Giftcards to pay for entire trip?

[justme0729]

I am getting married at WDW in 2 years and I am thinking about paying for the following things with discounted Disney gift cards from Target, Sam's Club, etc.

• Wedding
• Dining Plan for 8 people (through DVC)
• Park Tickets for 8 people
• 3 night cruise for 2 people
• Wedding Dinner at Ohana
• Fireworks Cruise
• GF Spa services

Knowing that paying for all of these things with discounted Disney Gift Cards would save up to $1000 or more, has anyone run into problems doing this? Can you combine a bunch of $50 or $100 gift cards onto one huge gift card?

Thanks!

 

[PerfessorZ]

Yes, you can combine lots of smaller Disney cards into larger value ones. However, there is a limit of $1,000 per gift card. There is also a limit of 5 gift cards on the Disney Gift Card website. That said, it's possible to remove a gift card from your online "wallet" once you've hit your $1,000 limit, or you can set up another account to combine more.

Yet another option is to open a Disney Vacation Account to add the gift cards to.

ETA: The website is: http://www.disneygiftcard.com

 

[havaneselover]

Yes, you can combine lots of smaller Disney cards into larger value ones. However, there is a limit of $1,000 per gift card. There is also a limit of 5 gift cards on the Disney Gift Card website. That said, it's possible to remove a gift card from your online "wallet" once you've hit your $1,000 limit, or you can set up another account to combine more.

Yet another option is to open a Disney Vacation Account to add the gift cards to.

ETA: The website is: http://www.disneygiftcard.com

DVA is how I'm paying for a Disney cruise next year. Everything in it was a gift card deposit. And I plan to use it to pay for everything--fare, tips, excursions, souvenirs, photos, etc.

 

[ohionola]

The only issue with this is if something happens (marriage doesn't happen, loss of job, decide not to do wedding there) you will be stuck with thousands of dollars of dinsey gift cards. I personally pay for my trips with all gift cards but I have family members that have had to cancel trips and they refuse to do it.

 

[Marionnette]

The only issue with this is if something happens (marriage doesn't happen, loss of job, decide not to do wedding there) you will be stuck with thousands of dollars of dinsey gift cards. I personally pay for my trips with all gift cards but I have family members that have had to cancel trips and they refuse to do it.

I was under the impression that the OP either owned DVC or was close with someone who does. In that case, the Disney GCs could be used for paying dues in the event that the trip does not materialize.

 

[justme0729]

The only issue with this is if something happens (marriage doesn't happen, loss of job, decide not to do wedding there) you will be stuck with thousands of dollars of dinsey gift cards. I personally pay for my trips with all gift cards but I have family members that have had to cancel trips and they refuse to do it.

That is a good point to consider... I figure that even if plans change, I could always use it towards a different trip in the future since the cards don't expire and I won't buy them all 2 years out. I will probably gradually get them and as I get sooner to the date, I will buy more of them when I know that plans are pretty solid Thank you for pointing out the risk though because that does make sense!

I was under the impression that the OP either owned DVC or was close with someone who does. In that case, the Disney GCs could be used for paying dues in the event that the trip does not materialize.

My parents just bought a DVC membership through resale so that is also a good point that if for some reason, I didn't have a use for the gift cards, I could always exchange the gift cards with my parents and I wouldn't lose out.

So now I am thinking that I could save a good amount by doing the following. We can use gift cards stored in a Disney Vacation Account to pay for the DDP and tickets through DVC, correct?

• Putting discounted Disney gift cards into a Disney Vacation Account so that I save 5-10% on the gift cards on top of getting $20 per $1000 saved in DVA
• Getting Disney Visa Credit Card to pay for wedding so that I can get 2% back on wedding on top of a $100 gift card for opening account (can't pay for wedding with gift cards or DVA I don't think I just learned)

Any other tips, advice, or ideas?

 

[cjnix29]

if you have a spare $300, you can get discounted target gift cards today, but only today, at 10% off, which you can use to buy Disney gift cards from target.com. If you have a red card you can save an additional 5% when you order the disney cards online. There are tons of threads here giving the specifics on how to do that....

 

[justme0729]

if you have a spare $300, you can get discounted target gift cards today, but only today, at 10% off, which you can use to buy Disney gift cards from target.com. If you have a red card you can save an additional 5% when you order the disney cards online. There are tons of threads here giving the specifics on how to do that....

Thank you, I bought one online this morning! That is why I have been curious about using them and a disney vacation account

 

[cjnix29]

our last trip, I used gift cards to pay for the entire thing, as well as for everything we spent in the parks. I combined all of them via the disney gift card website, up to $1000, then paid our trip with them at the $45 day mark. I had estimated our spending for the week and put that on a gift card too, and just paid for everything with it. I don't try to charge to my room and then pay it off a couple of days at a time, as I am afraid I will miss the cutoff and have them charge my credit card. I just keep track of the balance on my gift card. Saves the CC shock after the trip!

 

[IndianaRRT]

Just a word to the wise--if you load Disney gift cards into your Disney Vacation Account and then request a refund, the amount(s) refunded go back on the same gift card(s). Make sure you hang on to them.