3 adults, gift cards and credit card

[pfeifer1990]

I didn't know where to put my question(s) please move if needed...
I hope my questions make sense!
We are a family of 3 adults (in a room at POFQ) my DH, DS and I for 8 days in May. We all have gift cards (been getting them as gifts since 2019). DS will be paying for Savis, a Droid etc.
My DH and I will be paying for room, meals etc.
My questions are:
1) We can't put gift cards on magic bands correct?
2) Can we each have a different credit card on our magic band or only 1 credit card per room reservation (being charged to the room)?
3) Guest services will put a hold on the credit card up to $1000 and then charges the credit card?
4) I read that you can see your charges in your MDE account if that's true where would I find that?
5) Indirectly related question: We will be making our ADRS soon along with Savi's, Droid, a dessert party, and a Rose and Crown Fireworks dinner reservations. Do I need to pay for any of that upfront other than the dessert party?
6) Can I put a credit card in my MDE account now to expedite any of these reservations that will require payment upfront?
Thank you for any and all help. It's been a long time since I've been to WDW (over 20 years) and things have changed!

 

[starry_solo]

1) We can't put gift cards on magic bands correct?

Correct, you cannot do so. The magic band is just a tool that contains your information from My Disney Experience.

2) Can we each have a different credit card on our magic band or only 1 credit card per room reservation (being charged to the room)?

Yes you can, but you really need to go to the front desk to do this. However, there have been stories of incorrect cards being charged.

3) Guest services will put a hold on the credit card up to $1000 and then charges the credit card?

Actually, they put holds every time you charge something, as I recall. Like $100 hold or something like that.

4) I read that you can see your charges in your MDE account if that's true where would I find that?

Hmm, I don't know the answer to that. I know you can see your hotel charges on MDE so you may be able to see any room charges the same way.

5) Indirectly related question: We will be making our ADRS soon along with Savi's, Droid, a dessert party, and a Rose and Crown Fireworks dinner reservations. Do I need to pay for any of that upfront other than the dessert party?

I think you also have to pre-pay the Rose & Crown Fireworks dinner reservation, if it's the package that gets you a specific area to watch the fireworks.

6) Can I put a credit card in my MDE account now to expedite any of these reservations that will require payment upfront?

Yes you can.

Have you considered just using the gift card to pay directly to the restaurant/snack cart/etc?

 

[iwannabdduck]

From my experience using gift & credit cards, here are some other things I've run into. Once you check in, Disney will put a $100 hold to your credit card. That advance hold has always been removed from our credit card within a few days after our trip without issue after all the other legitimate expanses were posted. The only time I ever tried Disney's online check-in, that advance hold was processed at midnight the day of our arrival even though we never got to the resort and checked in until 3PM that afternoon ... 15 hours later! I know because I got a text alert at midnight from the credit card company on my phone laying on the night stand next to my bed. Additionally once your accumulated magic band and/or room charges amount to more than $100, Disney will push thru those charges to your credit card during your stay as well. In the past Disney used to wait until the morning of your check out before charging your entire balance due to your credit card. Not anymore. If you plan to use your gift cards to pay down your bills at the front desk (like I have) you need to do that before the $100 minimum is processed. And Disney will include any daily resort parking fee in those $100 minimum processed amounts. If that all sounds confusing, it is ... which is why I now use gift cards the way starry_solo suggested: paying directly at the restaurant/snack cart/etc. Once used, the receipt you are given for any bill normally shows the remaining balance on that gift card. So if I use a $50 gift card to pay a $14.28 bill, the receipt should show the amount paid, plus the remaining $35.20 gift card balance. When the gift cards balances are exhausted, I use credit cards. If you try mobile ordering food at quick service restaurants, you can use gift cards to pay that bill but it requires you to manually enter the gift card number into the app on your phone as you place the order. Awkward, but it works. Otherwise I think MO'ing defaults to your credit card on record with Disney

One last tip. I always open an account on Disney's gift card web site: disneygiftcard.com and enter all my cards numbers there. You can even combine small card amounts into one larger card. Say for example, combine six $25 cards into one $150 card. There is a $1,000 limit on how much Disney lets you put on a single gift card. One physical card is easier for me to use and keep track of than six separate cards. However I always keep one gift card in the amount of $25 held back for security purposes. That way if one of the other cards I'm using gets stolen or lost I can transfer the balance (up to $975) to the $25 card held in reserve to save my money. Logistically what that means is that I save that web site in my favorites on my iPhone and memorize its sign-on and password in case I ever need to access it when traveling. And of course that card held in reserve is the last one used. I also had one occasion when I got a refund from Disney for a previous purchase where I used a gift card. That refund successfully showed up on the old "zero balance" gift card I had stored on Disney's gift card web site within minutes. So I save all my physical cards (and receipts ! ) just in case until the trip is over.

 

[Moliphino]

4) I read that you can see your charges in your MDE account if that's true where would I find that?

You can only see it while you're there on your resort reservation screen.