Paying for meals with gift cards?

[Tir na nOg]

My son and I each received gift cards for the holidays. One is a prepaid Visa and the others are Landry's gift cards. I assume I can use the Landry's cards at either the Rainforest Cafe or Yak & Yeti, but does anyone know if we can use the prepaid Visa at any dining location at WDW?

 

[jcc0621]

We used Visa gift cards for meals at several CS locations as well as at O'Hana's and Sci Fi and had no problems with them in August. HTH

 

[Tir na nOg]

Thanks for the quick response. I'm glad to hear they shouldn't be a problem.

 

[swanwed6206]

I second that- should be no problem; if you remember please post back here after you try...

 

[Tir na nOg]

Thanks for the input. We're not going until September, so hopefully I'll remember to respond.

 

[dioxide45]

Be careful with the prepaid Visa card. Restaurants generally will over authorize the card when they run it to cover a tip. This may cause the card to be declined. Just make sure that you have plenty on the card over the amount you will be spending at the restaurant and you will be fine. They are more difficult to use if you are spending more than the value on the card.

You also indicated that you were not going until September. You may want to check the expiration on the prepaid Visa cards. I know many start to loose value after 6 months of non use. If they do, you may want to use them for a small transaction in April or May to start the 6 month clock again. You may want to find out when they were purchased, because the 6 month clock starts when they were bought.

 

[Tir na nOg]

dioxide45, you've got me running to check the card! I am happy to report that it expires in July 2009 (it'll be used up waaay before then), and if there is a balance on the card for more than 12 months after the purchase of the card, $1.50 will be applied as a service charge for each month unused. Thank you for pointing this out to me, as it is a very good thing to know. I figure if they give me a hassle with the card at any restaurant, I'll just pay for the meal using another form of payment, and use the Visa card at DTD

 

[Rustysmom]

Keep an eye on the balance on your gift cards! We won a trip to Disney and went last month, and part of the prize was a $250 Disney gift card. We spent it on food.

We ate a meal at 1900 Park Fare, gave the card with a balance of $125 (or $127, I forget now) left to the server, and she came back and said that there was only $13 on the card! I was so upset. DH had to pay the rest in cash out of his pocket, which was over $80. The server didn't know what happened and kind of looked at us like we were lying, then we went to the front desk and they had no idea. It wasn't until we went to the GF concierge desk that someone called the Disney gift card people and found out that the server put the charge through 2 times. I was so upset that I didn't even think to call the number on the back of the card, plus it was late and I didn't even think they would be open. They immediately put the money back on the card.

We went and told the people at the restaurant desk what happened, just to let them know in case it happened to anyone else, and she said that the server should have known if the computer was giving her problems and should have asked for help, and that she was going to talk to her. I don't know if she ever actually did or not, but the whole thing really upset us and ruined the whole night.

 

[Tir na nOg]

That's terrible! I am sorry that happened to you. I was glad to hear that you got your money back - it was unfortunate that it was after you had paid OOP. Thanks for sharing your story, it's through other people's experiences that we learn what to watch for. I will keep an eye on the balance, although I am hoping to blow the whole wad in one place!