2022 U.S. Military Salute Ticket & Room Discount at Disney World
Walt Disney World has released the 2022 Military Salute ticket and resort room discounts for members of the armed forces. This post shares the details of these special offers, commentary about the savings, info & recommendations, and history of the company’s support for the military.
It’s well documented that Walt Disney was, for lack of a better term, distinctly patriotic. He strongly supported the U.S. military throughout his career, and even attempted to join the Army in 1918 but was rejected for being too young. He instead forged the birth date on his application for the Red Cross Ambulance Corps and spent a year in France during World War I. During the war, Walt’s brother Roy was a petty officer in the U.S. Navy and his other two older brothers, Ray and Herbert, served in the Army.
Throughout the Walt Disney Family Museum (we highly recommend all fans visit), Walt Disney’s patriotism is reinforced repeatedly. Not just in a way that is convenient for the sake of his public image, either. (There’s none of that in the museum–unlike the company’s meticulous marketing version of Walt, the museum showcases the actual human.) Walt expressed envy to pivotal members of his studio who went to serve during World War II, devoted over 90% of the Walt Disney Studios’ wartime output to publicity campaigns, and even embarked on a Latin America Goodwill Tour. In short, Walt Disney walked the walk.
Beyond Walt Disney himself, many veterans have made significant contributions to the Walt Disney Company throughout its nearly 100-year history, including Disney Legends Admiral Joe Fowler and General Joe Potter. These two were central to the creation of Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and like Walt Disney’s patriotism, the work ethics instilled in both via the military is well documented.
We’ve attended a number of D23 presentations where those who worked for Admiral Joe or General Joe share amusing anecdotes of how they ran things. If the stories are any indication, construction of the Florida Project and the early days of Walt Disney World seem to reflect a certain military sensibility, sounding dramatically different from today’s approach (would probably would not fly).
More recently, the Walt Disney Company has been named by Forbes as one of the Best Employers for Veterans. In part, this is thanks to the Heroes Work Here company-wide initiative to hire, train and support returning veterans that began back in 2012.
Heroes Work Here reflects the long history of respect and appreciation Disney has for the U.S. Armed Services. The Walt Disney Company recognizes the commitment and dedication it takes to serve, and values the leadership skills and sense of purpose the military has instilled in you.
Anyway, thought it would be worthwhile to briefly reflect on that before delving into the details of the deals. There’s a lot of pessimism and valid negativity about recent decisions by the company, and I’ll admit to my own skepticism about how it uses Walt Disney as a marketing mascot. However, when it comes to the military, the company has strong bona fides, and even the seemingly tallest of tales about Walt Disney’s patriotism are actually true. He was the real deal.
Here are details & pricing for Walt Disney World’s 2022 Military Salute Ticket discounted tickets:
5-Day Disney Military Salute Tickets
Purchase now through December 16, 2022.
- With the Park Hopper Option: $349 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option: $379 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Option and Disney Genie+ service: $424 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option and Disney Genie+ service: $454 plus tax
4-Day Disney Military Salute Tickets
Purchase now through December 16, 2022.
- With the Park Hopper Option: $329 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option: $359 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Option and Disney Genie+ service: $389 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option and Disney Genie+ service: $419 plus tax
Receive admission for 4 or 5 days when you visit during the period from January 1, 2022 through December 16, 2022. You can also purchase the Memory Maker product for a special price of $98 through December 16, 2022.
Note that in addition to a valid ticket, a theme park reservation via the Disney Park Pass system for the same park on the same date is required for each person in your party ages 3 and up. Reservations are limited and subject to availability.
This is a frequently-offered discount, extended every year since (at least) 2009. These tickets may be used by themselves, family members (including spouses) or friends. These tickets are by far the cheapest that Disney offers, so if you qualify, jump on this deal.
This is a great price for a 4-day or 5-day park ticket. If you’re eligible for these tickets, buy them, as they are without a doubt the best deal you’ll be able to find. I would highly recommend adding on the Park Hopper option, but not the Genie+ add-on, as you can purchase that a la carte for your Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studio days at a cheaper total cost. (See our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World for everything you need to know about that.)
Next up, the Armed Forces Salute room-only discounts at Walt Disney World. These are valid most nights from January 1, 2022 through December 16, 2022. Military personnel (active or retired) receive better room-only discounts than the general public, Floridians, or Annual Passholders. Call (407) 939-7830 for rates and to book.
Precise percentage savings is not published online, and varies by season, resort popularity, and room category. Typically, the Disney Dining Plan is not included with these discounts, but may be added at full price. (Obviously not relevant in the immediate future, but we still believe it’ll return at some point in 2022.)
The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited, and has a maximum stay of 14 nights. Valid military ID will be required upon check-in and military member (or spouse) must stay in the room.
Offer excludes the following Walt Disney World hotels: the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, and Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. Offer excludes the following room types: 3-bedroom villas, non-family suites, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, Little Mermaid Standard Rooms at Art of Animation Resort, and Polynesian Bungalows.
The Disney Military Salute Room Discount is for active or retired US military personnel, including active or retired members of the National Guard, Reservists, the US Coast Guard, the US Space Force, the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service (PHS), and the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Spouses of Military Service Members also qualify if they are able to present valid and active US Military IDs in the absence of active or retired Military Personnel or Commissioned Corps Members.
Even with these excellent savings, you might instead check out our review of the excellent Shades of Green Resort. My father is retired military, and we usually stayed at Shades of Green when I was growing up. We’ve stayed there again in the last few years, and it was looking great thanks to its last overhaul. My parents have stayed there even more recently, and my dad still loves it–preferring to stay there for the camaraderie and since (how to put this delicately…) children tend to be more disciplined there, and he has some strong opinions on that.
Shades of Green is located in the Magic Kingdom area, and is within walking distance of Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Since Shades of Green used to be a Disney-owned Deluxe Resort, its rooms are significantly larger than Value or Moderate Resorts. Additionally, the food is much more reasonably priced. Prices at Shades of Green are based upon military-ranking.
Ultimately, it’s good to see Walt Disney World renew the Military Salute ticket and room discounts for 2022. I know this is coming a few months later than normal, and the Armed Forces community has been a bit anxious and disappointed by that. Totally understandable there. I’m glad Disney continues to offer this, as I think it’s deserved, appropriate, and generates goodwill among not just members of the military–but also those in the general public who appreciate the fact that the Walt Disney Company continues to live up to its historic legacy of honoring service.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you have any thoughts on Walt Disney World’s 2022 Military Salute ticket or resort discounts? If you’ve called to price out a room, anything worthwhile to report in terms of availability, rate, etc? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Oh, and as mentioned above, with the lack of deluxe rooms w/mil discounts next year, I did find renting points w/David’s vacation club rentals was $1300 cheaper for our 6 day stay (that’s renting a 2 bedroom for 6 of us vs. renting 2 reg rooms/night at Wilderness Lodge).
I learned 2 days after the military rates came out and by then a lot of good stuff was gone-or never existed to begin with. My phone rep was a saint looking over all the different possibilities with me. But, thanks for all the tips guys! I was so frustrated having to activate our tickets w/customer service when we rope-dropped HS last year because I thought we’d miss the boarding pass opportunity for ROR! And yes, we’ll look at SOG for next year, but those standard room pics on their website are a bit dingey. The larger suites look amazing however. Couple that w/cheaper parking and it could be a win-win.
It doesn’t pay to stay at WDW. No fastpass, magical express gone 1 January. I use Armed forces vacation club, plenty of nearby resorts for less than $500 per week. Uber in place of shuttles, Disney gets enough cash.
Checked on first day discount was announced with WDW about our January reservation at AKL and was told no available discount for our dates. Disappointed, but more frustrated that the announce dates for discount starting Jan 2 and yet there none available for the entire week we are there in Jan. I realize it is a benefit but to not have what you claim is not good
We made reservations in April ’21 for Jan ’22 and paid in full in Sept and they told me to to call back when the new rates came out and they would adjust. Were staying at All Star Movies and the discount was only 15% off for the room rate. Seems a bit off to me when we just stayed there in April and the discount was 35% off the room rate.
Disney ticket prices keep rising, but this is still a good deal. As for rooms, I have to stay ‘off site’, I bring my 2 little dogs, so I need pet friendly. (They are not service dogs) Disney needs to learn that pets are family.
Mine got daycare at a wonderful place in Orlando and I got to explore the parks until it was time to get them at 6 pm.
We have stayed at WDW sometimes more than once a year since the late 80’s. My husband was drafted in 1968 and served in the Vietnam War. Why can’t Disney include discounts to all veterans that served in a war?
And an FYI for buying tickets: Buy DIRECTLY through Shades of Green’s website using their email form. They will send you tickets which have already been activated, and the ship them very quickly. The first time we purchased through ITT the delivery time was several weeks and the tickets were NOT activated. We had to go to Customer Service in Disney Springs with our military IDs the day before we planned to go into the parks.
It saddens me to have watched all the magic that they took away from WDW over the last couple of years. And now they worsen it for us Service Members (SMs). In 2019 a 4 day was $241 and 5 day was $257. Within 2-3 years they have increased the price by over 35% while SMs get a 2-3% pay increase. Enlisted folks just don’t have a chance. And to make it harder, Shades of Green (SoG) is a great deal, if you can plan your leave far enough out in order to book a room. Last time I tried, pre-pandemic, SoG was almost 4-6 months out. As an E-6, it’s hard to have your Company commit to your leave so that you can buy tickets and such so far out. Me and the family, while stationed in Ga. got a lot of use out of WDW. About 7, 4 day weekends a year for 2 years, but now, we are deciding to put them on the back burner for a couple of years. Far less magic for way too much money.
The resort availability is very limited for the full discounts we have been used to for the past dozen years. We have stayed at deluxe resorts for the same cost as suites at SOG are now. I understand everything is more these days and very much appreciate the discounted tickets. There was nothing available for our planned trip in January except 3 nights at boardwalk villas for almost $500/ night. We are just keeping out Poly studio but I probably would have rented points rather than pay the premium rate. In the past we always were able to modify Disney direct reservations for the discount. Not this time. We also booked a trip for next fall and the discounts seem to be 15-25% not 25-40% as they have been in the past. Again availability was limited and we ended up with our 5th preference at Port Orleans with nothing with a full week at any deluxe.
As someone who has gone to Disney, utilizing the military discounted tickets (renting DVC points is cheaper than using the military discount for resorts), I have to say that the 2022 discount was very disappointing and reiterated the point that Disney is only about the money anymore. The cost of the Salute tickets saw a $30 (per ticket) rise in price from 2021.
Universal is smashing Disney when it comes to giving the military a great discount. They just renewed their “Freedom Pass” for 2022. Their two park, park-to-part ticket is $200 and the three park, park-to-park ticket is $235. These are the same prices as 2021. And what makes it truly great is that they’re for the entire year, through Dec 31s (as opposed to Disney’s Dec16th) with no black out dates. It’s basically a season pass without being a season pass. $235 for the entire year versus $312 (or $342 if you want the water parks) for five days.
Walt Disney may have been all about the military, but Bob Chapek certainly isn’t. I’ve heard a lot from the military community that they’re dumping Disney and moving to Universal (myself included).
Thank you for this post. To all commenting if you are not Military affiliated you may not understand there are more than just one type of military discounted Disney ticket. This particular discount is the Military Salute tickets that are limited to 6 per service member/ spouse per year. Additional tickets may be purchased for larger families I.E. 5 or 6 kids. The regular military discount is 12% off the regular ticket price and those tickets are unlimited to buy for family or friends and on base or at Shades of Green there is no tax. So still a great deal. We do get the hotel discounted rooms at ALL level resorts value, moderate & deluxe the discount is 30-40% off, rooms are limited and MUST be occupied by service member or spouse and we can reserve up to 3 rooms with the discount but the discounted rooms are limited and do tend to sell out fast. I personally have gotten the Military discount on Disney Camp Ground sites not cabins so I dont know if that is a new exclusion but we have before with no issue. Most of the room discounts cant be used for any standard room regardless of level, its normally preferred room level or higher. We usually go during off peak season so we save even more on the value resorts even with a preferred room. It is true that the Salute tickets are only for active duty and retirees but the regular Military discount ticket is not. Those tickets can easily be purchased at SOG in person or by mail. You just provide a copy of the DD214 with the order form and the tickets will be mailed to you. When they started this discount years ago the service member was free and family members were $99 we have come a long way from that. Always reach out to shades of green or your local ITT or MWR office as they have the most current and up to date information about the discounts. Remember never get your Military entitlements information from Civilians.
This is great ,, really,, I just wish that DW would consider discounts for ALL veterans
I’m just going to throw this out there..
Everyone knows the Military Ticket and Resort discounts are what I would call a “Perk” for our military active and retired veterans. I am sure there are quite a few a active duty members who most likely will be canceling their reservations to Pop Century a value resort, as they were counting on the those gracious discounts for their service. I honestly think that to offer this discount to the moderate and luxury resorts is disgraceful to our men and women who served overseas. Disney has once again disappointed the guests with taking away the afters from the value resorts and allowing the moderate and luxury resorts onlyto have those “Perks”.
While those are the best deals if you can use those ticket lengths, Shades of Green will also sell you other discounted (basically tax free) tickets if you can’t make it to a MWR office. (I’m so old I remember transferring directly from a Disney bus to the Shades of Green bus at the TTC to get tickets while staying elsewhere!) https://www.shadesofgreen.org/experiences/attractions/ticket-prices
Shades of Green eligibility has been expanded since I’ve been there to veterans who are Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, or have VA-documented service-connected disability ratings, as well as the Primary Family Caregivers of eligible veterans. https://www.shadesofgreen.org/about-shades-green/eligibility
(My parents ate at Shades of Green’s Italian restaurant earlier this month, and thought their meal was not only cheap but good for a sit down meal at a WDW Motel (that is, a Moderate. I have never been there, and the buffet I would recommend is still currently closed for dinner.)
I’m currently staying at Shades and to be honest the rooms need some TLC half the outlets are loose or don’t work. Which is unfortunate because they really updated things about 5-7 years ago. Still worth a stay just showing it’s age a little.
Thanks Tom – nice writeup on the military benefits. Although we are limited in the number of tickets that can be purchased annually, large family reunions have been given due consideration on a case by case basis.
Shades of Green on WDW (military resort) has special for vets who did not retire normally in January and September. Go to the Shades of Green website and look into it. Deluxe rooms at a VERY reasonable price.
Finally! This is greatly appreciated. Thanks for keeping us updated!
Glad to see they are still doing this. If anyone deserves a family vacation at a discounted price its the Active Duty women and men who make such sacrifices/are away from their families for extended periods of time.
Selfishly, I wish you could qualify as someone who served even if you didn’t do the full twenty. I understand why they don’t offer that though. The discounts really should be reserved for those who deserve it most.