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Universal Military Discounts

The Ultimate Post Deployment Orlando Vacation – Orlando Military Discounts Series

Copyright DisneyTrying to plan the Ultimate Post Deployment Vacation Getaway?

A Disney Vacation is perfect for getting away and forgetting the stress that’s built up during the long separation of a deployment.

If a Disney vacation is good…

How about an Ultimate Military Discounted Orlando Vacation?

There are lots of discounts available to military members in the Orlando area, at all the big theme parks and also at smaller venues.

I get lots of emails with questions and comments from my readers. Many are from wives trying to plan for a Magical Vacation when their husbands return from a deployment.

There’s lots of information on the site about military discounts, but I’ve never wrapped them all into one package. So I thought it would be fun to plan and price an Ultimate Orlando, Florida Area Military Vacation.

Pricing a vacation like this is very complicated, with so many options of where to stay and so many different price seasons, but I wanted to give you a place to start planning from. Hang on there will be lots of numbers to follow, but first let’s talk about the fun!

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Military Disney Tips Featured in May’s the Reserve & National Guard Magazine

Military Disney Tips Featured in the Reserve & National Guard MagazineRecently I was contacted by Janine Boldrin for an interview to be used in her upcoming article for AmeriForce the Reserve & National Guard Magazine on “Sizzling Summer Savings: Expert Tips For Your Next Trip.” She wanted to find out what were the best ways for military members to save on Disney vacations.

I gladly accepted the opportunity to get savings info out to a wider audience. Janine asked me lots of great questions. I passed on the information about the current 2011 Disney Armed Forces Salute, unfortunately the 2012 extension of the Disney Military Salute was not announced prior to the article being submitted, so that info wasn’t included. I also passed on information about the great savings available at Shades of Green and the Armed Forces Vacation Club, and that military discounts were available at Anheuser-Busch parks and Universal Studios Orlando.

Janine interviewed three military travel experts with different focuses for the piece. Also interviewed were:

Joy Awe Editor-in-Chief of Buzz Off Base, an events, travel and entertainment guide for U.S. military and civilians living overseas. Joy has a fantastic looking site that everyone stationed in Europe should check out.

And Diane Fish of Twin Fish Interline Travel which specializes in helping service members match up with the best military rates that are available through Club Med and various cruise lines for great vacation packages.

You can download your copy of the article here or go to the AmeriForce website to view it as well as all the other articles in the May issue. Also look for the Reserve & National Guard to show up at your unit. You can subscribe to the magazine for your unit here.

If you are new to Military Disney Tips Start Here

Disney’s Armed Forces Salute FAQ

Information on Shades of Green – the Military Hotel on Disney World property

For up to the minute news follow us on facebook and twitter.

Free Disney Planning & Reservation Checklist

Military Disney Tips Turns Three

Military-Disney-Tips-Birthday (C) DisneyAt the beginning of this month Military Disney Tips turned three. I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to you my readers. I’m so appreciative of your interest. It’s been my pleasure to try to help you in whatever way that I can to plan for your Disney vacation.

It’s been a big year for MDT, we broke the story on both the extensions of the Disney Armed Forces Salute, both in October 2010 when the offer was renewed for this fiscal year, and again just last month with the extension until September 2012. It’s been a busy year too trying to keep up on the numerous packages and specials offered by Shades of Green throughout the year. Also I was interviewed by AmeriForce Publishing for inclusion in an article about Disney Military discounts. The article is due out later this month in their Reserve & National Guard Magazine.

Over the past year the site has seen fantastic growth. Military Disney Tips now receives nearly 10,000 visitors and 40,000 pageviews per month. Our Newsletter launched last October and has grown to over 390 subscribers. We also started our facebook fan page this past year and now have 220 facebook friends who like it. Just a couple of months ago the Military Disney twitter account was launched too.

The majority of our readers this year have been Stateside, but we also have readers from numerous locations where our military members are stationed: Italy, Germany, Iraq, the UK, Puerto Rico, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Qatar, Afghanistan, the UAE, and Bahrain to name some.

Because of the specialized content on this site, many great Disney sites on the net sent visitors our way. I’d like to thank those sites for their support this year. They are:

Yourfirstvisit.net where I’ve been lucky to do quite a few guests posts
disneyfoodblog.com Where AJ has also allowed me to guest post
universal-parks-military-discounts.com our sister site
disboards.com
wdwradio.com
passporterboards.com
mouseowners.com
dismarks.com
usmclife.com
couponingtodisney.com
westoverafrc.org
coastiechicks.net

You also found the site via search engines. Some of the things you were looking for were: Information on Disney’s Military Salute, Universal Studios Military Salute, Sea World Military Discounts, Shades of Green, and the Armed Forces Vacation Club.

Some of your favorite pages were:

Military Discounts
The Disney Military Salute announcement for 2011
Disney’s Armed Forces Salute
Shades of Green
Universal Military Salute
Shades of Green Military Discounted Ticket Overview
and the Military Disney Tips Blog

This year is our third year partnering with Ears of Experience, an authorized Disney vacation planner and Veteran Owned Business. Over 150 of you asked Amy for help making your Disney reservations this past year.

Again I want to say thanks for the Happy Birthday! It’s been my pleasure to provide content that I think you might find helpful and I’m so glad that the site’s growth shows you are enjoying it. I’m looking forward to an even better year coming up. I’ve got several great new projects like my new series of Patriotic Disney posts and several new partners who I’ll be joining with to produce more great content.

Yours, Steve

 

If you are new to Military Disney Tips Start Here

Disney’s Armed Forces Salute FAQ

Information on Shades of Green – the Military Hotel on Disney World property

For up to the minute news follow us on facebook and twitter.

2011 Military Discount Packages For Universal Orlando

New Military Discounted Vacation Packages are available for Universal Orlando in 2011.

Here is the most current post on Universal Military Discounts

Packages start at $229.00 per adult for  3-day/4-nightvacation packages.

Packages include:

  • 3-Night accommodations at a Universal Partner Hotel
  • 2-Day Base Ticket^ to both Universal Orlando theme parks – one theme park, per day
  • Access to the live entertainment^^ at Universal CityWalk®

PLUS, Early Park Admission† to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ before the rest of the general public!

You can upgrade to one of three AAA Four-Diamond On-Site Hotels and SKIP THE REGULAR LINES^^^ for FREE! With Exclusive Military 4-Day/3-Night On-Site Hotel Getaways starting at $379** per adult!

Universal’s on-site Hotels are:

  • Loews Royal Pacific Resort
  • Hard Rock Hotel
  • Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

If you’d like to see the full details and dates as well as restrictions click on: 2011 Universal Military Discount

Current Military Salute Ticket Offers Available At Orlando Area Attractions

Disney announces Armed Forces Salute extended until September 2012

Besides Disney’s new Military Salute Ticket Offer there are other great discounts available for military members and their families vacationing in Orlando Florida.

Sea World Orlando as well as Busch Gardens inTampa continue to offer Anheuser-Busch’s Here’s to the Heros ticket offer. A free one day ticket for the military member and up to three dependents or friends. This offer is available at the other Anheuser-Busch parks as well (only one set of tickets per year).

Kennedy Space Center has there new Salute to America’s Heros offer. A one day free admission for the military member (a $36 value). Available through 18 December. Ticket must be picked up at Shades of Green by 15 November 2010.

Universal Orlando has no further plans for a Military Salute Ticket offer but does have a ticket/room combo military discount offer which runs through 31 December 2010. You can save up to 30% off your package.

While those are the current Special Military Salute Offers, military discounted tickets are available through the Shades of Green ticket office year round for Universal Orlando and other area attractions such as: Wet and Wild, Gatorland, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and several Dinner Theaters.

Sea World, Busch Gardens, and Kennedy Space Center tickets are also available if you need to purchase more than the complimentary ones.

Shades of Green Ticket Prices