A couple of ?? for those that buy Disney gift cards?

[nunzia]

I used to buy and stockpile them but after the nightmare of a bunch purchased online not being activated...$500 worth... and the insane mess of trying to get them activated and $150 still NOT activated, I will NEVER buy them from Target again. The 'savings' are not worth it to me any longer.

PS..I had thought about the Disney Vacation Fund for fun, but there is a thread about how this was a nightmare, so I won't do that either. I have a vacation saving account and I'll just continue to put money in that.

 

[edk35]

I used to buy and stockpile them but after the nightmare of a bunch purchased online not being activated...$500 worth... and the insane mess of trying to get them activated and $150 still NOT activated, I will NEVER buy them from Target again. The 'savings' are not worth it to me any longer.

PS..I had thought about the Disney Vacation Fund for fun, but there is a thread about how this was a nightmare, so I won't do that either. I have a vacation saving account and I'll just continue to put money in that.

Did you buy them online??? I have bought mine at the store and am keeping the reciept with each one. The reciept shows it is activated.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I usually buy Disney gift cards at Target in one go ($1500-$2500 at a time) because I'm hoping we'll get a prescription discount too so I can get almost 10% off instead of 5%, but we've only hit that once (that's good, actually, since we don't need much medicine!) I always worry I'll get a grumpy cashier who will try to block me, but in 6 times of buying a lot at once I've never had a problem; the two cashiers who called a manager were told, "No problem" by the manager.

I'm going to start buying Disney gcs from Kroger instead though, even though my car only takes 17 gallons of gas. During the 4x rewards deal, do gift cards get 8x points since they're always 2x?

Someone mentioned in another thread that they used a Target gift card to pay for a Disney gc on target.com and it still took the 5% off - has anyone else done that successfully? If that's possible, it would be best to buy Target gcs at Kroger then order Disney gcs from target.com.

I'm paranoid about gcs not being activated, so I always peel off the silver sticker from the backs of the cards and check them online. It takes forever because of the stupid captcha, but it's worth it for my peace of mind. Peeling the sticker is faster and less messy than scratching the silver off, but it makes the cards sticky so I put a piece of Scotch tape over the sticky part.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I usually buy Disney gift cards at Target in one go ($1500-$2500 at a time) because I'm hoping we'll get a prescription discount too so I can get almost 10% off instead of 5%, but we've only hit that once (that's good, actually, since we don't need much medicine!) I always worry I'll get a grumpy cashier who will try to block me, but in 6 times of buying a lot at once I've never had a problem; the two cashiers who called a manager were told, "No problem" by the manager.

I'm going to start buying Disney gcs from Kroger instead though, even though my car only takes 17 gallons of gas. During the 4x rewards deal, do gift cards get 8x points since they're always 2x?

Someone mentioned in another thread that they used a Target gift card to pay for a Disney gc on target.com and it still took the 5% off - has anyone else done that successfully? If that's possible, it would be best to buy Target gcs at Kroger then order Disney gcs from target.com.

I'm paranoid about gcs not being activated, so I always peel off the silver sticker from the backs of the cards and check them online. It takes forever because of the stupid captcha, but it's worth it for my peace of mind. Peeling the sticker is faster and less messy than scratching the silver off, but it makes the cards sticky so I put a piece of Scotch tape over the sticky part.

Kroger gift cards only earn 4xs Fuel Points during the 4xs Fuel Points promo. As Marionnette has said, if you cannot use all 35 discounted gallons of gas, you should do the calculations with the gas you can use to see which deal is better for you - Target Red Card, Target Red Card plus pharmacy coupon, or Kroger 4xs Fuel Points. For Marionnette the Target deal is better. For me the Kroger 4xs FP deal is better.

I can't answer you question about paying online with a Target gift card as I've never tried it. Hopefully someone else will weigh in.

 

[msammon]

I have used the target red card stacked with the pharmacy 5% card multiple times for large amounts. I pay for everything disney related this way, my DVC dues, entire cruises, rooms, passes, meals, shopping. A penny saved is a penny earned, so I'll take every one I can get! I have only run into a few problems, and have discovered workarounds for them.

1. I try to make a large purchase to cover my anticipated needs when I have a pharmacy reward. (I put money aside) The red card has a "limit" attached to it of about 500, even though it is tied to your ATM. This requires you to ring them thru as multiple purchases. This may set off their fraud activation system. Once, they had us call the red card number to confirm, another time the manager came over and just let us use our regular card, and hand entered the discounts.

2. DVC is offering a steep discount on PAP's right now. The regular DVC member number will only allow you to use 2 GC's at a time, but if you tell them ahead that you are using multiple GC's, they will transfer you to another number that will do it.

3. There have been times when I wanted to make a purchase and had no pharmacy reward. What to do??? If you link to the target web site via upromise, you can save that way. The only down sides are that you can only buy 3 cards at a time, and it also takes a long time for the money to get transferred over to upromise.

4. Make sure that you save both your receipts AND used GC's. As others have mentioned, there have been some inactivated GC's. I have had this happen. If you have saved your receipt, they can fix it quickly. Also remember that returns go back on GC's so remember to keep them

 

[Marionnette]

I usually buy Disney gift cards at Target in one go ($1500-$2500 at a time) because I'm hoping we'll get a prescription discount too so I can get almost 10% off instead of 5%, but we've only hit that once (that's good, actually, since we don't need much medicine!) I always worry I'll get a grumpy cashier who will try to block me, but in 6 times of buying a lot at once I've never had a problem; the two cashiers who called a manager were told, "No problem" by the manager.

I'm going to start buying Disney gcs from Kroger instead though, even though my car only takes 17 gallons of gas. During the 4x rewards deal, do gift cards get 8x points since they're always 2x?

Someone mentioned in another thread that they used a Target gift card to pay for a Disney gc on target.com and it still took the 5% off - has anyone else done that successfully? If that's possible, it would be best to buy Target gcs at Kroger then order Disney gcs from target.com.

I'm paranoid about gcs not being activated, so I always peel off the silver sticker from the backs of the cards and check them online. It takes forever because of the stupid captcha, but it's worth it for my peace of mind. Peeling the sticker is faster and less messy than scratching the silver off, but it makes the cards sticky so I put a piece of Scotch tape over the sticky part.

I've used Target GCs online in conjunction with my REDCard in order to pay for Disney GCs.

First, you have to remember that target.com will limit the number of Disney GCs that you can order in a single transaction.

Second, you have to be aware that you will get 5% off of the entire cost of the Disney GC if you use both the Target GC and REDCard to make your payment. Apparently the REDCard 5% comes off first, then the Target GC is applied to the remaining amount, the the REDCard is used for the payment.

Just check previous posts about Disney GCs which were not activated being received from target.com. The headache that the PP mentioned is enough to make me shy about making any more Disney GCs purchases from them. I'd much rather just use my Target GCs at a local store rather than deal with the problems the PP had or else use them online for the purchase of tangible items.

 

[kaddjr]

I'm going to start buying Disney gcs from Kroger instead though, even though my car only takes 17 gallons of gas.

Does your family have more than one vehicle? DH and I drive separate cars to the station and position them so that when mine is filled, he fills his until we hit the 35 gallons.

 

[Sacha_L]

I just started buying Disney GC at Target since I learned about it here. I purchase between $50-$100 a month. Our August trip is paid for but the extra $350-$700 or so will be for souvenirs/experiences (pirates league, spa, memory maker ect..) If we have any left over we will just roll it to our next trip since we buy AP's at DL on the years we don't go to WDW. I have not had any trouble using both a red card and pharmacy rewards at the same time.

 

[ceecee]

Does your family have more than one vehicle? DH and I drive separate cars to the station and position them so that when mine is filled, he fills his until we hit the 35 gallons.

 

[edk35]

So when these gift cards are not activated.... Who fixes them... Should we call the number on back of each card as we buy them to make sure they work??q

I have used the target red card stacked with the pharmacy 5% card multiple times for large amounts. I pay for everything disney related this way, my DVC dues, entire cruises, rooms, passes, meals, shopping. A penny saved is a penny earned, so I'll take every one I can get! I have only run into a few problems, and have discovered workarounds for them.

1. I try to make a large purchase to cover my anticipated needs when I have a pharmacy reward. (I put money aside) The red card has a "limit" attached to it of about 500, even though it is tied to your ATM. This requires you to ring them thru as multiple purchases. This may set off their fraud activation system. Once, they had us call the red card number to confirm, another time the manager came over and just let us use our regular card, and hand entered the discounts.

2. DVC is offering a steep discount on PAP's right now. The regular DVC member number will only allow you to use 2 GC's at a time, but if you tell them ahead that you are using multiple GC's, they will transfer you to another number that will do it.

3. There have been times when I wanted to make a purchase and had no pharmacy reward. What to do??? If you link to the target web site via upromise, you can save that way. The only down sides are that you can only buy 3 cards at a time, and it also takes a long time for the money to get transferred over to upromise.

4. Make sure that you save both your receipts AND used GC's. As others have mentioned, there have been some inactivated GC's. I have had this happen. If you have saved your receipt, they can fix it quickly. Also remember that returns go back on GC's so remember to keep them

 

[SUSIEQ]

I used to buy and stockpile them but after the nightmare of a bunch purchased online not being activated...$500 worth... and the insane mess of trying to get them activated and $150 still NOT activated, I will NEVER buy them from Target again. The 'savings' are not worth it to me any longer.

I've been wondering if you ever got that last $150 activated. I still haven't been able to get one of mine from Target.com activated. Believe me, I have lived your pain, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

 

[msammon]

So when these gift cards are not activated.... Who fixes them... Should we call the number on back of each card as we buy them to make sure they work??q

We just took them to Target with our receipt.
If you wanted to check the GC balance, you can go to:

https://www.disneygiftcard.com/manage/

 

[SUSIEQ]

So when these gift cards are not activated.... Who fixes them... Should we call the number on back of each card as we buy them to make sure they work??q

If you buy them from a Target store, it should be an easy fix just going back to the store with your receipt If you buy them at Target.com, good luck with that!

 

[bugsmama11]

We are going in May and since last Sept., I have been putting $50 out of my DH's paydays to go towards food and souvenirs on a Disney GC. I don't trust Target much to get their RedCard, so I purchased mine at the Disney Store. I was told that our store would not combine the Target or any other store bought cards onto one card. Therefore, I go once every couple of months and put the $ on a card...by May I will have like $900 on a card! The Disney Store at our mall just reloads my card with whatever amount of cash I have.

I do it this way bc like many, I would love to say that that $900 would be there in May, but life usually gets in the way and things to come up. This way I know this is vacation money and if we happen to come back with leftovers on the card I can use them towards this Christmas for our DD or towards our next trip in Oct 2015!

I just thought that if our store won't combine into one card, then I could potentially have 20ish $50 cards to deal with and keep up on the balances and that doesn't sound like fun to me . We also don't have any grocery stores or places other than Target, that would give any rewards of sorts to help alleviate the gc costs. I could buy them at Sams Club, we just don't want to, maybe when we get closer to save a little I might? So I just found that this was the best method for our family.

 

[edk35]

That makes sense too! although it would Stink if you lost that gift card. I wonder if you can take the Disney Target gc and trade them for a reload able at Disney Store?

We are going in May and since last Sept., I have been putting $50 out of my DH's paydays to go towards food and souvenirs on a Disney GC. I don't trust Target much to get their RedCard, so I purchased mine at the Disney Store. I was told that our store would not combine the Target or any other store bought cards onto one card. Therefore, I go once every couple of months and put the $ on a card...by May I will have like $900 on a card! The Disney Store at our mall just reloads my card with whatever amount of cash I have.

I do it this way bc like many, I would love to say that that $900 would be there in May, but life usually gets in the way and things to come up. This way I know this is vacation money and if we happen to come back with leftovers on the card I can use them towards this Christmas for our DD or towards our next trip in Oct 2015!

I just thought that if our store won't combine into one card, then I could potentially have 20ish $50 cards to deal with and keep up on the balances and that doesn't sound like fun to me . We also don't have any grocery stores or places other than Target, that would give any rewards of sorts to help alleviate the gc costs. I could buy them at Sams Club, we just don't want to, maybe when we get closer to save a little I might? So I just found that this was the best method for our family.

 

[acc82]

I will add that even though people are saying that they've had trouble with the vacation account being applied directly to their vacation......there is always the option to withdraw your funds onto ONE giftcard within the account options. You just have to do it 4-6 weeks before the vacation. IMO, this is still a better option than having 20 gift cards to use for the vacation and keeping track of all of them.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

I've used Target GCs online in conjunction with my REDCard in order to pay for Disney GCs.

First, you have to remember that target.com will limit the number of Disney GCs that you can order in a single transaction.

Second, you have to be aware that you will get 5% off of the entire cost of the Disney GC if you use both the Target GC and REDCard to make your payment. Apparently the REDCard 5% comes off first, then the Target GC is applied to the remaining amount, the the REDCard is used for the payment.

Fantastic! Do you know what the limit is per trans for the Disney gcs on target.com? Do you just sign in while you're shopping so it knows you're a Red Card holder, or do you need to order other merchandise so this will work?

Does your family have more than one vehicle? DH and I drive separate cars to the station and position them so that when mine is filled, he fills his until we hit the 35 gallons.

We have 2 cars that hold about 17 gallons each. Doesn't the transaction stop when you take the hose out of the first car? [If it makes a difference our Kroger stores in Phoenix are called Fry's, and they do have Fry's gas stations, but we usually use our fuel rewards at Circle K. ]

Kroger gift cards only earn 4xs Fuel Points during the 4xs Fuel Points promo.

Fantastic, thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

I will add that even though people are saying that they've had trouble with the vacation account being applied directly to their vacation......there is always the option to withdraw your funds onto ONE giftcard within the account options. You just have to do it 4-6 weeks before the vacation. IMO, this is still a better option than having 20 gift cards to use for the vacation and keeping track of all of them.

You're assuming that it will work exactly that way. With all of the problems that people have had trying to simply apply the money that they placed into their Disney Savings Account to a Disney vacation, there's no way that I would trust them to actually combine all of my GCs onto one card and send it to me in time for my trip!

Yes, the multiple GCs are a big PITA, but I trust myself more than I trust Disney IT. I'm heading out today. I have a huge stack of cards to use for paying for meals and for a DVC PAP voucher. I'll put them on my room account and then use my Magic Band to pay for things. I have no plans to haul them around the parks!

 

[Marionnette]

Fantastic! Do you know what the limit is per trans for the Disney gcs on target.com? Do you just sign in while you're shopping so it knows you're a Red Card holder, or do you need to order other merchandise so this will work?

You don't need to add additional merchandise but you must use the REDCard when you check out. The check out screen is odd. It will show you the balance without the GC applied but your REDCard will only be charged the difference between the discounted Disney GC price and the amount on the Target GC.

You are limited to only 3 GCs in a single transaction.

 

[MaggieMouse]

Is there anything you cannot pay for with the Disney gift cards?