Disney gift cards & dining

[auntfrannie]

I have a disney gift card that I got from redeeming my Visa points. If I'm dining in a disney restaurant can I also use that card to cover the tip or does the tip need to be cash? Thanks!

 

[starry_solo]

You can use the gift card to cover the tip unless you're on the dining plan and then there would have to be some charge to be paid for with the gift card for them to be able to take the tip off..

 

[auntfrannie]

You can use the gift card to cover the tip unless you're on the dining plan and then there would have to be some charge to be paid for with the gift card for them to be able to take the tip off..

Thank you very much!

 

[Harambe]

I have a disney gift card that I got from redeeming my Visa points. If I'm dining in a disney restaurant can I also use that card to cover the tip or does the tip need to be cash? Thanks!

Do you mean you downloaded your Visa Disney Rewards dollars onto the card they sent you (Disney Rewards Redemption Card)? That is a bit different from a gift card. We were able to use ours just like a Visa card so if there was a Disney Visa discount available at certain restaurants, we were able to receive the discount while using this card. So, kinda awesome!!

 

[auntfrannie]

Do you mean you downloaded your Visa Disney Rewards dollars onto the card they sent you (Disney Rewards Redemption Card)? That is a bit different from a gift card. We were able to use ours just like a Visa card so if there was a Disney Visa discount available at certain restaurants, we were able to receive the discount while using this card. So, kinda awesome!!

Yes, I have the redemption card with the funds loaded on it. Thanks.

 

[Harambe]

Yes, I have the redemption card with the funds loaded on it. Thanks.

Go to the disney visa website and print out the list of discounts at disney world restaurants. A lot are at lunch, and maybe 10 or 15% off, but at Disney prices, that's a lot. And if you use your redemption dollars, that's like double dipping.

 

[RealBlast3]

You can use the gift card to cover the tip unless you're on the dining plan and then there would have to be some charge to be paid for with the gift card for them to be able to take the tip off..

What?!? I had never heard this before. This is my first year I'm going to be paying for my incidentals this way and after just spending a huge amount of money on disney gift cards to avoid the whole issue of the way they charge now to credit cards on file, I am seriously upset now because I am on the dining plan and I had thought you could use the gift cards to pay for all the tips.

I never saw this mentioned before. While I do get extra things beyond the dining plan at lunch and dinner often enough, I don't do that at breakfast usually. I think that is a ridiculous rule. I mean, I bought these gift cards myself, with my money, I thought they could be used to pay for anything in all the parks.

 

[Harambe]

RealBlast3 - I agree, that is so complicated! We use the Disney Redemption Card at TS places (which we do fewer and fewer every trip) because it is treated like a credit card and we can include the tip. We never do the dining plan, too much food, too much time eating, and not a great deal for two people (can see the advantage if lots of big eaters in your party), and I would NEVER pay for rack rate on a Disney room just to get it.

I am buying Disney Gift cards to use at QS places and for shopping. It is more straight forward there.

 

[RealBlast3]

Well, actually, in the Disney Tipping thread on here, it says you CAN pay for your gratuity with gift cards while on the Dining Plan. It says that on the first page of posts, so I am confused now. It doesn't say you have to buy something else beyond the plan.

 

[Harambe]

I guess you could call to verify, but it sounds like sometimes you might get a CM who doesn't know. So you'd be back at square one. Good luck!!

 

[RealBlast3]

I guess you could call to verify, but it sounds like sometimes you might get a CM who doesn't know. So you'd be back at square one. Good luck!!

Well, I just read the whole 4 pages of the stickied tipping thread we have here and the question was asked by alot of posters about paying the gratuities with your gift cards while on the dining plan and no one who answered said you had to buy something extra in order for Disney to accommodate that method of payment.

I am wondering where you got this information. Is this something that happened to you in Disney? Because even if you google about this and go on other sites, none of them say you have to purchase something else while on the Dining plan in order to pay gratuities with a gift card.

 

[Sadeesmom]

What?!? I had never heard this before. This is my first year I'm going to be paying for my incidentals this way and after just spending a huge amount of money on disney gift cards to avoid the whole issue of the way they charge now to credit cards on file, I am seriously upset now because I am on the dining plan and I had thought you could use the gift cards to pay for all the tips.

I never saw this mentioned before. While I do get extra things beyond the dining plan at lunch and dinner often enough, I don't do that at breakfast usually. I think that is a ridiculous rule. I mean, I bought these gift cards myself, with my money, I thought they could be used to pay for anything in all the parks.

I am 90% sure you CAN pay directly for your tips with gift cards, but if they say no, just charge it to your room via the Magic Band and pay off your balance every night in the way back to your room.

 

[Moliphino]

You can use the gift card to cover the tip unless you're on the dining plan and then there would have to be some charge to be paid for with the gift card for them to be able to take the tip off..

I've only run into that at Raglan Road, and it wasn't even with a gift card but with my magicband. They put in a dummy charge of $0.01 to be able to charge the tip.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

What?!? I had never heard this before. This is my first year I'm going to be paying for my incidentals this way and after just spending a huge amount of money on disney gift cards to avoid the whole issue of the way they charge now to credit cards on file, I am seriously upset now because I am on the dining plan and I had thought you could use the gift cards to pay for all the tips.

I never saw this mentioned before. While I do get extra things beyond the dining plan at lunch and dinner often enough, I don't do that at breakfast usually. I think that is a ridiculous rule. I mean, I bought these gift cards myself, with my money, I thought they could be used to pay for anything in all the parks.

We just use our magic bands and charge to the resort our tips, snacks and souvenirs. Then you can use your gift card to pay that balance. I liked being able to just have one time every few days running the gift card vs. little amounts constantly coming off. Easier to track.

 

[RealBlast3]

I don't want all those extra authorizations on my bank account because first, I will end up going over what I have in my bank account because of it, and second, they are likely to freeze me account because of what they deem suspicious activity because of all the extra charges. So, I am not putting a card on file.

I never used to use gift cards but because of Disney changing it's policy on how we charge back to our rooms, I have to. On some days, I might spend $200-300, and because I might do that over several restaurants and stores, essentially I have to be prepared for double that amount to be charged to my bank account and who knows how long that might take to clear. I can't risk it.

Anyway, the gift cards are bought, and as I have never heard of this before, this idea of having to buy something else in order to use the gift cards on the dining plan is probably not accurate, for the most part. I am sure this would have been brought up before on the Dis-board. I mean, I basically got the idea to use gift cards to pay the gratutity from this forum, and I have read lots of posts about it, and no one ever mentioned any restrictions using gift cards while on the dining plan, and since most people probably just order exactly what the dining plan provides and no more, I am pretty sure if this was a major problem, it would have been mentioned before.

Perhaps in some of the Disney Springs restaurants, it could be an issue, as the previous poster mentioned Raglan Road having to charge them a penny, but if that's the case, that's no big deal if it happens once in a blue moon, but I still wouldn't charge back to my room, as then I would be charged $100 just for a single penny charge LOL. For the most part, if this was the rule, I wouldn't have a problem as I usually do order 2 appetizers and/or 2 cocktails for my lunch and dinner, it's only my breakfasts I wouldn't really be doing that but all my breakfasts are in the Disney resorts or theme parks, and I am sure I won't have a problem paying with giftcards the gratuity there.

 

[Harambe]

Well, I just read the whole 4 pages of the stickied tipping thread we have here and the question was asked by alot of posters about paying the gratuities with your gift cards while on the dining plan and no one who answered said you had to buy something extra in order for Disney to accommodate that method of payment.

I am wondering where you got this information. Is this something that happened to you in Disney? Because even if you google about this and go on other sites, none of them say you have to purchase something else while on the Dining plan in order to pay gratuities with a gift card.

I believe it was Starry_Solo above who gave you the info. I have never used a Disney Gift Card for anything but QS or shopping.

 

[starry_solo]

I don't want all those extra authorizations on my bank account because first, I will end up going over what I have in my bank account because of it, and second, they are likely to freeze me account because of what they deem suspicious activity because of all the extra charges. So, I am not putting a card on file.

I never used to use gift cards but because of Disney changing it's policy on how we charge back to our rooms, I have to. On some days, I might spend $200-300, and because I might do that over several restaurants and stores, essentially I have to be prepared for double that amount to be charged to my bank account and who knows how long that might take to clear. I can't risk it.

Anyway, the gift cards are bought, and as I have never heard of this before, this idea of having to buy something else in order to use the gift cards on the dining plan is probably not accurate, for the most part. I am sure this would have been brought up before on the Dis-board. I mean, I basically got the idea to use gift cards to pay the gratutity from this forum, and I have read lots of posts about it, and no one ever mentioned any restrictions using gift cards while on the dining plan, and since most people probably just order exactly what the dining plan provides and no more, I am pretty sure if this was a major problem, it would have been mentioned before.

Perhaps in some of the Disney Springs restaurants, it could be an issue, as the previous poster mentioned Raglan Road having to charge them a penny, but if that's the case, that's no big deal if it happens once in a blue moon, but I still wouldn't charge back to my room, as then I would be charged $100 just for a single penny charge LOL. For the most part, if this was the rule, I wouldn't have a problem as I usually do order 2 appetizers and/or 2 cocktails for my lunch and dinner, it's only my breakfasts I wouldn't really be doing that but all my breakfasts are in the Disney resorts or theme parks, and I am sure I won't have a problem paying with giftcards the gratuity there.

How do you expect the server to remove the money from the gift card without first applying a charge?

Think of it this way....you go to a restaurant for appetizers and drinks because you were given a gift card to use and you have no cash....the food is horrible and the server spills all over you. Management decides to comp the appetizers and drinks, but you still want to leave a tip so you hand the gift card over to the server. What does he or she do with it? There isn't a way to take a tip off a gift card without first having a charge of some kind to swipe the gift card for. If it is possible for them to add a charge of one-cent (that someone mentioned above), that would be best, but what if they can't? What do you do? Leave no tip?

 

[Disneypro1]

You can use the gift card for tips...if the server says no....then they are out of luck..you can use the gift card.

 

[RealBlast3]

How do you expect the server to remove the money from the gift card without first applying a charge?

Think of it this way....you go to a restaurant for appetizers and drinks because you were given a gift card to use and you have no cash....the food is horrible and the server spills all over you. Management decides to comp the appetizers and drinks, but you still want to leave a tip so you hand the gift card over to the server. What does he or she do with it? There isn't a way to take a tip off a gift card without first having a charge of some kind to swipe the gift card for. If it is possible for them to add a charge of one-cent (that someone mentioned above), that would be best, but what if they can't? What do you do? Leave no tip?

While I do understand what you're saying and I think that would make sense most anywhere else, we're not talking Fridays or Chilis here. I wouldn't expect to be able to leave a gratuity, necessarily, any where else, on a gift card. But Disney World is different. Their computer systems should be able to handle it.

And again, I trust the overwhelming posts here on the Dis-board. I mean, if you couldn't so this, why is the Dis-board advocating for using gift cards to pay for gratuities on the Dining Plan in the stickied thread then in this forum? The stickied thread is updated to this year.

If I am forced to have some sort of charge put on the bill, at my breakfasts, then so be it, I guess I have no choice, but if this was constantly happening, I feel it would have been mentioned alot more by DIS-ers.

I still don't think this makes any sense. By this logic, everyone who uses the dining plan and makes no other purchases other than what the dining plan provides, wouldn't be able to leave a tip ANY WAY, whether it be on a credit card, debit card, or even charged back to the room. Because you can take the same train of thought "How do you expect the server to remove the money from the gift card without first applying a charge?" and substitute "gift card" with "credit card" or anything else electronic. And obviously, their computer has the means to apply a tip to someone's credit card for a meal that is completely charged to the dining plan where there is $0 balance to pay, so if they can apply a tip to someone's credit card to a $0 balance bill on the dining plan, why wouldn't they be able to apply a tip to someone's Disney gift card on a $0 balance bill on the dining plan?

 

[RealBlast3]

I actually did call Disney about this a few minutes ago and the rep said it is not accurate to say your bill would be $0 on the Dining Plan. Because once they bring you the bill and you add the tip to it, which they do in the beginning of the process at Disney restaurants, you now DO have a charge on your bill - whatever the amount you decide to leave as your tip is now what you are responsible for paying and as long as it is a Disney restaurant that accepts Disney Gift Cards and that includes just about all of them, it is perfectly fine to pay what is left of your bill - in this case just the gratuity, it really doesn't matter, with a Disney gift card or whatever at that point.