Disneyland tickets using Disney Gift Card questions :)

[07pilot4me]

Hello all:

I plan to use multiple DGC gift cards to purchase our tickets: what is the best way to proceed?
I was told by CS rep that I must combine the DGC into one GC and then I can purchase online or on phone, is this true? just trying to get the best way to purchase the tickets with least hassle.

also plan to accumulate DGC using supermarket CB offers and possibly buy at target and use CB sites. any other strategies you want to share to get DGC at a discount would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

Hello all:

I plan to use multiple DGC gift cards to purchase our tickets: what is the best way to proceed?
I was told by CS rep that I must combine the DGC into one GC and then I can purchase online or on phone, is this true? just trying to get the best way to purchase the tickets with least hassle.

also plan to accumulate DGC using supermarket CB offers and possibly buy at target and use CB sites. any other strategies you want to share to get DGC at a discount would be greatly appreciated.

I used gift cards for my park tickets by creating a Disney vacation account and adding the gift cards to it. I then called and purchased the tickets on the phone using my DVA number. Bonus: if you spend at least $1000 on your tickets you can get a free $20 gift card (for every $1000 spent from your DVA) this way.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

You can use the website disneygiftcard.com to combine your cards.

One way I like to save money on Disney gift cards is by accumulating the $5 or $10 free target gift cards that are offered often (for purchasing products I need to buy anyway) and then using a combination of them and my target card to purchase Disney gift cards online. I saved a lot of money for our recent trip this way.

 

[hlbtimes2]

You'll want to combine your gift cards at disneygiftcard.com, as you can only use a couple cards at a time on the Disney site to pay for your tickets. I can't remember why, but for some reason I had to purchase my 4 tickets in two transactions. I did one for 3 tickets and a single on another. It was only a couple months ago, but for the life of me I can't remember what the problem was.

I purchased target gift cards thru cardpool.com, then used those on the target site to buy Disney gift cards. If you put your red card in, then pay with the gift cards you get the 5% red discount, plus the 4.5-6% discount from cardpool. It was time consuming, but I was willing to do it to save the money. Disney tickets are not cheap!

 

[mich311e]

You'll want to combine your gift cards at disneygiftcard.com, as you can only use a couple cards at a time on the Disney site to pay for your tickets.

I purchased target gift cards thru cardpool.com, then used those on the target site to buy Disney gift cards. If you put your red card in, then pay with the gift cards you get the 5% red discount, plus the 4.5-6% discount from cardpool. It was time consuming, but I was willing to do it to save the money. Disney tickets are not cheap!

Agree with this! I do the exact same thing. I bought my 5 day park hoppers with gift cards that I had previously combined. I then upgraded our park hoppers to APs at the ticket booth on day 4 with more Disney Gift Cards! Every little bit saved helps!

 

[07pilot4me]

Thanks for all the great info!!! it looks like I need to apply for a target red card (so the you will still get 5% even if you pay with a target GC). also @HLBtimes I think they made you break the transaction in 2 because there is a $1K limit on a Disney Gift Card (that's what the CS told me anyways).

Thanks again and I agree, every little bit saved counts!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Thanks for all the great info!!! it looks like I need to apply for a target red card (so the you will still get 5% even if you pay with a target GC). also @HLBtimes I think they made you break the transaction in 2 because there is a $1K limit on a Disney Gift Card (that's what the CS told me anyways).

Thanks again and I agree, every little bit saved counts!

You may want to hold off applying for a Target redcard. Rumor is that the 5% off gift cards doesn't work anymore.

I used the Disney Vacation Account to buy tickets and it worked fine. I just deposited my GCs in it. Otherwise use the gift card website to consolidate as others have mentioned.

 

[hlbtimes2]

The Target red card can be a debit from your checking, it doesn't have to be the credit card for the savings. The discount using gift cards worked in Feb, so unless it was a really recent change it should still work.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

The Target red card can be a debit from your checking, it doesn't have to be the credit card for the savings. The discount using gift cards worked in Feb, so unless it was a really recent change it should still work.

Reports are 5% off gift cards on Target.com no longer work. It's possible it will still work in store, but you can't stack the Redcard discount with gift cards in store.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-gift-card-deals.2941964/page-810#post-55658326

 

[my*gracie*girl]

I used disneygiftcard.com this past March trip and loved being able to combine all our cards onto one card. We also ordered a personalized card from the Disney Store website and it made so many CMs happy during our trip. They were all surprised to see our picture on the gift card!

 

[gsrieff]

I just tried to use the gift cards to buy park tickets online today...they only allow ONE gift card to be entered in per transaction. The crappy thing is that gift cards max balance is 1000...most families are spending more than that on tickets. I thought this was a mistake, so i called Disney, and they confirmed only one at a time.

The lady on the phone was more than happy to take my multiple cards and (for a 5 dollar fee) have them mailed to my house. I was able to use the gift cards to pay for the mailing.

I guess it wouldnt be a big deal to separate transactions...but i wasn't in the mood to split things up and move money around on the cards. I am happy i will be receiving the actual tickets instead of the print outs. It was a huge hassle a few years ago to initially switch things at the gate from the print out to the ticket. It held up the line quite a bit.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I just tried to use the gift cards to buy park tickets online today...they only allow ONE gift card to be entered in per transaction. The crappy thing is that gift cards max balance is 1000...most families are spending more than that on tickets. I thought this was a mistake, so i called Disney, and they confirmed only one at a time.

The lady on the phone was more than happy to take my multiple cards and (for a 5 dollar fee) have them mailed to my house. I was able to use the gift cards to pay for the mailing.

I guess it wouldnt be a big deal to separate transactions...but i wasn't in the mood to split things up and move money around on the cards. I am happy i will be receiving the actual tickets instead of the print outs. It was a huge hassle a few years ago to initially switch things at the gate from the print out to the ticket. It held up the line quite a bit.

I guess that's one advantage of the Disney vacation account. I put ~ $3000 in it and bought 8 tickets in one transaction.

 

[gsrieff]

also, i did use the target debit redcard in store and saved 5% today...so thats still working for now.

 

[Minniekins]

It still works in store to buy your cards with the Redcard and get the 5% discount. You can pay for Disney gc's with Target gc's in store, also, but no discount at all. It definitely Does Not work to pay online with gift cards and get the 5% disc anymore, no matter what. And you do not get the disc paying with the redcard online, either. Either payment online works, but no discount.

The only place to get any Target discount when buying Disney gc's, or any gc's at Target now, is to buy in store paying with your Target Redcard., credit or debit. It stinks! But that's how it is now, just changed a few days ago.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

It still works in store to buy your cards with the Redcard and get the 5% discount. You can pay for Disney gc's with Target gc's in store, also, but no discount at all. It definitely Does Not work to pay online with gift cards and get the 5% disc anymore, no matter what. And you do not get the disc paying with the redcard online, either. Either payment online works, but no discount.

The only place to get any Target discount when buying Disney gc's, or any gc's at Target now, is to buy in store paying with your Target Redcard., credit or debit. It stinks! But that's how it is now, just changed a few days ago.

That's too bad, not that it affects me much at this point since I got banned from Target.com, lol.

I think getting credit card rewards + gas points at Safeway/Kroger or equivalent is the best discount right now. My AmEx Blue gets me 5% cash back, plus the gas rewards are worth about 2-3%.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

It still works in store to buy your cards with the Redcard and get the 5% discount. You can pay for Disney gc's with Target gc's in store, also, but no discount at all. It definitely Does Not work to pay online with gift cards and get the 5% disc anymore, no matter what. And you do not get the disc paying with the redcard online, either. Either payment online works, but no discount.

The only place to get any Target discount when buying Disney gc's, or any gc's at Target now, is to buy in store paying with your Target Redcard., credit or debit. It stinks! But that's how it is now, just changed a few days ago.

I had no idea the online discount didn't work anymore until I read through this thread! Did it recently, but change must have happened after that.

I like still getting the discount in store. It always felt like a good deal that would likely end sometime (like the old method of stacking pharmacy rewards 5% & target card 5% when buying Disney gift cards). I'll take it while I can get it, I think, because I like how it helps us save for a trip little by little, but there definitely is a substantial hassle-factor in buying a lot of cards, merging them, being careful not to lose them, etc.

 

[07pilot4me]

i will look into getting a DVA account, is that free? also beware, dont buy tickets at the gate. those wont include magic morning, we found out the hard way few years ago.

 

[Minniekins]

Just a heads up, seems like the discount when buying gcs with gcs online at Target .com is back!

 

[monorailrabbit]

I'm obviously minority here, but we pay off in chunks with gift cards and don't bother to combine them. Since I haven't been able to make any payments online (thanks Disneyland website ) I get a gift card at Target every week with my RedCard and call and make the payment over the phone. It works for us, but we do have a GIANT stack in our drawer. Make sure you save all the cards you use in case you need something refunded!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

i will look into getting a DVA account, is that free? also beware, dont buy tickets at the gate. those wont include magic morning, we found out the hard way few years ago.

Yes it's free. After you open it, you can deposit gift cards into it however you decide to acquire them. DVA has a lot of limitations, but it's fine for buying tickets in Disney's website.

Edit: you also get a $20 gift card for every $1000 you put in the account.