Best Way To Load Park Pass/Room Key With $

[goofie4goofy]

Yes, I was referring to the daily limits on the debit cards. My debit card has the VISA logo and in past experiences it is not treated the same as a credit card. DH and I finally had to get a credit card because we always had such a hassle using our debit card at hotels and rental car places.

Even though your debit card has a visa/master logo on it, the card still has a max amount that can be charged/withdrawn per card per day. The difference is that the charges you are making as a credit go to the bank differently than a debit. A debit will go thru as a hold on your account, some places actually hold twice the amount being debited until the debit goes thru Meaning if the amount is $30 they will hold $60 to secure their funds until they are paid, this ensures they get paid in case you overdraw on your account. A credit is immediate and is no hold on your account. You are better off using your card as a credit instead of a debit. The last thing you need on vacation is to have funds hels up while they clear. If your budget is tight and you put X amount of dollars in your account for your trip, some debits may not go thru due to holds on your account. Also using your card as a credit is more secure than a debit, or so I was told by my banker.

The best way to travel is using a card like AmEx. It is a net 30 card meaning it is a charge card not a credit card and there are so many services offered.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

The daily limits is something your bank controls, so I guess it depends on who carries your card. I'm also sure most car rental agencies DO require an actual credit card; however, as I said, WDW is blind to credit/debit.

I've never used an actual credit card at WDW, and I think my spending limit is something like $3,000 a day on my debit (unlimited if I authorize it in advance and I have the $ in the account, obviously), which is more than I pay for a whole trip usually (especially on any one day) so it has worked out great for me.

If you rent cars or spend a great deal more I can see how credit works better for you; in terms of purchases at Disney, deposits to rooms, room payment, and room charges, though, the answer to the original question is that yes, Disney does take them for all those things.

NED

For a long time we didn't want a credit card. I was raised not using credit, if you couldn't pay cash you shouldn't buy it. I'm also an accountant, and I see so many people get over their heads in debt.

But I was made to feel like a 2nd class citizen when I used my debit card, there were so many hassles, the daily limit, them putting a freeze and then it taking 3 business days to lift the freeze. The last straw was when DH was at a one month training for business, he put a business credit card on the room, he wanted to have some ironing done and he didn't want his company to pay for it so he gave the hotel his debit card. Long story short (too late) my husband's debit card was charged over $3000, instead of fixing it they did it again and charged another $3000, well guess what I didn't have an extra $6000 in my checking account, and checks were hitting. Thank goodness I have a good bank and they paid my checks, but it took almost two weeks to sort it out. So we bit the bullet and got a credit card (Disney Visa of course). Now, we have a Carnival Mastercard too for our cruise purchases.

 

[tiki23]

Thanks for all of the responses, everyone! Very helpful.

 

[Mariposa]

Even though your debit card has a visa/master logo on it, the card still has a max amount that can be charged/withdrawn per card per day. The difference is that the charges you are making as a credit go to the bank differently than a debit. A debit will go thru as a hold on your account, some places actually hold twice the amount being debited until the debit goes thru Meaning if the amount is $30 they will hold $60 to secure their funds until they are paid, this ensures they get paid in case you overdraw on your account. A credit is immediate and is no hold on your account. You are better off using your card as a credit instead of a debit. The last thing you need on vacation is to have funds hels up while they clear. If your budget is tight and you put X amount of dollars in your account for your trip, some debits may not go thru due to holds on your account. Also using your card as a credit is more secure than a debit, or so I was told by my banker.

The best way to travel is using a card like AmEx. It is a net 30 card meaning it is a charge card not a credit card and there are so many services offered.

Weird. I have a Visa check card and mine works the exact opposite of what you described. If run as a credit (transaction I sign for instead of using a PIN) it sends through an authorization hold on the account and it can take several days for the actual charge to hit my account and sometimes longer than that for the authorization hold to be released. If run as a debit I must enter a PIN giving the store (or whatever) immediate transfer of the funds, no hold, no nothing.

Also, on my check card, I have a debit limit of $400/day (standard at my bank and I've never bothered to increase it), but no actual limit on my credit as far as I know (through the Visa part of my check card). Unless the amount is pretty high, which I suppose it could be.

And yeah, some car rental places do require a credit card instead of a debit/check card- so, I use Budget or Enterprise, both have been wonderful to me.

 

[Ang1e]

When we stayed at POR we handed over our credit card to be swiped. If I'm correct your spending doesn't get charged until you reach the resort limit. We didn't want any charges to our credit card either as we had travelers checks with us but didn't feel comfortable leaving them there.

We paid off our charges at the end of every couple of days and once again on our last night - no charges to the credit card.

Found this really convenient.

 

[CleveRocks]

You can't use a debit card in order to be able to charge to your room key. It has to be a credit card.

Not trying to be argumentative, but WRONG WRONG WRONG.

You absolutely CAN use a debit card to set up a room charge. You can even use cash to do it!

 

[SuperGurl]

If you lose your room key it is just like losing your credit card, but it is a lot easier for the hotel to handle a lost room key than to have your CC cancelled and replaced.

I did this twice! I left my room key in a Fast Pass machine twice and had to get it replaced twice! I was lucky no one made any charges to it.

 

[BrerMama]

Whether or not your debit card has a daily limit is up to your bank. Before our last trip, I called my bank. My only daily limit is the amount I have in my bank account.

When we checked in, I gave them my debit card so that we could charge to our room. Every other day or so, my husband went over, got a print out of our charges, and paid it off using traveller's checks. That was just the method that made him most comfortable.

Disney does not put any kind of hold on your credit card/debit card when you get charging priveleges, other than a $1 charge to make sure it's a valid card.