Disney dollars, disney gift cards, disney rewards

[goofygas]

Okay, I am within 36 days of leaving for our first trip to WDW and we are SOOOO excited. . . but I'm trying to figure out how much actual cash we need to take. I have been saving, collecting DD, DGC and DRpts., but am confused on what I can spend all of this on. We are using the dining plan, so meals are taken care of. What about a snack at Beaches n Cream--how can I pay for that? or the photo pass CD? Basically, what can be purchased with each of those and where are they accepted? SR is offering 4% back on Disney gift cards, which would save a little, but can Gift cards be used like cash in the parks or can you use gift cards to purchase Disney dollars? Can you tell I'm new and confused. . . any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Enchanted]

I know that you can use Disney Dollars in all of the gift shops, so I'm sure you could use those to buy a photo pass CD. I know that you can use Disney Rewards points (from the Disney Visa card, I'm assuming) towards your hotel room (if you're staying in the World, of course ) and I think towards tickets as well. My aunt used her points towards our rooms and on souvenirs. She had to turn the points in before we left for the World, and they sent her this card in the mail that was like a credit card or a gift card. IIRC, we were able to use the points for whatever we wanted. As for Disney gift cards, I'm not really sure what all you can use those for.

I hope that helped a little bit, and have a great trip!

 

[Elmo888]

We used Disney Reward points for anything that wasn't on the dining plan, like beer and wine, and souvenirs. You can also apply it to your MYW package, and then pay the balance using another method. Before you get a card, call and see when it will expire (you don't want it to expire before your trip!). And then put the minimum on it (20 points). Right before you go, put as much as you want on the same card, and you will be set. Since you can only transfer 20 points at a time, it helps to wait until right before you go.

We used our dining plan when we could. I didn't want to leave with a cs meal or any snacks left. If you can use it for snacks at Beaches and Cream, I would. Don't forget that you can use snack credits at the resort stores. I did this to buy a larger milk than I could get in the cs restaurant (at WL). It was more economical, and I could keep the milk in the room in the fridge (for cereal for DD6 and to drink for DD2).

DD6 had Disney Dollars to spend, given to her by her aunts, and it was a great way to limit spending. I set expectations with what I would buy and that she could buy anything beyond that (until she ran out of Disney Dollars). So she used it at the shops.

I don't know about the gift card.

Enjoy!

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

SR is offering 4% back on Disney gift cards, which would save a little, but can Gift cards be used like cash in the parks or can you use gift cards to purchase Disney dollars? Can you tell I'm new and confused. . . any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

SR is offering 8% back not 4. Go to the Member Zone Tab and click on News and Links, It is under the todays news and deals section. You have to use that link to get the 8%. You can also buy the disney gift card with the disney visa rewards card.

The link to the FAQ for the disney gift card. http://disney.go.com/disneygiftcard/faq.html

 

[abrownfamily]

Okay, what is SR? I am new to the posts and I don't know all of the jargon yet.