Paying for Meals BEFORE we get there

[sanjacprof]

I'm not doing the Disney Dining Plan, however, I want to have money for all of the meals paid for before we go.

Would you suggest saving up Disney Dollars, or getting a Visa gift card that I can reload every paycheck. (We are not leaving until June 2009). AND..if I do this, can it be used in the Disney Parks?

Is there another way that you would suggest? I just want to have everything paid for before we leave, so we can really enjoy everything.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[lastminutemom]

If it were me, I would open an ING or other savings account and put the money in there and then right before the trip convert it to either a disney card or disney dollars.

What if something happens and you have to cancel your trip? Then you are stuck with a disney gift card or disney dollars that you can't use for anything else.

Just my opinion...

 

[creativeamanda]

Getting a Visa Gift card sounds doable. I'm putting $ in a savings account for spending money that is linked to a Visa Check Card.

 

[hvivona]

I got an ING account for this very thing. The bonus is that you earn interest on what you are saving. You can withdraw money anytime you want with no penalties.

 

[all4fun]

A quick question, what happens if you lose your gift card or it gets stolen? Is there a way to cancel it and get a new card?

Are you planning on eating all your meals at WDW?

 

[danx2plus3more]

i would not do a gift card this early...they do have penilties after so long..then your throwing your money away...i like the saving account idea

 

[Mike N Kathy]

I wouldnt go with the gift card idea

 

[bumbershoot]

Those Visa-type gift cards often have penalties.

But the Disney giftcards don't, and don't expire.

Personally, I put money aside in savings, so I earn interest on it. Then I get to DLR, run into a gift shop, and buy a Disney giftcard to use while there. I haven't bought just one with ALL the money on it, b/c I like the designs on the cards, so instead I have, on previous trips, just put a certain amount on one, use that for the day, and the next day buy another, use it, etc. By doing that I ended up spending a fifth of what I budgeted, b/c it turned out we just weren't spending all I thought we would!

We have upcoming DLR trips, and an end-of-year WDW trip in the works, and that's what I'm going to do (b/c I just can't make the numbers work for me and our typical Disney eating habits using the DDP, even though I WANT to try it) for those trips. Though now I have just about every design I want in giftcard, so I'll just reload them, not buy more.

 

[surfgirl]

DON"T buy a gift card... sometimes you need to use them within 6 months or start paying a monthly 'fee'. You could end up with it being a major hassle.

We have Commerce close by... lots of free services, no fees. Open a new account earmarked for Disney. Get a debit card tied to it. Then you can just use that account to handle all Disney stuff. You can also use it to just do plain old cash withdrawals and just pay for small stuff that way.

I personally wouldn't buy Disney dollars either... what if you end up spending less than you planned ? You've then got money that you HAVE to spend in Disney and can't save for next time.... whereas if it is in an account, it can sit there and grow...