Disney World For The Military Family

We had an amazing Disney family vacation on a budget! I am not being compensated by any of these companies, but I thought I would share the tricks that we found when booking or vacation. We bought the 4 day Military Promotional Ticket which included the Park Hopper Option at the first park we visited. We went to guest services and told them we wanted to purchase our tickets. I talked to Disney Customer Service and they would like you to buy them at Shades of Green or an ITT office but they will accommodate you. We loved Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. We really didn't care to much for Hollywood Studios as it was hot and long lines after being at Magic Kingdom. We chose Sea World over a day at Epcot.

Our first thought was to stay at Shades of Green, but then after pricing out the cost of breakfast, etc... we looked elsewhere. We stayed at the brand new Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista South. It was just 5 minutes from every park. The hotel was beautiful, roomy, and had a great free breakfast to start our day. They had a pack and play ready for us when we arrived. I was able to snag a $75.00 a night military rate on a suite. You can't find that anywhere with free breakfast!

We booked our flights with Allegiant and they offered us a huge discount on a rental car. We were able to get a van for a half of the cost most sites advertised. We ate on the grounds for lunch, which ran us about $50.00 a meal, and then grabbed dinner at one of our favorite chain restaurants throughout the area. We always like to eat at the places we don't have around our hometown. We ate at Bahama Breeze, PF Changs, Planet Hollywood, and Macaroni Grill. We tried the Nascar Restaurant at City Walk, but were pretty disappointed in the $20.00 parking fee. Planet Hollywood was fun for the kids, however we were hot and tired and our waiter was trying to be extra funny and we just weren't into it.

The highlight of the trip was when Mr. Graycen met Mickey. He couldn't stand it once he saw him and AJ spent 10 minutes wrestling him while another family had their visit. The boys also loved Sea World.  Through the Waves of Honor program we enjoyed a free day, minus the cost of our lunch, parking, and food for the animals. It saved us a good $400.00 and the boys loved the roller coasters.