Disney vs Disney Store Giftcards

[CouponCon]

I keep reading about people purchasing Gift Cards to pay for there trips to Disney. I think it is a great idea and would like to do the same. Now just so I am clear on what I am doing...I want to purchase giftcards to pay on a resort reservation...I don't have a reservation set yet but will be calling when they release the 2012 dates.

So let's say I buy 5 giftcards at $50 each will they take those over the phone? I can keep calling back chipping away at the balance using giftcards? Can I also use them to order tickets?

Okay lastly, will I know the difference when I purchase the giftcards in stores Disney vs Disney Store??? Do they look different, I don't want to buy the wrong one...I can't use the Disney Store Giftcards right?

Thank you all so much in advance for your responses!!!

 

[Fire14]

The Gift cards my local Disney store sells are good everywhere (dcl, DL, WDW, Disney store) if you order from disneyshopping.com I believe they have both the anywhere ones and the ones only good at mall ds and online. you can also buy gc's from disneyland.com ( listed under tixs) and I believe disneyworld.com these are good all over. THe all over use cards can be used to pay resort ressie over phone or at front desk. The all over ones can be used to buy tixs in park as I personally did just this in DEC 2010. I can't speak for if you can use to buy tixs online or not.

 

[darthspud]

yes you can make payments with them over the phone or if you book a vacation package you can make payments online using the gift cards... a word of caution that I learned the very hard way and lost $150

ALWAYS KEEP BOTH THE ACTIVATION RECIPET AND THE GIFTCARD ITSELF UNTIL YOUR VACATION IS COMPLETELY OVER AND YOU ARE CERTAIN THAT WHAT EVER YOU PURCHASE WITH A GIFTCARD YOU ARE NOT GOING TO RETURN!!!
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I say this with urgency because I had thrown away a giftcard that I had purchased at the grocery store used it to make a payment on my trip I later needed to cancel that trip and reschedule and since I had thrown the gc because i used it and i also did not have the activation slip the card could not be replaced and I lost $150

But it is an excellent way to save up for trips... I got my friend into doing this and every time she goes grocery shopping she purchases a $25 giftcard and so every month has $100 saved for wdw
I haven't done this so much for my upcoming trip in March but will be doing it this starting when I get back in March to save for my Oct trip

 

[KJSJpipe]

The Gift Cards are reloadable as well so you could buy one card with an amount between $5 & $1500. You can then add more $$ in any amount at the Disney Store in the future as many times as you want until you reach the $1500 cap.

 

[CouponCon]

Thank you all for your responses!!! This clears alot up for me. I have decided this is what we are going to do.

darthspud ~ thank you so much for pointing that out. I would have never thought of that. That would be awful to lose out on a gift card so much money.

Wish we had a disney store closer. Ours got closed, but if our Target carries them like I read on another thread that would be awesome. I am in there a lot!

Again thank you so much for the help!!!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

If your church or school has a scrip program you can order the gift cards through them and the organization gets a % back. That is really the only reason I use the gift cards. I am required to buy so much scrip for DD school.

Remember that the gift cards are not returnable and if for any reason you can not take the trip you will still have a lot of money in Disney gift cards. Sometimes it is better to choose to use a separate savings account to save the money instead of the gift cards. That way you are tucking money away but it is available for something different if needed.

I agree with darthspud above keep the cards until everything is settled and you know you won't return anything.

 

[growinupdisney]

Thank you all for your responses!!! This clears alot up for me. I have decided this is what we are going to do.

darthspud ~ thank you so much for pointing that out. I would have never thought of that. That would be awful to lose out on a gift card so much money.

Wish we had a disney store closer. Ours got closed, but if our Target carries them like I read on another thread that would be awesome. I am in there a lot!

Again thank you so much for the help!!!

WALGREENS sells them too!

 

[darthspud]

most grocery stores sell them as well... just add what ever amount you want to purchase into your weekly grocery shopping budget and so if your grocery store does the change off gas prices it counts against that as well.. so if you purchase a $50 gc plus what ever you purchase shopping you get what like 10c off a gallon for the most part

but yeah walgreens sells them or you can purchase them online at disneystore.com

and what ever you dont use for this trip its the start of your savings for your next trip

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I was using this method as a way to save for our trip, but won't again. Our Disney portion was $2000, and we had $1500 saved in gift cards. However, this year, Sam's Club had a deal where you got a $10 Disney Store gift card if you bought a $100 regular Disney Gift Card. I was able to buy the $500 worth and get $50 free, but I "lost" out on being able to get it for the gift cards I had already purchased. I can't use that $50 at the parks, but I was able to order a Disney Parks sweatshirt for myself online.

When I start saving for our next trip (hopefully in 2013!), I plan to have an automatic payroll deduction go to a new savings account. That way, if a deal like the Sam's one comes out again, I will be able to take advantage!

 

[tzolkin]

most grocery stores sell them as well... just add what ever amount you want to purchase into your weekly grocery shopping budget and so if your grocery store does the change off gas prices it counts against that as well.. so if you purchase a $50 gc plus what ever you purchase shopping you get what like 10c off a gallon for the most part

I wanted to do this because our new grocery store has a big section of gift cards, but unfortunately they don't sell Disney oness. The closest Disney store is 1 1/2hrs away and we live in a poor/rural area (I don't know anyone else who takes Disney vacations), so I can understand why the store doesn't carry them. But I was hoping to save a little extra on gas.

 

[dthogue]

I agree that this is a good way to save for spending money on a WDW trip, but I honestly wouldn't do it to pay for a trip - what happens if you need to cancel - whatever are you going to do with all the money on Disney gift cards.

Instead what we do is making weekly payments directly to Disney to pay our balance. That way, if we need to cancel, they will refund our money to the original form of payment (we use a separate checking account and use a Visa Debit card, if we don't use a regular credit card).

You can make payments online - very easy to do!!

Tammy