Are there really any benefit or budget pros to using Gift Card at Disney?

[TheRatPack]

I set aside an amount for each child for their souvenirs and I started thinking it would be nice for them to have a cute little gift card (they have so many images now to choose from). Then I got to thinking....can a gift card be used everywhere at Disney World? Or only at Disney shops and World of Disney. My kiddos might decide to get a spinner from one of the carts at a parade, or Goofy Candy Company stuff, or maybe even the Lego store. I can't imagine that those stores take the Disney Gift card?

So maybe it would end up costing me more because I'd have to trade them cash for their gift card and then I'd spend the gift card somewhere? Oh and do all TS restaurants take the Disney Gift Card? That would be a nice way to set aside some of our TS meal money.....again though, I'm sure I'd have some left, or might have to add a few dollars in cash for the full dining bill since you can't get a Gift Card for an exact amount and really we wouldn't know that exact amount for a TS meal prior to sitting down at the TS anyway. So then you either have a balance or you have to have other funds to add to the gift card.

After that long winded post....is there anyone who has used gift cards like this? Was it beneficial or harmful to your budget at all, or just a convenience thing.

 

[figmentswife]

We just used a Disney gift card, that was a gift, to help pay for our trip.

So Yes some gift cards can be used at the parks to pay for anything, however make sure the gift card is for Disney parks not just the Disney store.

There has been some talk of Sam's club selling gift cards for a little less then the value and then you get a Disney store gift card - I think the $100 Disney card is around $98, then you get a $10 Disney store card -

Another thought would be to put the spending money on their KTTW card. You can add any amount to the card. That is what I am going to do, as I don't want my DD to have to deal with cash.

Oh and another thought is to buy Disney $$'s when you get there, they are cute and you could just buy a little (maybe not all of their spending money) but that could be a waste b\c they are so cute, most people want to keep them. I think they come in 1's, 5's, 10's and maybe 20's. You used to be able to get them at the Disney store, but you can't anymore.

One more idea would be to check the creative community board, someone one there has make "fake" disney money, you could print it and give it to them, but it has NO VALUE at the parks, but this way they would know how much they have to spend.

 

[TheRatPack]

Thanks I understand what you're saying about the Disney Dollars....we still have some from a trip years and years ago. My oldest DD refused to spend it, so now it's a souvenir LOL, I'm sure that happens a lot and Disney counts on that LOL

I hadn't thought about the KTTW card....I suppose that if they didn't spend the gift cards I got them because they wanted something from another store that didn't take them, I could add that gift card to my KTTW card and pay for F&W festival stuff

 

[HillPete]

We have used Disney gift cards at the Lego Store, so you're safe there. Most of the stores on property expect folks to have Disney money in some form (KTTW, etc.) so even if hey aren't 'Disney' stores, you should be ok. I think the only places you might have trouble are the carts that sell the spinners. I don't think they are set up to take any cards, just cash. I could be wrong... The food carts should be ok because they can take snack credits, so they have a card zapper.

I gave my kids Disney gift cards on our last trip and they worked just fine for what they wanted. We're planning to do the same for our next trip.

--H

 

[Fire14]

I have used my Disney Gift cards almost everywhere on Disney proptery including goofys candy company. Only places you/kids could run into issues is some stores in Epcot and the wheeled carts before parades/fireworks.

 

[karice2]

You can also add any amount to a blank Disney GC. I set my meal budget way in advance and then do it that way.

 

[TheRatPack]

Okay....so I just took a chance and ordered some gift cards from Disney Store Online. These are the gift cards, not the store cards but I noticed it said allow 10 - 15 business days for them to arrive. Is that pretty accurate? We're leaving in exactly 15 business days for our trip....but I took a chance so I hope they arrive sooner. All my Disney orders usually arrive within a week, but that's merchandise and not gift cards, so I wasn't sure if those took longer.

 

[Colleen27]

We haven't run into places that don't take Disney gift cards. They're our payment method of choice because DS's school sells them through a fundraiser program, so our Disney spending is helping to pay for his school trips. We don't do much shopping at DTD so there may be some places that don't accept them there, but I know for sure that the Lego Store and everywhere we've shopped in the parks with the exception of the rare stand that doesn't have card readers has accepted the gift cards without a problem.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

I thought I heard the Disney Dollars are a thing of the past. We used to put these in the kids easter baskets, so they had additional $ for Disney.

I ordered a Disney gift card on Tuesday, and it came in the mail that same week, on Friday. I used a VISA gift card that I got from an automobile tire promotion, and turned it into a Disney gift card.

The mailing time was very quick.

 

[Suz D]

Depending on how old your kids are, you could use this as a very fun and educational experience. When our daughter was 9 we went to WDW and on the Disney Cruise. She had saved her spending money for quite awhile and had about $50.00. We agreed to add 1/2 of what she earned so she'd have quite a bit of fun money. She had $75.00 to spend. I didn't want her carrying that much cash around so I did the following.

I photocopied a blank checkbook register on cardstock, entered $75.00 as the starting balance and folded it in 1/2. She tucked it in her fannypack along with a pen. I paid for everything but she wrote it down in her register, detailed what she bought and when, and subtracted the expenditure. This helped her see where her $$ was going (instant gratification items that are soon forgotten or something long lasting), she had to really think about what she was spending because she knew exactly how much $$ was left, and she also had to practice her math.

We've done this on several trips since. Now she's old enough to be responsible for her KTTW card and the AmEx pass card that she uses. You might think about this. Otherwise, I think your idea of adding the gift card to your account at your resort is a great idea. DH and I bought the Sam's gift cards to use on our last trip and put those on our account to pay for the tips for the dining plan. Worked great!

 

[TheRatPack]

Thanks everyone I like the check register idea...my oldest 2 have been doing check registers/savings for a few years now but my youngest 3 have just started using these money skills so that would be a great lesson.

I am glad to hear that the cards don't necessarily take 15 days too....that would make me nervous to have to wait until the day before we were leaving to get them.....and definitely be a budget buster to have to give them cash after ordering gift cards LOL

 

[disneyofcourse]

I bought a few for the last trip since I was bringing people along. They were on a budget and so instead of buying dining plan(which they had trouble understanding) I bought the gift cards. Worked out pretty well and I would do it again. I didn't get any bonus offers when I bought my cards. I will look out for those in the future.

 

[lucigo]

I have used my Disney Gift cards almost everywhere on Disney proptery including goofys candy company. Only places you/kids could run into issues is some stores in Epcot and the wheeled carts before parades/fireworks.

My kids favorite place to shop is Japan, and I don't believe they accept them. The only way I would buy them would be if I could get them at a discounted price. Otherwise using the Disney visa at least gets you points toward your next vacation!

 

[AZMermaid]

I have ordered them and I think they came in about a week. It was nowhere near what they stated it could take.

 

[tkitty]

Most stores carry Disney gift cards, and you have them in hand. I just bought a $100 one at Kroger's (Fry's) and immediately got .40 cents off per gallon when I filled the tank at their station. Bought one at Sam's too when I found their deal. No reason to wait on the mail unless your getting a deal. Hope you get them in time and have a great trip.

 

[TheRatPack]

Yea, I actually get points for using my card to order them....and we sadly don't have a Sams near us, or a Kroger. We have a Costco but they don't have any deals on Disney cards. I like all the different designs they had online too, including the Halloween design, Phineas and Ferb, Lilo and Stitch, Handy Manny....etc.

I'm sure you could probably find a lot of different designs if you checked multiple stores but with 5 children it was just easier to order them all from one place

 

[edk35]

We used several on our Jan. trip. I used ours to pay off our bill at the front desk every few days. It is a great way to budget money months before a trip too. You can buy a gift card every week or every two weeks when you get paid. When it was check in time they kept a cc on file, but I just stopped by the front desk every other day or so when we would come back to the resort and pay off what was on the tab. I learned this on DIS. We also gave our older two kids gift cards because they would go off with their friends during the day and that was convenient for them to have too. Oh and let me add.... I ordered ours online at the Disney Store and used my Disney Visa so we got reward points too.

 

[TheRatPack]

Well I got a shipping notice and got all excited but it was just the hat that I'd added to my gift card order. Ugghhh, hope they ship them soon so I can rest easy that they'll be here before our trip.

 

[katrina1122]

We've used them, but we also get visa check cards too and put money on them, that way if we don't use all the money on them we aren't stuck with a gift card. They can be used outside the world too.

You can't cash out unused money on a disney gift card.

 

[JB2K]

After that long winded post....is there anyone who has used gift cards like this? Was it beneficial or harmful to your budget at all, or just a convenience thing.

Expanding on tkitty's post...

One of the hidden perks in my using Disney Gift Cards (versus other plastic) is that if you puchase the cards (or any retail/restaurant gift cards) from Kroger, you get double fuel rewards points.

For example:

• Buy $500 worth of Disney GCs for dining, etc.
• Get 1,000 fuel points for fuel purchases at Kroger
• 1,000 fuel points = $1.00 off every gallon of gas for that next fill-up (max 35 gallons)

And for those who drive, you'll find Kroger stores with fuel stations all along the I-75 and I-95 corridors in Georgia (none in Florida).

Not a bad deal, if you ask me...plus, you don't have to wait for the online Disney Store to ship them...