Disney Military Salute passes made our Disneyland vacation possible! These tickets are an incredible deal and far cheaper than you’ll find anywhere else. If you qualify for this incredible deal, you won’t want to miss it!
What are Disney Military Salute tickets?
The Disney Military Salute program offers steep discounts on Disneyland and Walt Disney World tickets for people with a military ID. For Disneyland in 2018, the prices were $165 for a three-day Park Hopper or $185 for a four-day Park Hopper pass. That’s less than the price of two days’ admission at regular price!
Who can purchase Disney Military Salute tickets?
Disney Military Salute tickets are a low-cost offering for active duty military, retired military and 100% disabled veterans. In order to purchase these tickets, you will need to have a military ID and visit the Leisure Travel Services desk on post.
When you visit Leisure Travel Services, you will be able to purchase up to six of these tickets. You can only buy six, though! Since we have a family of seven, my father-in-law bought our extra ticket.
How do the Military Salute passes work?
The ticket will be given to you as a printed sheet of paper. It will have a bar code and your name written on it. In order to redeem this for your actual Disney pass, you will need to visit the front gate on your first Disney day. They will scan the paper, check your military ID, take your picture and then hand you the proper Disneyland pass.
The sponsor must be present when the printed tickets are redeemed.
The sponsor who purchased the tickets MUST be there when they are redeemed. You will have to show your military ID when you exchange the printed paper for the actual ticket. You cannot just buy these and give them to your family members.
We had two extended family members join us in Anaheim for our adventure. In order to get their tickets, my father-in-law (who purchased them) had to be present at both the Disneyland and California Adventure gates the first time the pass was scanned. After that, our guests were able to use their passes without him present for the remainder of their stay.
If you have a big family, bring a pen with you!
If you have a large family, you will need to have a pen with you at the gate! Please bring one. The printed Disneyland tickets are assigned to each person and your photograph will be taken. That person has to present that specific ticket each time.
We were told to remember which pass belonged to which person. We had planned to take a picture of each person with their pass and identify them by character… but with seven people, we ended up with several duplicate character cards.
We didn’t think this was a big deal because our family is always together but we were mistaken. When I logged in to buy our MaxPass, the app wanted me to assign a name to each ticket. I couldn’t remember which ticket belonged to which person!
In order to fix this, we had to bring our passes back to the entrance, have them scanned and write their names on their tickets. It was a headache and took a lot of time!
Don’t forget your FastPass privileges!
When I stopped by Disneyland City Hall yesterday to discuss the MaxPass, I found out that all Disneyland ticket holders have access to the Fast Pass system. Even if you don’t pay the extra $10 per day for a MaxPass!
However, instead of conveniently booking your rides on your phone, you will have to visit each attraction to get into the Fast Pass queue. You will be given a time to return to that ride when you can bypass the line. This results in a lot more walking, but it can save you some extra cash!
Ready to buy your Disney Military Salute passes?
Call your local Leisure Travel Services desk for more information about their current Disney Military Salute offerings!
Get more Disney on the Cheap info here!
Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.