Disney vacation savings account

[impromptudisneybride]

Now that some more time has passed, does anyone have further input on the Disney Savings Account?

Here's what I'm thinking... set up a monthly amount on my Disney Premier Visa (2%)... I spend so much on food and gas monthly that I wouldn't notice an extra charge I'm sure... and add my Disney Gift Cards (purchased at Target) to the account as well... getting me to the $1000 sooner, and getting the $20 gift cards faster. Sound reasonable?

Also, I know you can add gift cards, and that you can get a refund any time you want it to the original form of payment... but how do they refund gift cards? Do you have to keep them just in case, or do they issue a new one? Anyone know?

Anyone know if there is a set amount of time you can leave the money in there, or if I could save for a trip 2 years from now for example?

Thanks in advance!

 

[JJ&JSMOM]

Good morning.
I personally don't have any updated info on the savings account. You may want to call Disney and see what they say.

After researching the idea. I decided not to do it. For my circumstances it wouldn't work well. I'm continuing with payroll transfers to a savings account with my bank. Not sure when/if we'll be going to Disney in 2015 or not. We may vacation elsewhere.

Good luck in whichever way you choose.

Joanne

 

[Gilrond]

Does this really qualify for the 2% rewards on the Disney premier Visa? I am using the regular one but have been offered an upgrade with $50 bonus and am trying to decide if to accept.

 

[AngiTN]

I should have updated that I had great success using my account. Put all my Target cards in it.
Paid off my room, tickets and purchased tickets for Harambe Nights, all with the DVA account
I got the left off funds sent to me on a gift card
In addition, I got $80 bonus sent to me on a gift card
It all worked exactly as it should. It was the easiest $80 I've ever gotten

Now that some more time has passed, does anyone have further input on the Disney Savings Account?

Here's what I'm thinking... set up a monthly amount on my Disney Premier Visa (2%)... I spend so much on food and gas monthly that I wouldn't notice an extra charge I'm sure... and add my Disney Gift Cards (purchased at Target) to the account as well... getting me to the $1000 sooner, and getting the $20 gift cards faster. Sound reasonable?

I never confirmed this myself but someone told me that Chase will not give rewards for payments made to the Disney Vacation Account. I had my doubts about the truth to that as I don't see why Chase would distinguish rewards based on purchase but just to be safe I funded mine from Gift Cards bought at Target instead.

Also, I know you can add gift cards, and that you can get a refund any time you want it to the original form of payment... but how do they refund gift cards? Do you have to keep them just in case, or do they issue a new one? Anyone know?

The refund will go back on original type of payment so yes you have to keep the cards

Anyone know if there is a set amount of time you can leave the money in there, or if I could save for a trip 2 years from now for example?

Thanks in advance!

I believe you can leave it for infinity. They clearly state you can leave the funds in for a future trip and I don't recall seeing anything that limits how far away that trip can be

 

[Gilrond]

I am definitely getting the 1% rewards on the non Premier card for my Disney vacation account payments - I just double checked on the Chase site. I read through the Premier card site but just can't tell if it would get the 2% reward.

 

[EC0323]

Sorry to hijack, but I have quick question. For those of you who have received the bonus gift card how did you request it? I looked at the detail page and there is a button for Disney card but it does not say bonus. I will hit 120 days next week. Will the button appear then?

Thank you.

 

[AngiTN]

Sorry to hijack, but I have quick question. For those of you who have received the bonus gift card how did you request it? I looked at the detail page and there is a button for Disney card but it does not say bonus. I will hit 120 days next week. Will the button appear then?

Thank you.

Yes, the button will appear once you have hit 120 days

I will say it's not obvious that the request took.

When you click the link it asks for your trip date and seems like something else, but I can't recall now. You enter the info and click to accept it all and not much happens. The link stays active and never indicates that you have requested your card. Just for the heck of it I did it again about a week later. Then I just hoped for the best (which I felt was risky with Disney's website issues). When I requested the refund for the account balance I asked them if the bonus was included in that or on it's own card. They did confirm with me it was sent on it's own card. I was under the mistaken impression that the bonus would be added to the account and then sent along with the balance. That was wrong. The bonus probably took about 3 weeks to get. The balance gift card was sent much faster, more like a week.

 

[maddiebee]

Can you only use the account to pay for your trip before hand or can it be used to pay for things in park or things you have charged to your room? Ive been collecting gift cards for our dining and it seems that it would be easier to load them all and pay with that account than to keep all my gcs organized on me.

 

[AngiTN]

Can you only use the account to pay for your trip before hand or can it be used to pay for things in park or things you have charged to your room? Ive been collecting gift cards for our dining and it seems that it would be easier to load them all and pay with that account than to keep all my gcs organized on me.

I do not believe it is designed to be used while in the parks/on site. It's to be used to book a vacation and after you book, if you have funds left, you have them sent to you on 1 gift card. That card has a limit of $500 so you probably can't use it for all funds you'll need.

What I did was load it up with about what I knew the total of our room and tickets would be, plus a little bit extra for unknowns (which worked great as I also used it for Harambe Nights and Frozen Summer Fun). Trying to get to round $1000 figures, since the bonus is based on each $1000 deposited. I had a few hundred left after I paid for everything and I got that balance on a gift card.

I suggest using your magic band to pay for everything and then taking the cards that you are bringing with you and paying off the room charges every few days. How often you stop by for payment depends on what resort level you are staying at and how fast you charge. Each resort class gets a different spending level.

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

I have to confess, I usually consider myself fairly up to to date on most things Disney, but they sure seem to be keeping this thing a secret. I vaguely recall hearing about it, but considering all the Disney emails I get, and different message boards I go to, I think this is the first time I've stumbled on a post regarding the Disney Savings account.

I'm glad it worked for people, but my quick take on it, seems like a lot of work for not a whole lot of value. Plus, we have an excellent travel agent that is always on top of all the discounts and will update our reservations if a better deal comes along. $20 or $40 of gift cards in no way makes up for losing a great TA. That and the fact that I'd want anything unused to be put on a card that I could take to WDW with me, but that doesn't sound like an option.

Just based on total lack of publicity, I'd have to say that this program is a pretty big swing and a miss for Disney. As much as I look for discounts and deals, I just don't see myself using this.

 

[AngiTN]

I have to confess, I usually consider myself fairly up to to date on most things Disney, but they sure seem to be keeping this thing a secret. I vaguely recall hearing about it, but considering all the Disney emails I get, and different message boards I go to, I think this is the first time I've stumbled on a post regarding the Disney Savings account.

I'm glad it worked for people, but my quick take on it, seems like a lot of work for not a whole lot of value. Plus, we have an excellent travel agent that is always on top of all the discounts and will update our reservations if a better deal comes along. $20 or $40 of gift cards in no way makes up for losing a great TA. That and the fact that I'd want anything unused to be put on a card that I could take to WDW with me, but that doesn't sound like an option.

Just based on total lack of publicity, I'd have to say that this program is a pretty big swing and a miss for Disney. As much as I look for discounts and deals, I just don't see myself using this.

The bold is exactly what you do with anything unused. You even get a special Scrooge McDuck gift card that is really cute

But yeah, if you are a fan of using a TA the DVA is not for you. They can not use your DVA funds.

I'm one of those do it all myself people so a free $80 was more than enough incentive for me to simply key in my gift cards. And I don't have to take along a couple hundred or so cards.

 

[Hitchhiking Ghost]

The bold is exactly what you do with anything unused. You even get a special Scrooge McDuck gift card that is really cute

But yeah, if you are a fan of using a TA the DVA is not for you. They can not use your DVA funds.

I'm one of those do it all myself people so a free $80 was more than enough incentive for me to simply key in my gift cards. And I don't have to take along a couple hundred or so cards.

Yeah, our last trip in 2012 started with a room only booking, then when a Disney offer came along my TA automatically upgraded me before I even knew the discount was available, then when free dining came along with a pin code, she made all the changes again, which was somewhat big biggest it went from a room only reservation to a package reservation, which are two separate beasts, so having somehow quick handle it was great.

When I looked at the website today, did it say it expires 2015?

Again, kind of seems like a program that they might slowly let die a quiet and unspectacular death.

 

[EC0323]

Great! Thank you for your quick response and answer.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I think I may try it...I'm not sure. It doesn't offer interest but with the low bank's savings account percentage, that's not a factor to me. $20 gift card for every $1,000 sounds good. My concern is if something big came up or our plan's changed is how long would it take to get my money back. I may continue with my savings account just in case I need my money fast. Just afraid I'll dip into it for non essentials...but we'll see.

Thanks for your replies.
Joanne

I had that worry, too, so now I have a savings account ONLY at the Army Aviation here in town. No checking account attached to it, no debit card attached. I can only take money OUT from inside the bank itself. And luckily for me it is about 40 minutes away.

I have all of my pay checks direct deposited into that account. All of my paycheck money goes to the Disney fund. All of it! I only work 12 hours a week at the rehab office, most of my income comes from working at home and DH's money.

This way, when I do need to get the money out, it's only a drive away.

 

[impromptudisneybride]

I should have updated that I had great success using my account. Put all my Target cards in it.
Paid off my room, tickets and purchased tickets for Harambe Nights, all with the DVA account
I got the left off funds sent to me on a gift card
In addition, I got $80 bonus sent to me on a gift card
It all worked exactly as it should. It was the easiest $80 I've ever gotten

I never confirmed this myself but someone told me that Chase will not give rewards for payments made to the Disney Vacation Account. I had my doubts about the truth to that as I don't see why Chase would distinguish rewards based on purchase but just to be safe I funded mine from Gift Cards bought at Target instead.

The refund will go back on original type of payment so yes you have to keep the cards

I believe you can leave it for infinity. They clearly state you can leave the funds in for a future trip and I don't recall seeing anything that limits how far away that trip can be

Starting to think... and I think I'm right... if I use the disney savings account, essentially I'm saving 2% with the gift cards... may as well just use my premier visa. But I do like being able to use a credit card for contributions.

 

[Cold71]

This sounded like a cool idea at first, but I think I'm going to pass. $20 per $1000 isn't worth it to me. This just seems like a new way to grab at people's money a little sooner. The headache isn't worth the reward. Just my 2 cents.

 

[BibiSmart]

My TA reported this week that he can use this savings plan to pay off my cruise. I opened one when it first started and stopped funding it when I though TAs couldn't use it. But I'm going back to fund it. Every little bit helps.

 

[Elevationist]

My TA reported this week that he can use this savings plan to pay off my cruise. I opened one when it first started and stopped funding it when I though TAs couldn't use it. But I'm going back to fund it. Every little bit helps.

This. I'm a travel agent, and read over the DVA training just yesterday. We can definitely apply DVA funds to our client's reservations.

 

[Rokwynd]

I started up an account in late July, and so far I have been happy with it. I have a room only reservation so I decided to take the risk. If you have any issues with using your DVA funds and you are talking to someone from Disney itself just inform them they can run the number like a gift card.

 

[Jefrex]

Thank you AngiTN for your valuable info in this thread.

I started an account and started throwing in a little $ here and there. I thought why not? I'm not sure what people mean when they refer to "risk." Maybe I didn't do due diligence, but one of the reasons I set up an account was because there is zero risk. Your money is designated for a Disney vacation, but you also have the ability to pull out your money at any time for any reason with no penalty whatsoever is my understanding.

I just use it as a little savings account in case I want to use it for a Disney vacation in a year or a few years. I put in $100 or $200 every few weeks/months. Since I don't know the process for pulling the money out, I don't fool with it - and I don't want to know until it's time to use it or, for some reason, I have to have that money. Like others have mentioned, it's too easy for me to access my regular savings accounts. This way, the money stays there and of course, it's surprising how fast it can accumulate. True, there's marginal interest and it comes in the form of cards, but I never did it for that reason and it is probably comparable to most savings accounts anyhow.