Gift Card use question

[bdrex28]

Ok, I have a few questions on DGCs for WDW.

Can I use it for anything in WDW? Meaning is it useable for say the food huts during Arts festival or Food and Wine?

Is there anyplace within the gates of any park at WDW that you cannot use a DGC?

Typically we just pay with our Disney Chase card, but I'm thinking of using Gift Cards this trip coming up. I know I can use them to buy park tickets and pay for DVC dues, etc. But was curious if there's any place they are not allowed for payment within the parks.

Thank you

 

[Mommb]

Disney gift cards are typically accepted at any Disney-owned location that accepts credit cards. There may be some carts that don’t accept cards, but all or nearly all of the Festivals food booths do accept credit cards and gift cards.

Some restaurants in Epcot World Showcase and Animal Kingdom are not Disney-owned, so they may not accept Disney gift cards.

 

[bdrex28]

Disney gift cards are typically accepted at any Disney-owned location that accepts credit cards. There may be some carts that don’t accept cards, but all or nearly all of the Festivals food booths do accept credit cards and gift cards.

Some restaurants in Epcot World Showcase and Animal Kingdom are not Disney-owned, so they may not accept Disney gift cards.

Ok, that's what I was curious about. I knew some were 3rd party owned. I wonder if there's a list somewhere?

 

[eticketplease]

You can charge items to your magic band and then pay it off at your resort with the gift cards.

 

[bdrex28]

You can charge items to your magic band and then pay it off at your resort with the gift cards.

Ooh that's a good idea. Would I just give the resort the gift card at check in or upon check out do I just give them the gift card? I would assume at Check out.

 

[eticketplease]

We constantly charge so I go down to the front desk several times during our trip and wipe out the charges.
You definitely want to do it for the night before you check out.
It seems to depend on the resort you are staying at before they run your credit card. I believe it is $500 at Value, $1,000 at Moderates and $1,500 at Deluxes

 

[bdrex28]

We constantly charge so I go down to the front desk several times during our trip and wipe out the charges.
You definitely want to do it for the night before you check out.
It seems to depend on the resort you are staying at before they run your credit card. I believe it is $500 at Value, $1,000 at Moderates and $1,500 at Deluxes

Thank you. I'll do that for sure. I suppose I could just add the gift cards to my google wallet and just pay with them as I go too. But I like the idea of sending to room and just taking care of it once a day or so.

I appreciate your advice.

 

[eticketplease]

Thank you. I'll do that for sure. I suppose I could just add the gift cards to my google wallet and just pay with them as I go too. But I like the idea of sending to room and just taking care of it once a day or so.

I appreciate your advice.

The other reason I do that is so that I can actually see what I spent.

It will be part of your hotel portfolio and you can see Jack went to the popcorn cart on Mainstreet while Diane grabbed a drink at Olga’s. Dinner was xxx at Citricos etc. I then use that as a way to budget how much in Gift cards I will need to bring on the next trip.

 

[kristenrice]

I pay off my hotel folio using gift cards (almost) every night. I do it this way because my friend and I travel together and often split the cost of meals 50/50. This way, we can just pay with the MB at the restaurant (and use my DVC discount) without having to ask the server to split the tab. We share meals so this is so much easier, and she often pays with her credit card while I am using a gift card. It keeps it simple.

 

[robinb]

I pay off my WDW resort balance the night before check out. I don't have time to do it nightly or even a couple times a trip. I simply ask the front desk CM to refund whatever charges they applied automatically to my credit card and then charge them to the gift cards.

There are two places where you can't charge to your MB: quick service restaurant Mobile Ordering and Mobile Checkout at some WDW stores. Both of them require your credit card on file on your MDX *or* you can enter in a gift card number by hand. I usually have my gift card information in a note on my phone so I can cut and paste. I've read that there is now a way to enter a gift card into Apple Pay and use that for Mobile Ordering/Checkout but I've not been to WDW since that development.

 

[Headless]

We just got back from our fourth yearly trip and every year we've use gift cards as others have mentioned to pay off the room. I also pay off the night before but make sure you do it there at the latest. Room charges at the end of your stay trigger around 2 or 3 am so if you go down the morning you leave your credit card you put the stay on is going to be VERY sad.

We get gift cards using the target red card trick and up to now we've just brought all of them, buying two or three $500 and printing them right before the trip. with that said after talking with the desk this past trip, and we haven't dived into this yet so others can give negatives to this, We were told we could take all of those cards and load them onto one card before the trip on the Gift card website. We will be experimenting with this as we plan the next trip.

 

[georgina]

I am frequently staying off-site, so just use my gift cards as I go to pay. Yes, all the festival booths have taken them just fine. I keep the receipts to see how much is left on the card after each use. I have used the GC for parking charges, mobile orders and LL purchases also.

We just got back from our fourth yearly trip and every year we've use gift cards as others have mentioned to pay off the room. I also pay off the night before but make sure you do it there at the latest. Room charges at the end of your stay trigger around 2 or 3 am so if you go down the morning you leave your credit card you put the stay on is going to be VERY sad.

We get gift cards using the target red card trick and up to now we've just brought all of them, buying two or three $500 and printing them right before the trip. with that said after talking with the desk this past trip, and we haven't dived into this yet so others can give negatives to this, We were told we could take all of those cards and load them onto one card before the trip on the Gift card website. We will be experimenting with this as we plan the next trip.

You can combine up to $1000 on a single gift card. I prefer to keep my balances lower and spread them over several cards.

 

[Headless]

Thanks good to know it maxes out at 1k.

 

[eticketplease]

We just got back from our fourth yearly trip and every year we've use gift cards as others have mentioned to pay off the room. I also pay off the night before but make sure you do it there at the latest. Room charges at the end of your stay trigger around 2 or 3 am so if you go down the morning you leave your credit card you put the stay on is going to be VERY sad.

We get gift cards using the target red card trick and up to now we've just brought all of them, buying two or three $500 and printing them right before the trip. with that said after talking with the desk this past trip, and we haven't dived into this yet so others can give negatives to this, We were told we could take all of those cards and load them onto one card before the trip on the Gift card website. We will be experimenting with this as we plan the next trip.

No negatives from me.

People will tell you not to keep the cards stored on the disneygiftcard.com website as it is not a wallet and it can get hacked.

I have never had an issue and they require an email/text message before adding/deleting cards and transferring balances.

 

[SkampyOne]

I even used DGCs to buy a painting last year at Festival of the Arts! I don't remember ever not being able to use them - I use them to pay for my AP, my DVC dues and I've even used them at the Character Warehouse store at the outlet. Love going to Disney for "free" #DisneyMath

 

[MickeyP]

Are you allowed to pay the Dolphin and Swan with Disney GC's or better to pay with Marriott payment?

 

[georgina]

Are you allowed to pay the Dolphin and Swan with Disney GC's or better to pay with Marriott payment?

Not sure. I'm guessing not at the front desk, but I've never tried. If you booked through Disney (is it possible to book them through Disney?) you may be able to use them to pay ahead on the reservation through disney, but I've never tried as I always book through the Marriott site.

 

[robinb]

No negatives from me.

People will tell you not to keep the cards stored on the disneygiftcard.com website as it is not a wallet and it can get hacked.

I have never had an issue and they require an email/text message before adding/deleting cards and transferring balances.

They added two factor authentication recently too.

 

[gottalovepluto]

… Room charges at the end of your stay trigger around 2 or 3 am so if you go down the morning you leave your credit card you put the stay on is going to be VERY sad…

They refund your cc on check-out if you want to pay with gc the morning of. It’s not a big deal, you do have to wait about a week for the refund to process depending on your issuer.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Are you allowed to pay the Dolphin and Swan with Disney GC's or better to pay with Marriott payment?

No. They are not a Disney property so neither the hotels nor their venues accept Disney gift cards.

You might be able to use DGCs if you book via a WDW travel company package but usually people get better rates direct with Swolphin.