What about tickets after 26 September 2021?
Here at MDT I’ve received so many emails, blog comments, and Facebook comments regarding what to do for travel to Walt Disney World on dates that include 27 September 2021 and later. These people are naturally very concerned about how they can decide about going and or plan for their vacation without knowing if there will be a Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket Offer that covers their dates.
I’ve tried to explain the various possible situations that are affecting military travelers to Disney, All I got back was, “We’ll be glad to share with you any further discounts when they are announced.”
I again have to say that this is not the way to treat those Disney has turned to (via past Salute Offers) in past bad economic times to add attendance to their theme parks, resort hotels, restaurants, and merchandise shops.
A Refresher
Walt Disney World has announced a Disney Armed Forces Salute Room offer for dates in 2021 through 17 December 2021. There are no Blockout Dates for this offer!
Disney World has announced that all 2020 Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets would be valid for use through 26 September 2021.
Disney World has announced that the original purchase window for 2020 Salute tickets would be extended past the original 18 December end date through 14 February 2021.
Disney World has announced that in addition to the maximum of 6 2020 Salute tickets that eligible members could purchase up to 18 December, another 6 could be purchased in the ticket extension window. But any tickets purchased in the 19 Dec-14 Feb window will count towards any limit for potential 2021 Salute tickets.
Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary starts 1 October 2021, and it has always been expected to be a huge crowd draw. Put on top of that the expectation that Disney World will be back to normal operations by then and the people who have been putting off their vacation till things return to normal!
Disney offers discounts (even to the military) when they need to attract more bodies. Both instances of Disney Armed Forces Salutes have been initiated in hard economic times. The instances being:
- The 2002 Salute offer for the first half of 2002, was offered because people were afraid to travel after September 11th 2001.
- The current string of Salutes started in 2009 after the housing crash and subsequent recession, this time to draw bodies with a guaranteed income.
The Disney Armed Forces Salutes are actually the combination of 2 different offers, the room discount offer made solely by Disney, and the ticket offer made in conjunction (via contract) with the MWR system. Disney has sole control over the room offer and can discontinue offering in on their own. Once the MWR contract is signed, they are locked into it.
Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary starts 1 October, and most Disney experts fully expect Disney to be back to normal operations by then.
This brings you up to speed on the current situation, some history, and background.
My Thoughts
Here’s what I’m thinking.
My gut feeling is that there will be a 2021 Salute ticket offer, at a higher price point. (they go up every year and the big anniversary starts in October).
One positive sign is that there is a full 2021 Salute Room offer through 17 December 2021
So that makes me hopeful that they will do a 2021 ticket offer. There is no question the prices will go up!
The only question is when? Hopefully before or as the current purchase window ends, although they could keep extending the window.
I’ve complained to Disney about folks needing to plan, but they are tight lipped.
Disney has been taking a wait and see attitude, very timidly moving forward through all of this, making bad one business decision after another. I assume they are waiting for some indication that offering a 2021 Salute Ticket Offer brings in more money that not offering it. Who knows when that will be. In the mean time military families are left in the lurch.
What to Do
Rooms are filling up for the October timeframe. As a reminder as rooms fill up (by date, resort, & room type) the Salute discount amount goes down and eventually is not offered.
Read more about this: How Disney Armed Forces Salute Room Discounts Work
Some have told me they are holding off making room reservations because they are waiting to hear about the ticket discount.
If you are thinking of going this fall I recommend making your WDW Resort reservation now. Hopefully you will be able to get a Disney Armed Forces Salute discount.
To do this just takes 1 night’s deposit. And with these room only reservations you can cancel up to 7 days prior with no penalty. If you decide not to go based on the ticket situation.
As far as tickets, I do not expect Disney to extend the 2020 priced tickets into the 50th anniversary!
The 2020 tickets will expire at midnight 26 September 2021 and then can not be used further. So if all or some your dates fall on 27 September or later you need to wait to see what Disney does.
Sorry there’s no better plan right now!
Wrap up
Please share your thoughts or predicament, in the comments section below, so that hopefully Disney will see what they are putting the military community through.
Also share how much the Salutes have allowed you in the past to take a Disney vacation that you never could have!
One caveat to this, I’m not a prognosticator so you should use your own judgement in making financial decisions.
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This MDT Post By: Steve Bell Steve is the Military Disney Tips Founder. He is a retired U.S. Military Member who's been touring the Disney Parks since 1971! He has been writing about Disney for the US Military Community here for 18 years. Steve's mission is to help military families with their Disney vacations in every way possible. See Steve and His Family's Content |
Planning a Disney Trip? Want to get the best military discounts that are available? Feeling a little confused? See Our Great Disney Discount and Planning Info:
- 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
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We heavily rely on the salute tickets. Without them we definitely wouldn’t be able to afford a Disney trip. We are going in October but if Disney doesn’t offer salute tickets then we will just go to Universal as they are offering a great military deal for 2021.
Yes they certainly have Kristen. And have announced it in time for people to plan.
We are in the same boat as Kristen D….hopefully Disney releases this info soon!
We’re going October 11th, already booked our room at Kidani Village at great expense even though we did get the Military price. We are relying on Military Salute tickets so we can save as much as we can to pay for more Disney experiences.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for all of your hard work in keeping us updated!
Just for clarification, as it stands now, if I buy Salute tickets prior to 14 Feb. 21 I have to use those by 26 Sept. If they do open a window for 27 Sept. through end of year, I will not be able to buy/use those per the 2021 rule.
Hi Pamela,,
Thanks, I love doing it!
Any you buy now (to use by 26 Sept) will count against any ticket limit that Disney establishes for 2021 tickets, if offered. So if the limit is 6 for the 2021 tickets, and you buy 3 of the 2020s now, you could buy 3 of the 2021s.
We are planning to go 3 days in April and then 3 days in the summer at some point. My local base has some 2020 Salute tickets. Is there any reason to wait for the 2021 tickets? I am holding on to some sort of hope that Disney might do something similar to Universal which would allow us to go more than the 6 days. I was planning to wait until the second week of February to decide. Seems like the safe bet would be to purchase 2020 tickets and lock in the current cost. What do you think? Thank you by the way for all you do for our Military community.
Hi Jason,
Thank you!
The only reason to wait on 2021 tickets would be if you desired to go after 26 Sept.
I would not expect Disney to do more than they have done in the past, even considering Universal’s great offer.
You are correct, buying now will lock in the lower rates. Any 2021 tickets will definitely be more expensive.
Thank you.
I have a resort reservation using the Military Salute Discount for November of this year. My reservation is under Military Disney Resort Hotel Package Basic Plan and not under a room only reservation. Because of that, I only paid a $200 deposit rather than one night’s deposit. Do you think the correct discount was applied to my reservation?
Hi Bradley,
It takes adding either tickets or the dining paln to make it a package.
This sounds odd to me. I’d call back and talk to another Disney agent or have a Disney specializing independent agent, like Ears of Experience, take the reservation over and have them check.
http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/ears-of-experience/
This is correct. You can book a basic package without tickets.
Thanks Heather,
In 13 years of making Disney Armed Forces Salute reservations this has never happened to me.
Why would you? You limit your self so much, and there is nothing added to make it a package…
Steve,
Thank you for the updates you provide. I enjoy reading the updates you write. Your information is clear and concise for the military traveler.
Bradley is correct in what he says. You can have a Basic package (without tickets or dining plan) with the required deposit of $200. I work with Ears and do this all the time for my military clients.
Hi Dawn,
Thanks so much!
This is really confusing to me. Why would you do that? You lock the military traveler into big prepayment and cancellations restrictions as a package. Most Mil travelers need flexibility.
in 48 Salute reservations I’ve never had a package… (did do a DDP package on other time)
OK All,
I’ve got it figured out. I just made some reservations of myself and went through it.
– I asked for a military rate.
– When the Disney agent stated the deposit she said it was $200
– To which I replied I though it was 1 nights deposit
– She said Oh this is a basic package
– I said Hungh?
She said you get a few extras that come with all packages (free mini golf coupons, and a couple of Disney Springs discount coupons is about it…) and she said the key benefit was when they began offering the Dining Plan I could easily add it (you can easily add it to a room only though…)
– I said but does’t it being a package lock you int prepayment and more restrictive cancellation policies.
– She said yes you have to have the package paid off 30 days prior to check in and there is 1 night’s fee for cancelling less than 30 days from check in.
– To which I replied I’ll go with just the room only. Which you can cancel 5 days out and do not have to prepay.
I have 4 different reservations, room only, using military rate, for July 2021 and all of these were booked as “packages* with the $200 deposit only, and I was advised that I need to pay them off 45 days ahead or whatever the window was (Can’t recall if it’s 45 or 30). I assumed they were not doing the same cancelation policy for room only rates…
Hi Margaret,
Over the years I have booked 48 room only Disney Resort reservations using the Disney Armed Forces Salute and 1 Salute package with the Disney Dining Plan added. Other than that once, I have never had a package! The room only reservations require 1 night’s deposit, no prepayment, and you can change or cancel your reservation without penalty up until 5 days prior to check-in. (6 days for online bookings).
I would call Disney back and tell them to switch it to a room only reservation, or contact Ears of Experience, they can take over a reservation made direct w/ Disney and work it out for you.
http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/ears-of-experience/
I’ve got it figured out. I just made some reservations of myself and went through it.
– I asked for a military rate.
– When the Disney agent stated the deposit she said it was $200
– To which I replied I though it was 1 nights deposit
– She said Oh this is a basic package
– I said Hungh?
She said you get a few extras that come with all packages (free mini golf coupons, and a couple of Disney Springs discount coupons is about it…) and she said the key benefit was when they began offering the Dining Plan I could easily add it (you can easily add it to a room only though…)
– I said but does’t it being a package lock you int prepayment and more restrictive cancellation policies.
– She said yes you have to have the package paid off 30 days prior to check in and there is 1 night’s fee for cancelling less than 30 days from check in.
– To which I replied I’ll go with just the room only. Which you can cancel 5 days out and do not have to prepay.
You can call and change them if you want, you’ll need to bring the deposits up to the 1 nights deposit though.
I’ve got it figured out. I just made some reservations of myself and went through it.
– I asked for a military rate.
– When the Disney agent stated the deposit she said it was $200
– To which I replied I though it was 1 nights deposit
– She said Oh this is a basic package
– I said Hungh?
She said you get a few extras that come with all packages (free mini golf coupons, and a couple of Disney Springs discount coupons is about it…) and she said the key benefit was when they began offering the Dining Plan I could easily add it (you can easily add it to a room only though…)
– I said but does’t it being a package lock you int prepayment and more restrictive cancellation policies.
– She said yes you have to have the package paid off 30 days prior to check in and there is 1 night’s fee for cancelling less than 30 days from check in.
– To which I replied I’ll go with just the room only. Which you can cancel 5 days out and do not have to prepay.
You can call and change them if you want, you’ll need to bring the deposits up to the 1 nights deposit though.
I was told the 2021 tickets will be announced in two weeks and ho on sale Feb 15th. Disney is raising all ticket prices to be announced the first week of Feb.
Thanks for the intel Steph!
Who did you hear this from?
I have a question, if you don’t mind. We’re going to Disney World in May with the 2020 Salute tickets. We originally purchased the 5-day ticket because park hopping wasn’t available at the time. Now it’s back, we wished we’d gotten the 6-day.
I know in the past you could always go to Guest Services and add things (like an extra day or the water parks) to your already-purchased Salute tickets. But this year is really confusing. Since the purchase date ends on February 14th, does that mean we wouldn’t be able to add an extra day when we get to Guest Services in May? Or could we add the day since the tickets for 5 days had already been purchased? Makes it difficult to make park and restaurant reservations if we don’t know what we’ll be able to do once we get there.
Thank you in advance
Hi there Peg,
I’m certain that you’ll still be able to upgrade these in May. The only question would be to what price? The current 2020 6-day hopper price or the certainly higher 2021 6-day price.
Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to this site Steve, we appreciate you! My huz is currently deployed, and we have Shades of Green booked Oct 30- Nov 7 for a “deployment’s over vacation.” We are keeping it a surprise from our 3 kids until we leave for the airport on Oct 30. The ticket limbo is making our planning a huge pain in the rear! We are to the point of actually considering paying over $2,800 directly to Disney for tickets so we can lock in park passes before any of our dates start booking up, BUT we also know if a 2021 Salute ticket comes out in 3 weeks our ticket cost will be cut by almost half. We would just to go Universal, but we have littles and we’re Disney people. We are very torn on what to do…
Thanks Meredith!
And thanks for sharing. Disney certainly has put many in the military community in a bad predicament as far as tickets!
When, in a normal year would the Military Salute tickets come out for 2022? We are looking at going in January 2022….Definitely would like to have Salute tickets then! We usually go in November or December but that won’t work this year.
Hi Denise,
“Normally,” the upcoming year’s Disney Armed Forces Salute is announced in the end of September the year prior.
We’ll just have to see how things go this year…
Hey Steve! Appreciate all your insights! I’ve got a question about the 2020 salute tickets. Hope this isn’t too confusing. We bought and partially used 5 salute tickets we purchased when tickets first opened up again after the closures in 2020. You say they extended that purchase window until Feb 14. Does that mean we have the option to purchase another one bringing the total to 6 of the original tickets as well as an additional 6 as long as all are purchased by 2/14/21? Or did we miss the window of adding the 6th original ticket and now we can only buy 6 more?
Hi there Rachelle,
Sorry, with all the odd stuff this time around my wording might not have been a clear as I’d like.
There are now 2 purchase windows and you can buy 6 tickets in each.
We’ve passed the end of the first window, so no way to get that 6th.
You are still eligible for 6 in this new window 19 Dec ’20 – 14 Feb ’21.
That’s what I thought but wanted to be sure. This is definitely a confusing time to try to plan a trip with military discounts!
Hi Steve,
Dave here. I spoke with the West Point ITT office and they said the same thing that one of your earlier patrons commented on. Disney should be announcing and offering new salute tickets the second week in Feb. covering dates after 26 Sept 21. At least this is their prediction. And, of course prices will be higher!
Thanks for the intel my friend!
Got to talk soon…
Thanks for your thoughts Steve. We have used Salute tickets every since they were offered. We usually break our tickets up into a couple of trips. Disney definitely makes back their money from us. We book a rest day on all our trips so they squeeze out some additional money. Our trips usually cost us about $3000 over the cost of tickets and room. So the money they save us on tickets for sure more than make up on the back be for Disney. If Salute goes away, we will still do Disney but might also mix in Universal and Sea World
Hi Carol,
Thanks, that’s a very good point and goes to the heart of why companies offer discounts. It’s the other money they make.
I’m sure they will offer the Armed Forces Salute discount. They are just waiting to see how much they should charge. And I would love to go ahead a reserve my hotel stay. But neither hotels my family and I want to stay at is open to accept reservations. It’s so frustrating. I’d consider just waiting for 2022. But when Disney announced they are taking away Magical Express. Makes it even more important to go this year because that is all my special needs daughter keeps talking about. So I need to make it happen. I dont want to disappoint her. Covid has already been doing it. Come on Disney open reservations for Port Orleans Riverside or Music family suits.
We have been working on planning a trip with some family members that has been put on hold for about 4 years with stops and starts due to health issues of various members of our party. We believe we are finally going to be able to make it happen this year and plan to come the weekend of 30 October so we can get some of the Halloween AND Christmas decor.
Everyone has been looking forward to this for quite some time, saving up money and paying a little at the time.
If they don’t offer a salute package, this much anticipated vacation may be called off yet again.
Disney seems to be making so many decisions that indicate they no longer value those people who have made Disney their “happy place” for many years. My husband and I typically come to Disney at least once a year, and try to get their twice a year when possible.
I guess they have gotten caught up in the mindset that the more they raise prices and decrease availability, the more people will clamor to get in.
I realize the 50th anniversary celebration will have lots of demand anyhow, and probably leads Disney to want to rake in all they can at maximum prices. It is just sad that they won’t announce anything so that people can plan their vacations.
I appreciate all the updates! Thank you! I booked a hotel for October 2021, I am anxiously waiting to hear what the tickets price will be for October 2021. Thank you again for all your hard work.
Thanks Ashley,
I love doing it.