hi to all, I am trying to research out the best way with best rates to do disney world. my husband is currently serving and will be home in october in which he has been gone eighteen months, like many. but, anyhow, I was wondering if anyone knew the best way to do the tickets, the shades of green resort looks like the best price or my mom has a timeshare we can book through, so the room is not a deal, but tickets are expensive, we are driving, so that is okay too, any help would be appreciated. thanks, blessedguardwife
If you are close to a base then check out their ticket office, usually they offer them at a decent price. If you aren't near a base and are driving you can always stop at one along the way if it is possible. I know they sell them in NAS Jacksonville and NS Mayport, plus others before and after. Then your final option would be to buy them at Shades of Green themselves, they do usually offer deals on them as well. Just see what different plans they offer you and what the prices are close to you.
Don't forget to go to SeaWorld. With the program you will get 1 AD member and up to 3 dependents in for free.
If you can stay at Shades of Green, that's a good choice. It is located in the park and has a shuttle for transport. Keep in mind (as far as the timeshare location) that 10 miles in Orlando can take as long as an hour to travel, depending on traffic.
I haven't researched this, but Sunday while at NAS I noticed in the ITT window there was a poster about Disney honoring military. Maybe there is a special on tickets.
Do you have a military installation near-by that you can purchase tickets from? They are about $5 cheaper than SOG for the one-day pass.
My wife happens to work for Disney at the Reservation Center here in Tampa. I can tell you that Disney DOES NOT give discounts for any military personnel but they do have a military only hotel on property that's called Shades of Green. You cannot book this through Disney, you must go through the military to book it and it costs considerebly less then other on-property hotels.
If anyone ever tells you that there are discounted tickets for military don't believe them (unless it comes from SATO on base).
thanks guys for the information. We will probably do Shades of Green. I checked their prices online as far as tickets and they seem ok but maybe on base they would be cheaper. We are not close to a base, but we could go to one if the savings would be worth it. I figured out how to change my id thing from being just a number. I started the post before I had that figured out. Thanks, guys. I will post if I find any cheaper routes.
I am currently doing the same thing you are planning a Disney vacation with a military husband. I have gone to Disney over 20 times the only thing new now is the military part. I can tell you with my husbands pay grae staying at SOG is $103 a night for one room and the second would be $133 a night for the extra 2 adults in it. The cheapest way to do it is camping if you dont mind camping. The campground on Disney property is under $700 for 8 nights. Also the tickets at SOG are the cheapest way. They are the old what disney use to call length of stay pass at SOG its the stars and strip ticket. Disney no longer offers the length of stay. It entitles you to unlimited use of water parks and theme parks for your whole stay. It is only avaliable if you are staying at SOG or another Disney resort. There are also variations of the ticket that can be gotten however they are not unlimited use of anything. I think they usually are like 3 days to water parks and then unlimited use of the theme parks with the park hopper option. If you want the unlimited ticket and dont want to camp the other cheap way is the value resorts on disney property. They were around $70 a night for when we are going. You can not get a military discount but if you are a AAA member you can get 15-20% off depending on your time of travel.
You may want to consider staying at a hotel off Disney property that includes breakfast in the room rate. Depending on the size of your family, this could be a $20+ savings per day.
Depending on your travel dates you might want to consider the free dinning package Disney is offering travel august 26th to sept 22 I think. You can check Disney's website for more info. We did this last year and it saved us hundreds of dollars. Either stay at a value resort if you can or at Portorleans they are closly priced to a value resort.
Once I get some more vacation acrued in the PD, I think most definiteley Disney world is the spot, my family want's to see that new (not so new anymore) ride of the himalayas in the safari Animal Kingdom section really bad, after we saw about half a year ago what it took to build and it's finish touch on the travel channel.
All ITT offices have Disney tickets and they vary wildly in price. Check your local ITT and call the ITT offices that may be near your route if driving to Disney. You can check Shades of Green ticket prices online at http://www.shadesofgreen.org .
We go to Disney all the time and have stayed at Shades of Green. We prefer to stay at timeshares through the Armed Forces Vacation Club (http://www.afvclub.com). As long as you stay in a timeshare that is west of I-4 you shouldn't have too much trouble with traffic.
By now you've probably been to Disney and are home just kicking back. Hopefully your guardsman is in the states and safe. Thanks to him for a job well done! Anyways hope it was a positive experience and to all those that are planning on going to Disney, think about renting a home down there. They vary in price and are in plentiful supply. Prices at the hotels are not too bad, but if you are planning on being there a week a villa or home is the way to go. Most come with their own pool, and game room and have all the amenities you could need. Some are even in gated communities. Gives you a sense of security and peace while your having the time of your lives at the parks. Give it a thought. You can go online and see all kinds of deals. Google is a good place to start. check out vacation homes in Florida. That will give you a list so long you'll never finish looking. All kinds of prices and deals to be made. Good luck!! Retired guard wife in RI
We stayed in a rental home a few years ago. It was like $100 per night for a 3 bedroom house with a garage and pool. It was about 10 minutes from Disney. It was actually a brand new home in a gated community.
I would also recommend people check out the Armed Forces Vacation Club. We have used them numerous times with great success.
A good place to get tickets for Disney World is at the Navy Base Exchange in Orlando. This is located just outside the Orlando International Airport. I do not recall the price as it has been about four years since I purchased any there. But they certainly are cheaper than getting them at the park.
A good place to go for tickets that are ex*****ve is spammage is not allowed. they let you set up a monthly payment plan. The usually arrangement is to make payments for a year to a year and a half.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mrsjvb,
Just a quick note... Not all of the ITT's have Disney Tickets. The best thing to do is to call and ask before you go... Any ITT can point you in the right direction. The best ITT's to contact are the ones in Florida for Disney World and California for Disney Land. For Tokyo Disney Sea and Disney Land the best place to purchase is at the gate. The New Sanno ( http://www.thenewsanno.com/ ) Offers a Mickey Club Card that will get you a discount at the gate.
I work for an ITT and we get Disney questions a lot.
We went several years ago to Disney and there are several ways to cut back on cost. First though, purchase your tickets from the MWR office on a base. You can call ahead and check prices at the different bases. Secondly, the Shades of Green is nice, however if you do not care that you stay on the Disney lot, there are just as nice hotels outside of disney for a much lower cost. And many even though they do not advertise a military discount, will give you one.
Originally posted by afINdependent: The New Sanno ( http://www.thenewsanno.com/ ) Offers a Mickey Club Card that will get you a discount at the gate.
Is that rate better than buying direct from the base's ITT? we just got our tickets from Yokosuka's ITT, but I remember them more being a voucher kinda thing and not actual tickets, we had a separate line to stand in to get into the park.
Originally posted by ronmclane: A good place to get tickets for Disney World is at the Navy Base Exchange in Orlando. This is located just outside the Orlando International Airport. I do not recall the price as it has been about four years since I purchased any there. But they certainly are cheaper than getting them at the park.
