CAUTION: Use of multiple gift cards for tix.

[osprey6]

Our local grocery store has an ongoing promotion whereby buying $50 worth of gift cards (and just about anything else), gets you $.10 off per gallon of gas at gas stations co-located with the supermarket.

Right now, there is a special deal where you receive $.20 off per gallon when you buy $50 in Disney cards, so we decided to take advantage of this for our upcoming trip and purchased $500 worth of cards in denominations of $50 and $100, so we have earned about a $30 discount in gas by taking advantage of the offer.

We tried to redeem these for park tickets at a Disney store and found out we couldn't get them there anyway because they will only sell 3-7 day tickets, and we were only buying 2 days. Not that they actually had any in stock at the moment, or the foreseeable future, but that's another story.

Then we tried to redeem online, but the website has no place to enter gift card numbers.

Then we called the Disney ticket phone number to purchase them, and they couldn't help us because they can only enter two gift cards per order for tickets, but they apparently can enter an unlimited number for say, rooms and packages.

We could have broken each person's ticket out as a separate order for separate days, but then we would still have to wait in line down there to buy the second day's tickets, and thus lose out on the (admittedly small) discount for buying the 2 days together...

So we're back to waiting in line to buy our tickets on the first day. Oh, what joy. I gotta tell you, the trip is a month away and most of the magic is already gone. Hopefully, I can save someone else from the hassle I encountered. Sorry for the rant.

 

[Disneyhayes]

Can you use the gift cards at your local Disney Store to buy a larger denomination card?

 

[pamickey]

Are you staying at a Disney resort? If so, we have been doing this with our local Giant Eagle (in denominations of $50 and $100) and the resort will apply many gift cards to our account to pay for the tickets. It's very easy to do and has earned us a huge savings on gas.

And, I may be wrong, but I don't believe that you can buy gift cards with gift cards.

Good luck with working this out.

Terri

 

[LadyBeBop]

Looking at this thread with interest also.

Our trip isn't for another 2 1/2 years. But I'm thinking about buying a $50 gift card every so often to pay for tickets. We'll probably get a five day pass. Probably stay off-site.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

At the WDW ticket windows there is no limit to the number of Disney Gift Cards which can be applied to a ticket purchase transaction.

Also, at the Resorts there is no limit to the number of Disney Gift CArds which can be applied to the folio for using the KTTW for charging. If you make a deposit of Gift Cards to your folio and have money left overwhen you check out, you will get one gift card for the balance.

And we are not allowed to use Gift Cards as payment for Gift Cards at the windows or Guest Relations Offices.

 

[osprey6]

I looked on the back of the cards, and buying more cards with existing cards is specifically prohibited. But you might be on to something: What if we bought something for about $500 at the Disney store, and then returned it a few days later? Since our original form of payment was gift cards, presumably they would give our refund in that same form. I strongly suspect they would just go ahead and put it on a single card, don't you think???

And yes, these are indeed from Giant Eagle, or as my yinzer relatives would say, "Guyn Iggle".

We were not planning on staying on site, since we are going to get 60,000 Priority Club (Holiday Inn frequent stay program ) points and take two nights for free in the HI in DTD, and then pay for a third, but that was all dependent on the points showing by the middle of March, which is not guaranteed. If indeed that is the case, we were going to instead try for a deal we found for $69 in DTD. But they have a parking fee that takes that up to about $85.

I understand there is a Stay and Play deal right now where kids tickets are free. Staying at a value resort would run us about $116/night through AAA. That's about $31 more than the place in DTD and would be $93 more over the course of 3 nights. We"ll be there April 3-6.

But if we take advantage of Stay and Play, we would be be getting our daughter's park tix at no charge, thus saving us roughly $60 and letting us stay on property. Or have I made an invalid assumption somewhere?

 

[seashoreCM]

We could have broken each person's ticket out as a separate order for separate days, but then we would still have to wait in line down there to buy the second day's tickets, and thus lose out on the (admittedly small) discount for buying the 2 days together.

You upgrade the spent first ticket (here, add a second day to it) rather than buy a brand new ticket for the second day.

This way you don't lose out on the (admittedly small) discount.

For a longer vacation, the fourth, fifth, etc. days all on one ticket or added to an existing ticket cost around five dollars each.

(Magic Your Way tickets that underwent any usage more than 13 days ago cannot be upgraded.)

 

[lesabrowning]

We did a trip last March where I brought about $3400 in Disney cards that I bought from a local school's scrip program. I bought tickets at our resort and while it was time consuming, it was easy : )

 

[NYEmomma]

And yes, these are indeed from Giant Eagle, or as my yinzer relatives would say, "Guyn Iggle".

As a former yinzer (with a TON of yinzer relatives), I LOL'd!

 

[osprey6]

Stay and Play won't work for our dates, so now we're going to wait and see about the Priority Club Points. If that doesn't work, back to Priceline. If we can't get anything there for under $85, then we'll book one of the DTD deals.

BTW, AAA (at least the branch around here) will take Disney Giftcards in payment.

 

[cglaura]

I looked on the back of the cards, and buying more cards with existing cards is specifically prohibited. But you might be on to something: What if we bought something for about $500 at the Disney store, and then returned it a few days later? Since our original form of payment was gift cards, presumably they would give our refund in that same form. I strongly suspect they would just go ahead and put it on a single card, don't you think???

And yes, these are indeed from Giant Eagle, or as my yinzer relatives would say, "Guyn Iggle".

We were not planning on staying on site, since we are going to get 60,000 Priority Club (Holiday Inn frequent stay program ) points and take two nights for free in the HI in DTD, and then pay for a third, but that was all dependent on the points showing by the middle of March, which is not guaranteed. If indeed that is the case, we were going to instead try for a deal we found for $69 in DTD. But they have a parking fee that takes that up to about $85.

I understand there is a Stay and Play deal right now where kids tickets are free. Staying at a value resort would run us about $116/night through AAA. That's about $31 more than the place in DTD and would be $93 more over the course of 3 nights. We"ll be there April 3-6.

But if we take advantage of Stay and Play, we would be be getting our daughter's park tix at no charge, thus saving us roughly $60 and letting us stay on property. Or have I made an invalid assumption somewhere?

I think they actually refund the original cards, so if you do try this, be sure to hang onto them just in case.

 

[Dreamer24]

You can call and combine the gift cards into one.

I believe this is the number I've used
877-650-4327.

I've done this multiple times so keep calling until someone is willing to help.

 

[Crystal824]

Our local grocery store has an ongoing promotion whereby buying $50 worth of gift cards (and just about anything else), gets you $.10 off per gallon of gas at gas stations co-located with the supermarket.

Right now, there is a special deal where you receive $.20 off per gallon when you buy $50 in Disney cards, so we decided to take advantage of this for our upcoming trip and purchased $500 worth of cards in denominations of $50 and $100, so we have earned about a $30 discount in gas by taking advantage of the offer.

We tried to redeem these for park tickets at a Disney store and found out we couldn't get them there anyway because they will only sell 3-7 day tickets, and we were only buying 2 days. Not that they actually had any in stock at the moment, or the foreseeable future, but that's another story.

OP, what Disney store did you go to? I live in North Huntingdon, not too far from Monroeville. As far as I know the closest Disney Store is South Hills Village, is there one I don't know about?

Then we tried to redeem online, but the website has no place to enter gift card numbers.

Then we called the Disney ticket phone number to purchase them, and they couldn't help us because they can only enter two gift cards per order for tickets, but they apparently can enter an unlimited number for say, rooms and packages.

We could have broken each person's ticket out as a separate order for separate days, but then we would still have to wait in line down there to buy the second day's tickets, and thus lose out on the (admittedly small) discount for buying the 2 days together...

So we're back to waiting in line to buy our tickets on the first day. Oh, what joy. I gotta tell you, the trip is a month away and most of the magic is already gone. Hopefully, I can save someone else from the hassle I encountered. Sorry for the rant.

It really isn't that bad to buy them the first day at will call. We had to do this when we did Give a Day/Get a Day. We actually upgraded the free ticket to a 5 days park hopper for each of us. We also bought Giant Eagle gift cards to pay for the rest of the tickets and there was no problem using multiple GC while there. We only had two GC because we bought the larger denominations instead of using the smaller ones. Just get there early.

OP, what Disney store do you go to? I live close to Monroeville, and I don't know of any around here.

 

[osprey6]

It really isn't that bad to buy them the first day at will call. We had to do this when we did Give a Day/Get a Day. We actually upgraded the free ticket to a 5 days park hopper for each of us. We also bought Giant Eagle gift cards to pay for the rest of the tickets and there was no problem using multiple GC while there. We only had two GC because we bought the larger denominations instead of using the smaller ones. Just get there early.

OP, what Disney store do you go to? I live close to Monroeville, and I don't know of any around here.

And therein lies the rub, as neither Mrs. Osprey nor Princess Osprey can be even charitably described as early risers, and it's unlikely we'll arrive at the hotel before 10 pm. We'll be lucky to be out the door by 10 the next day.

We visited the Disney store in Ross Park Mall. Yes, I know that's a stretch to call that local, but my sister lives out that way, and we were already in the neighborhood for a visit. There's another in South Hills Village, according to the website.

 

[osprey6]

UPDATE: Today I spoke to another CM who told me you can only use ONE gift card plus a credit card. I called back later in the day to make sure this was the case, and the 2nd CM confirmed it. I politely asked the second CM to confirm with her supervisor, upon which she proceeded to put me on hold...for 35 minutes (no, that's NOT an exaggeration). I had to give up at that point as I had to take my daughter out, but sheesh!

Where, oh where, is that legendary Disney magic? After two disappointing visits (the only two I've made) and this ordeal, I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist.

 

[lesabrowning]

UPDATE: Today I spoke to another CM who told me you can only use ONE gift card plus a credit card. I called back later in the day to make sure this was the case, and the 2nd CM confirmed it. I politely asked the second CM to confirm with her supervisor, upon which she proceeded to put me on hold...for 35 minutes (no, that's NOT an exaggeration). I had to give up at that point as I had to take my daughter out, but sheesh!

Where, oh where, is that legendary Disney magic? After two disappointing visits (the only two I've made) and this ordeal, I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist.

I am confused. They told you that you can only use one Disney gift card plus a credit card.... for what exactly? I have used many many Disney gift cards at once. I have used them for park tickets, for APs, for the DDP, etc. Disney gift cards are supposed to be the same as cash.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I normally work in a ticket window or Guest Services window at one of the Disney Parks.

At a window the computer allows three payment types for a (single or multi) ticket transaction. Cash is one type. Each debit, credit, or hotel charge card is one type.

When doing Disney Gift Cards we can input an unlimited number of Gift Cards in; all of them together are considered one transaction type.

When you call Walt Disney World, unless you really know a direct number, you will get one of two offices.

The Disney Reservations Center (DRC) includes Walt Disney Travel Company (WDTC), Central Reservations Office (CRO), Disney Dining, and some other lesser known information lines. To the best of my knowledge the DRC locations are in the International Drive area, Tampa, Houston, Salt Lake City and somewhere in North Carolina. There may be more. Some of the people working at the DRC call centers may never have been to either WDW or DL (or both).

The Main Switchboard (407-824-2222) is also where all calls to Disney Resorts go if you are dialing the phone number on the back of your reservations form. Also that is where calls go if you dial the Operator from your room, and possibly even calls to the Front Desk. The Main Switchboard people will, if asked, also identify themselves as Guest Services. They can put you through to any number on WDW.

At both DRC and MS they have access to a computer which has lots of Guest Information and it is very well organized. Actually, all CMs who have access to a terminal, or who even can access "The Hub" from off-site, have access to this Guest Services information. I will often open an extra window when I am responding to people and go into The Hub for the latest official information.

The people at DRC and MS do not deal with upgrades, partially used tickets, or problems related to tickets. They do not know all the rules. The people at DRC can sell unused tickets; the people at MS don't deal with tickets at all.

The people who work in the ticket booths at the Parks or in Guest Relations at the Parks (and this includes TTC, the Water Parks, and GRO in DTD) deal with ticket upgrades and unusual problems on a daily basis. I would not say that someone you talked to on the phone lied to you, but just they were attempting to answer a question when they really did not have an answer.

 

[osprey6]

Just to clarify, in case anyone is confused: What I'm attempting to do is buy 2 day park tix (only) in advance from whatever source possible that accepts Disney gift cards, so we don't have to wait in line on our first park day.

I have no doubt that if it comes down do it that we CAN use unlimited gift cards at the park windows, but we're trying to avoid that situation if at all possible.

So far we have struck out with:

• Disney Store - Only sells 3-7 day tickets
• AAA - Does not accept Disney cards unless accommodations are being purchased as apart of package
• ticket brokers - will not sell less than 3 days
• DRC - Conflicting opinions, but all say we can not use multiple cards for park tickets only, but could if were buying accommodations as well.

I was also considering heading over to a deluxe resort to buy them from the concierge, but I don't know if any will be open at 10 on a Sunday night...

 

[Fjobe]

You can call and combine the gift cards into one.

I believe this is the number I've used
877-650-4327.

I've done this multiple times so keep calling until someone is willing to help.

Did you try this?

 

[osprey6]

Did you try this?

Thus far, the responses have ranged from "No , you can't do that", to "Yes, but you have to go to a Disney store to do that".

Specifically, the last CM (if indeed she is one) stated that Disney stores have access to some secret phone number which allow them to do this.

Since my nearest store is a good 20 miles away, I'm going to have to make a special trip after work some time to try. We'll see; I get the distinct feeling I'm going to be met with a blank stare followed by "That's just not so. I don't know why they would have said that."