Disney Dollars

[Dis2times]

I've been saving up Disney Dollars for dd for our trip, and I've picked up a few for myself too. Do they work evereywhere in WDW? And let's say something is $3.78 total (yeah, right) and you give them a Disney Dollars $5 bill. What do you get back in change?

TIA

Lisa

 

[DisneyMomx7]

You get the change in cash, not disney dollars.

 

[Mymatisse]

You can use Disney Dollars anywhere on property. They work just like cash. You'll get U.S. currency back if you require change.

 

[Dis2times]

Thanks! I didn't want to be stuck with them unable to use them in certain places. I was hoping there would be some sort of Mickey coinage. DD would love that.

Lisa

 

[AbbysFamily]

The only real restriction is if you don't spend your disney dollars and you want cash back (other than change), then you need to have your original receipt. (At least thats what I was told)...

But yes, on our last trip near a disney store, we picked up a bunch of disney dollars in $1 amounts as special treats for my 5yo. She can then save them up and has some money of her own to spend at disney when we go for her birthday. Of course, this won't save me any money, but at least it is a good bonus incentive till then.

Not that the Disney black hole is bad, I just feel like I should get a discount due to how much we spend..

Disney on Ice - 5 days away....

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Idiot alert here.......What are Disney Dollars?

 

[jenelope]

Disney Dollars are kind of like gift certificates, but they look kind of like "Disney-fied" paper money. They come in three denominationsL $10, $5, and $1 with different colors and different Disney characters on them. The pictures on the bills change every year. According to this site this year, CHicken Little is on the $1.

Back in the days before the Discover card was accepted at WDW, I once used mine to buy a couple of hundred dollars worth of Disney Dollars at the Disney Store to use as my room charge. It worked, but the desk clerk seemed a little frustrated.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Hmmm, very interesting. So you get Disney Dollars at the Disney store near your home - is that the only way to get them? Since I live 5 miles from my Disney store, I could go there every week, get some Disney Dollars and then have my spending money for our trip. I wish I had known about these before.

 

[Brina]

Disney Dollars are a scam. You are better off saving money in a designated savings account than you are buying Disney Dollars. Buying disney dollars is essentially making an interest free loan to the Disney Corp.

 

[ducklite]

I agree with Brina. They are fine to give to kids as a little spending money, but to save for your trip with them is kind of crazy. Even worse than loaning your money to the Michael Eisner Retirement Fund is that if they are lost, stolen, or damaged, they're gone! If you don't want to put the money in a bank account, it might be better to buy travelers checks which are replaceable if lost, stolen or damaged.

Anne

 

[polkadotminnie]

My DD's have to do chores to earn their Disney dollars. This is the only souvenier money they get for the trip, so they so do little chores like folding clothes... to earn their souveniers. It is a great incentive for them.

 

[Pete's Mom]

My DD's have to do chores to earn their Disney dollars. This is the only souvenier money they get for the trip, so they so do little chores like folding clothes... to earn their souveniers. It is a great incentive for them.

Same here and Pete has earned $ 60.00 so far.

 

[Mari annie]

We have been using them since they came out!
My kids are now 15 1/2 (he works and still loves to have disney dollars, we are ALL kids at heart) and my daughter who is 11 loves them as well!

They get them for birthdays/Christmas and at the end of the year for their report cards-both grandparents (on both sides) reward them as well with DD.
I don't get what is the scam???--

My theory is when you have a tween/teenager who love to shop/eat-
what better way to have their money situation taken care of?!
They have their own in their fanny packs and they know how much they will need, etc.

It's worked great for our family over the years, and they have their spending money for their vacation as well!


2 more weeks until WDW and FL Sunshine!!


PSPSP For those of you who enjoy the DD, Hershey Park has their own version as well, yes the kids get those as well=we go to Hershey when they get out of school in June!

What works for some=maynot work for others!

Everyone enjoy your trips, no matter how you get to WDW or spend money there, enjoy your vacations!!!

 

[jlkmn]

to each his own. i believe they are a good way to save for a trip. you cannot spend them, only in disney. if i had the money in a savings account it would be spent. it is just easier this way.

 

[ElaineHN]

I see pros and cons to it ... no interest makes them not a good way to save for your whole trip ... but 'cute' reward makes them fun for kids.

However, on additional note ... I think the same psychology applies to Disney Dollars as to Casino Chips. One of the main reasons casinos use chips is simply that it is a lot easier for a person to part with a $25 piece of plastic than for that same person to sit there and count out $25 cash and hand it over to someone. The mental affect of 'loosing' (or spending) the $25 is much less bothersome to the gamblers. People will spend chips much faster and at a higher rate than they will cash.

I can see the same logic behind Disney Dollars. They seem more like 'play money' and thus a child is much less likely to put as high of a value on them or spend them as cautiously as they would 'real' money. It might take a lot more thought to decide to plunk down $14 for a lighty-spinny-glittery thing if it's in cold hard cash than it would if it were in cute colorful Disney money. Maybe ... maybe not?

My 7 year old has saved almost $50 for our trip. Now, it's not in a bank earning interest, so it's not any better than Disney dollars in that sense ... but it does seem to me that it's just as possible for a child to save spending money for their trip with 'regular' cash as it is with Disney Dollars.

But, I'm not against Disney Dollars if you/your kids like them ... I'm just sharing some rambling thoughs.

 

[onobono]

Like everything Disney, they've also become collectibles, especially the older issues. One popular way to get a Disney dollar is to return a rental stroller.

 

[mrskay9]

I'm imagining since they can be used anywhere on site, that I could use them to pay for parking too??? I don't think I've seen mention of this one way or another.

DD got over $150 in DD for xmas --too much for a 3 year old!!!

thanks

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Thanks Mari Annie. I 'think' we may have found incentive for DD to work on keeping her grades up, by rewarding her with Disney Dollars for good grades. Nothing else seems to work.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Thanks Mari Annie for your kind words.

I can smell money that's been stashed away and for us, so the separate savings account just doesn't work (been there, done that) But buying the occasional Disney Dollar throughout the year is something that will work for us; actually it will be my hidden stash and when DH wants something special - I can say "hey, let me buy it with the money I've been hiding and stealing from you all year"

The incentive idea for the kids is awesome; actually my dad just called from South Florida and told me he will be putting a check in the mail for DS2 and DD4 for valentine day and told me to get them something I told him "no check, get them Disney Dollars".

So there you go, the kids will be getting some Disney Dollars afterall.

 

[jenndisney]

...and remember you can turn them in for "real" money at the Disney bank on main street.