Hi Ashley!
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! Mine is also a Military family; we're actually PCSing this week, and talking Disney with you is helping to keep me from thinking of all the challenges that come with this lifestyle once we get to our new duty station. So high five for us helping each other out! Currently, ticket promotions and room discounts geared for
U.S. Military Members are indeed meant for those who are Active Duty, Reservists or Retired. But, I'm not out of ideas.
Walt Disney World Resort has it's own
Special Offers page where all current discounts, deals and promotions can be found in one convenient location. You can book these on your own through your My Disney Experience account or by calling the Walt Disney World Resort Reservation Line at (407) 939-5277. You can also use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner who can help locate special values for a real budget-friendly vacation. A quick internet search should provide many options of planners. And don't forget about your other associations and memberships, like warehouse clubs, a car association, even your current employer.
You can also kind of create your own savings plan by buying
Disney Gift Cards and using those to pay for your tickets. Some warehouse club stores offer Disney Gift Cards in a denomination discount. And some grocery store chains run specials like "spend $50 on groceries, get a $10 store gift card." I like to save the store gift cards all year long to then buy as many Disney Gift Cards as I can before our next Disney vacation. (Just make sure that store sells Disney Gift Cards first.)
I hope these ideas helped, Ashley, and I hope that we see you really soon!
~Kristen