Question about merging gift cards?

[DisDiana]

On last week's budget planning segment, the team talked about being able to merge gift cards purchased at Target into one gift card to help manage the budget -- especially if a refund returned to the original form of tender.

My question is this -- I thought they said the Disney Store could convert multiple cards into one, but I called my local Disney Store here in Michigan and they told me that they could not. Where else can I try to call to see if they will merge gift cards?

Thanks in advance for your response!

 

[cmwade77]

Currently, officially, you can merge Disney Gift cards ONLY at the theme parks. Disney stores and over the phone are not able to do so.

That being said, some Disney stores will allow you to purchase gift cards with Disney gift cards and you can use multiple gift cards on the same purchase.

So, let's say that I had five $50 gift cards, I would hand a new gift card to the cashier and say that I wanted to put $250 on it, when asked to pay for it, I would simply hand over the five $50 gift cards.

The official policy is that you aren't allowed to do this; however, some managers will allow it, so when you call your Disney store, the correct question to ask is can I pay for Disney gift cards with a gift card? Additionally, some states require stores to allow this, so you may want to check what your state laws are in regards to gift cards.

 

[DisDiana]

Thank you for the response!

 

[Stinasmom]

I asked this on a previous from that didn't get a answer.
I heard that if you use a gift card to pay for a meal that includes a tip your card can be held for secondary processing for more than a day or two leaving you unable to use that card again until it's "unfrozen?"

If this is the case it seems better to keep multiple lower denomination cards then to combine them.

 

[cmwade77]

I asked this on a previous from that didn't get a answer.
I heard that if you use a gift card to pay for a meal that includes a tip your card can be held for secondary processing for more than a day or two leaving you unable to use that card again until it's "unfrozen?"

If this is the case it seems better to keep multiple lower denomination cards then to combine them.

That is not true for Disney gift cards, they are processed immediately after you enter the tip amount. This can happen with Debit card and gift visa cards and the like though.

 

[Stinasmom]

That is not true for Disney gift cards, they are processed immediately after you enter the tip amount. This can happen with Debit card and gift visa cards and the like though.

Thank you! I like the idea of getting gift cards of up to $200 here and there before our trip and not worring about it.
We're cruising on the Fantasy after our week at WDW, so every penny will get used off our prepurchased gift cards!