How to handle $$$ in the parks without Magic Band...

[atilley01]

We are staying off property and won't have the option of linking a credit card to our Magic Band. For others without Magic Bands, how do you handle carrying money into the parks? Do you bring a credit or debit card, cash, gift cards....?

What's the best way to handle money without a Magic Band?

Thanks!

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I use my debit/credit cards, and one of the wristband gift cards during Food & Wine for convenience and budgeting. I've never carried cash in any of the parks (and I almost never carry it anywhere).

 

[BeerMe]

I don't understand why you would handle money any differently in the park than you would outside the parks. I like the MB option a lot but if you can't use it, you can't use it. No big deal.

 

[minnie mum]

Like Beer Me, we just do as we do anywhere else in the real world. A credit card plus cash as a back up when ( not if) the system crashes and the registers can't process MB/CC transactions.

 

[atilley01]

I don't understand why you would handle money any differently in the park than you would outside the parks. I like the MB option a lot but if you can't use it, you can't use it. No big deal.

I ask because the circumstances of how I carry money day to day is different from being at a theme park. I normally just use my debit card for everything but it's carried in a wallet, in my purse, which I'll have neither of in the parks. Just curious how other people do it.

 

[Alesia]

I carry a credit card (never a debit card) and $20 in cash.

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

I use a small crossbody and carry some cash and a debit card plus id and insurance card. My H carries the same plus a credit card.

 

[jmccoy18]

We take a credit card and gift cards, no cash

 

[rwdavis2]

I don't understand why you would handle money any differently in the park than you would outside the parks. I like the MB option a lot but if you can't use it, you can't use it. No big deal.

Yes. How do you function in everyday life without a magic band?
edit: I would never go into a park without at least in id, credit card and cash. Sometimes the MB system goes down.

 

[NeuroCindy]

I got an Iphone case that has room for 2 cards. So I carried my disney credit card and ID.

 

[NeuroCindy]

I don't understand why you would handle money any differently in the park than you would outside the parks. I like the MB option a lot but if you can't use it, you can't use it. No big deal.

Yes. How do you function in everyday life without a magic band?

Because most women don't want to carry their whole wallet (which won't fit in a pocket) or purse.

 

[samsteele]

Before I leave home, I transfer the bare essentials that I need into a small, thin travel wallet and keep this in a small cross-body bag. Its those plastic affinity cards that we use for weekly shopping that cause havoc in our regular ladies wallets. For easy small purchases, I use a snack-sz ziplock bag for a small amount of cash in small bills and that goes into a zipped pocket in my capris/shorts.

 

[Thumper1066]

I give everyone a gift card. This helps with the budget too. I use a credit card. I don't normally carry cash, except for tip money. I keep the cc and a little cash in a small plastic sleeve like those used for ID's in a pouch tucked in my B--. It has worked on 6 continents and I am sure it will continue to work at WDW.

 

[IrishNYC]

Same way I function in every day life without a MB.

I rarely carry a purse or bag. I carry a small wallet that fits in my pocket or just my phone which has a slot in the case for 3 cards and a bill.

 

[Moonwolf]

Before I leave home, I transfer the bare essentials that I need into a small, thin travel wallet

This is exactly what I do. And this goes through for any vacation not just Disney. I have no need for all my random cards anywhere but home so home is where they stay when I'm out on vacation. I keep my CC, Drivers License and Medical card with me along with some cash and they all go in a small wallet that I can either put in my pocket or more likely put at the bottom of my park bag. MBs help where I don't have to dig them out every time I need to pay for something but I feel better knowing I have an alternate method of payment should something happen. (and it's a good thing I do because on my last day I hit the room credit limit and needed to us my actual CC to pay before I got everything cleared up at the hotel)

 

[bumbershoot]

I normally just use my debit card for everything but it's carried in a wallet, in my purse, which I'll have neither of in the parks.

You will see plenty of people with bags (that likely have wallets in them) and even purses. I've been carrying one of my Disneyland purses every day in the parks with me (Disneyland trip) this week. You just trim down what you normally carry. I have to carry sunscreen, Rescue Remedy, my camera, etc with me anyway, so a purse works great for that.

If you want a small wallet, the sideswipe wallet (just google it) is terrific.

If you want, get a nice lanyard (I'm partial to my Ravenclaw "school tie" style lanyard) and buy a hard plastic waterproof case to put cards/cash in. I use a clear Witz-brand one; they are called See It Safe. I got mine at REI.

Even when I choose to bring a magic band in, even if I choose to set up room charging (which is rare, and generally only when the resort has messed up and has decided to give us their typical $200 on the account, which FORCES you to set up room charging), I bring:

driver's license (or passport, currently, as I lost my wallet and am waiting on my replacement DL to arrive)
CC
debit card (Disney Chase)
Ticket/AP depending on where I am and what I have
insurance card (just b/c the law says an ER has to treat doesn't mean they won't come in every 36 seconds asking you or your companions for your insurance card!)
a bit of cash

 

[AngiTN]

We never stay off site so we always have our MB
but we did stop by the park 1 day when in the area for something else and it was strange to not have a MB to use.
I always have my DV with me though, not because I think the system will crash and I need something but because I bring it for the DV meet and greets. You have to have your card for those so I always stick my AP, my DV, and my ID in a pouch that goes in my pocket or in DH's pocket.
So on our day we went to AK without a resort stay we just used that

 

[2girlsmom]

I carry a wristlet wallet in the parks, in which I have my id, annual pass, tables in wonderland card, disney visa debit, and usually some cash. I do get the wristlet gift cards at Epcot during food & wine festival, which is more about letting everyone have their own "money" for the food booths than anything else (we usually put $50 or $75 per card, and that way the teens can get what they want).

 

[disnut8]

I ask because the circumstances of how I carry money day to day is different from being at a theme park. I normally just use my debit card for everything but it's carried in a wallet, in my purse, which I'll have neither of in the parks. Just curious how other people do it.

I take a very small bag (canvas so it bends) that I can put cross ways on my body so I don't have to worry about it falling off when I'm walking. I can fit my phone (for a clock), my photo ID (I never travel without it), my medical card (yes, I might need it), my credit card, $20 in cash (just in case), my car key (house keys are back in the resort room safe), chap stick, and park admission. The biggest pain in the butt to carry is the phone but I don't wear a watch and my mother-in-law is 79 so it's necessary. Otherwise, I could go bagless.

 

[epcotty]

I carry cash and a credit card in my wallet there and always feel safe. We still don't have magicbands yet