Disney Gift Cards As Payment???

[Tbone17701]

We are attempting the unthinkable for our WDW trip in November...NO DINING PLAN!! This is definitely out of our monetary comfort zone given we are not sacraficing any table service meals, character dining or dinner shows.

What we do have are a TON of Disney Gift Cards...rewards card, cards obtained at Disney Stores and cards obtained at other retailers (i.e. Sam's Club, Wegman's). So, my question is...does anyone know for certain that I can use these cards at Disney Dining Venues like Chef Mickey, Donald's Safari Breakfast, Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, 1900 Park Fare and at quick service locations like Columbia Harbour House, Casey's Corner or the countries at Epcot? What about at the snack carts throughout the parks for that matter?

I know the Disney Gift Card site lists that it's widely accepted at the parks, but I'd hate to sit down to dinner at The Crystal Palace only to learn that I can't use one of my many gift cards. Any verification is much appreciated!!

 

[Magic3forme]

are you staying on WDW property? It is much easier to charge everything to your KTTW card and then pay the balance off at the front desk. Less worries about losing the gift cards.

We do this every trip.

 

[OhThePain]

We haven't personally used gift cards as a payment in the restaurants. However we have noticed other people using them. For example, on our last trip to 50's PTC, a table full of teen boys each paid for their meals seperately using their own gift cards that their parents had gotten for them as a food budget for them to use when they weren't with their parents (we didn't ask, but they explained it to their CM "Aunt" because they felt bad asking for 4 different checks).

Another option is that when you check-in or check-out you can use the gift cards as a credit to your room. Concierge will be able to look up how much you have speant and how much is remaining before your gift cards run out.

 

[Tbone17701]

Great thinking!! I hadn't thought about charging it to the KTTW card and using the cards to pay that off. I assume they will take my variety pack of gift cards at the resort as payment for that?! Meaning that they accept ALL Disney Gift Cards...depsite where they were purchased?

 

[Goingon40]

Yes, gift cards can be used at all dining establishments as well as snack carts. I only use gift cards for my dining and usually budget pretty close to what the gift card amount purchased. I always have the receipt showing how much is left on the gift card after each use.

 

[lin7]

You can definitely use Disney's gift card to pay for your meals, that is the disney card that you load cash onto that you buy at WDW.

However I think I read in another thread that those gift cards you buy at Sam's are only good at Disney Stores outside of WDW I dont know if those gift cards from Sams has a toll free number you can call just to confirm, you might want to do that

 

[P00H1010]

We have used Disney Gift cards for food and soveniers the past 2 years and it worked out wonderful (Gotta love Giant Eagle Fuel Perks lol).

We never had a problem paying anywhere with them. As far as I understand as long as it is "Disney owned" they accept the gift cards. We used the cards at gift shops, quick services, table services, as well as food and beverage carts in all of the parks. And to make life easier we gave cash tips at table services. Other than that we used gift cards for pretty much all of our expenses while at WDW.

The only exceptions we had during our trips were these:
1) We got the Caribbean Beach's delivery service's pizza (Blue Runner Pizza) and we did a pre-pay credit card over the phone.
2) CRT pre-pay online with credit card.
3) Once getting water from a cart in AK, their computer system wasn't working at the time having nothing to do with the card...so we used cash
4) We ate at Plant Hollywood which is not a Disney owned restaurant so we couldn't use the cards, which we had figured anyways so it was no big deal.

If you are planning on doing any character dining experiences like 1900 Park Fare or any others you named I'm not positive if you could use a gift card or not. We had pre-paid online and didn't have the gift cards yet. I can't remember if that was an option or not, but I really don't see why you couldn't. I can't imagine you'd really run into many problems, if any....but to be safe, carry some cash with you. Enjoy your trip!

 

[P00H1010]

You can definitely use Disney's gift card to pay for your meals, that is the disney card that you load cash onto that you buy at WDW.

However I think I read in another thread that those gift cards you buy at Sam's are only good at Disney Stores outside of WDW I dont know if those gift cards from Sams has a toll free number you can call just to confirm, you might want to do that

I believe there are 2 types of "Disney" gift cards.....Disney Store gift cards....for Disney Stores only and the Disney Shop, Dine, Stay, and Play cards, that is the one you want. I always get our at Giant Eagle....as long is it says Shop, Dine, Stay, and Play you can use those for anything Disney including Disney Stores and Disney Parks.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

You can definitely use Disney's gift card to pay for your meals, that is the disney card that you load cash onto that you buy at WDW.

However I think I read in another thread that those gift cards you buy at Sam's are only good at Disney Stores outside of WDW I dont know if those gift cards from Sams has a toll free number you can call just to confirm, you might want to do that

Sam's has been selling a "bonus pack" that contains a $100 Disney gift card, usable at any Disney owned establishment including the parks and any resorts/stores/restaurants at WDW or DL in addition to the Disney Stores. The "bonus" is a $10 gift card that can only be used at the Disney Store, i.e. not at the parks/resorts. But that restriction only applies to the bonus gift card which is clearly labeled that it only is valid at the Disney Store. The regular gift card can be used at WDW.

OP, Yes, you can use your gift cards at the restaurants you have listed. As long as they are not the aforementioned gift card that is specifically for the Disney Store. There are a handful of snack carts that are not set up to accept cards of any kind: Disney gift cards, KTTW cards, or credit cards, but those are few and far between.

 

[lin7]

Thanks for the info

It's a pretty good deal then if that's the case. You can always find use for the bonus 10 dollar cards. It's too bad that we dont have Sams in Canada any longer, and even if we did I dont think they'd have that available for sale

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

Does anyone know the policy or way of using gift cards to pay for your actual vacation package? I have been getting random gift cards as gifts and want to use them as payment for my vacation? If I have 8 different ones ranging in price, will the CM on the other end just take all of these gift cards for me? Thanks in advance!

 

[amy-momofthree]

Does anyone know the policy or way of using gift cards to pay for your actual vacation package? I have been getting random gift cards as gifts and want to use them as payment for my vacation? If I have 8 different ones ranging in price, will the CM on the other end just take all of these gift cards for me? Thanks in advance!

Yes! I used a travel agent and had over $800 in gift cards plus my rewards card and my TA called them in. I had 12 cards in total varying in amounts. She said she just called them in, probably the same way you would

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

Yes! I used a travel agent and had over $800 in gift cards plus my rewards card and my TA called them in. I had 12 cards in total varying in amounts. She said she just called them in, probably the same way you would

Thank you! That calms my mind on that situation!

 

[Dugette]

Does anyone know the policy or way of using gift cards to pay for your actual vacation package? I have been getting random gift cards as gifts and want to use them as payment for my vacation? If I have 8 different ones ranging in price, will the CM on the other end just take all of these gift cards for me? Thanks in advance!

I called Disney and read 24 gift card numbers over the phone to the CM. Took awhile, but it worked and paid for our package!

 

[Cat0727]

We used our Disney gift card for everything on one of our trips- including tips. it was great!

 

[ktmo]

Does anyone know the policy or way of using gift cards to pay for your actual vacation package? I have been getting random gift cards as gifts and want to use them as payment for my vacation? If I have 8 different ones ranging in price, will the CM on the other end just take all of these gift cards for me? Thanks in advance!

I just entered the cards online and didn't have a problem using them to make payment for my vacation. When I look at the payments, I can easily each payment listed, I doubled/tripled checked to make sure they all went through.

 

[aubriee]

We are attempting the unthinkable for our WDW trip in November...NO DINING PLAN!! This is definitely out of our monetary comfort zone given we are not sacraficing any table service meals, character dining or dinner shows.

What we do have are a TON of Disney Gift Cards...rewards card, cards obtained at Disney Stores and cards obtained at other retailers (i.e. Sam's Club, Wegman's). So, my question is...does anyone know for certain that I can use these cards at Disney Dining Venues like Chef Mickey, Donald's Safari Breakfast, Crystal Palace, Cape May Cafe, 1900 Park Fare and at quick service locations like Columbia Harbour House, Casey's Corner or the countries at Epcot? What about at the snack carts throughout the parks for that matter?

I know the Disney Gift Card site lists that it's widely accepted at the parks, but I'd hate to sit down to dinner at The Crystal Palace only to learn that I can't use one of my many gift cards. Any verification is much appreciated!!

I was just at WDW Sept 10th-18th and used Disney gift cards and TiW instead of the DDP. I used them for food, gratuities, snacks, to pay for the TiW card, souvineers, and even to get a henna tatoo in Morrocco. I used them at Bomas, 'Ohanas, Via Napoli, Pepper Market, Cafe Rix, Tokyo Dining, Yak & Yeti, the food court at POFQ, Flying Fish, Sunshine Seasons, Pecos Bill;s, 50's Prime Time, and Sanaa. The only place I found that didn't accept them was House of Blues at DTD. I don't believe the restaurants at the Swan/Dolphin accept them either. I also used one in the Werther's Caramel store in Germany for a couple of snacks. In the past I've used them at the Food & Wine Kiosks and several other WDW restaurants also.

I go to WDW several times a year and have always used either the DDP or the DxDDP every single trip since they first started, until this trip. I was nervous about not having a DDP, but wanted all my meals and gratuities prepaid,so decided to go with the TiW card to get 20% off and just have plenty of money on the Disney gift cards. I loved the freedom of not having the DDP. Several times I had ADRs for TS restaurants, but decided at the last minute to do CS. I loved not having to worry about whether I was using up dining credits and not having to run around my last day to try to use up extra credits. I ate what I wanted, where I wanted, when I wanted. If I wanted all three courses I ordered them but if I wanted two appetizers and no entree I ordered that. If I wanted just an entree and then wanted to run into a bakery somewhere else later to get a dessert I could.

 

[diskids2]

We love using Disney Gift Cards for our trips. We usually stay at the Dolphin, so we rarely have the dining plan and the Gift Card works great (not at the Dolphin of course).