully apply a room discount and tickets later? Thanks for any help you can give me!

This is my plan. I already rebooked a room and basic package for next May after our May trip of this year was cancelled, and I’m calling tomorrow to upgrade it to a full package with tickets... I plan to ask about the military room discount then. I just hope that I don’t have to be on the phone for hours I’m not even sure what to think about whether the Salute tickets will or will not be extended until next Sept. when they open up ticket sales again. We will see.

 

[jen7233]

How are you guys handling new 2021 bookings? I *hope* military room discounts for 2021 will be offered later this year, but who really knows. We don't have military tickets yet. Should I book a room and ticket package for 2021 so I have somewhere to stay, and then hopefully apply a room discount and tickets later? Thanks for any help you can give me!

We have a reservation soon, and also for next year in spring 2021 at SoG. I have tickets already for the upcoming stay, but for next year I don't have tickets for it yet. When SoG reopens ticket sales, I have to ask about getting tickets for then if we even still plan to keep that reservation, and honestly am about 50/50 on keeping it right now. When packages open up, I plan to call Disney and check prices. Just be sure to ask about refunds with the package. That will be what I'm planning to do, and may look into next summer instead of next spring.

 

[MIndy S]

How are you guys handling new 2021 bookings? I *hope* military room discounts for 2021 will be offered later this year, but who really knows. We don't have military tickets yet. Should I book a room and ticket package for 2021 so I have somewhere to stay, and then hopefully apply a room discount and tickets later? Thanks for any help you can give me!

Are you looking to go before or after the September cutoff for the extension? It looks like new tickets sold in 2020 will *hopefully* be extended to best Sept.

It all depends on what you are comfortable paying, and if they are allowing room only reservations.

If it were me, I would probably book the package for now and hope to cancel and rebook later if/when the Salute tickets and rooms are announced. If they will allow a room only reservation starting tomorrow, you could go that route and get 2021 tickets once they go on sale.

Just to warn you though, if the room discounts are renewed for 2021, you can't usually modify an existing booking to apply the discount. You would have to cancel and rebook under the discount. I don't think they have a huge inventory of rooms to book under the discount, so you may not be guaranteed the same resort/dates that you originally booked a package with.

We are booked in a DVC rental in Feb 2021, so I am unable to book a package. Crossing my fingers for 2021 tickets before the parks fill up.

 

[subtchr]

Ticket bought from base are vouchers, they will have to go to the ticket counter on arrival to their first park and get them activated. SOG are already activated - no need to go to the ticket counter. If you do go SOG route and not staying at SOG you will have to pay extra for shipping the tickets to your home.

As of earlier this year, even guests staying at SoG were being shipped their pre-ordered tickets, with the $12 FedEx fee. SoG said it took too many man-hours to scan and email ticket numbers to registered guests, and to keep track of the tickets until their arrival.

...
Just to warn you though, if the room discounts are renewed for 2021, you can't usually modify an existing booking to apply the discount. You would have to cancel and rebook under the discount. I don't think they have a huge inventory of rooms to book under the discount, so you may not be guaranteed the same resort/dates that you originally booked a package with.

We have never had a problem booking a "placeholder" resort reservation, and then applying a military discount when they were released. Kept the same confirmation number, even when switching resorts, and my original deposit applied to the new resort booking. We have done this about a half dozen times.

 

[MIndy S]

Interesting, thank you. I also didn't have a problem doing it in the past (although I don't remember if the reservation number stayed the same or not). I also called the day the military discounts were released. That was a warning I was given before or last trip, maybe it no longer applies.

 

[bsjs0708]

There will be 9 of us going in Oct. DS was able to get tics for some of us from base. They are the 5 day hoppers. It says on MDE they are certificate. I know he has to go to main ticket booth to activate. Now does he have to do this every day or are they activated the first time for the whole trip..TIA,