Disney's Armed Forces Salute

Back in 2003, Disney had their first "Salute the Troops" event. We got 40% off our hotel room, a free ticket for my husband since he was the active military member, and almost free tickets for my son and myself. Add to that the flight deals we got through Southwest for less than $100 per ticket, round trip, and we spent less than $1000 on a week at Disney for the three of us. While it was one of the more affordable of our vacations, it was also one of the most magical! We went back last year and enjoyed ourselves, but spent a fortune because there was no military special. Somehow, it's not quite as enjoyable when the experience leaves you with empty pocketbooks.

We are true Disney fanatics. We have traveled all over the world: hiked into the jungles of Thailand and Burma, enjoyed cold beer at Oktoberfest in Munich, swam beneath waterfalls in Maui, taken cruises off the coast of Vietnam, celebrated Carnivale in Venice, and explored the temples of Cambodia. Yet, Disney World, the king of commercial destinations, still captures our fancy more than just about any place on the planet.

And Disney's getting ready to do it again! This year, they are again offering 40% off hotel rooms, free tickets to military members, and 5-day, $99 Parkhopper passes for family members. That's a great deal! You can find out more information here. We've already booked our rooms and bought our tickets. Now, we're just searching for a great flight deal from DC to Orlando and we'll be set to go.

I should mention that while you can still stay at the military hotel, Shades of Green on Disney property (and it would probably be more affordable than some of the other Disney resorts, the 40% discount offer is only applicable to Disney moderate resorts (the 2003 offer extended to the lower-end resorts, as well, but not this time). We decided to stay at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort this time around. With the discount, our room ends up at $117/night, which is still not a bad deal for Disney!

Get ready, Mickey, here we come!

And just for fun, here's a picture of my son from the last time we were at Disney World. As the saying goes, he was "plumb tuckered out."