oh man...I messed up!

[cepmom]

I had a room only reservation at Pop Century for 12/17 - 12/21 for DH and I. Yesterday I looked in to the Disney Free Dining offer that is out and went ahead and changed my reservation to that instead. It is more money than I had budgeted for our room only trip. (what I had budgeted for food, room, etc) We already have tickets from a previous trip and had budgeted for only CS meals ths trip, so for a a couple hundred more than my original budget, I figured we'd get (2) more 1 day base tickets and some really great TS meals. No brainer right?

Well, a big part of my budget was to use my Disney Rewards card and some Disney gift cards I am working towards earning through Sunshine Rewards. I will not actually have these gift cards/rewards until begining of December. I am hoping to have approx $250 between the gift cards and the Disney Rewards card.

The problem is I need to pay off the package by 11/2. I will have to pay for the package with my credit card. We can bring the $250 in gift cards with us, but I doubt we'llbe spending that much out of pocket since we'll be on the dining plan. I really was hoping to use the gift cards towards the the total package price.

Does anyone know, if I pay off the package with my credit card when it's due, could I call back before the actual trip and ask them to refund the credit card I used and pay with the gift cards/rewards card instead?

 

[LizAgna]

If you pay for your package with your Disney Visa you will have 6 months to pay it interest free. Once it is paid I don't believe you can have part of it credited and then pay for it a different way but I'm not sure.

I hope it all works out for you. Budgeting is becoming more important for ALL of us these days and when we do something that we feel "blows our budget" we tend to get nervous.

I'm sure you will enjoy free dining!! Be sure to make your ADRs as soon as possible!

 

[mmmbop]

Could you connect the giftcard to your room key & charge tip to your room key?

 

[cepmom]

I called Disney and asked them about applying the gift cards/rewards card to the package price after I have already paid in full using my Visa card and get my Visa refunded and she said yes I could do that anytime before our arrival!!! yay....crisis averted! What a relief!

 

[LizAgna]

I called Disney and asked them about applying the gift cards/rewards card to the package price after I have already paid in full using my Visa card and get my Visa refunded and she said yes I could do that anytime before our arrival!!! yay....crisis averted! What a relief!

Great!!!! Now you can enjoy your Free Dining trip!!! Have fun!!

 

[cepmom]

Great!!!! Now you can enjoy your Free Dining trip!!! Have fun!!

thanks!! I am so excited!! Our original reservation was for room only at Pop Century, but when I called about the free dining, they only had preferred room at ASMo available so I switched. When I called today, I asked if there were any standard rooms available and there were at Pop Century! So now we're back at Pop, and saved some more money to boot!! Got my ADR's all lined up and now just counting down the days!

 

[LizAgna]

YAY!! We LOVE Pop!! I'm glad it all worked out for you!! Where will you be eating?

 

[princess&her4princes]

Woohoo! Have fun!!!

 

[cepmom]

I have ADR's at The Wave, Whispering Canyon, Tutto Italia and Kona Cafe. I really wanted to try LeCellier, but of course at this late date, there are no ADR's left. Not so sure about the Wave, but DH thought it looked good so we'll give it a try!

 

[TheRatPack]

Plus, don't forget you'll have to tip at sit down (table service) restaurants.....so budget that in as well We just put some on our room key and that way we always charged it to that at the restaurant. The night before checkout they leave a list of charges on your door, so you can check them against your receipts

 

[Disney Dreams]

I have ADR's at The Wave, Whispering Canyon, Tutto Italia and Kona Cafe. I really wanted to try LeCellier, but of course at this late date, there are no ADR's left. Not so sure about the Wave, but DH's thought it looked good so we'll give it a try!

We got a Le Cellier ADR for lunch (although we wanted dinner) with only 2 weeks to go. People cancel. Call every day. 2x a day if you can. Lunch was great!

Have a great trip,
Dreams

 

[cepmom]

Plus, don't forget you'll have to tip at sit down (table service) restaurants.....so budget that in as well We just put some on our room key and that way we always charged it to that at the restaurant. The night before checkout they leave a list of charges on your door, so you can check them against your receipts

yup ~ got that on my budget as well! I always charge to the room also...I like getting the print out at the end so I can better budget for next time!

We got a Le Cellier ADR for lunch (although we wanted dinner) with only 2 weeks to go. People cancel. Call every day. 2x a day if you can. Lunch was great!

Have a great trip,
Dreams

ooohhh! There's hope yet! I have called a couple times to see and nothing yet, but I will keep trying. thanks!

 

[LizAgna]

I have ADR's at The Wave, Whispering Canyon, Tutto Italia and Kona Cafe. I really wanted to try LeCellier, but of course at this late date, there are no ADR's left. Not so sure about the Wave, but DH's thought it looked good so we'll give it a try!

Those sound good...I can't wait to try the Wave...let us know how it is!! Good Luck with LeCellier it is one of our favorites!!

 

[cjnix29]

Is free dining really worth breaking the budget and maybe not being able to pay the way you wanted to in the first place? I mean, if you are used to eating counter service, you will still have to pay for tips at TS.

 

[cepmom]

Is free dining really worth breaking the budget and maybe not being able to pay the way you wanted to in the first place? I mean, if you are used to eating counter service, you will still have to pay for tips at TS.

we're not breaking the budget...it's just that I had wanted to use the free gift cards I will get and our Disney Rewards to pay for the trip. Originally I had a room only reservation which is required to be paid for at the time of check in (excluding the one night deposit) I had intended to use the gift/reward cards to pay towards either the room balance or the food expenses we would have had.

Now that I have a free dining reservation, the package will need to be paid for in advance and as we will be on the dining plan, we will have less food expenses during the trip itself. I will have approx $250 in gift/rewards cards and I doubt we'll spend that much on tips/additional food not on the plan.

It totally makes more sense for us to do the free dining package. Our room only reservation was $310 and I budgeted $250 for food expenses, so $560 total. Our free dining package is $512. Add in say $100 for tips and it's still a no brainer. $52 extra for (2) one day base tickets we wouldn't have otherwise and (4) TS meals we wouldn't have otherwise done.