CanadianGuy
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- Apr 24, 2006
Walt Disney World has a special program during 2009 for members of the United States armed services, their dependents and guests. This post discusses the program and is broken into three major sections: Eligibility, Entitlements, and Procedures for participating.
Eligibility and Definitions
A service member has a current active duty or retired ID card from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corp, or Navy. If the person has an ID card showing they are National Guard or Reservist they must also have a copy of orders for Extended Active Duty some time between January 1, 2008 and December 23, 2009.
A dependent is the spouse or other relative of a service member who has an ID card which shows the service member as the sponsor.
A guest is any person not a dependent accompanying the service member.
Not eligible on their own are persons who would normally have access to military bases and/or Shades of Green (SoG) such as DoD Civilians, NAF, USPHS, veterans who are not retirees, and National Guard or Reservists who have had no extended active duty (other than regular monthly drills and two-week Active Duty for Training) during 2008 or 2009. This list may include others. People who fall into this category may, however, be dependents or guests.
Tickets and Entitlements
A service member may receive one “5-Day Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Ticket” up through December 23, 2009. This will be a Five Day Park Hopper with five WPF&M entries. This ticket is complimentary (free). The ticket will expire at Midnight on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 even if all entries have not been used. The ticket is not subject to the normal 14 day from first use expiration rules. Demographic information on the service member will be recorded in the Automated Ticketing System (ATS) and the name printed on the ticket. This ticket cannot be upgraded or modified in any way.
A service member may purchase up to five “5-Day Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Companion Ticket” at $99 (plus tax) each, without regard to age. (As normal, people under age 3 do not require tickets.) These may be used by dependents or guests. These tickets may only be purchased once through December 23, 2009. The name of each dependent and/or guest will be recorded in ATS, tied to the service member’s name, and will be printed on the ticket.
The Companion Tickets will expire Midnight, Wednesday, December 23, 2009, even if all entries have not been used. The initial entitlements for the Companion ticket a five days, one theme park per day. For $25 (plus tax) park hopping may be added. For $25 (plus tax) five WPF&M entries may be added. The normal 14 day rules concerning expiration and upgrade do not apply. However, no additional days may be added and the ticket may not have the No Expire option added.
The Companion Tickets may be upgraded to Annual Passes, Premium APs, or Florida Resident Seasonal Passes (with proper Florida ID). The normal 14 day upgrade period does not apply. However, there will not be “price bridging”; this means that the value of the ticket will be what was paid for it ($99, $124, or $149) and not the current gate price of an equivalent MYW ticket. If the ticket is upgraded to an annual product the expiration date will be one year from the date of first use of the Companion Ticket.
As an exception, if the immediate family has more than five dependents, additional Companion Tickets may be purchased, but not to exceed the number of dependents. If the immediate family has more than five dependents tickets may not be purchased for guests.
If the service member is not available the spouse may purchase up to five Companion Tickets for family and guests. The special large family rule above applies. This purchase will not prevent the service member from receiving the free ticket at a later date, but this will make the service member ineligible to purchase any additional Companion Tickets.
Procedures and Purchasing
There are three sources available. Two of these sources are Shades of Green or many (but not all) MWR offices. These are not “live” tickets but must be activated. The advantage to purchasing these is that sales tax is not collected on the Companion Tickets.
The third source is Walt Disney World Park Ticket Offices (including TTC) and Guest Relations Offices (including DTD). Sales tax will be collected on any sales of Companion Tickets or upgrades. Note that these cannot be purchased at any Resort Lobby Concierge or online.
When activating tickets or purchasing at a WDW ticket location all members of the party must be present. The Complimentary Ticket may be done only once during the year. The Companion Tickets may only be activated or purchased one time during the year. For example, if a service member purchases only two Companion Tickets, additional ones cannot be purchased at a later time. And it is only one ticket per person.
Certain information from the service member’s ID will be entered into ATS (Name, Birth Date, base where assigned) and their address, and the names of all Companion Ticket holders will also be entered and tied to the service member. If the tickets were prepurchased (MWR or SoG) the person will get the same card back. If these are new tickets, the tickets will be printed by ATS.
Once activated the tickets may be used at any turnstile. Finger scans will be used. In the event a ticket becomes demagnetized they can be reissued just as any other ticket.
If you have unused non-promotional tickets and wish to have them applied to the purchase of Companion Tickets, this may be done provided the value of the unused tickets is equal to or less than the value of the Companion Tickets being purchased or upgraded.
Copied from the Ticket Sticky Linked Below in my signature.
Eligibility and Definitions
A service member has a current active duty or retired ID card from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corp, or Navy. If the person has an ID card showing they are National Guard or Reservist they must also have a copy of orders for Extended Active Duty some time between January 1, 2008 and December 23, 2009.
A dependent is the spouse or other relative of a service member who has an ID card which shows the service member as the sponsor.
A guest is any person not a dependent accompanying the service member.
Not eligible on their own are persons who would normally have access to military bases and/or Shades of Green (SoG) such as DoD Civilians, NAF, USPHS, veterans who are not retirees, and National Guard or Reservists who have had no extended active duty (other than regular monthly drills and two-week Active Duty for Training) during 2008 or 2009. This list may include others. People who fall into this category may, however, be dependents or guests.
Tickets and Entitlements
A service member may receive one “5-Day Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Ticket” up through December 23, 2009. This will be a Five Day Park Hopper with five WPF&M entries. This ticket is complimentary (free). The ticket will expire at Midnight on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 even if all entries have not been used. The ticket is not subject to the normal 14 day from first use expiration rules. Demographic information on the service member will be recorded in the Automated Ticketing System (ATS) and the name printed on the ticket. This ticket cannot be upgraded or modified in any way.
A service member may purchase up to five “5-Day Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Companion Ticket” at $99 (plus tax) each, without regard to age. (As normal, people under age 3 do not require tickets.) These may be used by dependents or guests. These tickets may only be purchased once through December 23, 2009. The name of each dependent and/or guest will be recorded in ATS, tied to the service member’s name, and will be printed on the ticket.
The Companion Tickets will expire Midnight, Wednesday, December 23, 2009, even if all entries have not been used. The initial entitlements for the Companion ticket a five days, one theme park per day. For $25 (plus tax) park hopping may be added. For $25 (plus tax) five WPF&M entries may be added. The normal 14 day rules concerning expiration and upgrade do not apply. However, no additional days may be added and the ticket may not have the No Expire option added.
The Companion Tickets may be upgraded to Annual Passes, Premium APs, or Florida Resident Seasonal Passes (with proper Florida ID). The normal 14 day upgrade period does not apply. However, there will not be “price bridging”; this means that the value of the ticket will be what was paid for it ($99, $124, or $149) and not the current gate price of an equivalent MYW ticket. If the ticket is upgraded to an annual product the expiration date will be one year from the date of first use of the Companion Ticket.
As an exception, if the immediate family has more than five dependents, additional Companion Tickets may be purchased, but not to exceed the number of dependents. If the immediate family has more than five dependents tickets may not be purchased for guests.
If the service member is not available the spouse may purchase up to five Companion Tickets for family and guests. The special large family rule above applies. This purchase will not prevent the service member from receiving the free ticket at a later date, but this will make the service member ineligible to purchase any additional Companion Tickets.
Procedures and Purchasing
There are three sources available. Two of these sources are Shades of Green or many (but not all) MWR offices. These are not “live” tickets but must be activated. The advantage to purchasing these is that sales tax is not collected on the Companion Tickets.
The third source is Walt Disney World Park Ticket Offices (including TTC) and Guest Relations Offices (including DTD). Sales tax will be collected on any sales of Companion Tickets or upgrades. Note that these cannot be purchased at any Resort Lobby Concierge or online.
When activating tickets or purchasing at a WDW ticket location all members of the party must be present. The Complimentary Ticket may be done only once during the year. The Companion Tickets may only be activated or purchased one time during the year. For example, if a service member purchases only two Companion Tickets, additional ones cannot be purchased at a later time. And it is only one ticket per person.
Certain information from the service member’s ID will be entered into ATS (Name, Birth Date, base where assigned) and their address, and the names of all Companion Ticket holders will also be entered and tied to the service member. If the tickets were prepurchased (MWR or SoG) the person will get the same card back. If these are new tickets, the tickets will be printed by ATS.
Once activated the tickets may be used at any turnstile. Finger scans will be used. In the event a ticket becomes demagnetized they can be reissued just as any other ticket.
If you have unused non-promotional tickets and wish to have them applied to the purchase of Companion Tickets, this may be done provided the value of the unused tickets is equal to or less than the value of the Companion Tickets being purchased or upgraded.
Copied from the Ticket Sticky Linked Below in my signature.
