Reservation question and Disney Savings Account

[MamaBear12]

We're thinking about going to WDW for a couple days between Christmas and New Years. Just checked and resorts are pretty booked. I'm thinking I should make the reservation now before options are even more limited, and then cancel if we ultimately decide not to go (which we will decide before the nov cancel/change date). Since I would be getting the tickets as part of the hotel package, if we cancel, will that cancel the tickets as well?

On another note, if I'm planning to buy discounted gift cards to pay for the trip, is it worth opening a Disney savings account now? It has to be opened at least 4 months before the trip to get the $20 per $1,000 bonus, correct? At what point after making the reservation (with my credit card) do I switch payment to the DSA? Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

We're thinking about going to WDW for a couple days between Christmas and New Years. Just checked and resorts are pretty booked. I'm thinking I should make the reservation now before options are even more limited, and then cancel if we ultimately decide not to go (which we will decide before the nov cancel/change date). Since I would be getting the tickets as part of the hotel package, if we cancel, will that cancel the tickets as well?

If you cancel a package, you cancel every part of it - room, tickets and dining plan (if you included it).

On another note, if I'm planning to buy discounted gift cards to pay for the trip, is it worth opening a Disney savings account now? It has to be opened at least 4 months before the trip to get the $20 per $1,000 bonus, correct? At what point after making the reservation (with my credit card) do I switch payment to the DSA? Thanks!

You're cutting it close but you're still within the 120 days + 30-day final payment deadline. If you make a deposit with your credit card, no further payments need to be made with your CC. You can switch to whatever form of payment Disney accepts any time afterward. Just keep in mind that all payments will be refunded to the original form of payment in the event of cancellation. IOW, your deposit made with a CC will be refunded to the CC. Payments made with the DVA will be refunded to the DVA. Refunds from the DVA will be handled in the same manner - if you added funds with a GC they will be returned to the GC, if you funded it with money via a bank transfer then it will be returned as cash to the bank account it came from, etc.

 

[MamaBear12]

Thank you for answering my questions!

You're cutting it close but you're still within the 120 days + 30-day final payment deadline.

So, I just opened a DSA with a small cc deposit. Do I need to have all the funds for the trip in there before the 120+30 day deadline to be eligible for the bonus GC? Or can I just add money to the account 31 days before the trip?

 

[Marionnette]

Thank you for answering my questions!



So, I just opened a DSA with a small cc deposit. Do I need to have all the funds for the trip in there before the 120+30 day deadline to be eligible for the bonus GC? Or can I just add money to the account 31 days before the trip?

You could put the funds in the account right before making your final payment. The account only needs to be open for 120 days before any eligible spending will count toward the bonus.

 

[MamaBear12]

You could put the funds in the account right before making your final payment. The account only needs to be open for 120 days before any eligible spending will count toward the bonus.

Great! Then I'm good to go.

 

[mrp4352]

If it helps any - I buy gift cards at the grocery store for the gas points (and reward dollars on my cc), move them to a "DVA gift card" on the Disney gift card, then deposit into my DVA from that specific gift card. That way, I'm only keeping up with one gift card for any refunds out of the DVA.

 

[MamaBear12]

If it helps any - I buy gift cards at the grocery store for the gas points (and reward dollars on my cc), move them to a "DVA gift card" on the Disney gift card, then deposit into my DVA from that specific gift card. That way, I'm only keeping up with one gift card for any refunds out of the DVA.

Thanks for the suggestion! That definitely simplifies things!