Gift cards

[babesboo99]

Just wondering if anyone uses Disney gift cards for either QS or TS meals? Wondering if I should do that instead of DP

 

[Mle8308]

Gift cards are nice because you are not limited to using them for only food. So if at the end of our trip, you still have money left on them, you could use it for souvenirs or for your next trip! And you pay for what you want to eat, not what you feel you should be eating to get the most out of a DP.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

I have used gift cards to pay for meals.
I've used the dining plan 15+ times and I no longer think its worth it.
I also would not go out and purchase gift cards even if slightly discounted to pay for meals.

 

[highlander357]

I have stocked up on GCs, buying them for less than face value at Target, and used them for dining. If not for the discount I wouldn’t have gone through the effort and risk of losing them.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Use them all the time! If the dining plan doesn’t math out for you, gc are a great option. Keep in mind that they’ll give you more flexibility, so if you don’t want all the parts of a meal you could grab something else somewhere else!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I do - Last trip in June I bought the same amount of gift cards that I would have spent for DDP. Ended up saving $1000 - used some to book a bounce back for July 2025 and started saving them again for next year's trip!

 

[PadawanGirl]

I have stocked up on GCs, buying them for less than face value at Target, and used them for dining. If not for the discount I wouldn’t have gone through the effort and risk of losing them.

I use the Target trick too! It's a great way to save a bit of money. Not to mention having a gift card with a set balance encourages me to stay within my snack budget as it's easier to keep track of how much I've already spent

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

We are not fans of the DP, so we use GC to pay for meals all the time. All purchased with some kind of discount and then we have AP so we get that discount as well. So for us it's a better savings to us GC.

 

[tinkerbella16]

I pay for all of my food, drinks, snacks with a gift card every trip now. I don't think the DDP is worth it, so this is what works best for us. I always come home with money on the card and that gets saved for food for the next trip.

 

[BrightMorningStar]

If I have them, I use them. Never an issue and it is convenient.

 

[Sugardimples]

We buy a gift card at Target every payday. By the time we go on our next trip we have enough to pay for all of our meals.

 

[Debbie Jean]

I use a gift card for all food. I do carry cash for tips at TS… makes it easier for me to keep track of the balance. I have the GC number in my phone so if I do an online order, I can just copy and paste.

Super easy… and almost always have money left over.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I’m stocking up on gift cards now. Less expensive per day than the DP and if you have an AP another way to save money. Not sure if the AP discount works at any QS places though.

 

[babydoll65]

I buy all of my Disney gift cards from Target to save the 5% with my redcard..Also I purchase starbucks, Lyft and Southwest gift cards from target saving the five percent which helps with my entire trip for breakfast , transportation and flights.

 

[georgina]

I have bought them with credit card offers (10% cash back at CVS, Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc) also shopping sites like retail me not sometime have Disney online store at 10, 12, 14% cash back. Sam's Club sometimes has deals on Disney GC also.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I am stocking up on GC's now for October. DH has a CC incentive of $300 for using a card he hasn't used in years. The rest are whatever % off I can get. I get lots of cash back monthly from other CC's and buy the equivalent plus a bit extra in a Dis GC with that. We should be in good shape by then.

Our Disney Visa and DVC gets us 10% on some dining. We gave up AP's last year. We are doing a split stay this year - one night at Poly (might get DDP QS) since we can use it next day. Five nights at AKV 1 BR so we'll use GC's/discounts then.

Any money saved adds up!

 

[ncc1701]

We used Gift Cards instead of the Dining Plan. As others have said it allows us to order how we want. I buy them at a local grocery that give bonus reward points for buying gift cards.
For DH & I the Dining Plan doesn't with how we eat. The only time we had it was a free promo ( no room discount available).