Disney Restaurants and Redemption Cards

[mousedroid]

Hi. My wife and I are going to WDW in a week and a half, and I'm trying to plan out expenses.

We have over $1000 on Disney Rewards Redemption Cards, but I got to thinking about where we could and maybe couldn't use them. The biggest questions:

1. Can we use Disney Rewards Redemption Cards to pay for our lunch at Space 220?
2. Can we use them to pay for dinner at California Grille?
3. Is there a list anywhere of which restaurants and/or shops will not accept Disney Rewards Redemption Cards for payment?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DisneyHardin]

Hi. My wife and I are going to WDW in a week and a half, and I'm trying to plan out expenses.

We have over $1000 on Disney Rewards Redemption Cards, but I got to thinking about where we could and maybe couldn't use them. The biggest questions:

1. Can we use Disney Rewards Redemption Cards to pay for our lunch at Space 220?
2. Can we use them to pay for dinner at California Grille?
3. Is there a list anywhere of which restaurants and/or shops will not accept Disney Rewards Redemption Cards for payment?

Thanks in advance!

Anywhere that takes Disney Gift Cards will take the Redemption card, which is pretty much everywhere. There may be a couple Disney Springs places that don't take, but most all will.

 

[Mommb]

Restaurants that are owned by Disney will take Disney Gift Cards and Redemption cards. This includes all restaurants at the parks and resorts except some restaurants in World Showcase and Animal Kingdom. Space 220 and California Grill will certainly take the cards.

Some restaurants that aren't Disney-owned also take the cards. This is a list of redemption locations: https://disneyrewards.com/rewards-dollars/where-to-redeem/walt-disney-world-resort/

 

[mousedroid]

Excellent. Thank you both very much for the information!

 

[Marthasor]

I would recommend only using your redemption card at QS restaurants and retail locations - places with set prices that cannot be altered after you leave the establishment. I would not use the card anywhere that has a gratuity line. I have had two occasions where money was taken from the card that exceeded the meal + gratuity total I signed for at TS restaurants. Unfortunately, there is zero recourse and no way to investigate these instances. I only use redemption cards at places that immediately generate a receipt showing me the balance once the transaction is completed or to pay down my resort balance prior to ever leaving for vacation.

 

[CarolynFH]

Are you staying at a Disney resort? If so, you can charge your meals to your resort account and then pay the resort bill with the rewards cards. That would eliminate the concern with fraudulent charges to the rewards cards at TS restaurants. You’ll want to pay the resort bill no later than the night before checkout, because your CC will be charged sometime in the wee hours the morning of checkout.

 

[mousedroid]

Thanks again for the heads-up. I was planning to use the cards primarily to pay for meals at places like Space 220, the Sc-Fi Drive-In restaurant, and California Grill. Disappointing to hear that is a risk.

 

[leebee]

Thanks again for the heads-up. I was planning to use the cards primarily to pay for meals at places like Space 220, the Sc-Fi Drive-In restaurant, and California Grill. Disappointing to hear that is a risk.

I've been to Disney over 35 times and only once did I have an issue using my redemption card. One of the restaurants in Epcot double-charged the tip (I think... it's been about 20 years, hahaha). Fortunately I caught this (checked the balance on the card via Chase) and got it straightened out. However, the CM recommended that if I am using a redemption card that I charge the meal to my room, then stop in the lobby that evening and pay off the charge with the redemption card. A bit of a pain, but less than having to deal with "complications." These days, I usually use my points to pay for the room so I don't have to deal with this.

 

[CarolynFH]

These days, I usually use my points to pay for the room so I don't have to deal with this.

We pay for our room with D.V.C. points too, but we still charge meals and souvenirs to the room account so that we can pay it off with our rewards card and Disney gift cards. In January we stopped at the front desk a couple of times to pay down the balance so that on checkout morning relatively little was charged to our credit card.

 

[SL6827]

I would recommend only using your redemption card at QS restaurants and retail locations - places with set prices that cannot be altered after you leave the establishment. I would not use the card anywhere that has a gratuity line. I have had two occasions where money was taken from the card that exceeded the meal + gratuity total I signed for at TS restaurants. Unfortunately, there is zero recourse and no way to investigate these instances. I only use redemption cards at places that immediately generate a receipt showing me the balance once the transaction is completed or to pay down my resort balance prior to ever leaving for vacation.

Good advice.