The Amazing Disneyland Military Discount You Must Use On Your Next Visit

For updated 2021 information on the Disney Military Discount, please visit my article on Disneyland over at My Military Benefits.

We just got back from California, and during our time there we went to Disneyland using the amazing Disneyland military discount that they have going on right now. We went to Disneyland with the discount last summer, and although the price went up just a little bit, we were able to get the discount again.

How much were the Disneyland military discount tickets?

We paid $168 for each of our tickets. This is the price for adults and children. While the regular Disneyland tickets have a lower rate for those between the ages of 3-9, this is not the case for these special tickets.

Normally, a three-day hopper ticket would be $330, so you can see what type of deal this is. Even if you get one and can only use the ticket for two of the three days, the discount is worth it. A two-day park hopper is $260.

We bought the three-day pass, but you can also buy a four-day pass for $188.

Now, what happens if you can only go to Disneyland for two days in August but know you will be back in November? Well, you do have until December 19th, 2018 to use those other two tickets. You don’t have to use them in a row. If there is any chance you can come back, go for the four-day pass and plan to use what you can’t now later in the year.

Can you buy tickets for other people?

Yes, you sure can. You can buy six each year. This is either you or your service member spouse. If your spouse is deployed, you can use your ID to get them.

What you can’t do is both get six tickets for a total of twelve. You only get six. And you can give them to friends or family members. They do have to be with you the first day you activate them. Then they can return the other two or three days without you.

What is the buying process like?

Well, we got to the pack, went up to the ticket window and bought them. She got all of our names, and each ticket had one of our names on it. I did have to show my military ID, and then we made our way to the front gate.

I had to show my military ID one more time, but that was it for the rest of our trip. Everyone I bought a ticket for was with me and had to have their photo taken. This is so only that person can use the ticket the rest of the days. You can’t share a ticket in any way.

So what does a park hopper ticket mean?

This means you can go to Disneyland and California Aventure, on the same day. You could start your day at Disneyland, head to California Adventure after lunch and back over to Disneyland for Fantasmic in the evening.

So what is the Disney PhotoPass Collection listed on the Disneyland website?

Okay, so my plan was to buy this. With the military discount, you will pay $49, and you will receive all of your digital downloads, a voucher for a dining print package, and 350 high-resolution professional photos from around Disneyland. Sounds like a good deal right? Yes, and no.

When I went to go buy this, the cast member told me that if I was getting the pass for all of my digital downloads, I should just get the MaxPass. This is pretty new, I think it came out late last summer and I was so confused by what the MaxPass was, I wasn’t going to mess with it. But I am glad he told me this because I ended up saving money going with the MaxPass.

So what IS the MaxPass?

The MaxPass is $10 a person right now (this could go up in the future.) This pass will allow you to use the FastPass system on your Disneyland app. You don’t have to go to each ride to get the pass. The other thing the MaxPass gives you is access to all of your digital photos.

So, if you only want the MaxPass for the photos, only one person in your party needs to get it. Since we were going three days, it would have cost me $30 total, which is much cheaper than the $49 I would have paid for the Disney PhotoPass collection.

The first day we were at Disneyland, I just got the MaxPass for me, and we were able to get the photos.

On the second day, I was just with my 13 and 11-year-old, so I decided to get the MaxPass for all three of us to use the FastPass option. I wasn’t sure if it would save us time or if the MaxPass would be worth the cost. I ended up paying $30 that day.

We were able to get our FastPasses from the app. In the past, we would have to go to each ride to get one, but this time we didn’t have to do that. We could get our next FastPass while in line for the previous one.  This saved us a lot of time and rushing around. We were also able to get a FastPass for rides at Disneyland while in California Adventure, and vice versa.

So is the MaxPass worth it when it comes to FastPasses? I am going to say that depends. Would I have spent $50 for all five of us? I don’t know. That adds up. And the first day, when all five of us went, we used the free FastPass system, and that was fine. Getting the MaxPass just helps you save time and we really didn’t have to wait for many rides. But I also think we were able to go on plenty of rides only using the paper FastPass system.

So how do the digital photos work?

So whether you have the MaxPass or the PhotoPass, you will have access to any photos that a cast member takes for you, or that you get on the ride. As you walk around the park, you will see cast member photographers that will take your photos. They might be in front of the castle, or near the characters.

When you have them take your photo, you either give them a pass with a code that they scan, or they can scan from your app. When you get off of a ride, take a photo of your ride photo as there is a code on there you can enter into your app later. Having this access allows you to have some pretty amazing photos when you are at the park.

How does this differ from the military discount at Disney World?

Well, I am not sure how this all works at Disney World. That is a different experience from going to Disneyland and seems to take a lot more planning. For example, you book your FastPass tickets before you even get there. But here is the Disney World military discount page if you are looking for that information.

I am so glad we took advantage of this amazing military discount. Hopefully, they will renew again for 2019, and those rates will be released soon.

Have you had had the chance to visit Disneyland this year? Are you hoping to use this Disneyland military discount to do so?

2019 Update: This post was written in 2018 with 2018 rates. You can see the 2019 Disneyland and Disney World rates on their website.