Cash? Debit? Gift card? MB?

[dmc6469]

What do ya think? Staying at our timeshare but I do have a Magic Band I’ll be using. Should I link my debit card to the MB (if off-property guests can do that also?) Carry cash? Use my debit card? Transfer some of my Disney fund cash to a Disney gift card? Wondering what most WDW pros do. I hate carrying cash but it’s so easy to use but easier to lose. Advice on what the majority of you find the easiest/best/most convenient?

 

[Alesia]

You can't link a card to your magic band. Never use a debit card if you can possibly avoid it. I tried the gift card thing and thought it was more trouble than it was worth.

I just carry my credit card and $20 cash.

 

[dmc6469]

oh, I thought you could link your cards to the MB. My error. Where did I ever come up with that??? Why do you say never use a debit card? I don't have credit cards so that's why I use debit for everything.

 

[bumbershoot]

Debit cards don't give you the same immediate, nothing out of your account, protection in case of theft of your card as credit cards do.

I think we all sort of thought that ultimately they'd link MBs to a card, not to a room-charge account. At least some of us did.

 

[Alesia]

Debit cards don't give you the same immediate, nothing out of your account, protection in case of theft of your card as credit cards do.

Correct.

The only thing worse than having your bank account cleaned out and having to wait until it gets straightened out to pay your bills would be to have it happen on vacation..

 

[maxiesmom]

I only carry a small amount of cash. I either charge back to my room and pay it off with a Disney gift card, or just pay for my purchases with a visa gift card.

 

[redkel]

That's what we do -- charge to room and pay the night before departure with Disney GC's.

 

[bigbabyblues]

OP is staying offsite, he/she cannot charge to his/her room and pay off later.

I would carry a small amount of cash and use a credit card for the reasons listed above. No way would I use a debit card, too much risk of my account being cleared out (what little is there). Since you don't have a credit card, I would estimate how much I would spend and get a prepaid credit card.

 

[GPC0321]

I would assume this is a "yes", but can you buy gift cards AT WDW? Like at resort gift shops or in the parks? I know they have special "mini" ones at Epcot for F&W and F&G, but do they have regular ones for sale too?

 

[jmkjr72]

Correct.

The only thing worse than having your bank account cleaned out and having to wait until it gets straightened out to pay your bills would be to have it happen on vacation..

Read your bank polices I know at my bank as long as it is run under credit and not with my pin number I get the exact same protections as if it was a credit card

I have had my card breached and money back in my account the same day because they only stole the card number and didn't have the pin my fiancé on the other hand wasn't so lucky her card was breached and it took almost 2 weeks to get her money back

What was almost worst was her actual credit card was breached days before our trip fortunately the local branch was helpfull in getting her a replacement card overnighter to the branch

 

[Marionnette]

I used a gift card almost exclusively during my trip last week. I had less trouble using it than with using a MB or a CC. I had the gift card attached to a wrist coil keychain and I just took it off to pay for things. It was a lot easier than digging into my wallet to find a CC and didn't require a PIN like a MB.

I'd also bring a small amount of cash. Sometimes the POS system goes down and the only way to make your purchase at one of the smaller kiosks will be with cash.

 

[purple figment]

I would assume this is a "yes", but can you buy gift cards AT WDW? Like at resort gift shops or in the parks? I know they have special "mini" ones at Epcot for F&W and F&G, but do they have regular ones for sale too?

Yes. Regular size gc are available at pretty much every store in the parks and resorts.

 

[Figmentmommy]

I would assume this is a "yes", but can you buy gift cards AT WDW? Like at resort gift shops or in the parks? I know they have special "mini" ones at Epcot for F&W and F&G, but do they have regular ones for sale too?

You can get gift cards at the resort gift shops.

 

[GPC0321]

Cool! Thanks both Figments!

 

[Jeni3612]

oh, I thought you could link your cards to the MB. My error. Where did I ever come up with that??? Why do you say never use a debit card? I don't have credit cards so that's why I use debit for everything.

Ok, I misunderstood too. We are not staying at a Disney resort (we are staying at Shades of Green). When I added my MB to MDE, it asked if I wanted to add a credit or debit card number. So you are saying that I can't add a credit card # to my MB and have it charge my card?

 

[subtchr]

So you are saying that I can't add a credit card # to my MB and have it charge my card?

That is correct. NO ONE can "add a credit card # to a MB", no matter where they are staying.

A MB doesn't have anything "on it". It is only a link to your MDE account. People staying onsite have their resort reservation linked to their MDE account as well. So their MB can open the room door (because it accesses the resort information in the MDE account) and can also connect WDW transactions to the ROOM ACCOUNT, NOT directly to a credit or debit card. After that, the guest can pay off the room account however he or she wishes.

Will that capability be added at some point? Who knows? But right now it is not in the system.

 

[Jeni3612]

Thank you for the clarification subtchr. Maybe it gave me that option because some of my family members that are on my MDE with me are staying on site, so they will have that option? Either way, good info to have so I can plan a little better.

 

[Alesia]

Read your bank polices I know at my bank as long as it is run under credit and not with my pin number I get the exact same protections as if it was a credit card

True, but not in the same time frame. It took me 3 weeks to get everything sorted. Meanwhile none of my automatic payments were going through. It was pretty awful.

I always used it as a credit card, not as a debit card.

 

[Alesia]

.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

oh, I thought you could link your cards to the MB. My error. Where did I ever come up with that??? Why do you say never use a debit card? I don't have credit cards so that's why I use debit for everything.

You can only link a credit card/debit card to the MB if you're staying onsite. Your card isn't charged immediately, instead your MB charges are charged to your room and your credit card is hit when a certain spending limit is reached. "Charging to the room" via the MB is only available for onsite guests.