Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Military Room Discounts for 2026

Disney’s Armed Forces Salute is a fantastic discount available to military members and retirees. This discount includes both ticket and room discounts.

Here are the Top Ten Things that you need to know about military discounts on rooms using this offer.

See our companion post about Military Discounted Tickets here: Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Military Discount Tickets

Note to non-retired veterans: you do not qualify for the Disney Armed Forces Salute; however there are Disney Veteran Discounts that you do qualify for.

1. The Armed Forces Salute is a Temporary Offer

The Disney Armed Forces Salute is a relatively recent innovation by the Walt Disney Company. The first version of the Salute was first offered in 2002 for only part of the year, during the travel industry downturn after 9/11. It ended once people started traveling again in bigger numbers.

Military members then had to again be satisfied with the slight Regular Military Discount on Disney Tickets that had always been available through Military Base Ticket Offices (and still are).

The Disney Armed Forces Salute returned again in January 2009 as the housing crash economic downturn came into full swing, and the general public reduced their vacation spending. The Salute offers have been renewed, on a year-to-year basis, since then, with a couple of notable breaks.

So if you are considering a Disney vacation within the next couple of years, keep in mind that we never know if the Salute will be renewed again or not. 

2025

At Walt Disney World, the 2025 Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Offer starts on 1 January 2025 and runs through 19 December 2025.
At Disneyland, the 2025 Disney Armed Forces Salute starts on 1 January 2025 and runs through 27 December 2025.

NEW: 2026 (Rooms at Walt Disney World)

For 2026 at Walt Disney World, Salute room discounts are offered on select nights between January 1 and December 18, 2026. See Section 3 below for the 2026 eligible date ranges and the simple list of blockout periods in between. (2025 info remains below for easy reference.)

2. What are the Room Discounts that are available with the Armed Forces Salute?

Disney offers the military community a fantastic percentage off of their regular room rates.

The discounts are on a sliding scale based on availability. The fewer rooms available, the lower the discount, or possibly no discount.

At Walt Disney World

2025

For: January 1, 2025, to April 12, 2025; April 27, 2025, to May 31, 2025; September 1, 2025, to November 22, 2025; and November 30, 2025, to December 19, 2025

• Disney’s Deluxe Resorts and DVC Resorts save UP to 25%
• Disney’s Moderate Resorts save UP to 20%
• Disney’s Value Resorts save UP to 15%

For: June 1, 2025, to August 31, 2025

• Disney’s Deluxe Resorts and DVC Resorts save UP to 30%
• Disney’s Moderate Resorts save UP to 25%
• Disney’s Value Resorts save UP to 20%

NEW: 2026 (Walt Disney World)

For: January 1–March 28, 2026 • April 12–May 31, 2026 • September 1–November 21, 2026 • November 29–December 18, 2026

• Discounts use the same “UP TO” sliding-scale structure as recent years and vary by date, resort category, and remaining inventory.
• As rooms fill, the available percentage can drop and may become unavailable for certain room types/resorts/dates.

At Disneyland 

2025

• Grand Californian Hotel and Spa save UP To 30% off
• Disneyland Hotel save UP To 35% off
• Pixar Place Hotel save UP To 30% off

Why do I say UP To? Read how the Sliding Scale works.?

Disney’s Yacht Club Resort

3. What Dates are the Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts available for?

Disney typically has what they call blockout dates, dates on which these room discounts are not available. 
However, in the last couple of years, there have not been any blanket published blockouts at WDW beyond the way Disney structures the eligible date ranges. (Availability is still limited and varies by room type/resort.)

At Walt Disney World, these dates are:

• 2025: None published for 2025

NEW: Walt Disney World – 2026 Eligible Date Ranges

• January 1 to March 28, 2026
• April 12 to May 31, 2026
• September 1 to November 21, 2026
• November 29 to December 18, 2026

2026 Blockouts (in simple sentence form): For 2026 at Walt Disney World, the Armed Forces Salute room discount is not offered from March 29–April 11, 2026, June 1–August 31, 2026, November 22–November 28, 2026, and December 19–December 31, 2026.

At Disneyland, these dates are:

• None for 2025

The flag flies over Epcot’s Spaceship Earth

4. The number of rooms allocated for the Armed Forces Salute offer is limited.

Many don’t realize that this offer is not an across-the-board, always-available offer.  There are a limited number of rooms at these prices, by date, resort choice, and room type.

The Disney Armed Forces Salute discount availability is based on how many total rooms are still available by day, resort, and room type.

The cheaper the room category, the more rooms that are initially offered for the discount. The more expensive rooms generally only have very few available to start. Once all of the discounts that are allocated to a specific room category at an individual resort are used up, no more will be given for that date.

As rooms fill up, the discount becomes less and less of a percentage off until it finally becomes unavailable by day, resort, or room type. For example, on a specific date, the Salute discount might not be available at all at the All-Star Movies, but be available on all room types at the Coronado Springs and Port Orleans – Riverside, while at the Beach Club Resort, the discount might only be available on water view level rooms. And in this example at the Port Orleans – Riverside, different types of rooms could be anywhere from 10% off to the standard Moderate 35% off.

If only more expensive rooms are available for your dates, that means the discounts on the cheaper ones have already been used up.

If you are looking for a specific price range and the discount is not available for that type of room at the Resort you were interested in, you’ll have to try a different resort or shift your dates slightly to see if you have better luck.

See: How Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts Work

The Yacht and Beach Club Resorts

5. You can reserve multiple rooms at a time.

You are allowed to reserve more than one room using the Disney Armed Forces Salute room discount.

• You may reserve 3 rooms at Walt Disney World
• You may reserve 2 rooms at Disneyland (5 people max in each)

The member or spouse must occupy one of the rooms. All rooms must be at the same resort and check in on the same day.

The pool at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

6. The Disney Armed Forces Salute is available at both U.S. Disney Resorts.

You can take advantage of this great discount on both coasts. The Disney Armed Forces Salute room discounts are available at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

Unfortunately, the discount is not available at Disney’s Vero Beach and Hilton Head Island Resorts in the U.S. or any of the overseas locations.

Walt Disney World’s Beach Club Resort -Room

7. You can use the Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts an unlimited number of times.

There is no limit at all on the number of times that you can use the Disney Armed Forces Salute room discounts.

You can use the discount multiple times at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland throughout the offer period.

The Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets, however, are limited during the offer period.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

8. You can add the Disney Dining Plan to your WDW military room reservation.

A common misconception regarding this discount is that you can’t add the Disney Dining Plan to the military room rate.

This is because, normally under non-military pricing, Disney requires that you have a room and ticket package to add the DDP. Armed Forces Salute reservations are what Disney calls a room-only reservation because they expect you to buy the Salute tickets, which have to be purchased separately. Some think that because there are no tickets associated with the room, you can’t add the DDP. Not so!

Disney makes an exception for these military room-only rates and allows you to add any paid Walt Disney World Disney Dining Plan. The occasional Free Dining that WDW offers is excluded, as you would be stacking discounts.

Disney World Room Only Reservation vs a Package: What’s the difference?

The Disney Dining Plan

11 Reasons why I don’t recommend the DDP

The view from my Animal Kingdom Lodge room

9. You will receive the same great Disney Benefits that those paying full price do.

You will be eligible for the same Disney benefits as if you’d paid the full price.

Check out this list of amenities that you’ll receive when you stay in a Walt Disney World Resort:

• Free transportation from your resort to all WDW destinations via Disney’s fleet of buses, boats, monorails, and Skyliner.
• Free theme park parking, should you decide to drive your car.
• Participation in Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours
• Property-wide charging of your Disney purchases (Merchandise, Dining, etc.) to your room.
• Guaranteed theme park entry on high attendance days when the parks close due to nearing capacity
• The ability to add the various Disney Dining Plans to your vacation
• The ability to book Advance Dining Reservations for your entire trip (up to 10 days) at the 60-day mark

And here is the list of amenities that you’ll receive when you stay in a Disneyland Hotel:

• Participation in Extra Magic Hour – One hour early entry prior to the scheduled opening time on designated days to the Disneyland Park or California Adventure. The general public is not allowed in during the Extra Magic Hour, so you’ll have much less competition for attractions.
• Charging of your Disneyland purchases (Merchandise, Dining, etc.) to your room. Note: Third-party vendors, like most restaurants at Downtown Disney, are excluded.
• A Special Park Entrance – Use a convenient gateway to California Adventure through the Grand California Hotel and Spa.
• Guaranteed theme park entry on high attendance days when the parks close due to nearing capacity
• The ability to book Advance Dining Reservations for your entire trip (up to 10 days) at the 60-day mark

The Disney Armed Forces Salute discount is not valid at the Hollywood Tower Hotel

10. Here’s how to make Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Reservations.

So now that you are excited and ready to get these great discounts for yourself, let’s go over how to do it.

You cannot make Disney Armed Forces Salute reservations online!

There are only 2 ways to get this great discount: call Disney directly yourself or use a travel agent.

Call Yourself

You can use these numbers to call Disney Reservations

• Walt Disney World (407) 939-1936
• Disneyland (714) 956-6425

Use a Travel Agent

I recommend using an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner (travel agent)! See why here. Doing so can take the stress out of planning a Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation, which can be a complicated and overwhelming task.

You have probably seen elsewhere on the site that I recommend The Mouse Experts as my preferred Authorized Disney Vacation Planners. They will do all the work for you, and you’ll pay the same price as if you did it yourself.

So there you have it!

The top ten things that you need to know about Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts.

Many of the above items are questions that I’m often asked via email and the Ask a Question page on this site.

If you have more questions, consider reading the full Disney Armed Forces Salute Information Page, the Disney Armed Forces Salute FAQ, or checking out our FAQ Friday Posts.

Are there any other questions that you have? Leave them in the comments section below!

• Also See: Top Ten Things You Need To Know About Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Military Discount Tickets

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can book the Armed Forces Salute room discount?
Eligible military (Active, Retiree, Guard/Reserve, 100% disabled) and NOAA/PHS Commissioned Corps. DoD civilians are not eligible for AF Salute room discounts.

Are blackout dates and availability limited?
Yes. Availability is limited by resort, room type, and date. For WDW 2026, the offer is available only on select nights (see Section 3) with blockouts on Mar 29–Apr 11, Jun 1–Aug 31, Nov 22–28, and Dec 19–31, 2026.

Can I combine the room discount with Armed Forces Salute tickets?
Yes. Eligible guests can use both in the same stay, subject to each offer’s rules.

What ID is required at check-in?
Valid military or Commissioned Corps ID must be presented; spouses may check in with appropriate ID when the service member is not present.

How To: Book Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Room Discount

1. Verify eligibility. Active, Retiree, Guard/Reserve, 100% disabled, or Commissioned Corps.
2. Pick dates & resorts. Check 2025 availability and the 2026 eligible WDW windows (Jan 1–Mar 28; Apr 12–May 31; Sep 1–Nov 21; Nov 29–Dec 18).
3. Call to book. Request the Armed Forces Salute room offer; provide ID details.
4. Bring ID to check in. Present a valid ID; have your tickets linked and ready.
5. Plan park days. Add Lightning Lane Multi Pass/Single Pass (WDW) if desired; buy in-app at Disneyland after entering the park.

• Back to Basics Posts - A great place to start, offering basic topics!
• Disney Veteran & Military Discount Eligibility Guide
• The Military Family’s Walt Disney World Comprehensive Vacation Planning and Preparation Guide 
• Military Disney Tips Disney Packing Checklist 
• Disney Military Tickets – Your Start-to-Finish Guide

• Resorts/Hotel Overview Page
• Dining Overview Page
• Transportation Overview Page
• Technology Overview Page
• Shades of Green, WDW’s Military-Only Resort

The Mouse Experts is a travel booking company specializing in Disney vacations. Military family owned and operated! They know all the ins and outs of Disney military discounts!