[MaulerDude72]

So I call my parents who live in Orange County CA yesterday to wish my mother a Happy Mother's Day when all of a sudden she says to me: "You going to WDW in October? Maybe your dad and I will come too and join you."

Now you are probably thinking to yourselves, "oh isn't that sweet...they'll get to experience the magic with their soon to be 4 year old DGD." (or why go to WDW when DLR is only minutes away?) Anyway, my dad is a retired USAF officer and I mentioned to them that with his military status, he and mom would be eligible to stay at Shades of Green for about $104 a night. Now if SOG is booked for the times that they want to go, do any of the other Disney resort hotels offer discounts to military vets like my dad? If they do not stay at SOG, would they still be eligible to purchase Park Hopper tix at SOG with their discounted rates or would they need to purchase their tix at normal Disney prices like the rest of us civilians? Since DW and I will taking advantage of the DDP as part of our package, are there any military discounts that they could take advantage of if they decide to do the DDP too?

If someone out there could answer my questions, it would be greatly appreciated because I would like to relay this info to them ASAP if they do decide to follow through with their plans.

[mickey]

Disney has offered, in the past, discounts for military, both active and retired. As of today, there isn't anything, but that could change tomorrow morning. I know that SOG will offer other Disney accomodations if they are full at a discounted rate. If they want to do SOG, I would get that reservation in there quickly and go from there.

[chiasgirl]

In our experience, SOG does not offer to book you at another Disney hotel. However, if you ask, they can book you at any available Disney hotel (Value, Mod or Deluxe) at a discounted rate. I think we saved about 40% per night.
As for passes, we found them to be less expensive through the MWR on base than SOG. If your father still has MWR privileges you can buy passes there or just wait until you get to Disney and pop in to SOG. You do not have to stay on-site to take advantage of ticket discounts.

[Viajero]

As an active duty military guy living in Florida, I have used various military discounts for Disney trips. Here's the deal.

1. Shades of Green is an MWR (not Disney) property. If they're booked, tough luck. They can't put your folks into a Disney hotel at the same rate, but they will transfer your call to a Disney rep and you may receive a different discount. A couple of years ago they were remodeling SOG and had an arrangement with Disney to put military folks in the Contemporary at SOG rates but that was a temporary, one-time thing.

2. Military ticket discounts are not currently offered by Disney directly (a few years ago they had a really good military promotion for active duty direct thru Disney). Tickets are pre-discounted and are purchased through MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation). Since SOG is an MWR property, your folks can go right over there and buy tix or whatever. They have an AAFES as well as other military and retiree services. I have purchased tickets for other local attractions thru SOG.

3. There may be restrictions on what they can get for you in terms of discounts. They can check the MWR and SOG websites to find out what those restrictions are. I seem to remember that I once bought a ticket for my adult civilian son, but I could be mistaken.

[chiasgirl]

Originally Posted by Viajero

As an active duty military guy living in Florida, I have used various military discounts for Disney trips. Here's the deal.

1. Shades of Green is an MWR (not Disney) property. If they're booked, tough luck. They can't put your folks into a Disney hotel at the same rate, but they will transfer your call to a Disney rep and you may receive a different discount. A couple of years ago they were remodeling SOG and had an arrangement with Disney to put military folks in the Contemporary at SOG rates but that was a temporary, one-time thing.

We tried to get into SOG in Dec of 2004. They were booked solid. However, they booked us at AKL for a substantial savings. (Not the same as our SOG rate would have been.) This was done through SOG and not Disney. Disney reservations treated it as a travel agency booking. Any modifications/requests had to be done through SOG. As I said earlier, SOG will not volunteer this information but they are able to do it. (We have had several friends experience the same thing - some stayed at AKL, others POFQ and others one of the values - I can't remember which.)

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by chiasgirl

We tried to get into SOG in Dec of 2004. They were booked solid. However, they booked us at AKL for a substantial savings. (Not the same as our SOG rate would have been.) This was done through SOG and not Disney. Disney reservations treated it as a travel agency booking. Any modifications/requests had to be done through SOG. As I said earlier, SOG will not volunteer this information but they are able to do it. (We have had several friends experience the same thing - some stayed at AKL, others POFQ and others one of the values - I can't remember which.)

I agree, you can get the SoG over flow rate at Disney resorts. In fact, some people wait to book so SoG is full and they get a discount on a Disney resort.

[_landry]

Originally Posted by chiasgirl

We tried to get into SOG in Dec of 2004. They were booked solid. However, they booked us at AKL for a substantial savings. (Not the same as our SOG rate would have been.) This was done through SOG and not Disney. Disney reservations treated it as a travel agency booking. Any modifications/requests had to be done through SOG. As I said earlier, SOG will not volunteer this information but they are able to do it. (We have had several friends experience the same thing - some stayed at AKL, others POFQ and others one of the values - I can't remember which.)

Will they do this even if SOG is not booked up??? My husband is retired military and we've stayed at SOG before, but this trip I want to be at AKL.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by _landry

Will they do this even if SOG is not booked up??? My husband is retired military and we've stayed at SOG before, but this trip I want to be at AKL.

I don't think so.

[DisneyGimper]

Another question: If DH's parents decide to join us in October, can they purchase the meal plan, or do they have to stay at a Disney resort to get the meal plan (MYW plus dining package)?

[traviesojmt]

Hi,
If there are SOG rooms available, you cannot get the overflow rates. If there are not rooms available, SOG has overflow rates at many of the Disney hotels and they can book them for you. We are going in July. We are staying 4 days at SOG and then got overflow rates at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the rest of our stay. They gave us a savannah view at huge savings. You do not have to be staying at the SOG to buy the discounted park tickets there. SOG does have a website where you can view available dates, but you should call to get the overflow rates. Good Luck

[traviesojmt]

In addition to my previous message, thought I would let you know that we called SOG and they booked us an overflow rate into the Animal Kingdom savanah view for $174 + tax a night. This is significant savings over Disney prices. We booked a couple of weeks ago. There is a great website www.allearsnet.com. She gives ticket prices for disney and through SOG. It is a good place to check.

[Viajero]

I stand corrected. Thanks for setting me straight.

[DisneyTeacher]

I just read on this on MouseSavers:

Military August-October 2005 Room-Only Discount Code

Active duty military can ask for the following codes and get special discounted rates at select Walt Disney World resorts for check-ins 8/1/05-10/4/05:

Code EXJ for 30% off rack rates on a stay of 1-6 nights
Code EXK for 40% off rack rates on a stay of 7 or more nights

http://www.mousesavers.com/disneyresorts.html#milcode

This sounds like an awesome deal!

[jwdj4lfe]

Originally Posted by traviesojmt

In addition to my previous message, thought I would let you know that we called SOG and they booked us an overflow rate into the Animal Kingdom savanah view for $174 + tax a night. This is significant savings over Disney prices. We booked a couple of weeks ago. There is a great website www.allearsnet.com. She gives ticket prices for disney and through SOG. It is a good place to check.

For a savannah view room, thats a great discount! AKL savannah rooms are amazing! Take it and run with it, lol. Unless you can get a better deal with what DisneyTeacher just posted. I agree, allearsnet is a great wealth of Disney knowledge!
Joe