Do you bring cash?

[Rindercella]

oooh, us too on this weekend (but it's 3 weeks for us) can't believe how quickly it's coming! We booked on that short timeline a couple of years ago with a Cyber Monday deal i couldn't pass up and i think it was one of our best trips!

Side note, I love your screen name .. can you recite the entire story??? My hubby is constantly using this sentence!

Now the storal of the mory is: if you go to a bancy fall and you want a pransome hince to lall in fove with you don’t forget to slop your dripper!

Well, I’m impressed! I can’t recite the story. First heard it nearly 30 years ago.

 

[Silvermist999]

We always bring some cash, mainly for mousekeeping tips and for the tolls (for times when we do rent a car out of MCO). My kids also like to collect the pressed pennies so we do bring some small change for that.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We bring $400 in cash. Then we have one credit card we use and a back up credit card w/ us in case something funny happened with the 1st card.

 

[dish rag]

I always carry both currencies and both Canadian based and USA based credit cards and debit cards.

 

[AngelDisney]

A lady needs to indulge herself sometimes without her DH knowing, so yes, I do bring cash to avoid that trail of plastic card records.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

How do you all buy gift cards in advance? I had no idea this could be done.

 

[Donald - my hero]

How do you all buy gift cards in advance? I had no idea this could be done.

ANY stores that have gift card displays have them (ok, so most -- they do run out of stock occasionally!) Some stores have $25 or $50 cards but most have loadable cards. In Guelph specifically I've seen them in:

• All 3 Rexalls
• Both Staples
• Most Shoppers
• Zehrs
• No Frills
• Metro
• Canadian Tire on Stone Road

I've taken these cards and consolidated them on the Disney Gift Card site and used them to book 2 room only reservations and a package -- all online. I keep one card that has $100 CDN on it and i can see what the US balance is -- it's always pretty close to the exact rate i see when i plunk it into google -- it's based on the close of the previous business day.

 

[TammyLynn33]

We always carry a couple hundred just in case. My kids get us cash for their birthdays and Christmas so we just put that away and kids are fine with that as they know it goes to their Disney holidays we did Disney for Easter and a MVMCP this year so they are really blessed oh and crap I forgot fav big kid and I did DL in August .. yes they are blessed big time lol

 

[loves to dive]

I always bring a few hundred dollars. I don't carry it all with me, it put most of it in the safe and carry a $20 or two with me. There are times the machines go down and you have to pay with cash and, for me, it's easier to pay cash for those things under $5 then have all those charges on my cc. By the way, I never charge to my MB either, I just carry my cc with me and use it.

 

[prairiesarah]

We always bring cash too - there are just times I find it easier and like having it in case there is every an issue with the credit card machines not working. This time I've purchased $700 in gc's too over the last couple months which should cover parking, our meals at WDW and some/all the souvenirs we'd buy. The rest will use our USD credit card.

 

[Carol_]

I stock up on Disney gift cards that I get for 4% off at Sam’s Club. I charge everything I can on those but like people said above, sometimes that one kiosk with the flashing bubbling toy or popcorn or whatever is cash only for the moment, and the kid’s gonna cry if he doesn’t get it RIGHT NOW in the middle of this magical death march you’ve taken him on.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I stock up on Disney gift cards that I get for 4% off at Sam’s Club. I charge everything I can on those but like people said above, sometimes that one kiosk with the flashing bubbling toy or popcorn or whatever is cash only for the moment, and the kid’s gonna cry if he doesn’t get it RIGHT NOW in the middle of this magical death march you’ve taken him on.

as Canadians, I'd venture over 95% of us don't have access to discounted gift cards! We don't have Sam's club here.

 

[Boardwalk_bride]

I notice quite a few of you use gift cards - is there are particular reason why? I'm assuming it is just for budgeting purposes?

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

You save on the exchange/foreign transaction fees when using most credit cards. The exchange rate is the previous day's realtime rate.

 

[Carol_]

as Canadians, I'd venture over 95% of us don't have access to discounted gift cards! We don't have Sam's club here.

I can’t tell where you are but the internet thinks there’s a Sam’s Club in Ontario: https://www.samsclub.com/club/ontario-ca-sams-club/6619
I have no idea if they sell Disney gift cards.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I can’t tell where you are but the internet thinks there’s a Sam’s Club in Ontario: https://www.samsclub.com/club/ontario-ca-sams-club/6619
I have no idea if they sell Disney gift cards.

The location that pops up is in Niagara Falls on the US side of the water ! Walmart closed them all in 2009 because "Despite our best efforts and the commendable work of our Sam's Club associates, our six clubs have not met our expectations," said Wal-Mart Canada president and CEO David Cheesewright "

I'm not sure how much effort it would require to get the membership and then actually head to that location. I don't think I would be able to justify the small difference once i added on gas to get there, time to drive & the fact i would probably need to eat out (hubby has an unhealthy love of all things Cracker Barrel ) and then the exchange rate plus the foreign transaction fee on my credit card ....
Must admit i am a tad jelly of those who get to buy the cards at a discounted rate BUT buying them here, with a credit card that gives me rewards is a fairly decent alternative!

 

[Carol_]

The location that pops up is in Niagara Falls on the US side of the water ! Walmart closed them all in 2009 because "Despite our best efforts and the commendable work of our Sam's Club associates, our six clubs have not met our expectations," said Wal-Mart Canada president and CEO David Cheesewright "

I'm not sure how much effort it would require to get the membership and then actually head to that location. I don't think I would be able to justify the small difference once i added on gas to get there, time to drive & the fact i would probably need to eat out (hubby has an unhealthy love of all things Cracker Barrel ) and then the exchange rate plus the foreign transaction fee on my credit card ....
Must admit i am a tad jelly of those who get to buy the cards at a discounted rate BUT buying them here, with a credit card that gives me rewards is a fairly decent alternative!

OMG I just looked... it’s actually in Ontario, California. Sorry!
Anyway, my main point was that cash is handy at random kiosks when the machines are unavailable... which happens to me at least once per visit.

 

[Donald - my hero]

OMG I just looked... it’s actually in Ontario, California. Sorry!
Anyway, my main point was that cash is handy at random kiosks when the machines are unavailable... which happens to me at least once per visit.

Funny story -- hubby was flying home from Chicago several years ago and after sitting reading the paper for quite a long time he suddenly realized that he had mistakenly been waiting for a plane to Ontario CALIFORNIA! He ran thru the terminal and barely caught the correct plane

 

[dancin Disney style]

I'm a cash person. Every pay check I transfer money into my USD account so that when we travel the cash is ready to go and it sort of feels like found money. I really hate coming home from a vacation and having a large CC bill to pay. I also find that when I charge everything the spending goes way overboard. I always have my CC with me but use my cash first.....I do put aside approx $150 to make sure I have cash for the trip home. There really aren't that many places/situations where you can't use plastic to pay but it's just a bad idea to have no cash in your pocket when youare far from home.

 

[kiford]

We only carry enough cash to buy the odd item if the MB system is down for some reason (haven't had any issues with it since the initial year though) and if we need it for taxis. More taxis are taking credit card than in previous years so we take less each time. Basically we are still working through US cash we've had for about 2 years and 6 trips - I think it was originally $200USD. I used cash for two taxi trips last time we went simply because it was a bit faster but they both had credit card machines in the car.