Cash to take ?

[earldale97]

I am starting to wonder how much CASH I will need to bring. I have estimated a daily amount of spending already, but I am not sure if I really need to bring CASH for it or if my debit card will work. Mostly I am concerned with lunch everyday. I live to use my debit card-and just realized there may be quite a few places that don't accept them.

1) We plan on counter service-Do they take debit cards?

2) Sci-Fi- Do they take cards?

3) Are parking fees cash only?

4) Do most of the local McDonald's etc... take debit in Orlando?

I am going to call my hotel also to see if they will cash a personal check. I hate to lug around a weeks worth of $$. I also hate to pay the ATM fees which would be about $4 a shot.

I think I may plan to bring 1/2 cash for the week. Maybe I can find somewhere to cash a check. Or I can always bite the bullet and eat the ATM fees.

Is there a place at WDW-though I am staying offsite- that would cash a traverlers check? Would a local bank do this, any fees?

What has worked for you? We are staying offsite for 9 days and would really like a way to be safer with less cash on hand.

Thanks!

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

I think you have the right idea about not taking too much cash with you. I'm sure everywhere on Disney property accepts credit/debit cards, but I don't know about the McDonald's offsite.

Also, regarding your traveller's checks, there is a bank across the street from the Marketplace section of Downtown Disney.

Have fun!

 

[CarolA]

parking fees are cash only.

Also, you can always cash a travelers check when you buy lunch or something at Disney and get the change in real cash.

 

[Ted and Holly]

I rarely carry cash. I use my Visa check card for everything.

All counter service places in the parks take cards. Only the ice cream, pop corn, and other "stands" are cash only.

Sci-Fi, and ALL sit-down places will take cards.

I don't pay parking. So I can't help you there.

My local McD takes cards. I think most of the ones around WDW will. I think it is up to the store, however. I found one over near Sarasota that did not take them. But, you won't have to worry about that.

I have seen people use LARGE travelers checks to buy pastries or other things in the parks. They were given the change in cash.

I "stay offsite". Well, actually, I live offsite. But the same rules apply. I get cash out of the ATM if I really need it. But there are not really THAT many times when I need cash.

Then again, if you plan on getting lots of Mickey pops and popcorn, you might want to carry some.

Ted

 

[scotthart]

Alot of the snack carts (ice cream, soda, popcorn) now have wi-fi computers that You can use your room charge or debit cards on. About the only thing I carry cash for now is tips for bellmen or mousekeeping.

 

[clkelley]

One thing I do is purchase Disney Dollars. You can use your Debit card to purchase them up to $50 increments per day at any guest relations booth at any park.

It is not a cash advance and it does not incur ATM fees.

I then use up the Disney Dollars first and get real change back to use for tips, a quick snack at the airport, etc.

This worked really well on my last trip as we visited F&W festival on our last day and snacked our way around WS. We then used the cash to tip the Skycaps at the airport. (We already had the tip for the towncar driver set aside in an envelope)

FYI - No one has mentioned this. Your debit card MUST have a Visa or Mastercard logo to work in WDW. They do not have the swipe machines and a place to input your pin #. They are all credit purchases at WDW.

Carol

 

[Meggie Pooh]

Originally posted by clkelley
One thing I do is purchase Disney Dollars. You can use your Debit card to purchase them up to $50 increments per day at any guest relations booth at any park.

It is not a cash advance and it does not incur ATM fees.

I then use up the Disney Dollars first and get real change back to use for tips, a quick snack at the airport, etc.

This worked really well on my last trip as we visited F&W festival on our last day and snacked our way around WS. We then used the cash to tip the Skycaps at the airport. (We already had the tip for the towncar driver set aside in an envelope)

FYI - No one has mentioned this. Your debit card MUST have a Visa or Mastercard logo to work in WDW. They do not have the swipe machines and a place to input your pin #. They are all credit purchases at WDW.

Carol

This is a great idea! I have been trying to figure out how much cash to bring and now I don't have too! The idea of being in the airport with large sums of cash was not something I was looking forward too!!

 

[Rodrigo]

I have used Traveler Cheques a lot.
When I need cash, I change a traveler cheque in the hotel front desk or cashier, without fees.

 

[jaletu2000]

You can also cash a travelers check at customer service in the MK. We always bring travelers checks.

 

[dizagain]

As others have said, we used our debit visa, traveler's checks, and Disney Dollars on our trip. We'd caash a traveler's check at the hotel or just use one at a shop in Disney and take the change - no problems. Also no problems ever with the debit card except for the Cindy's breakfast episode where the waiter said it was declined. Talk about a mad dash for the phone - the bank said all was well, thank goodness!!!

I've been thinking of getting one of those pre-paid AMEX or Visa cards for our next trip to keep it all separate from our regular checking account and possibly prevent way over-spending!!

Have fun!

 

[Jez A Belle]

We always carry about 20 in cash. The rest on our room card..but being off site I think your debit will be fine as long as it is a visa debit

Jez

 

[earldale97]

I contacted my Hotel and they could not guarantee me they would have cash on hand to cash my Travelers Checks. But did say Publix cashes for about $1 or so.

I think I like the Disney Dollars idea, that is very clever.

Thanks!

 

[katgarbars]

Does anyone know if you can get a refund for any unused Disney Dollars? I like the idea of getting these instead of cash, but I'm worried about overbuying.

 

[clkelley]

I don't know about that. I've never run into that. Hang on to your receipt.

If I have any leftover at the end of my trip, I usually stop by my Disney resort front desk and pay on my resort bill. They are always happy to take them and credit my credit card if they have already charged me out.

Oh something else. Ask for $5 Disney Dollars. If you get $10s (not sure if they make $20s), you might get some Disney Dollars in change if they have them in the register.

I have always gotten back regular cash as change with $5 DDs.

Carol

 

[PratersloveDW]

Any place will take travelers checks...they are the same as cash and you will recieve cash back. The great thing about these, if you lose them, so long as they are signed, just call your bank and they will reimburse you right away. Each day, we always take just what we will need for that day and leave the rest in the hotel safe. Also, as some people have suggested, Disney Dollars is a great (and FUN) way to go! Have fun!!

 

[SnackyStacky]

I second the Disney dollars. We took them on our honeymoon, and whatever we couldn't (or didn't feel like) using our room charge for, we just used the Disney dollars.

The only cash I took before we left was a $20 for airports, and I got about $75 in singles for tips. I kept $35 of those singles, and the rest I divided into daily mousekeeping envelopes.

Have a great trip!

 

[Lucky4me]

We take all cash.

I divide it into separate envelopes for each day. I keep it in my vacation fanny pack and guard it with my life on the way down.
Once we get there it goes into the room safe. We take a new envelope out each day. Any money left from the previous day gets added to the current day. Hopefully we have enough left over to splurge on something our last day.

For emergencies or if we run out of money, we bring a Visa debit card. I think this only happened once out of five trips. That was five years ago for the Emergency room.

In earlier years we took Travelers checks on all our vacations, but found them to be cumbersome. They asked for I.D., we had to sign in front of the cashier and it took too long. I guess I am too impatient. I just like to hand over cash and be done with it. I've never lost or had any money stolen, I'm very careful with how I handle it.
We rarely go over budget this way which is important to us. We like to
travel frequently and this is the only way we can do it.

 

[earldale97]

What denominations do the Disney dollars come in at WDW?

I called my local disney store and they said they have 1's, 5's and $10's.

From the previous post I was thinking I could by a $50 Disney Dollar using my Visa card then buy a $5 toy for example and have 45 in cash change.

Did I misunderstand and that you actually have 5-$10 dollars when you make your $50 purchase?

I think I am leaning toward Travelers Checks again... I think it easier to deal with cash as much as possible in disney then worry about how many DD I have left? What do you think?

Thanks

 

[clkelley]

Yes, they come in the smaller demoninations.

When I got mine, I got 10 $5 and gave some to hubby and then spent them first.

Carol

 

[dthogue]

Please be careful when thinking about taking the majority of your money in Disney Dollars. If they are lost or stolen, they can't be replaced.

While most places take a debit card, you also have the chance of someone using your card and wiping out your checking account balance - not something I want to deal with while on vacation.

We always travel with travelers checks - Amex also has a traveler check card you can use, just like a debit card, but has a limit.

We do the envelope thing that was mentioned previously. I have an envelope for each day, but I put traveler's checks in there instead of cash. I take one evelope with me each day and the remaining money goes into DH's wallet. I keep track on the envelope when I cash a check, so I know what we spent, just in case they would get lost or stolen.

Good luck with your decision!
Tammy