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I need more than 6 Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets What Can I Do?

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Military-Disney-Tips-FAQ-Friday-IThis post is part of our Frequently Asked Question Series in the Disney Armed Forces Salute Ticket FAQ section.

The Disney’s Armed Forces Salute offers huge savings on theme park tickets and resort rooms to those Service Members who are eligible to participate.

I need more than 6 Armed Forces Salute Tickets what can I do?

Disney’s Armed Forces Salute has a ticket limit of 6 tickets during the Salute offer period per eligible member.

However, Disney’s policy is that “Exceptions should be made for immediate families larger than six people.”

For example, if a family has five children, Disney will allow all members of the family to purchase and use Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets (for Mom, Dad, and the 5 kids).

Disney defines immediate family as: Mom, Dad, & their Dependent Children.

Note: During 2021 there is a very special situation. If you still have any 2020 Salute Tickets remaining these can be used through 26 Sept 2021 AND you may buy and use 2021 Salute Tickets. See this post for more details

Qualified:

  • Member
  • Spouse
  • Their Dependent (Mil ID Carrying) children and those too young for an ID

Not Qualified:

  • The member’s adult children without Mil ID, even if still living in the house
  • The member’s adult children plus their spouse, and or children
  • Parents
  • In-Laws
  • The member’s siblings
  • The spouses siblings
  • Aunts and Uncles, or their children
  • Friends
  • Friend’s kids
  • etc. (you get it)

Military resellers like Base Ticket Offices and Shades of Green have a contract driven policy which limits them to selling a max of 6 Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets per eligible member.

(Update Sept 2019) – Disney now officially advises that you work with your local base ticket office to gain an exception to the 6-ticket rule. The Ticket Office would do this by contacting Disney Military Sales, either directly (if they know how) or through their next higher Ticket Office Supervision. 

The problem with this will be lack of knowledge on the part of Ticket Offices and perhaps not knowing about this or not believing you. Work up their chain of command if needed to get them to investigate.

Give yourself plenty of time for this to happen. Start well before you want the tickets in hand!

PLEASE provide feedback on how this goes for you in the comments or use my contact form!

Until recently Disney used to have the member wait until arrival to get the tickets above 6 that they needed.

Disney’s intent is that large immediate families be able to use the Salute discount for all family members!

But a glitch in the way the system was originally set up is causing problems!

This wasn’t been a big problem in the past, those who needed more than 6 tickets just got them upon arrival at Disney.

But with the advent of Theme Park Reservations it has become a problem.

So as it stands today, Military resellers (base ticket offices and Shades) are not allowed to sell more than 6 per military member due to language in their contract with Disney. But as stated above Disney now wants local Ticket Offices to work this out.

Don’t Qualify for this Exception?

Then you’ll need to get Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets or Stars and Stripes Passes for the rest of your party.

See:

Disney Tickets and Technology Links

Tickets

Disney's Armed Forces Salute Tickets The biggest military discount available on tickets

Regular Disney Military Discount Tickets The permanent Disney Military Discount

Stars and Stripes Passes From Shades of Green at Walt Disney World, are available to any Shades of Green eligible person who is staying anywhere on WDW property.

Disney Military Tickets – Your Start to Finish Guide

What’s the Right Military Discounted Disney Ticket for Me?

WDW's Park Hopper Plus Option Information

Technology

Disney World's new Fast Pass Plus (FP+) system and the Magic Bands are great new benefits that are part of the set of new technologies collectively known as Disney Next Gen or My Magic Plus.

Disney Technology Overview Page

Memory Maker and PhotoPass+ Military Discounts

My Magic Plus - What all this New Disney Technology?

Linking Disney Military Tickets And Fastpass Plus Reservations

Waiting On Your Walt Disney World FastPass Plus Window To Open (what you'll see in your account)

Disney FuelRod Stations are Available at Disney Parks for Recharging Your Devices

Magic Bands for Shades of Green Guests

FastPass Plus for Shades of Green Guests

Memory Maker and PhotoPass

All You Need To Know About Disney World FastPass Plus For The Military Traveler

Military FastPass Plus Ticket Options for Disney World


This MDT Post By: Steve Bell

Steve is the the Military Disney Tips Founder. He a retired U.S. Military Member who's been touring the Disney Parks since 1971! Steve's mission is to help military families with their Disney vacations in every way. Check out Steve's Bio.

Subscribe to Steve's email newsletter to get website updates and news by clicking this link.
 
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: Learn about the Disney Armed Forces Salute the best military discount that there is for Disney. See our Topic Overview Pages:

Military Disney Tips' Recommended Disney Travel Agent

Save on your Disney Vacation With Ears of Experience

Ears of Experience Disney Only Travel Agency. Military family owned and operated! They know all the ins and outs of Disney military discounts!
 
   

Comments

  1. Mal says

    We are going to WDW in The fall and it will be myself, husband, 2 yr old, 4 yr old, and my parents. So I will need 5 tickets, but plan on staying 6/7 days. Since my brother who’s also in the military isn’t going this year can he buy tickets to cover our extra days there? If so how does that work? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Steve says

      No unfortunately not Mal. The member activating the Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets must be there and have a ticket for themselves as well.

      You’ll need to mix in Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets.

      Make sure you compare all your options: 3 people using back to back Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets, mixing salute and MYW, only MYW (based on the various types of MYW tickets types).

      Shades MYW prices (bases are close in price).

      Reply

      • Mal says

        What about where you said having a military member who’s not using their benefit or having my spouse try another base? Just curious. I want to figure out our best possible/least expensive way on the tickets. Also have you heard any news on Disney renewing the Military salute/discounts?

        Reply

        • Steve says

          Hi Mal,

          You have to qualify for Disney’s large family exception in the first place. What I outlined above is just to get the tickets you are qualified for prior to going instead of upon arrival.

          I met with Disney last week and expect to have something to release within a month.

          Reply

  2. Debbie Brooks says

    I have the same problem in that I am needing more theme park tickets. My husband is 100% military disabled so he does quality. He is wanting to take kids and grandkids to Disney in November. But, he is only eligible (I think) to receive only 6 discounted military tickets (the ones currently for $177). We are needing 9 adults and 5 kids tickets. I, as his spouse, also have a military I.D. but read only one person can purchase only 6 tickets. Do you see any changes by November that may help us? Any way we can save a little extra money is very helpful. We also have reservations at Shades of Green.

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Debbie,

      If I had to advise you today I’d say the other 3 tickets would have to be Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets.

      But, please sign up for my newsletter and stay tuned for info in the near future which will help your situation.

      Reply

  3. Lucina McNally says

    My family and I will be visiting Disney world in January 2016. My husband is retired Air Force and I am Dependent spouse. We have 9 Adults and 2 children going. We read he could only purchase 6 tickets. Could I purchase the other 5?

    Reply

  4. danny vernon says

    My husband is 100% disabled vet. We need 5 adult tickets , 2 children tickets and 1 disabled child’s ticket. What is the best plan for us.

    Reply

  5. Crystal says

    I need 11 tickets for September. I’m aware that we can get 6 AFS tickets and 5 regular Military Discount Tickets. I know my son (the military soldier) needs to activate the 6 AFS tickets at the gate but does he need to be present for the 5 regular tickets?

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Crystal,

      The Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way tickets are ready to go and do not need to be activated, so he will not need to be there.

      They are just like regular general public tickets.

      Reply

  6. Sarah says

    My husband is active duty and we have 5 minor, dependant children . I know we qualify for the large family exemption, but I’m trying to figure out how I can get all 7 tickets in advance so that I can link out FastPasses and so that all the kids will get their magic bands when Disney sends them.

    I called Disney, which was just as helpful as you suggested it would be. The cast member told me the only way to get a 7th ticket is at the gate AND that they mak no guarantee that I can get a Salute ticket, I may have to get a discounted ticket instead, as its up to their discretion and availability.

    I have a friend that is also active duty and won’t be using their Salute tickets this year who offered to buy the 7th ticket at the MWR where I’ll be buying my 6, but someone said these tickets may have the service members’ name on them and I won’t be able to activate it with my husbands ID at the gate.

    Any insight?

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Sarah,

      Yes, having a friend buy your 7th ticket is one of the options that I mention in the post above.

      Once there if there is any pushback by an un-knowledgable cast member, about activating the 7th, just politely escalate to management.

      Reply

  7. Heather says

    I have 6 kids, plus myself and my husband. So we need 8 tickets. I actually am going down there in June (but our family trip is not until August). Can I buy the extra tickets then (without any of my kids there)? What would I need to show them I have 6 children under 18. Or so I need to have my kids with me when I buy the extra two tickets.

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Heather,

      Since you will be there swing by Shades of Green and buy six, no questions asked, nothing needed but your ID. No tax

      Then you can either buy the remaining 2 from Disney plus tax, you’ll need to show that you have one ticket already for yourself. Photo copies of the kid’s IDs or birth certs might be in order.

      Or buy the remaining 2 at your base ticket office, again just your ID needed. Then activate them upon arrival (showing that you already have a ticket).

      Reply

  8. Heather Lynch says

    Hello, I have actually already purchased my 6 from SOG by mail and had them delivered via Fedex. I am trying to figure my best way to get those additional 2 tickets and be able to make my fast pass reservations for all of my kids. Would having a friend who is also military buy me 2 tickets from SG that they purchase the same way by mail work? They would already be activated right, so that military member wouldn’t need to be there?

    Reply

  9. Chrissy says

    Hey Steve! So, if we buy the 6 tickets we need from the local base office, we could then just call the Shades of Green or Camp Pendleton to order the 1 extra we need? Would they not see in a computer system that we had already bought the other 6 tickets? Thank you!

    Reply

    • Crystal says

      The six tickets would be the specially priced ones. You can only have 6 of those. Any tickets above that would be a Military discount but not as cheap as the special tickets. Those will show up in the system. Only 6 allowed.

      Reply

  10. peter says

    So Steve
    if I buy. My 6. Tickets at local base office then swing by sog. To by 2 more that I need I can do This no questions ask cause I am not in the system for 6

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Peter,

      There is no system that tracks purchases at non Disney locations. Some bases set up their own local system. And of course you must meet the eligibility for the large family exception.

      Reply

  11. sarah gilbert says

    Would my husband be able to buy tickets for his sister and kid? If we bought our 6 at the ITT then called and got the extra two would that work? Or will they inquire about the immediate family rule?

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Sarah,

      Having purchased what is the limit for one member (who doesn’t have 5 or more kids) he’s not eligible for more, no matter how purchased.

      He can buy her the Regular Military Discounted Disney Tickets, which offer a slight discount.

      If helping her with the price is a concern you could average the cost of all 8 tickets and have her pay for 2. This would of course increase your cost.

      Reply

  12. Petti says

    Hi!

    I need 11 tickets that we want to purchase months ahead of the trip. Can the service member buy 6 ahead of time at one base, and then the spouse by 5 tickets ahead of time at another base?

    Will we have any trouble once we arrive with 11 discounted tickets? Do we need to check in somewhere once we arrive to ‘validate’ our tickets? We will technically have 2 military IDs, but one is a spouse ID.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  13. Jessica says

    If my family and I have already gone to Disney this year and used up all of our days at the parks with the Salute to Heroes tickets, am I able to purchase more throughout the year?

    Or is it only 6 allowed per year?

    Reply

  14. Ti says

    I purchased 3x 4 day Salute to Heroes tickets on an earlier trip and have only used 2 of the 4 days; I am planning to go back in October with my family (will buy the other 3x 4 day). Do you know if I am able to convert my first three purchase of 4 day to 5 day to give me an extra day on those tickets?

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Yes you sure can Ti. You can do so at any WDW ticket location for the price difference plus tax.

      Note, if you bought them at Shades of Green you can convert then there without tax.

      Reply

  15. Meghan says

    Hello! I know several people have inquired about this already, but I want to get your opinion on the best way to do this. We have five children and are trying to go to Disney World in November, so we need to get our tickets in the next month to be able to do fast passes. If we get a friend of ours to buy the seventh ticket that we need, and then bring them all with us to Disney World in November, is our friend’s military ID linked to that seventh ticket in anyway? And when you say we have to meet the large family exception, does that just mean they need to see that we have five children with us? Thank you so much!

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Meghan,

      All members of your party must be present for the ticket activation, so yes you have to bring all 5 kids. Those old enough should have military dependent IDs.

      The linking of tickets to a person is done by Disney upon ticket activation, not base ticket offices. However some base ticket offices take it upon them selves to track the number you buy and might be a pain later if your friend tries to buy all 6 of theirs.This is because many base ticket offices do not fully know the rules.

      Reply

  16. Jennifer Breland says

    My family and I are going to Disney next month and we need 8 tickets. My son in law (Navy) purchased our 6 Military Salute tickets last month. If we have a friend purchase the 2 more tickets that we need, can my son in law redeem all 8 at Disney without our friend even though he didn’t purchase all of them? Just trying to save myself $600.

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Jennifer,

      I answered this question this morning that you left on the other topic page yesterday. I’ll copy the answer below, but in short the answer is no.

      The member being able to use more than 6 tickets is only for one very specific situation.

      Unfortunately it sounds like your party does not qualify for the “large family” exception which allows the eligible member to activate more than 6 Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets. This is the only exception to the rule. This exception only applies to an immediate military family, in this case your Navy son in-law (who I assume is the only eligible person in the party), his wife (your daughter) and his dependent children (5 or more that bring the total above 6, if he has any or that many). The exception does not apply to his parents, in-laws, siblings, other relations, or friends in the party that bring the total above 6.

      So the solution for your party is the Regular Military Discounted Magic Your Way Tickets, 2 of these slightly discounted tickets should be purchased for any kids in the party if there are any as they are cheaper than adults. There is no limit on these.

      see http://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/disney-military-discounts/regular-disney-military-discount-for-walt-disney-world-and-disneyland-tickets/

      Reply

  17. Michael says

    Hi Steve, We have 8 people going to Disneyland so if i were to buy 6 3 day salute hoppers from my ITT on base, could i buy the last 2 salute hoppers at the park when we arrive without getting “flagged”? Thank you !

    Reply

  18. Lindsey says

    We are going in January. Just making sure same rules apply. We have 7 children but only 6 that are 3 and higher. We need 8. We can buy 6 tickets ahead of time and the other 2 at the gate? Can my FIL who is military buy us 2 and then we activate at the gate with our children present? Trying to go and not make him be there too for activation.

    Reply

  19. Aimee says

    HI Steve,

    We used up 3 of 5 day park hopper military tickets this year already. We are needing 5 tickets for our upcoming trip (3 kids and 2 adults). Can I order 3 from Shades of Green and have our friend buy 2 at our ITT office on base? Our friend will not be at WDW to activate them.

    Thank you

    Reply

  20. Vicki says

    Hello Steve,

    First off, thank you for taking the time to help our military families with this information. Your attention to detail is amazing.

    Heading to Dinseyworld in March 2020

    Pretty sure I have this correct… My husband is AD Air Force. We have 4 in our immediate family and are going with 4 additional non immediate family members. We would buy the 6 salute tickets for the 4 immediate family members (Dad, Mom, 2 kids) and then the 2 extra salute tickets could also be used for 2 (adults) of the non immediate family members? Then we could buy 2 additional regular military discounted tickets for the 2 (kids) remaining non immediate family members?

    Thanks!!

    Reply

  21. Sheridan says

    Hi, thanks for providing so much information about these tickets, it helps make everything a little easier and cheaper 🙂
    I am curious and I could find anyone else asking a question similar. We currently live in Utah but will be moving to Alabama for flight training in March. We want to plan a trip for 6 military salute tickets to Disney land with the rest of my family while we are close enough to drive to Cali. But want to take advantage of living close to Disney World as well later this year while we are stationed at Fort Rucker. So my question is, is it 6 per year for BOTH Disney location or can I get 6 for Disney Land and 6 for Disney World in the same year.
    Hopefully that doesn’t sound too greedy but we don’t want to loose any opportunities to have these experiences with our kids while its even cheaper by not having to fly to either location and while their dad is not deployed.

    Reply

  22. Dennis D says

    Steve,

    Just bought a couple of your books that I plan to go through over the next month. Just want to see if I have this all straight. I have 5 children and as long as I can get the 7 Armed Forces Salute tickets…there is no issue getting them activated at the gate (as long as I can show they are all 5 my kids)?

    What if one of my kids is 19 but in college and still has his dependent ID (they keep them until 21 and upwards of 23 if in college)?

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Thanks so much Dennis!

      Yes, Disney’s corporate official intent is that you do not have to buy a more expensive ticket in order to take your whole family.

      But we’ve seen over the years that where the rubber meets the road there can at times be impediments (those who are uninformed).

      I recommend first trying to work through your base ticket office as Disney has most recently stated. The initial reaction may very well be “WHAT?” or You can’t do that!” Insist they ask up their chain and contact Disney Military Sales as I mentioned above. Leave plenty of time for this process (and for making FastPasses) and keep on them. I know someone who regularly did this in the past, though he contacted Military Sales directly on his own.

      If this ends up failing, then go the alternate route. Get your 7 tickets (most likely through multiple sources). When you go to activate them you will get pushback as this is a very, very rare thing and they do not train for it. You’ll need to escalate to management. Just be politely firm and refuse to take no for an answer. You may get a little pushback or a lot, but they WILL let you do it in the end, perhaps with a “We’re going to make an exception but only in this one instance.” I’ve heard that line from readers over and over through the years.

      Yes the mil ID says they are a dependent so good to go!

      Reply

  23. Kris says

    Hello,

    My family has been going to DL for the last 3 years using the Salute tickets. My Mother purchases the tickets for 10 people. We haven’t had any issues entering the park. But now seeing all these comments about the activations limited to 6. It looks like the tickets are tracked by ID but are they tracked by the ticket group? Let’s say mom buys 6 including 1 for her and then she buys 5 including 1 for her. Can we activate both groups on the same day with the same ID(moms ID)? Look I’m not trying to sell tickets here we all just want to go together without breaking the bank.

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Kris,

      Soooo… Per your question, your mom is the only one buying the Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets. Whether she is the military, member or spouse, the limit is 6! Technically if she is the spouse the limit for her purchase is 5 as one ticket must be reserved for the member, but Disney rarely enforces this.

      If there were 2 members in the family 12 is legal.

      Are these what she is buying 12 of? There are other types of military tickets which, 1 aren’t limited and 2 offer less savings. In fact what she is allowed to do is but 6 Disney Armed Forces Salute Tickets and 6 (or any other number of) Regular Military Discounted Disneyland Tickets. The regular ones do not require activation.

      See: https://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/military-discount-theme-park-tickets/disneyland-military-discounted-theme-park-tickets/

      I’m not sure why you’ve been able to do this to date, unless you are using the regular tickets thinking they are the Salute ones… They are tracked by the individual activating them.

      Reply

  24. Shaun says

    We will be going to Disneyland in March ‘22 and have already purchased those tickets through ITT. I bought 4 but now we are also taking our son in college, so I need to get one more, for a total of five. However, my wife and I are planning a trip to Disneyworld in June ‘22 for our 20-year anniversary. Does the 6-ticket limit apply to both Disneyland and Disneyworld combined, or do the programs operate independent of each other? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Steve says

      Hi Shaun,

      The two offers (and ticketing systems) are totally separate. Each member is allowed 6 tickets at both WDW and DLR during each offer period.

      Reply

  25. Melissa says

    So we are going to Disney with our friends in January 2022. The 1st 6 salute tickets our retired army friend bought thru shades of green. Than his wife went to buy 3 magic your tickets on base but they gave her salute tickets for our kids. Im worried we are gonna have an issue.

    Reply

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