When can we expect News on Disney renewing their Armed Forces Salute past 30 September 2012 end date?
A Little History
The current Disney Armed Forces Salute runs through 30 Sept 2012. It is basically the 4th year in a row Disney has had a special military discount with steeply discounted tickets and rooms. This round of discounts was prompted by the economic downturn, which began in late 2008. Prior to this the last special offer was in 2002 during the post 9/11 travel industry downturn.
On 4 January 2009 Disney announced and started their Armed Forces Salute, which ran through 23 December 2009. This offer included a free 5-day ticket for the member and up to 5 more for $99.
Then on 21 December 2009, they announced the 2010 offer. Tickets had to be purchased by 31 July 2010 (later extended to 31 August) and the offer only ran through 30 September 2010. This time military members could purchase up to six 4-day tickets at $99. The free one for the member was gone.
All through August and September 2009 Disney officials said they would not be continuing these offers past 30 Sept. Then on 4 Oct after the offer had ended they announced a 30-40% room discount through 30 Sept 2011. The 2011 ticket offer was not announced (because of legal issues with the military) until 24 October. So there was no ticket offer for 23 days in October 2010.
A Major Surprise
On 18 April 2011 Whoopie Goldberg announced on ABC’s The View that Disney was extending the 2011 offer until 30 Sept 2012. It took weeks for me to confirm with Disney officials the details, and for several months the details of the offer changed several times. There were 4 or 5 different versions. Finally things settled down to what we have today.
As I’ve stated many times before, here on the blog, in the newsletter, and in e-mails that Disney’s offering their Armed Forces Salute was and is purely a financial decision. The purpose of these discounts is to get bodies into the Disney resorts and theme parks during a time when the economy is slow.
Disney’ Plan
The Disney Parks CEO is on record having said that their goal is to wean the public off of the big discounts they had to offer in the economic downturn.
When and how quickly I just don’t know…
So When Will We Know?
So having said all that between now and September, I see several different ways this could play out:
- Disney could make another surprise announcement at any time between now and the end of the current offer. (Probability – Low)
- Disney could, towards the end of the Summer or early Fall announce that they will be having another discount starting 1 October 2012 through 30 September 2013. (Probability – Medium to Low)
- Disney could at the last minute (either just as the current offer expires or after the expiration) announce another discount starting 1 October 2012 (or later) through 30 September 2013. (Probability – High)
The problem with all of these scenarios is that, those trying to plan for a vacation after 30 September 2012 have no idea what they’ll have to pay for their Disney Vacation.
I try my hardest to stay on top of this each time around and will get the news out as soon as I know.
I broke the story on the last two offer announcements, so keep tuned, I’ll post about it on the blog and send out an immediate newsletter update when I do find out!
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Steve Recommends
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Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - Best WDW Planning book in my opinion
Hidden Mickeys - Kids of all ages will love finding Hidden Mickeys at WDW
Disney World Savings Guide - A great eBook by a former Disney Castmember
Ears or Experience - My recommended Travel Agent, Fee Free, Disney Only, Military Family Owned
YourFirstVisit.net The premier website for first time visitors to Walt Disney World!
Simple Stroller Rentals - Beats WDW's prices, plus they offer a 10% Military Discount
TouringPlans.com - The website of the Unofficial Guides - Crowd Forecasts, Pre-made Touring Plans, plus lots of other detailed info
Disney World Lines iPhone App - Current Crowds, Recommended Parks, Wait Times, & Fastpass Return Times on your iPhone
My Disney Experience - The Official Disney iPhone App
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Any news on the Disney 2012-2013 extend of the Military program?
Hi Joseph, nice to hear from you again.
I queried the Disney Military Sales Dept. last week and while there is no official news yet, the manager says he is “pushing” for one.
I expect to hear closer to the end of the current program.
A positive sign is the Heroes Work Here program with its emphasis on the military.
We tentatively booked for December and are anxiously awaiting news on this discount. We wanted to be able to make dining reservations, but can’t really afford the hotel we chose without a discount. Fingers crossed they make an announcement soon!
Hey Gretchen,
You can go ahead and make those Advance Dining Reservations now and cancel them later if you have to.
I’ve got all my fingers crossed!
We have planned a Disney Vacation for October 15-19 and we have not purchased the tickets because we don’t want to purchase without a discount! I keep calling often to see if they have any information on an extension for the expiration date. What should we do?
We have even discussed changing our plans to a carnival cruise instead. I really really hope Disney makes a decision soon! It’s so hard planning everything without knowing how much we’re going to spend on tickets.
Also, my husband doesn’t get back from deployment until Sept 30 so we couldn’t change our vacation dates even if we wanted to! I even called to ask if they would extend the expiration date until Oct 19 if we should them the military orders proving that he is deployed until after the expiration date—no luck there.
Hi Angie,
I know how hard it is to plan when you don’t know the price you’ll have to pay. I’ve tried to get this across to Disney numerous times, that the military has to plan around deployments and that we are way past the time people needed to plan for October (and later).
I have a really good feeling that Disney will have a new Armed Forces Salute starting in October! I think we’ll hear an announcement mid to late August.
So hang in there, if you can!
Thanks for your husband’s service!
Greetings and thank you for this blog. I’m hopeful that Disney will provide another armed forces salute and I hope that they announce it soon. My kids have a school break in October for about a week and it would be awesome to be able to plan on a Disney trip. Luckily we only have to drive about 6 hours from Georgia but we still need to plan in advance for taking leave and the affordability of saving about $900 on tickets is a huge deciding point on if we even take the trip. I wonder if Disney will ever consider a more consistent approach to military discounts. Roughly 50% discount is pretty awesome so I should just bite my tongue and hope they keep doing it. Then again, Active/retired veterans only comprise about 9% of the US population and for most that population, roughly $300 per ticket in a family of five or six is just not doable. A military family can find accommodations for a family of six for 7-days and spend about $400. That same family will spend roughly $2400 for full priced Disney tickets on a 4-day park hopper while still having 3 days to plan for. Disney’s pretty awesome… but yeesh those are some spendy tickets.
Thanks for your comments Izlo,
Every time I communicate with Disney officials I mention how hard it is for military families to plan ahead around deployments and other commitments without knowing if they can afford a Disney trip. Last January I started asking them about the Oct-Dec 2012 timeframe as I was getting questions from my readers then, same last year. But you see it didn’t have any effect. They do things on their own schedule They look at data for the coming year to decide if they are going to do it or not and must not have figures that far out…
Just spoke with ITT at Randolph AFB and the militray discount is going to be extended. They don’t have all of the info yet just that it going to be extended through September of 2013!! YEA!!! I’m going in October and this just made my day!!!
Cheryl, Disney said they would send me the specifics as soon as they are released. Should be soon, a week or so!
Stay tuned…