Can I use room card like a debit card?

[la79al]

Here's the silly question of the day....Is there any way I can 'put money' on my room/ticket card and use it like a debit card? I am considering getting the DDP but more for convenience than anything else. Having one card to do it all might take care of some of this problem. (I told you it was a silly question)

 

[fAnnF]

if you're staying on prop and give them a cc when you check in, you can use your room key like a cc/dc and then just pay all the charges at the end of your trip. When you check out you can give them cash or they'll just charge your cc.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

You can place cash down at the front desk and if you do not leave a credit card then you will only be able to use this amount. If you leave credit card and/or cash you will first use any cash or room credits you have and then you will have an unlimited amount tied to your credit card, normally no charges will go to the CC until you've reached $500 OR your checking out. If you spend less than $500 on your final day (the night before check out) you'll have the option of paying your bill in cash or letting it go to the CC.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Each resort level has a set dollar limit, Moderates for example was $1000. When you hit that amount they run the charge through. We used our card like this for dining. It was very convenient but 2 things I found were we tended to spend more in the stores and I had to be diligent about writing the charges in my Check book.

 

[CleveRocks]

When you check in, you will be asked if you want to set up a room charge. You will be asked for some sort of payment to back this up. This can be done with credit card, debit card, cash, travelers checks, or Disney Dollars. If you use a credit or debit card, you will NOT be immediately charged that amount and NO HOLD will be placed. They will "run" the card, however, only to see if it is an active account, but NO HOLD IS PLACED.

Your room key is now your room charge card, as well as (in most cases) your park tickets.

Each level of resort has a MAXIMUM room charge than can be set up at one time. For Values it's $500, for Moderates $1K and Deluxes $1.5K. These are UPPER limits -- you can set it up for any amount UP TO that amount. Not all CMs realize that the room charge doesn't have to be set up for the maximum amount. The CM who checked me in at POFQ last month knew this, when I asked to set up my room charge account for $800, backed by my debit card. But when I was approaching my limit and called to get that account charged and to set up a new one for an even lesser amount, the CM on the phone initially insisted that at POFQ they "only" set up room charges for $1,000. I asked her to check with her supervisor, and of course she came back on the phone and apologized for her error.

If you never reach your limit, your account will automatically be charged at time of check-out. If you reach your limit, your account will automatically be charged at that moment. If you have a $500 limit and currently have a balance of $490 and attempt to room charge a $15 purchase, your card will be declined. At that point, all you have to do is CALL YOUR RESORT and verbally authorize another room charge account. It is set up to be this easy -- you DON'T need to physically go back to the resort to do this.

You can physically go to your resort's front desk as often as you like to get a printout of your account activity. If you find you are near your limit and think you might spend past your limit soon, you may want to tell them to go ahead and charge your credit/debit card and then set up a new charge, just so save the momentary hassle of doing it later.

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

Wow! what great information! I didn't know any of this but will definitely be using this for our trip in March. Can my room key be used for anything in the world? dining, souvies etc?

 

[CleveRocks]

The room charge is accepted anywhere and everywhere in the theme parks, water parks, and resorts that credit cards are accepted. SOME of the stores/restaurants in Downtown Disney accept room charges, some don't; the obvious ones are the Disney-owned stores there.

The only place in the parks where you can't use it are places where you also can't use credit cards, such as the roving vendors that sell stuff in front of the parades.

But otherwise, there's no limit to what you can charge with your room charge.

 

[WaltD4Me]

In addition to placing money on your room key, you could also buy a Disney gift card at your resort's gift shop. (I TRY not to use my CC at Disney) You can get them in any amount and they are re-loadable. I did this last year and it worked good for me. Instead of putting a large amount of cash on my room key, I bought the gift cards in $200 increments. It was a little easier for me to keep track of spending this way, plus I didn't need to go to the desk to add money to the room key.