Amusement Park Discounts
When I was on active duty I made it a point to go to Busch Gardens every single year. Their Waves of Honor program is an awesome benefit for military veterans. This program has been around at least a decade, and is still going strong. Waves of Honor offers 100 percent free admission to any Busch Gardens, Sea World or Sesame Place amusement park. For a family of four, that’s a savings of $372 from the one-day admission price.
To take advantage of this discount, there are a few requirements that must be met. It’s available only to active duty military and their dependents. The service member must register online and take the printout to the admissions gate, and then present a valid military ID for each family member. Even with these requirements, free admission to Busch-owned theme parks is one of the best military discounts out there.
A Veterans Advantage membership provides discounts for a variety of theme parks including Universal Parks, Six Flags, Seaworld, Legoland and more. A list of participating theme parks is available here.
Dollywood offers a 30 percent discount to active duty, retired, and disabled veterans.
Disney also offers a range of discounts on parks and hotels, but nowhere near as generous as Busch Gardens. In fact, a quick check shows that almost every amusement park offers discount to veterans, but Busch Gardens is the only complete freebie that I’m aware of.
Free National Parks Pass
Any veteran with a disability rating from the Veteran’s Administration (VA), even 10 percent, is eligible for a free lifetime access pass from the National Park Service. The pass must be picked up in person at a federal recreation site with photo ID.
In the words of the NPS, “a free, lifetime pass – available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability (does not have to be a 100 percent disability) – that provides admittance to more than 2,000 recreation sites managed by five Federal agencies.”
I’ve been using this pass for almost three years, and I’ve saved a ton of money. I live in Arizona and the entrance fee to the Grand Canyon alone would be $25 without the pass.
Discounted National Park Camping
Holders of the access pass above are eligible for a 50 percent discount on camping at most national parks.
