Rolling The Dice...What to Do?

[kristenrice]

Our next trip is October 2016, so I have time...

I need to order park tickets, preferably before a price increase, but more importantly, before the rumored "tiered pricing" goes into effect. We will be staying for a week and so I want either 6 or 7-day park hoppers. I'm looking at roughly $1250 that I will need in Disney gift cards and, of course, I want to maximize my savings.

So, even though Cardpool is only at 3% right now, should I get some more and order a few more $100 Disney gift cards? I have about $600 right now so I am halfway there. I have enough money in our bank account to cover the remaining tickets, but I want to get the best discount possible. I know that if I continue to wait, my savings will grow (more SB redemptions, Target FWP cards, etc) but I also run the risk that the tickets will change and the price will skyrocket, thus negating all of my savings.

I am fearful because of what happened with the DVC AP's...blackout dates forcing you to spend an extra $100/ticket to get your travel dates. Fortunately, we aren't planning an Easter trip this year so it doesn't effect us yet.

Historically, Disney has announced the changes and put them into effect within days. That won't leave me enough time to acquire any remaining gift cards that I may need. That's why I want to make sure I have them on hand. As it sits right now, I have the money...I just haven't converted it into the (discounted) gift cards.

So, what do you all suggest? Should I take advantage of the meager 3% + 5% discount that is AVAILABLE NOW...or do I wait it out and hope that a better discount comes along before a price increase??? Roll the dice? Or take my winnings and walk away??

 

[havaneselover]

Our next trip is October 2016, so I have time...

I need to order park tickets, preferably before a price increase, but more importantly, before the rumored "tiered pricing" goes into effect. We will be staying for a week and so I want either 6 or 7-day park hoppers. I'm looking at roughly $1250 that I will need in Disney gift cards and, of course, I want to maximize my savings.

So, even though Cardpool is only at 3% right now, should I get some more and order a few more $100 Disney gift cards? I have about $600 right now so I am halfway there. I have enough money in our bank account to cover the remaining tickets, but I want to get the best discount possible. I know that if I continue to wait, my savings will grow (more SB redemptions, Target FWP cards, etc) but I also run the risk that the tickets will change and the price will skyrocket, thus negating all of my savings.

I am fearful because of what happened with the DVC AP's...blackout dates forcing you to spend an extra $100/ticket to get your travel dates. Fortunately, we aren't planning an Easter trip this year so it doesn't effect us yet.

Historically, Disney has announced the changes and put them into effect within days. That won't leave me enough time to acquire any remaining gift cards that I may need. That's why I want to make sure I have them on hand. As it sits right now, I have the money...I just haven't converted it into the (discounted) gift cards.

So, what do you all suggest? Should I take advantage of the meager 3% + 5% discount that is AVAILABLE NOW...or do I wait it out and hope that a better discount comes along before a price increase??? Roll the dice? Or take my winnings and walk away??

Go on Sunday and buy $50 Disney gift cards. For every two you get a $5 Target gift card. Use your red card to pay. That's better than going through Raise.

 

[amylevan]

You already have some gift cards saved, so you might not be willing to go this route, but we just bought 7 day park hoppers from parksavers and saved 11%.

 

[kristenrice]

Go on Sunday and buy $50 Disney gift cards. For every two you get a $5 Target gift card. Use your red card to pay. That's better than going through Raise.

Question...

I have a PayPal debit card that I use exclusively for my vacations. I earn 1% rebate (in lieu of interest) every time I use it on a purchase. This is the card I use to purchase the discounted gift cards. Using the offer you mentioned, would I be able to purchase one of the Target pre-paid AMEX cards using my PayPal debit card (loading it with, say $95) and then use that AMEX to buy the Disney gift cards, thus saving the 5%??? Does this make sense? My alternative would be to put the gift cards on my Target card, then move the money from my PayPal account to my checking account to pay the bill, but that wouldn't earn me the extra 1%.

 

[davper]

Go on Sunday and buy $50 Disney gift cards. For every two you get a $5 Target gift card. Use your red card to pay. That's better than going through Raise.

Is this online or just in-store? Where did you see this?

 

[mad hatter fan]

I just looked at the Target ad online. It did not show Disney cards as included in the offer.

 

[horse11]

Why not buy some of your tickets now with the gift certificates and then buy the rest from park savers if there is indeed a 11% savings. Not sure you will do much better than 11%. Or at least buy some of your tickets with the gift certificates you have and
then wait it out if you choose or like others have said try to buy the Disney Gift cerificates At Target during their promotion to get the $5 target gift card then do the red card and save an additional 5%

 

[horse11]

I just looked at the Target ad online. It did not show Disney cards as included in the offer.

Some have gone to the store directly and got a manger to accept the Disney Gift cards as part of the promotion. You are taking a chance it will not work but if you live close to a Target store might be worth at least trying

 

[wendow]

I just looked at the Target ad online. It did not show Disney cards as included in the offer.

There is an offer that begins this next Sunday at Target. Buy TWO $50 Disney gift cards and get a $5 Target gift card. Pay with Redcard and save 5% on top of that.

 

[wendow]

I am 'rolling the dice' too right now. We are going in May 2016. I still haven't bought tickets. I am about $300 shy (family of 6 adds up!!). I've been doing so well with all the recent promos between eBay and Target that I am not ready to convert my current cards to Disney. But I need to buy tickets soon also!! I think my plan is to take advantage of the sale starting at Target this next week. That will be almost 10% savings. Buy enough to get our tickets and then start over with the churning game I've been doing.

 

[CMNJ]

There is an offer that begins this next Sunday at Target. Buy TWO $50 Disney gift cards and get a $5 Target gift card. Pay with Redcard and save 5% on top of that.

Wonder if this will definitely be offered online or if it will be an in store only promotion-since they offered different gift card deals this week

 

[wendow]

Wonder if this will definitely be offered online or if it will be an in store only promotion-since they offered different gift card deals this week

I'd LOVE for this to be online but I am expecting in-store only based on this week's offer.

 

[CMNJ]

I'd LOVE for this to be online but I am expecting in-store only based on this week's offer.

Yeah that's what I'm guessing too so this week's deal (if/when you could get it) was better since it was $10 back on $100 vs $5 back

 

[Marionnette]

You already have some gift cards saved, so you might not be willing to go this route, but we just bought 7 day park hoppers from parksavers and saved 11%.

I just checked their FAQ because I haven't heard too much about this company. They never send you actual tickets, only an email voucher that must be redeemed at the parks during the first day that you say you will be visiting until the 3rd day of that visit. It also says that the tickets expire Dec. 31, 2016. It sounds as if they are not regular MYW tickets.

They don't have an "Disney Parks select ticket seller" logo on any of their pages.

Oh, and their check out (where you enter your credit card info) is not secure. There's no tiny lock in the browser for that page.

I'm a little skeptical of this vendor.

 

[amylevan]

I just checked their FAQ because I haven't heard too much about this company. They never send you actual tickets, only an email voucher that must be redeemed at the parks during the first day that you say you will be visiting until the 3rd day of that visit. It also says that the tickets expire Dec. 31, 2016. It sounds as if they are not regular MYW tickets.

They don't have an "Disney Parks select ticket seller" logo on any of their pages.

Oh, and their check out (where you enter your credit card info) is not secure. There's no tiny lock in the browser for that page.

I'm a little skeptical of this vendor.

I just wanted to say that I did significant research before I ordered from there. (They were recommended by touringplans.com, but I was a tad skeptical myself.) They have stellar reports throughout both the Dis and other review websites. The tickets are somehow connected with expedia.

They do not send you an email voucher that must be turned in at the parks. I got a confirmation just like anywhere else that I added to MDE.

As for payment security, it used paypal.

 

[Marionnette]

Our next trip is October 2016, so I have time...

I need to order park tickets, preferably before a price increase, but more importantly, before the rumored "tiered pricing" goes into effect. We will be staying for a week and so I want either 6 or 7-day park hoppers. I'm looking at roughly $1250 that I will need in Disney gift cards and, of course, I want to maximize my savings.

So, even though Cardpool is only at 3% right now, should I get some more and order a few more $100 Disney gift cards? I have about $600 right now so I am halfway there. I have enough money in our bank account to cover the remaining tickets, but I want to get the best discount possible. I know that if I continue to wait, my savings will grow (more SB redemptions, Target FWP cards, etc) but I also run the risk that the tickets will change and the price will skyrocket, thus negating all of my savings.

I am fearful because of what happened with the DVC AP's...blackout dates forcing you to spend an extra $100/ticket to get your travel dates. Fortunately, we aren't planning an Easter trip this year so it doesn't effect us yet.

Historically, Disney has announced the changes and put them into effect within days. That won't leave me enough time to acquire any remaining gift cards that I may need. That's why I want to make sure I have them on hand. As it sits right now, I have the money...I just haven't converted it into the (discounted) gift cards.

So, what do you all suggest? Should I take advantage of the meager 3% + 5% discount that is AVAILABLE NOW...or do I wait it out and hope that a better discount comes along before a price increase??? Roll the dice? Or take my winnings and walk away??

I would be inclined to purchase at least what I could afford to buy with my rewards money right now. So, that would be half of the tickets that you need. I fully expect that Disney will quietly change their tickets soon (maybe even Jan. 1) and without fanfare (there was almost no notice of the AP change). Whether that change will include tiered pricing or just an increase in the cost of MYW tickets is not clear. The only certainty is that there will eventually be a price increase. At some point, you have to weigh any potential increase in cost against your potential savings. Let's say that ticket prices go up 3%-5%, even without changing to a tiered system. Your "savings" would be eaten up by that increase.

Given that your vacation plans are pretty firm, I think that buying what you can right now is the better option. I don't think that waiting out Raise, Cardpool or any of the other GC outlets will net you that much greater savings ($1 for every percentage point for every $100 GC).

 

[Marionnette]

I just wanted to say that I did significant research before I ordered from there. (They were recommended by touringplans.com, but I was a tad skeptical myself.) They have stellar reports throughout both the Dis and other review websites. The tickets are somehow connected with expedia.

They do not send you an email voucher that must be turned in at the parks. I got a confirmation just like anywhere else that I added to MDE.

As for payment security, it used paypal.

Do the tickets expire on Dec. 31, 2016 like their FAQ states?

 

[amylevan]

Do the tickets expire on Dec. 31, 2016 like their FAQ states?

I had to go back and look through all the documentation.

As I said, the tickets are now loaded in my MDE, and THOSE do not have an expiration date. They are regular MYW 7 day hopper tickets.

The original vouchers that were sent to me are "Expedia Voucher"s (complete with the Expedia.com logo and trademark symbol). Those do not have an expiration date on them, however, our travel dates are listed on there.

 

[Hezzy04]

I just went to Target today and they honored the "buy 2 $25 oft cards, get a $5 Target gift card"....so I bought $1,200 worth of cards and got 5% off using my REDcard. Then I got $120 in Targer gift cards from that and used them to buy more Disney gift cards. I got $1,325 worth of Disney cards for about $1,145.

I have heard some Targets won't do it, but it's worth a try!

FYI....I did check with a manager first to make sure it would be ok, and to ask if there was a limit to how many I bought. I didn't want to get to the register and hold up the line and be obnoxious if they weren't going to let me do it!

 

[kristenrice]

Well, I pulled the trigger. I bought $600 worth of Target gift cards from Cardpool at a 3% savings. I already had $96 leftover on my Target gift card from Swagbucks, Perk and FWP cards so I added these on as soon as they arrived (which was about 1 minute from when my order was placed!).

Now, I have two possible plans...

1. I can hope that the "Buy 2, get a $5 Target GC" works online tomorrow. That way, I can place three orders of (4) $50 GC and fourth order of (2) $50 gift cards. This should cost me $665 AND net me another $35 in Target gift cards. That will leave me with about another $100 on my Target gift card....

...or...if that is too good to be true...

2. I can go to the store and use my Target gift card to buy $700 worth of Disney gift cards and receive the $35 back in Target gift cards. This is not the best deal, but it's still not too bad because I will have spent only $594 to get $700 worth of Disney gift cards + $35 in Target gift cards.

The first option is the better deal, financially, but the advantage to the second option is that I will have the Disney gift cards in my hand. I don't need to worry about ordering them.

That brings up another point I wanted to make. I have found that when I require a signature upon delivery, I always receive my gift cards from the UPS man and they usually arrive within about 3 days. I also learned that, during the holidays, if my cards arrive and I am not home, they will take them to the UPS Store (which is right down the street) and I can pick them up there at my convenience. So far, this has worked out very well for me.