Chase debit card to use for meals, snacks and everything else

[pooh2001]

We will have our memory maker, resort room, tickets and plane paid off before we go to WDW
We are 2 senior adults in our 60's still employed.

Can we use a Chase debit card (checking account) for our meals, snacks and souvenirs ?
We will open a checking account at Chase Bank just so we will have money for the above and if we need cash, use a WDW ATM without a fee.
I can put $2000 in the Chase checking account.
We will be in WDW for 8 days, plus arrival late night and departure mid morning.

Does this sound like a plan and the correct amount of money ?

 

[jlb727]

Yes. We have a Chase debit card and we have used it to buy all the things you listed. We have also used it to get cash out of the Disney ATMs.

 

[_19disnA]

I think it is great idea to use the Disney ATM's to get cash so you aren't carrying large amounts of cash around with you. Then you don't have to worry about losing a purse or wallet.

 

[EACarlson]

Are you going to use the actual card to pay for everything or link the card to your magic band to pay for everything? If you are going to link them, look at the thread talking about the holds and how that has been done. You may need to put twice as much in that account to make sure you don't get declined.

 

[Bjkandma]

I have a Chase debit card. As stated above do not put it on your portfolio and charge to your bands. They will put a $100 hold on it. You spend the $100. Disney drops the hold and processes the charge. Disney then places an additional $100 hold. It takes the bank 3 to 7 business days to drop holds even though Disney drops immediately. Therfore, your balance left on card is (minus your purchases and it still is "holding" the funds.

What I do, is take the debit card, to the resort gift shop and purchase gift cards. I purchase several $100 cards. Use those cards and then go back and get more. It sounds like you plan on using this debit card for your trip only. I use my regular debit card and buy purchasing the gift cards, I know I won't "accidentally" spend more than I thought. Also, since I have automatic payments coming out, I don't worry about the "holds" affecting my payments.

 

[Bjkandma]

Dining in Disney. For a quick service meal- you order at counter and pay for food, then find table. Meals are around $10 and up). Drinks: soda about $5. Alcoholic. $8-12.

Table Service -seated and served . Meals around $30 to $40. Alcoholic beverages $9 and up.

Character meals (yes, adults only, welcome). $50 plus.

Snacks are around $6-9 each.

Souvenirs are priced everywhere. Magnets and keychain $10 and up. The shirts $30, sweatshirts $65. All the way up to a crystal Cinderella Castle in the Crystal shop (Magic Kingdom) $35,000. Yes $35,000!!!

$2,000 sounds good to me, (but I always budget in a cushion, just in case)! Have fun making magical memories!!!

 

[YawningDodo]

As others have noted, be sure not to set the debit card up for room charges--you'll need to pay with cash or the card itself (or gift cards, as suggested above) to avoid large holds that could throw a wrench in your plans.

As for the amount, it sounds about right to me--but it really does depend on your style of doing things. You know yourselves best. My projected upcoming expenses for a solo trip of 7 nights are right around $1,000...so assuming our travel styles are similar, $2,000 sounds solid. I'd break it down by what you expect to spend money on. The big one is food--my food budget is $80/day including my travel days. That's a lot of money, but it doesn't always go as far as you think it should; I've got a couple of table service meals planned throughout the trip, but I'm not counting on doing one every single day. If you're going during an Epcot festival and want to eat food from the festival booths, too, that can break your budget pretty quickly since the price per ounce on those dishes is usually astronomical (they trick you a bit since the prices look lower than other food in the parks--but the portions are very small). So keep that in mind--if you want to eat festival food and/or do some special dining experiences, either make a plan for keeping your purchases within budget or increase the budget.

On my last trip I spent $80 in one day on counter service food alone, no table service meals...but I bought breakfast in the park, bought snacks whenever I felt like it, and bought multiple things from festival booths. For a (very slightly) more frugal approach that leaves room for table service in the budget on my upcoming trip, I plan to bring breakfast foods to eat in my resort room each morning as well as a few snacks to tide me over when I don't necessarily want to spend another $6 on a pretzel. That's why I think it's always hard to tell someone how much money to set aside for expenses in WDW. There's a huge range in terms of how much money you can expect to spend on food depending on how you approach it.

 

[pooh2001]

We eat breakfast in our room or a small am snack in our room and do brunch somewhere.
Our ADR is usually fro lunch which is less expensive than dinner
I was thinking of more than $2000 - but we will have already paid for the Very Merry Christmas Party and maybe a tour, not sure which - but if Keys to the Kingdom we get lunch with it
We do dinner in our room twice during our stay - tuna, fruit and crackers

 

[YawningDodo]

Hopefully someone else will chime in with their thoughts on food budgets, since admittedly I'm ballparking my own dining budget. But $2,000 could be $80 per person per day for food (including arrival and departure days--I never spend that much on travel days but like to have it in the budget to give myself more leeway throughout the trip) plus $200 per person spending money. That sounds to me like a reasonable budget (hopefully I'm not wrong!). But if you want to have more cash on hand for souvenirs, drinks, or other splurges, more wouldn't hurt.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am planning to use my Chase Starbucks prepaid debit card for spending. I am not linking it to my room. It is linked to my checking account and can be reloaded immediately. I do nto want any holds on my accounts other than the $100 hold upon checkin, and do not like to carry much cash. This works well everywhere I travel.

I cannot help on food budgets, we use the DDP and I estimate my tips and OOP spending from there.