2023 Military Discounts on Tickets & Resort Rooms at Disney World
Walt Disney World offers United States Military Salute ticket and resort room discounts for members of the U.S. armed forces. This post shares 2023 dates & details of the deals, commentary about savings, info & recommendations, and history of the company’s support for the military.
It’s well documented that Walt Disney was distinctly patriotic. He 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. Walt also strongly supported the U.S. military throughout his career, right up until his death.
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. Walt also 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 embarked on a Latin America Goodwill Tour. Suffice to say, Walt Disney walked the walk.
Many veterans have made significant contributions to the Walt Disney Company throughout its 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 ethic instilled in both via the military is well documented.
In fact, they arguably set the tone for the early years of Walt Disney World and how things just got done. 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 a tight ship. Construction of the Florida Project and the early days of Walt Disney World seem to reflect a certain military sensibility–one that’s dramatically different from today’s approach.
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. Just 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–one of a kind.
Anyway, here are details & pricing for Walt Disney World’s 2023 Armed Forces Salute discounted tickets:
5-Day Disney Military Salute Ticket
- With the Park Hopper Option: $369 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option: $399 plus tax
- Purchase now through December 11, 2023.
4-Day Disney Military Salute Ticket
- With the Park Hopper Option: $349 plus tax
- With the Park Hopper Plus Option: $379 plus tax
- Purchase now through December 12, 2023.
Receive admission for 4 or 5 days, valid for visits this year through December 15, 2023, subject to the following blockout dates: April 2, 2023 through April 15, 2023 and November 19, 2023 through November 25, 2023.
You can also purchase PhotoPass Memory Maker for a special price of $98 through December 15, 2023.
A couple of new developments for 2023 is the removal of the Genie+ add-on for the Military Salute Tickets. Previously, this could be purchased for the duration of the tickets at a flat-rate charge. However, this option has been retired for all tickets and Genie+ now uses date-based pricing that ranges from $16 to $31 per day.
While convenient, the reality is that you won’t need Lightning Lane access for all dates or all parks. Everything you need to know is covered in our Guide to Genie+ and Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
The other notable change is the addition of blockout dates around Spring Break and Thanksgiving, in addition to the ticket deal ending before the peak weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve 2023. To the best of our recollection, it’s been a while since these tickets had blockout dates. Unlike Florida resident rates and pretty much all other deals, the Military Salute Tickets often have not had blockouts.
We’re a bit surprised that there aren’t more blockout dates. The week of Presidents’ Day, Orange County’s Spring Break, and a few other date might’ve made sense. However, it makes sense that Disney would want to offer its best and least-restricted discounts to members of the military.
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 probably not the “Plus” unless you already know that you’ll want or need that for your trip.
Next up, the Armed Forces Salute room-only discounts at Walt Disney World. These are valid most nights this year through December 15, 2023. 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 this year.)
This offer 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.
Here are other important details from Walt Disney World:
- The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited.
- Length of stay requirements may apply.
- Valid military ID will be required upon check-in and the military member (or spouse) must stay in the room.
- May not be combined with any other discount or promotion.
- Additional per-adult charges may apply if there are more than 2 adults per room.
- Advance reservations required.
- Offer excludes the following Disney Resort hotels: The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, The 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 and suites in Moderate and Deluxe Resort hotels, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
- Valid admission and a park reservation are required to enjoy theme parks and special events, and are not included in this offer.
Even with these excellent savings, you might instead check out our review of the excellent Shades of Green Resort. My father is retired military (CW4, Huey and Black Hawk instructor pilot), 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 reasonable since Shades of Green pricing is based upon military-ranking. All in all, it’s a great hotel with an excellent location, but possibly not for everyone–especially those who want their Walt Disney World vacation to be all-Disney, all the time. Conversely, if you want a reprieve from the characters and everything else, Shades of Green is great.
Ultimately, it’s good to see Walt Disney World renew the Military Salute ticket and room discounts for 2023. I’m glad that Walt Disney World continues to offer these excellent offers for military members. 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.
I hate how “what would Walt think?” commentary is used to criticize the company’s decisions that people personally dislike. It’s impossible to say how a visionary thinker like Walt Disney would evolve over time, and a fool’s errand to try. With that said, I’m pretty sure Walt Disney would want his parks and resorts to continue honoring the Armed Forces community!
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 2023 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!
We have stayed at SOG several times and think it is incredible! The buses were more reliable than the other resort buses. And we always get the Military Salute park hopper tickets no matter if we stay at Shades or off property (we have rented VRBO condos when our whole extended family goes). One more thing to factor in is that when you stay at Shades, you can enjoy their vacation without worrying about paying taxes on their room or purchases at the resort- this will save hundreds alone that often gets overlooked!
I’m looking to plan a trip for my daughter’s birthday in October. She’s in the national guard. We were not planning to rent a car and I’ve never planned a trip to Disney before. Does SoG have shuttle services to the other parks and the airport? We wanted to stay at animal kingdom because my daughter is a zoology major but the rates don’t seem to make that possible.
Shades of Green Resort has transportation (buses) to the Ticket Center to access the monorails to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. They also have bus service to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. See the transportation page on the shadesofgreen.org website for more details.
They do not have a separate shuttle service from and to the Orlando airport. There is a paid bus service from MCO to various resorts in WDW. However, I would recommend Uber or Lyft. My daughter and her spouse used Uber last September. It takes about 30-45 minutes depending on traffic (bad on I-4). And the fee was reasonable. You go straight from the airport to the front entrance of the resort. The driver was very knowledgeable of WDW and told them all the best things to see and do.
I’m pretty tech savvy but nowhere can I find a telephone # or website to buy these tickets if you do not have a base nearby. We are in Atlanta.
Can you help?
Assuming you or your spouse has a valid active duty or retired military ID, go to the Shades of Green Resort website, shadesofgreen.org, and look for their ticket office page. That’s where I got my discount tickets last year. You will fill out an order form, and you will have to send them a copy of the military ID. They will mail your tickets upon payment. You get actual tickets, not vouchers, so you don’t have to activate them upon entering the park the first time.
Thank you for the thorough article! We’re planning our second trip to WDW. We secured a military-rate room (woo!) and will, of course, purchase salute tickets. Family will be joining us as well so we intend on maxing out the 6 tickets. Do you or does anyone else know if you can divide the tickets between two different My Disney Experience apps? I know we’ll need to activate their tickets in person with mil ID at the ticket booth. But it’d be nice for them to be able to manage their own lightening lanes and whatnot in their own app.
Yes, you can definitely split them. And if you have enough time, I would purchase them in advance from shades of green so you don’t have to stop at the booth to activate them!
There’s actually a few different military-discounted tickets for Disney, though the one mentioned in this post, the Military Salute Ticket, is by far the best. It’s the only reason we can afford to go to Disney. There’s also the Magic Your Way Seasonal and the Magic Your Way tickets. These are by the day, like how you buy tickets from Disney, but they’re a little cheaper. It’s rather confusing because the Seasonal tickets aren’t for the peak seasons, so they’re cheaper, but you can only buy one day with that option ($130) and don’t include the park hopper unless you add that one at an added expense. There’s also FL residents’ military-discounted tickets and FL residents’ annual pass. You can get them at any base IT office, but if you’re retired and don’t live near a base, Shades of Green is the best place to purchase them from. You’ll still have to pay the shipping fee (which you’d do if ordering from an IT office), but they verify your eligibility before accepting the order, so there’s no need to stop at guest services to have them activated. As soon as you get them, they’re ready to go.
The military discount for the rooms has gotten really sad the past few years, but it’s still better than Universal (who stopped offering a resort discount to the military this year). I was going to book a room at Port Orleans French Quarter and the discount was less than 15% (it used to be 35%). And add to that the fact that you take what they have. If you’re going to stay at POFQ, for instance, you’re going to get a room with a view of the water, whether you want that or not (which we never do at moderates). So, you’re paying more for the water view even though you didn’t want it. Luckily, all resorts offer both standard and preferred rooms. But we’ve found that since Disney changed its pricing tier for resort rooms, it’s actually cheaper to just rent DVC points and stay in a nicer room.
I’m actually staying in a room at Universal in March with a military discount But by the time you find out they’ve put them out for each new year-which is so random- they may be gone.
My wife is retired DoD with over 30 years in healthcare. While we can stay at SoG we cannot purchase the military discount tickets. I am also a veteran but not retired so I don’t qualify either. Wish they would change and add DoD to the qualified list.
A word of advice: make SofG reservations well in advance. Do not give up if you can’t get what you need. Keep checking and don’t hesitate to call the given phone number for help and advice. It took me 2 months to get 5 nights in a row but I never gave up and finally did.
True! You can call one year out. And unlike Disney, they can actually tell you if you are looking for a particular suite (like the Magnolia for a large group) when it is free within a certain time frame… Be aware that rates are also based on rank. So it is certainly cheaper for some. Occasionally you can find better rates at Pop century or another Disney value hotel if you are more inclined to be in the middle of more immersive theming.
my only problem with all of this is that it’s only for active or retired military. so it’s only for people who are career military. Someone who served four or eight years doesn’t qualify for anything
Are there requirements with the park tickets like the room reservations where the military person must be present with you in the park for the tickets? My father in law is retired military but not sure he would want to really be hanging in the parks much with us.
No! Once you buy them from shades of green, they are activated and the family can use them as they like/need!
I have seen references to having your tickets validated or confirmed when you enter the parks for the first time with the tickets. That would require the military person and his/her ID. However, I got actual hard plastic tickets when I ordered through Shades of Green. When I entered the ticket numbers into the My Disney Experience website, they were immediately recognized as the military discount/park hopper tickets I had bought. I never had to show an ID at any time over five days. Of course, I was always with my family, but I suspect they could have gotten in own their own. I had the tickets on Magic Bands and we always used the Magic Bands to enter.
It is possible that depending on where you purchase the Military Salute tickets, you might get a voucher instead of the actual tickets. If that is the case, then you probably will need that military ID initially. Once they are validated and in the system, I can’t see why you would need the military ID every time.
Few thoughts from a military spouse who has organized more trips than I care to admit to WDW:
-They used to all the discount on the three room deluxe villas! I am sad to see that go.
-Shades of Green has spacious rooms, great pools, and breakfast package is excellent AND IT OFFERS THE CHEAPEST PARKING on property! Typically about half of what other hotels on resort charge. It also qualifies for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours through 2023!
-Swan and Dolphin also offers competitive military discount! And I think its the best location on resort! Oh- and its another Extended Evening Theme Park Hours resort! Yay!
I have stayed at Shades of Green many times and have used the Ticket Salute for years (the best deal). I don’t stay at Shades any more as I am trying to stay at each resort on World. Just Booked Wilderness Lodge and the discount is not what it used to be but still better than their current public offer.
We have used, and been very happy with, the Military Salute discounts several times, although it is frustrating that Disney seems to have moved the release date from late Sept to mid Nov, but I’ll take what we can get. We’re staying at SoG exactly 3 weeks from yesterday, for the very first time. Really looking forward to trying it out. Thanks, as always, for your coverage, Tom!
For our first trip back to WDW in almost 20 years, we stayed at the Shades of Green resort this past September. I made my reservations well in advance. I was able to purchase our tickets, with the Military Salute discount, through the SoG ticket office, also well in advance. I was able to get two adjoining rooms at SoG for less than the price of one room at the Contemporary. Also, the daily parking fee is less than the deluxe resorts and about the same as the budget resorts.
Speaking of parking, we stayed in the Palm wing which is adjacent to the parking deck. We walked from our 4th floor rooms directly to the parking deck where our vehicle was parked on the same level. We could be out of our rooms, out of the hotel complex, and on the road in less than 5 minutes.
We did not eat any meals at the SoG other than breakfast. But the breakfast buffet was excellent. And they have a quick service, grab-and-go café next to the bus pickup and drop-off location.
Staying at the Shades of Green and purchasing the military discount tickets saved me hundreds of dollars for three people for a 5-day stay. And SoG guests qualify for park early entry hours, extended evening hours, and 7 a.m. access to the ILL rides (one at each park). You don’t have to stay at the Shades of Green to get the military discount tickets, but for us, it was the best deal around.
“Seem to reflect a certain military sensibility–one that’s dramatically different from today’s approach.”……hmmmm.
Maybe lacking that while wondering why their per-visit-spending isn’t a smashing success could be the core issue?
I agree, this is definitely a driving force of Walt that has been forgotten to time, and shareholder wealth.
Thanks for covering this, Tom! We stay at Shades of Green every time we visit and we love it – really peaceful atmosphere and an easy walk to the Polynesian.
I have used both deals repeatedly. I have gotten anywhere from 35-40% off rack rates at deluxe resorts, mainly Animal Kingdom Lodge. The moderate resort discount is probably in the 25-30% range. As you said, each resort has limited availability of rooms with this rate.
I remember at one point, Animal Kingdom Lodge had the best and most reliable discount. No clue whether that’s been the case since 2019, though. Wilderness Lodge was another resort that had great deals, but I suspect that’s no longer true since it isn’t for any other special offers.
I think I know the last time the tickets had blocked out dates… 2016. Because we tried to get the deal for spring break and couldn’t. The beauty of them is that the park hopper is not an option, they all come with park hopper included. However, their room discounts have been paltry in the last year and a 1/2. Nothing for Pop and Caribbean beach this year, and my discount at Wilderness lodge was about 10% for the fall. I never travel there on the busiest holiday weeks (since our 2016 faux pas) so that was a huge shock and disappointment.
Thanks for that info!
I thought it might’ve been longer ago than that. I’m pretty sure in either 2010 or 2011, my parents were blocked out from booking the discount around Thanksgiving. I could be wrong on that, though.
We found it extremely difficult to get military-discounted rooms (this was before we bought DVC). We had to do a split stay at POR?TC because no resort had more than five nights of availability with the discount–I think this was 2016. I’d advise anyone who wants to use this discounts to plan as far ahead as possible–annoying and frankly sometimes impossible for military folks due to deployments, but hey, that’s the life.