Booking HDDR with TIW Discount?? How??

[kristenrice]

As a DVC Member, I cannot buy my TIW until I arrive, but of course I will need to make and ADR for HHDR long before I arrive. Since it is a pre-paid event, how on earth am I supposed to do this? I'm planning on paying with a gift card and I will have the same gift card (not going to be throwing it away) so I'm not sure if that will have an impact or not.

Anyone else have experience with this? I can't believe nobody has ever booked HDDR using TIW and paying with a gift card...it doesn't seem like it is THAT absurd of a concept.

 

[shocker]

I have the same issue with Spirit of Aloha prepaid meal. Here's how it works for us. It is a pre-paid meal so when I booked I gave them a credit card number (this was all via online, no phone call), that charge has already come through on my statement and we haven't left yet. When I get there, I will buy TiW and present the card when we arrive to SoA. They will reimburse back to my credit card the discounted amount.

So, making a few assumptions for the gift card since I'm not using one for this meal . I think you will have to prepay with a credit card at the time of the booking. Present the TiW when you arrive for the meal and have them reverse all the charges from the credit card and take from the gc at that time. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle for us so we're not using gc for this meal. But, I will certainly use gc to buy TiW.

 

[kristenrice]

I have the same issue with Spirit of Aloha prepaid meal. Here's how it works for us. It is a pre-paid meal so when I booked I gave them a credit card number (this was all via online, no phone call), that charge has already come through on my statement and we haven't left yet. When I get there, I will buy TiW and present the card when we arrive to SoA. They will reimburse back to my credit card the discounted amount.

So, making a few assumptions for the gift card since I'm not using one for this meal . I think you will have to prepay with a credit card at the time of the booking. Present the TiW when you arrive for the meal and have them reverse all the charges from the credit card and take from the gc at that time. I'm not sure it's worth the hassle for us so we're not using gc for this meal. But, I will certainly use gc to buy TiW.

Thanks for the info. I have been earning gift cards from sites like Swagbucks, and redeeming my points from my BestBuy rewards and flipping my FWP gift cards from Target into Disney gift cards. All of those gift cards will be used to pay for our dining while we are there...it's my own version of (really) Free Dining. For that reason (and I admit, it seems silly), I do not want to deal with charges being put onto my credit card. I don't want to risk the possibility that they may not be able to reverse them and then I will be stuck with almost $200 of unplanned expenses on my credit card. If I can't pay with my gift card from the get--go, we may need to re-think this meal. We've never been to HDDR and thought we'd give it a try on this trip. If we skip it, it's not the end of the world since we won't know what we are missing.

 

[DisBuckMan]

No one will tell you how to do it because it has never been done. There is no way they're going to give you a TiW discount up front when you don't even have a TiW membership at this time.

You will have to pay in full up front, and get reimbursed the difference when you dine there and show your TiW card to prove you are a member.

 

[kristenrice]

No one will tell you how to do it because it has never been done. There is no way they're going to give you a TiW discount up front when you don't even have a TiW membership at this time.

You will have to pay in full up front, and get reimbursed the difference when you dine there.

That's what I figured. They will be able to refund the difference to my gift card then, right? My question is more regarding paying with a gift card more than the TIW discount. Gift cards have become more and more popular as a form of payment and I was just wondering if anyone else has ever pre-paid with a gift card and applied the TIW discount when they arrived....

 

[DisBuckMan]

They will reimburse whatever payment form you used up front.

And yes...getting the TiW discount applied at the restaurant happens all the time at all pre-paid restaurants.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

That's what I figured. They will be able to refund the difference to my gift card then, right? My question is more regarding paying with a gift card more than the TIW discount. Gift cards have become more and more popular as a form of payment and I was just wondering if anyone else has ever pre-paid with a gift card and applied the TIW discount when they arrived....

from what I have read remember to keep the gift card/s that you use for payment as refund will most likely be refund to that card not a new one

 

[kristenrice]

from what I have read remember to keep the gift card/s that you use for payment as refund will most likely be refund to that card not a new one

For sure...I have one gift card that is my "Vacation Card". I load it up until I hit the $1000 mark. Then I start "Vacation Card #2". I always bring a few empty cards along with me too, just in case something happens to card #1 or card #2. I usually lock them in the safe and charge everything to the room. I make a trip to the front desk each night to pay down the day's charges with the gift card and lock it back up before bed. For almost all of my trips, I use the same gift card for all of the purchases. When the balance hits zero, I just transfer the funds from a different card. That way, I always know which gift card was used to make a particular purchase...it's always the same one!

 

[kristenrice]

I thought I would pop in and tell you all what happened when I booked my ADR's. I will say that I did NOT expect this and I am almost 100% certain that the CM was NOT supposed to do this...

I made the reservation for 3 people for the 8:30 seating, category 1 seats and I told her that I would be purchasing my TIW card when I arrived. I explained that because I am a DVC member and not a FL resident, I cannot (and don't want to) buy it over the phone. She told me that she would charge me the discounted price NOW and when I check in, I need to present my card. If I do not present the card, they will then charge my credit card for the difference. I'm not sure if that is the case or not, especially since I paid the full amount with a gift card, but that is what I did. I confirmed that my gift card was charged for the discounted amount and the credit card on file in my MDE account has not been charged at all.

Like I said, I highly doubt that this is what was supposed to happen, and I did not ask her to do it this way, but this was my experience and I was very happy with it.