We are six weeks out from our trip. I was successful in paying off our WDW room only reservation in full over the phone using DVA, though CM originally said no. I politely insisted that DVA CM and paperwork stated that I could pay off a room only reservation using DVA, and the account number should be entered as a giftcard. She went off and spoke with a manager and then did it.
I requested our bonus gift cards for our $3,665 spent over five months, which should be $60 unless they only count purchases after 120 days (in which case we would only get one, since only this last payment was past that mark). They only asked if account was open over 120 days (it was). My bonus would be much higher, had I been able to use DVA everywhere I wanted to but I stopped depositing, as I encountered more and more places I could not use it, especially in California (see below).
I still had $712 left in the account from gift cards. Other than initial $10, all contributions has been gift cards purchased at Target with red card for 5% discount. I requested refund as $500 gift card (lifetime max) and the remaining $212 will be refunded back to original giftcards, which I kept for this reason. The $500 gift card is nice because it appears to be the only way to consolidate the multiple $50 denominations sold at Target.
So, for my trouble I saved 5% on my total contribution, using my Target Redcard to purchase gift cards (approx $219) plus $60 in bonus gift cards, for expenditures out of DVA, assuming I get all of them, for a total of $279 or about 6.37%.
I liked the DVA concept and the ability to deposit gift cards, but overall, I was disappointed in trying to use it, and the lack of CM training. It was almost impossible to use at the DLR hotels in California. I was successful using it there for tickets/Annual Passes (over the phone) and hard ticketed events (F! Dessert party) but even then, had to educate CM how to use it as a gift card. If I had a less willing CM afraid of getting in trouble, I may not have been able to use it. I escalated to managers at front desk of both Grand Californian and
Disneyland Hotel to use it to pay balances and was denied at both (had also tried doing it ahead by phone and was denied).
At WDW, I had more success using it to pay Room Only reservation off in advance, Memory Maker, and hard ticketed events (
MVMCP, TTDP, etc), but still had to train CMs and also know myself to enter as a gift card.
We were in a unique situation of having multiple trips to both coasts in a short period of time, which gave me a good opportunity to test the program, without risking tying up a lot of money in DVA, only to be unable to use it he way I wanted and then potentially wait a long time to get it back.
I'm honestly disappointed to have to give DVA a "D" in California and a "C" in Florida. It was clearly designed for higher priced "packages" from WD Travel, including Cruises. I think you generally pay more for packages than you do going Room Only (plus we usually have APs), so I'm not really their target audience.
I did talk to DVA reps twice and expressed my disappointment. I also mentioned the gift cards, and trying to be more courteous of front desk staff, by not showing up with a stack of 60 gift cards. Both said they received many comments similar to mine, about DVA acceptance and combining gift cards, and it is in discussion. My guess is that it may get slightly better as more CMs are trained, but it won't likely ever work well for me, because I choose to travel "ala carte" and not use "packages" from the Walt Disney Travel Company. The program also seems very weighted to Florida and most of my travel is in California.
I hope my experiences are helpful and of course, your mileage may vary.
