Security Deposit held during stay??

[Melissa2480]

Hi - I know this might be a weird question but this will be the 1st time we are staying at a Disney hotel and I have no idea if this is done.

So last year we were in Orlando visiting another amusement park and stayed at a hotel close by that said amusement park.

When we checked in they charged us the 2 night stay plus an additional $150.00 (I believe) held out from the CC until check out. I guess they do this in case there are any damages or stolen items. But needless to day, $150.00 of what could have been spending money was used up on this "security deposit"

Just wondering if Disney does this as well since we will be doing a split stay and I'd like to be prepared on how much money will need to be available for our hotel stay.

 

[verleniahall]

not that i've seen - stayed on property twice

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We have never had this happen to us in all our stays at Disney Resorts in fact I believe it's optional to even leave a cc number some times we do not. Mostly we stay at Disney using our DVC but we did stay at CSR at Christmas on a spilt stay due to running low on points and they did not take a deposit then. You should be fine!

 

[TheLittles]

No I have never had this happen!

 

[Lisann]

I have been numerous times, just recently two weeks ago, and I have never had that happen. And...I also told the cast member at our recent Poly vacation check-in that I did NOT want a credit card attached to my reservation, and she said..."absolutely, that will be fine" (I didn't want anyone in my party accidentally charging to my card).

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi - I know this might be a weird question but this will be the 1st time we are staying at a Disney hotel and I have no idea if this is done.

So last year we were in Orlando visiting another amusement park and stayed at a hotel close by that said amusement park.

When we checked in they charged us the 2 night stay plus an additional $150.00 (I believe) held out from the CC until check out. I guess they do this in case there are any damages or stolen items. But needless to day, $150.00 of what could have been spending money was used up on this "security deposit"

Just wondering if Disney does this as well since we will be doing a split stay and I'd like to be prepared on how much money will need to be available for our hotel stay.

Disney doesn't "hold" funds against a cc for incidentals. No cc is needed upon check in, unless you want charging privileges. And even in that case, the card is put through just to make sure it's a valid card with no funds being held/charged until you reach the room charging limit (or you want your charging privileges reset and request all charges up to date are paid).

 

[MissErikaRae]

Former cast member of check in at hotels here... If you are using charging privileges then you have to put a card down and they authorize the card for "x" amount, I think it was $200 when I was there. If you turn off all charging privileges upon check in you will not need to put a credit card down as long as your room & parking (if applicable) is paid upon checkin. NEVER use a debit card at check it at ANY hotel as when they authorize your card for whatever amount it actually debits out the funds where on a credit card it just is a pending charge and you can't run a debit as credit or at least you couldn't then. I hope that helps!

 

[wilkeliza]

Former cast member of check in at hotels here... If you are using charging privileges then you have to put a card down and they authorize the card for "x" amount, I think it was $200 when I was there. If you turn off all charging privileges upon check in you will not need to put a credit card down as long as your room & parking (if applicable) is paid upon checkin. NEVER use a debit card at check it at ANY hotel as when they authorize your card for whatever amount it actually debits out the funds where on a credit card it just is a pending charge and you can't run a debit as credit or at least you couldn't then. I hope that helps!

They don't authorize it for any amount now. I check my bank account every day and Disney has never had the authorized charge like a rental car or other hotel might.

 

[MissErikaRae]

They don't authorize it for any amount now. I check my bank account every day and Disney has never had the authorized charge like a rental car or other hotel might.

Good to know. This was like 4 years ago...

 

[minnie mum]

Credit card holds are common at many hotels and resorts, but not at Disney. I would NEVER, ever, ever, use a debit card for anything other than withdrawing cash from my home ATM.

 

[saskdw]

Do people seriously run their CC's so tight that $150 hold changes their vacation?

 

[bumbershoot]

Do people seriously run their CC's so tight that $150 hold changes their vacation?

It can be rough if you have a longer trip and you have a lower credit limit. When we do a nearly 2 week trip to WDW and have those charges hitting the CC, and then go and check into Portofino Bay at Universal, where they do hold $150* per day, and then that stay is charged at the end, it can get close!

Well, it used to get close. Now it doesn't.


OP, Disney doesn't do it. Universal does, absolutely, if you're charging to the room. IF you put a CC down, that is; you don't have to. You can just charge on CCs.

And you don't have to put down a CC for Disney, either. You can just charge directly to your card there, too.



*pretty sure it's the same amount at Hard Rock if you set up room-charging. At Royal Pacific I think it's $100. No clue about Cabana Bay or the future Sapphire.

 

[saskdw]

It can be rough if you have a longer trip and you have a lower credit limit. When we do a nearly 2 week trip to WDW and have those charges hitting the CC, and then go and check into Portofino Bay at Universal, where they do hold $150* per day, and then that stay is charged at the end, it can get close!

Well, it used to get close. Now it doesn't.

All our trips are 2 weeks.

 

[steviethegreat]

So, if they hold the money at RPR, how long does it take them to put it back?

 

[busymommy2pink]

Former cast member of check in at hotels here... If you are using charging privileges then you have to put a card down and they authorize the card for "x" amount, I think it was $200 when I was there. If you turn off all charging privileges upon check in you will not need to put a credit card down as long as your room & parking (if applicable) is paid upon checkin. NEVER use a debit card at check it at ANY hotel as when they authorize your card for whatever amount it actually debits out the funds where on a credit card it just is a pending charge and you can't run a debit as credit or at least you couldn't then. I hope that helps!

Good to know. This was like 4 years ago...

We've been going since 2010 and have never had a charge placed on our card. I called and asked at the front desk and was always met with a puzzled look.

Do people seriously run their CC's so tight that $150 hold changes their vacation?

I don't think OP was looking for judgement. In our case, we have a very low limit credit card ($500) as we prefer to use just cash in our daily lives. We pay disney off via our debit monthly, and bring cash to spend. Our card is basically just so we can rent cars if need be, and well for hotels that charge a security deposit. I know many people who charge their entire vacation (spending, food, everything) to their card and then pay it off at home, for a mix of security and personal reasons, especially being canadian it's hard to know how much cash you should bring.

OP...You can have charging privileges and still pay cash. Each resort level has it's own amount before they run your card. Value $500, Moderate $1000 and Deluxe is $1500. We just make habit to pay whatever we've spent at the front desk each evening. Has always worked out well. I should add that it's tied to our Visa debit, not a credit card, as well. And we've never had them take anything unauthorized. Last trip we spent about $100 over our cash amount we brought and it was just taken out of our chequing account, easy peasy. You are good to go and don't need to worry about a thing

 

[Melissa2480]

Thank you to everyone who replied!

I'm glad I won't have any extra charges being held on my cc during my stay.

For those who question whether or not I run my CC tight...I don't have a package just a room only reservation so I will be charging my entire stay, minus the one night deposit paid on booking, at check in. This will be on the same cc I pay my regular bills on and I do enjoy having a stated budget while on vacation. So I do like to know exactly what will need to be charged.

So Even though the money would be placed back in the card a day after check out it's still nice to know i won't have to worry about it.

This is actually what I'm used to when staying at other hotels. I didn't want to assume that Disney did as well which is why I asked the question

 

[MissErikaRae]

We've been going since 2010 and have never had a charge placed on our card. I called and asked at the front desk and was always met with a puzzled look.



I don't think OP was looking for judgement. In our case, we have a very low limit credit card ($500) as we prefer to use just cash in our daily lives. We pay disney off via our debit monthly, and bring cash to spend. Our card is basically just so we can rent cars if need be, and well for hotels that charge a security deposit. I know many people who charge their entire vacation (spending, food, everything) to their card and then pay it off at home, for a mix of security and personal reasons, especially being canadian it's hard to know how much cash you should bring.

OP...You can have charging privileges and still pay cash. Each resort level has it's own amount before they run your card. Value $500, Moderate $1000 and Deluxe is $1500. We just make habit to pay whatever we've spent at the front desk each evening. Has always worked out well. I should add that it's tied to our Visa debit, not a credit card, as well. And we've never had them take anything unauthorized. Last trip we spent about $100 over our cash amount we brought and it was just taken out of our chequing account, easy peasy. You are good to go and don't need to worry about a thing

Hmm well I'm not lying haha. It's good to know they don't do it anymore whenever it is they stopped or maybe it varies. I can only go based of what I was trained and experienced.

 

[AngiTN]

Former cast member of check in at hotels here... If you are using charging privileges then you have to put a card down and they authorize the card for "x" amount, I think it was $200 when I was there. If you turn off all charging privileges upon check in you will not need to put a credit card down as long as your room & parking (if applicable) is paid upon checkin. NEVER use a debit card at check it at ANY hotel as when they authorize your card for whatever amount it actually debits out the funds where on a credit card it just is a pending charge and you can't run a debit as credit or at least you couldn't then. I hope that helps!

They don't authorize it for any amount now. I check my bank account every day and Disney has never had the authorized charge like a rental car or other hotel might.

Hmm well I'm not lying haha. It's good to know they don't do it anymore whenever it is they stopped or maybe it varies. I can only go based of what I was trained and experienced.

You sure you worked at Disney World?
That or you got pretty poor training (not unheard of at Disney, that's for sure)
I ask because not only do they not do any preauthorization they don't charge on site guests for parking. Never have, for any resorts. So it can't be "if applicable" since it's never applicable.

But they have never ran cards for a preauthorization card and it doesn't vary. it doesn't happen. What you may be confusing it with is they will run the card when a limit is reached and this limit does vary based on resort category. But that happens after you have accumulated charges not before

 

[wilkeliza]

You sure you worked at Disney World?
That or you got pretty poor training (not unheard of at Disney, that's for sure)
I ask because not only do they not do any preauthorization they don't charge on site guests for parking. Never have, for any resorts. So it can't be "if applicable" since it's never applicable.

But they have never ran cards for a preauthorization card and it doesn't vary. it doesn't happen. What you may be confusing it with is they will run the card when a limit is reached and this limit does vary based on resort category. But that happens after you have accumulated charges not before

Disneyland and Aulani charge for parking. I wonder if DL use to put a hold on credit cards. They didn't do it last time we were there though. I've been going to WDW as an adult for 6 yeara and didn't have a hold ever during that time.

 

[Srbright]

Do people seriously run their CC's so tight that $150 hold changes their vacation?

Yep, it's called 80% of the American population.*

The DIS boards are absolutely NOT a representative slice of the population. Median income in the USA is ~52k. That $150 represents .3% of the total gross income and almost 4% of their disposable income for the year; more than a full days wages.

Stacy

*https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per...ed_States#/media/File:Age_personal_income.png