Do most restaurants/snack cards accept preloaded Visa gift cards?

[marshallandcartersmo]

Thinking of getting several preloaded Visa gift cards to take rather than cash or our debit cards. Do most places accept them?
TIA

 

[LSUfan4444]

Yes, but why would you pay the service fee of buying preloaded cards and not just use your debit or credit card or charge to the room if your a resort guest?

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Not a resort guest, & want to split up spending money to several people...only one has the debit card the money is on.

 

[jcdean]

They also accept Disney gift cards, which you can purchase at a slight discount rather than paying the extra fees for prepaid Visa.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Not a resort guest, & want to split up spending money to several people...only one has the debit card the money is one.

I think Disney gift cards would be a better idea as mentioned above. It would save you the expense of a pre-paid visa.

 

[gatorlisa]

As long as it's a location that takes cards (most everywhere), they should be able to accept the Visa gift cards. However, I agree with several above posters regarding the Disney GCs. There's a service charge for each Visa gift card you purchase. Disney GCs have no such fee. The only downside I see is that if you have $$ left over, a Visa gift card can be used anywhere, whereas a Disney GC can only be used at WDW, DLR, and the Disney Store. If you aren't sure how much you need, I do believe you can reload them while on site, so could purchase the minimum of what you think need and reload as needed.

 

[KimBean]

I would be careful with having too much money on those. I find them really prickly. I get them for doing surveys and things online and I have had a difficult time using them. Disney would not take them to pay down my trip. So many other online sites wouldn't take them, I couldn't pay bills online with them. I finally found one bill online that would take it. This was a Visa card where I had the #, exp date, code on back and it was associated with my name and address.

I'm not saying they don't work and if you have only have a few not really a worry. But, I wouldn't trust them for my trip.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I would be careful with having too much money on those. I find them really prickly. I get them for doing surveys and things online and I have had a difficult time using them. Disney would not take them to pay down my trip. So many other online sites wouldn't take them, I couldn't pay bills online with them. I finally found one bill online that would take it. This was a Visa card where I had the #, exp date, code on back and it was associated with my name and address.

I'm not saying they don't work and if you have only have a few not really a worry. But, I wouldn't trust them for my trip.

I utterly confused I have been using one for seven years long story

However I have never had a problem with vendors taking my card as long as they take visa to begin with

 

[unrequited23]

I've had issues (not at Disney) when the balance on the card was less than the purchase and the card would come back declined even though there were funds on the card. The merchant needed to process the transaction as a split payment and then everything worked as expected. Now, I will nicely apologize to a cashier for having to do a split payment and let them know the exact balance on a card before anything is swiped. No one at Disney seemed phased by my mix of visa gc, Disney gc, Disney visa rewards cards and credit cards.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I've had issues (not at Disney) when the balance on the card was less than the purchase and the card would come back declined even though there were funds on the card. The merchant needed to process the transaction as a split payment and then everything worked as expected. Now, I will nicely apologize to a cashier for having to do a split payment and let them know the exact balance on a card before anything is swiped. No one at Disney seemed phased by my mix of visa gc, Disney gc, Disney visa rewards cards and credit cards.

This.

I work in retail. If the Visa GC doesn't cover the balance it won't work at our store. You must know how much $$ is on the card at all times so it can be processsed. It'll come up declined if not. They're way more trouble than they're worth IMO. The service fees alone keep me from ever considering Visa CGs.

On that note I also vote for Disney gift cards. Either purchased up front or while you're at WDW.

We get Disney GCs when we arrive and re-load them when necessary.

Just my .02

 

[2Monkeys]

I used a Visa GC that someone had given me when we were at WDW in February. It worked fine, and even told me the balance remaining when I used it. At the end it used the remaining balance, then the CM told me what I still owed. Disney GC can be purchased at a discount from BJs online (best price I have found) - we used those in May everywhere we went.

 

[limegreenmonorail]

I have tried to use a Visa gift card at a restaurant before (not in Disney, a restaurant here at home), and was told that many restaurants do not accept these because they can only initially see if they're authorized for your total before tip. Once you add the tip, if they run it after you leave, they're afraid there might not be enough on the card to cover tip in addition to the total. Not sure if this would be an issue at Disney restaurants, but it's something to be aware of. I agree with above posters that a Disney gift card is the better way to go, if you want to use gift cards instead of credit cards. Never had a problem with those.

 

[KimBean]

I utterly confused I have been using one for seven years long story

However I have never had a problem with vendors taking my card as long as they take visa to begin with

I have about $70 trying to figure out how to use right now. These say Visa debit on them.

Just tonight tried to use one to sign my daughter up for a free trial of online art class. Wouldn't take it.

Wish I knew the secret to using them.

I'm glad you have had success. Not trying to add confusion just make sure you have the right card because whatever prepaid Visa debit you can load at kroger does not always work I can tell you that.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I use green dot I am not sure what everyone one else is using

I just used green dot to sign up for hulu with out a problem

 

[maxiesmom]

It is a good idea to always have some cash on hand when going to WDW. More than once I have made a purchase at a cart that couldn't accept cards at the time. They were cash only because of computer issues.

I have used pre paid cards in the past. I would buy one from my bank, but there was a fee to buy it. And then I had to keep track of what was on it and sometimes would end up with weird random amounts that were hard to use. I would typically use that bit at the gas station.

 

[ambgoph]

Wish I knew the secret to using them.

Whenever I get one, I always use it to buy an Amazon gift card on Amazon.

 

[Fangorn]

I tried to use a Visa gift card to pay down our resort bill (Coronado Springs). They were unable to use the card. Manager explained that those cards are set up to be used for purchases only, and the vendor coding for the resort doesn't fit in that category. She told us that what we could do, was go over to the gift shop, purchase a Disney gift card with the Visa gift card and then we could use that Disney card on the resort bill.

It was a big hassle just to be able to use that $50 card.

Steve

 

[DisneyHardin]

I have about $70 trying to figure out how to use right now. These say Visa debit on them.

Just tonight tried to use one to sign my daughter up for a free trial of online art class. Wouldn't take it.

Wish I knew the secret to using them.

I'm glad you have had success. Not trying to add confusion just make sure you have the right card because whatever prepaid Visa debit you can load at kroger does not always work I can tell you that.

Whenever we get Visa pre-paid cards for gifts or from rebates, I always "cash them out" at the grocery by using it towards my grocery purchase, paying the balance with my debit card and getting cash back for the amount of the card because I have had so much trouble trying to use them other places too.