Disney Gift Cards - best way to use them for your trip?

[tami82]

Hi,
We are going next year in August most likely without the meal plan so we can book the trip through another place that is more reasonable. Im trying to figure out this whole mess so Im prepared ahead of time

I see some people are buying the Disney Gift cards for their trips and wondering if we should do this.

Is the whole point of doing this so if you pay out of pocket for meals you aren't carrying cash around and its basically paid for ahead of time?? How many do you get and for how much for a week?

Can these be tied to the magic bands.

.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi,
We are going next year in August most likely without the meal plan so we can book the trip through another place that is more reasonable. Im trying to figure out this whole mess so Im prepared ahead of time

I see some people are buying the Disney Gift cards for their trips and wondering if we should do this.

Is the whole point of doing this so if you pay out of pocket for meals you aren't carrying cash around and its basically paid for ahead of time?? How many do you get and for how much for a week?

Can these be tied to the magic bands.

.

Q: Is the whole point of doing this so if you pay out of pocket for meals you aren't carrying cash around and its basically paid for ahead of time??
A: Most people are acquiring the GCs for less than face value, which gives you an automatic discount on everything that you're purchasing from Disney. But there is also a smaller group who buy the GCs so that they don't spend the extra cash on something else (like a new refrigerator or tires for the car).

Q: How many do you get and for how much for a week?
A: There's no tried and true answer to that question. There are too many variables to be able to give you a complete answer because everyone vacations differently.

Q: Can these be tied to the magic bands.
A: No. But if you're staying onsite, you can use your MB to make charges on your room account and then pay off your folio with the GCs.

 

[Kirk]

I buy Disney GCs from Target via Target Red Card and get a 5% discount. Then I load them into my Disney Savings Account. After the account has been open for more than 120 days Disney gives me 2% back as a GC for every $1000 I spend towards a WDW vacation.

(You can also extend the savings by buying Target GCs at discount but it gets a little complicated.)

Every little bit helps!

 

[tami82]

Thanks so much for your response! That looks like the way to go for us!

 

[Ntw25]

Excellent response by Marionette.

We have purchased from Target (5% Discount) BJ's (3% Discount) and Raise (up to 20% by buying a target GC then buying Disney GC with it) so as not paying full price for anything....Good news

We have also been purchasing them over time as a way of spreading the cost of the trip, adding $50 to each shopping trip has given us a nice amount for a trip in July that will not have to come directly out of an account, or worse still, on a credit card.

There are 7 of us going, 6 adults and an infant. Staying onsite. Hotel, tickets and flights paid for so we were really doing this for spending money, gifts and meals. We have assumed $100 for breakfast, $100 for lunch and $250 for dinner for each of our 5 days, add in some souvenirs, drinks, coffee etc I have rounded up my assumption to $600 per day so a total of $3000 (scary when you write it all down, especially when I am paying).

I have spent approximately $2,200 to get $2,500 of gift cards, saving myself roughly 12% or the cost of a decent meal. (I am a project manager, this stuff is in my blood, can't help analysing the heck out of everything).

If I get change from an additional $1000, I will be happy.

 

[tami82]

Yes that is a good idea about buying the cards every so often. I figure I have over a year so I can start buying them spread out over that time which wont be so bad.

 

[Narnia_girl]

Yes that is a good idea about buying the cards every so often. I figure I have over a year so I can start buying them spread out over that time which wont be so bad.

Time is definitely your friend as you can buy gradually, and, if you choose to try some of the gift card strategies you can wait for better deals. This is a very helpful step-by-step tutorial that someone else posted-although I'm not sure how reliable the first step is.


*edited to correct link

 

[Ntw25]

Time is definitely your friend as you can buy gradually, and, if you choose to try some of the gift card strategies you can wait for better deals. This is a very helpful step-by-step tutorial that someone else posted-although I'm not sure how reliable the first step is.

Not sure that your link is correct

 

[Narnia_girl]

^ thanks for finding that--I fixed it.