Disney Gift Cards for Canadians - UPDATE

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Before reading this, read my update in post #5.​

We want to get a Disney Gift Card and use it as a way to save money for our upcoming trip. I want to purchase a $50 one and then add to it as we get money to put on it. Eventually, we plan to use the gift cards toward upgrading our park tickets.

Have any of you ever had gift cards shipped to Canada from Disney Shopping? I'm wondering what kind of fees Disney Shopping charges? Did you get charged by customs when the card came? Is it easy to add money to the account?

I have e-mailled Disney Shopping and asked these questions but who knows how long it will take them to write me back.

Any help would be fantastic!

 

[bbangel]

I remember there being some difficulty with the shipping of gift cards because of the way they ship up here. Since they use a courier the cost of sending is expensive (making your gift card essentially worth less as it cost you more to buy than just the amount on the card.

I also don't believe you can add money to a card. It is not a great way to save money.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I remember there being some difficulty with the shipping of gift cards because of the way they ship up here. Since they use a courier the cost of sending is expensive (making your gift card essentially worth less as it cost you more to buy than just the amount on the card.

I also don't believe you can add money to a card. It is not a great way to save money.

Even if I can't add money, I could just buy another gift card if shipping was reasonable.

I was worried about the shipping costs but could someone tell me for sure what they are?

 

[smye1stdisneycruise]

I am also curious to know the answer to this. I know last year before our disney cruise I went to the Disney Store in the states and bought $400.00 in gift cards to put toward our ship expenses at the end. Unfortunately all of the Disney stores close to us in the USA have been closed but if you are close to one or travelling in the USA soon you may consider this an option.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Just to update you all, I have received a message back from Disney Shopping and they told me that they do not deliever gift cards to Canada at this time.

 

[drag n' fly]

Yes not only will they allow you to place an order they will take your money and then neglect to inform you they do not ship to Canada. When you finally wonder where the heck your gift cards are and you call them and they say "we did not ship them and we can't" you realize you just been punked by Disney and you have to wait for the money to be refunded on your cc. Been there done that!

 

[amw]

In the past, I ordered my DLR passes on the disneyland website. I think shipping to Canada was $10 and there was no duty ... on their website, they also list gift cards as an option. I haven't tried, but I wonder if you could order them that way

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/reserve/ticketListing?name=TicketListingPage

It might be worthwhile to give them a call.

 

[neverrest]

Another good way to save money is to go to the bank and buy travellers cheques every payday.

I buy a set amount on every paycheck. This way I have the money put aside and I cannot spend it

Store the cheques in a safe spot and if anything happens to them they are replacable.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

In the past, I ordered my DLR passes on the disneyland website. I think shipping to Canada was $10 and there was no duty ... on their website, they also list gift cards as an option. I haven't tried, but I wonder if you could order them that way

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/reserve/ticketListing?name=TicketListingPage

This is the same website essentially. Disney.com. You can get park tickets sent to Canada for $10 for either DLR or WDW but not gift cards.

It might be worthwhile to give them a call.

Another good way to save money is to go to the bank and buy travellers cheques every payday.

I buy a set amount on every paycheck. This way I have the money put aside and I cannot spend it

Store the cheques in a safe spot and if anything happens to them they are replacable.

This is an excellent idea! How much do they charge you when you buy a traveler's cheque? This is better than buying American money because we live on the border and surely would spend it before January. But I think we'd leave the traveller's cheques alone since they are such a pain to use.

 

[neverrest]

I get my travellers cheques at my bank free of charge.

I know at Disneyland we were able to cash up to $300/day per person at guest services.

This way we did not have to worry about using travellers cheques once we were there. We would go to guest services and cash in our travellers cheques and were able to get cash for the rest of the trip.

 

[mc'smommy]

This is an excellent idea! How much do they charge you when you buy a traveler's cheque? This is better than buying American money because we live on the border and surely would spend it before January. But I think we'd leave the traveller's cheques alone since they are such a pain to use.

Not sure which border you live on and how often you get across the border... But I too live on the border and have PO box in NF NY and pay appx $ 90 a year for it, they have smaller ones and cheaper of course..... But the plus side to it, is the box area is open 24 /7 so you can order stuff from Disney.com and have it delivered without customs/duty fees....

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I know at Disneyland we were able to cash up to $300/day per person at guest services.

This is great! I'll check with my bank and see if there is a charge for us to do this.

Not sure which border you live on and how often you get across the border... But I too live on the border and have PO box in NF NY and pay appx $ 90 a year for it, they have smaller ones and cheaper of course..... But the plus side to it, is the box area is open 24 /7 so you can order stuff from Disney.com and have it delivered without customs/duty fees....

I'm on the New Brunswick-Maine border. I've heard of people doing this but I don't really see how this saves you much money. When you go to your PO Box and get the stuff, you still have to declare it when you cross back into Canada and if it's over $20, you pay the taxes. Unless you smuggle stuff across but I don't do that or condone it.

 

[bbrnca]

I agree with MR & MRS Smith to smuggle stuff back to Canada from US is not worth it.... the Canadian Agents have the right to confiscate your car or van for such an act. go across and bring it back but declare it.... even if it is a small amount declare something....

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I agree with MR & MRS Smith to smuggle stuff back to Canada from US is not worth it.... the Canadian Agents have the right to confiscate your car or van for such an act. go across and bring it back but declare it.... even if it is a small amount declare something....

And if you are a local who crosses multiple times a week and you get caught sneaking something across, they will likely mark your license plate and search you every time.

 

[NikP]

Not sure which border you live on and how often you get across the border... But I too live on the border and have PO box in NF NY and pay appx $ 90 a year for it, they have smaller ones and cheaper of course..... But the plus side to it, is the box area is open 24 /7 so you can order stuff from Disney.com and have it delivered without customs/duty fees....

The big cost savings doing this is saving the brokerage fees. They are huge with UPS etc. Duty is usually next to nil, you just pay taxes on your purchases, but you would still have to pay the huge brokerage fee in order to have your item shipped clear customs.

By having a PO box in US, you would still pay your taxes and duty when coming back to Canada, but you avoid the $30 charge for brokerage. On multiple shipments, this can really add up.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

By having a PO box in US, you would still pay your taxes and duty when coming back to Canada, but you avoid the $30 charge for brokerage. On multiple shipments, this can really add up.

Maybe it depends what you are ordering but I have never paid a brokerage fee of $30. The last thing I ordered from the states was over a hundred dollars total and I think FedEx charged us $17 and it said it was either customs or duty.

 

[NikP]

Maybe it depends what you are ordering but I have never paid a brokerage fee of $30. The last thing I ordered from the states was over a hundred dollars total and I think FedEx charged us $17 and it said it was either customs or duty.

FedEx uses a brokerage firm that doesn't charge as much as the one UPS uses. Any Canadian who frequently orders off of Ebay will tell you to make sure they do not ship UPS because of this high cost.

We ordered hockey cards, value of less than $100, and were charged $23. for brokerage fees, and GST on top of the brokerage fees, and also GST was charged on the cost of the cards. There was no duty charged at all. Lesson learned, never have anything shipped UPS if it has to clear customs.

 

[sk8jdgca]

I don't know if this helps you but it is worth looking into.... I live near the michigan/Ont border and there is a ferry service there. I have my US stuff shipped there( to the ferry address). I meet the ferry on the canadian side-pay $5 to the guy and walk the stuff through customs....knock on wood but I've never had to pay anything. The only thing you pay is sales tax anyways and there is no sales tax on gift cards so you should be just fine!