How do you pay for food, etc in disneyland?

[bbangel]

I get Rainforest Cafe cards (through a rewards program--mypoints.com) and I add $50 to my gift cards whenever possible.

You may want to be careful with these as Landry's is reportedly in some trouble. You don't want to have cards that you won't use for awhile or you may get stuck with cards you can use at all.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just buy the GC at Disneyland/DCA. Like I said, I don't have a store near enough, so I just toss the money into savings until right before my trip, move it to checking, and just buy the giftcards once I'm there.

There ARE some vendors who take giftcards...the coffee cart that's semi-permanent outside the castle does, and I'm almost certain the fruit cart along main street does, too.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I use only credit cards too with a small amount in cash. CCs give you protection if lost or stolen, it is good at DLR and everywhere else, mine give me money back, and you don't have to spend a certain amount to use up the card. Also, I would never put too much on one gift card because I don't trust those magnetic stripes.

 

[luvsmickey1968]

I seem to be in the minority but I always exchange my money in Canada and get some cash and the rest in travelers cheques.
I do not want to carry a lot of cash in case it gets lost so I feel a lot better having the travelers cheques.
I also prefer to know in advance how much exchange I have paid on the money as opposed to putting things on my credit card and not knowing what the exchange is going to be on the day that they put the charge through. It is my understanding that the credit card companies set their own exchange rates. I don't like not knowing exactly how much money something is costing me and the exchange rate fluctuates daily.
Contrary to things that I have heard, I have never had a problem cashing travelers cheques anywhere in the Disneyland Resort or California and I used them on my last nine trips.
The only places that might not take them are the little carts that sell ice cream and such but I always make sure that I have cash on me for the little things.
I have also had no problem cashing them at my hotel also and sometimes just cash one in before I leave in the morning for convenience.
I have also used a travelers cheque to purchase a gift card just because I like to keep the gift cards as souvenirs once I have spent all the money.
I would enquire at your bank as to the exchange rate and fees on the travelers cheques and then with the company who you have the credit card with to see which is the least expensive option.
Have fun!

 

[albertamommyof4]

thanks again everyone,
I will check my bank and my credit card for exchange rates.

 

[DizMe]

You may want to be careful with these as Landry's is reportedly in some trouble. You don't want to have cards that you won't use for awhile or you may get stuck with cards you can use at all.

Hmm, thanks for the warning! My wording was very poor ("I get Rainforest Cafe cards and I add $50 to my gift cards whenever possible") because it looks like I meant that I add $50 to my RFC cards. What I meant was I get the gc's for RFC (Landry's) with mypoints rewards and I also add $50 whenever I can to my Disney gift cards

The advantage to me with adding $50 every now and then to a Disney gc over the phone is I can use dh's credit card to do it If anyone wants to know how you do that, you just call 1-800-362-4533 and press "1" when you get to the options. You'll have to have your gift card in front of you because they'll need the number. Then you can reload the gc with a credit or debit card. It takes about 24 hours for the new amount to show up on the card.

 

[bumbershoot]

I use only credit cards too with a small amount in cash. CCs give you protection if lost or stolen, it is good at DLR and everywhere else, mine give me money back, and you don't have to spend a certain amount to use up the card. Also, I would never put too much on one gift card because I don't trust those magnetic stripes.

FWIW the magnetic stripe doesn't matter...the number is what hooks you up to wherever the info is being held in their systems... The stripes on a few of mine haven't worked since the beginning, and I've held up many a line at Disney making them key all those numbers in!

CA law allows you to get money back from the GCs once they are under $10, and you can use them forever anyway, and on disneyshopping!

I carry the receipt for the GC separately from the GC, so that if I lose the GC while at disney I can get it replaced.

 

[oc_tony]

We buy gift cards. It keeps us in budget and when we are planning a big trip, buying 100 dollars a week is not as noticeable as the huge credit card bill at the end of a trip.

 

[mystic_path]

I generally pay with my credit cards, but if I want cash, at the beginning of my trip I will take with me enough to get me through a day or 2, and if I need more cash I go to a local bank in anaheim or one of the many bank machines all throughout the park/s and get more to last me for a day or 2.

 

[PinkBudgie]

FWIW the magnetic stripe doesn't matter...the number is what hooks you up to wherever the info is being held in their systems... The stripes on a few of mine haven't worked since the beginning, and I've held up many a line at Disney making them key all those numbers in!

CA law allows you to get money back from the GCs once they are under $10, and you can use them forever anyway, and on disneyshopping!

I carry the receipt for the GC separately from the GC, so that if I lose the GC while at disney I can get it replaced.

That's good to know there is another way to find out the amount. I worry about that. We always budget in our heads, so we know how much to spend on the credit card. I know the gift cards don't expire but I hate having one sit around for a long time.

 

[fairykin]

i keep a savings account for disneyland.
and each month i put a designated amount in it, paying it like it was the light bill or water bill.
then when we go to disneyland, i use my chase rewards disney visa.
this card combined with the premium passholder cards gets me great benefits and discounts.
when i return home, i pay off the card with my savings.
and begin saving all over again.

 

[Stacerita]

I just use my debit card and only bring small amount of cash for the carts that don't take debit cards.

 

[funnygarcia]

Here's a tip that I have used to get around ATM fees/cash advance fees when you need cash at DL, buy Disney Dollars at the Emporium on Main Street. They are charged to your credit card as a merchandise item.
Only the cash register in the middle back area of the store can "sell" disney dollars.

Use at the carts and ask for regular cash back for your change. Or if you buy too much and really need regular dollars... bring the disney dollars and the receipt to the Emporium and they will be happy to exchange it into cash.

The Disney GCs are for sale at each of the stores in DL. That was handy to give to my teenagers for their lunch when they went exploring on their own. They just had to find us when they ran out of money.

 

[caimakale]

We usually take $1,000 to $2,000 cash (depending on the length of our stay). We keep it in our carry-on luggage and lock it in the room safe at our hotel(s). I have a family of 5 so I will usually pull out ~$100 per day for breakfast and lunch and a snack or two. Our dinner is usually a character meal that I have already paid for. We do mix it up a little though. Sometimes our breakfast is the character meal so the ~$100 is used for lunch and dinner.

I like the gift card idea. I think I will start setting aside some $$$ from each paycheck and put it directly on a disney GC.

 

[nunzia]

We buy big gift cards (to supplement what I get from SR, like bbangel) and work from them. For us that's nicer to just have an even number in the checkbook, rather than 100 separate little line items to remember and write down and reconcile.

Now that wamu is chase, the ATMs in the park work for me, and on this upcoming solo trip I'll move my trip money to my wamu, and get cash when I get there, rather than worrying about carrying it with me.

I live too far from a disney store to buy a GC there.

You can order form the Disney store online..free shipping as the OP said.. I like having GC to use..I just can't seem to get any Sunshine Rewards. I hardly ever qualify for surveys and I'm not going to buy stuff to get the credits..

 

[DizMe]

You can order form the Disney store online..free shipping as the OP said.. I like having GC to use..I just can't seem to get any Sunshine Rewards. I hardly ever qualify for surveys and I'm not going to buy stuff to get the credits..

You might try mypoints.com. I didn't do well with Sunshine rewards either, but I seem to rack up a lot of points on mypoints. You do have to click on a lot of emails, but each time you do it gives you points. You don't have to read them, just click it and you're credited. If you make purchases online, almost anything can give you points but you have to remember to go through the mypoints website first to get the credit. Unfortunately you can't get Disney gc's with your rewards, but you can get many other non-Disney hotel, dining, and shopping rewards. I got Rainforest cards for all 4 of my trips since October (7 $25 cards) and still have lots of points left. You can also use them for gas cards, Starbucks cards and air miles. If you go to the website you can look up all of the rewards. One tip: I get a lot of points by buying Lancome stuff. I have to admit that I wouldn't normally buy makeup that way but it pays for itself in the amount of points I get from them, which is 2500 for a $50 purchase. With that purchase I get some nice makeup, a whole bunch of samples, and an extra gift for signing up on the Lancome site. For comparison purposes, a RFC card takes 3500 points. If you buy anything on ebay I think you get 2 points per dollar. You learn pretty fast who gives the most points. I sometimes buy airfare through Orbitz or Travelocity because even though I pay an extra fee of $4, I get more points. The airline will give you 1-2 points per dollar but Orbitz and Travelocity give you a flat 500 so you might do better with one over the other.

edited to add: Purchases from disneyshopping.com give you points, you just can't get rewards for Disney

 

[Lasty K]

I carry cash. That's because it's only my GF and I going.

So we'll do $80 at most, on a good day..$100.

Sometimes we load it onto our reloadable credit card. It can be used at the ATM, as well as charged as Debit/Credit. We'll load in like $60, while carrying $20 for those cart snacks and such.