Share your experience using Disney Gift Cards in the parks

[Carrie in AZ]

Thanks in advance for your replies. I know this may sound silly, but can Disney Gift Cards be used everywhere in the parks? Any limitations? Do they ask to see ID? Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[Alesia]

There are a few stands that are cash only.

Sometimes the card machines have trouble reading them because they're thinner than a credit card, so it can take a little bit longer to check out than it does if you use a credit card.

You don't need ID. They aren't assigned to a specific person, so there would be nothing to compare the ID to anyway.

I tried it once and found it to be considerably less convenient than just using a credit card. I won't bother with gift cards again.

 

[CodeGoddess]

Are you staying in a WDW resort? We are going to use our magic bands to charge to our rooms and then use the GCs every couple days to pay off the charges to the room.

 

[seashell7290]

Loved using gift cards to budget my trip! Absolutely no issues with them when i used them a few days ago during my 5 day trip. The gift cards from food and wine have a nifty wrist band you can use to keep the card accessible. The 5% off gifts cards at target doesn't hurt also!

 

[PoohsHunnyBee]

I was able to use mine anywhere that I wanted to: restaurants, shops, and kiosks. I believe some of the roaming vendors may not be equipped to take them.

I found it to be just as convenient as a credit card once I combined all my smaller gift card amounts onto one card, so I wasn't having to pull out multiple cards or keep track of more than one balance. Each receipt printed the remaining card balance, so it was easy to keep track. No need for ID unless purchasing alcohol with it.

It was also very quick and easy to stop by our concierge desk and use the gift card to cover charges made to the room with a MagicBand.

 

[BrianL]

I always carry a "snack card" that I use to pay for smaller meals and snacks. It's easier than cash or the MB in my opinion. I usually get Disney gift cards as gifts, so I'll put one aside for this purpose. I'll be using one at F&W next week!

 

[tlmadden73]

Repeating the above.
1) Buy the gift cards at Target to get 5% off with your Red card.
2) If staying on resort .. just charge everything to your Magic Band .. and pay off the total at the front desk later in the day or the next morning.
3) - If not staying at a resort .. I never ran into a place that didn't accept them .. it is just hard to keep track of how much is left on them, so I preferred using the Magic Band.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We have used gift cards on trips. Overall they are easy to use, but with a few comments if you plan to use a whole bunch:

1. If you lose them, you lose them, just like cash. Unlike cash, they are slippery little buggers. I use them one at a time.(until used up) I give some to DH, keep some locked in luggage, and wrap some with a rubber band.
2. Watch your balances. I use a combo of techniques: the first is marking the balance with a micro Sharpie. Cards that are fully used get marked with an X. Otherwise it is very easy to loose track of the balances.
3. Balances are marked on (most) receipts. Take a second to look and check they are correct. I wrap the most recent receipt around the card I am using. It only takes second, and that way I know the balance, and that I'm not mixing up cards. In my experience, restaurants are where mistakes are most often made, especially if you are staying onsite and/or using DDP or TiW. Some servers automatically want to charge to the room. So if you aren't careful, you THINK the charges went to the card, but they end up on your room bill. Some servers also offer to 'toss the card' for you, but keep it.

If you don't have a system, it is very easy lose track of how much $ you have left on each card, miss some funds, etc.

There is a way to check balances online. After the trip, if I'm ever unsure, I check the balances before tossing.

If you make a return- the balance GOES BACK ON THE CARD !!!! If you tossed the empty card, you might be out of luck.

So as I use the cards up, I toss them in my suitcase.

If I use them to pay a room balance, I prefer to call the day before we leave, rather than using vacation time to process one card at a time. I mark each card after I read off the code.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Thanks, everyone. We are staying at Swan so no charging to our MBs. I appreciate your responses and sharing your tips on how to keep track of balances, etc.

 

[Deborah LeSueur]

Repeating the above.
1) Buy the gift cards at Target to get 5% off with your Red card.
2) If staying on resort .. just charge everything to your Magic Band .. and pay off the total at the front desk later in the day or the next morning.
3) - If not staying at a resort .. I never ran into a place that didn't accept them .. it is just hard to keep track of how much is left on them, so I preferred using the Magic Band.

Yes on all of the above. For our trip in August, I purchased mine at Target to get the 5% and that was great. However, we stayed offsite and it was a MAJOR pain to keep track of them, what was left on the cards. I tried just wrapping the last receipt I got around the last one I used so I could keep track, but it was cumbersome.

If you are staying onsite, definitely think using your magic band to charge and paying off balance as you go at the front desk is the way to go.

 

[Flamingeaux]

I've used gift cards and the Disney redemption card in the park for years with no problems. I don't leave home without them.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Yes on all of the above. For our trip in August, I purchased mine at Target to get the 5% and that was great. However, we stayed offsite and it was a MAJOR pain to keep track of them, what was left on the cards. I tried just wrapping the last receipt I got around the last one I used so I could keep track, but it was cumbersome.

If you are staying onsite, definitely think using your magic band to charge and paying off balance as you go at the front desk is the way to go.

We've tried this, and it hasn't always gone well for us.

For one, they automatically charge you cc at midnight of your last night. If you want to use GC, you have to use them before that time.

Second, more than once we had our DDP credits mucked up. The last was shortly before WDW went to magicbands, but it was enough of a problem that we stopped charging to our room for good.

 

[Meriweather]

I use gift cards all the time....love it. I do not charge using my band or back to the room. If I run out of GC, I use my CC.
Sometimes they don't ready well, but then they just type in the number. Doesn't really take that long.

 

[purple figment]

Thanks, everyone. We are staying at Swan so no charging to our MBs.

Just a note - you cannot use Disney gift cards at the Swan & Dolphin restaurants, shops (except the Disney gift shop) or to pay down your room charges.

 

[OnlyDisney]

Just as a side note, you can now combine gift cards. I get my gift cards at Target for the %5 off, but they usually only come in $50 increments. You can now go to disneygiftcard.com and transfer balances. I can't remember what the limit is for how much each card can hold though.

 

[Marionnette]

Just as a side note, you can now combine gift cards. I get my gift cards at Target for the %5 off, but they usually only come in $50 increments. You can now go to disneygiftcard.com and transfer balances. I can't remember what the limit is for how much each card can hold though.

The limit is $1K per card when using the website to combine balances.

I actually loaded my account on the website with 5 GCs - 4 had $50-$100 balances and then one had a $0 balance. I only took the $0 GC with me on last month's trip. Thus, no need to carry a lot of Disney GCs with me and risk losing them.

Once I arrived at Disney, all I had to do was log into my account and transfer the balance from one of the virtual cards onto my physical card. I did this whenever my balance got low, usually in the evening back in my room. If I lost the physical GC I had with me, I could immediately transfer the remaining balance off of it onto one of the virtual ones in my account. Then go to any gift shop and buy a new physical card to add to the account so that I could use it at Disney.

I also had photos of the backs of a few other GCs. If I needed more $, all I needed to do was add one to my account and then combine it on my physical GC as needed.

I have to say that it worked out great and I plan to do the same thing again next month. I never had a problem using the GC at restaurants or gift shops. And I never had to make a trip to the lobby to pay down my room charges with a stack of GCs or worry about the resort charging the credit card on file before I had a chance to pay it down.

 

[amg35]

I used mine at Epcot a lot - kiosks for wine, drinks in France, etc.

 

[luvallprincesses]

We have used gift cards on trips. Overall they are easy to use, but with a few comments if you plan to use a whole bunch:

1. If you lose them, you lose them, just like cash. Unlike cash, they are slippery little buggers. I use them one at a time.(until used up) I give some to DH, keep some locked in luggage, and wrap some with a rubber band.
2. Watch your balances. I use a combo of techniques: the first is marking the balance with a micro Sharpie. Cards that are fully used get marked with an X. Otherwise it is very easy to loose track of the balances.
3. Balances are marked on (most) receipts. Take a second to look and check they are correct. I wrap the most recent receipt around the card I am using. It only takes second, and that way I know the balance, and that I'm not mixing up cards. In my experience, restaurants are where mistakes are most often made, especially if you are staying onsite and/or using DDP or TiW. Some servers automatically want to charge to the room. So if you aren't careful, you THINK the charges went to the card, but they end up on your room bill. Some servers also offer to 'toss the card' for you, but keep it.

If you don't have a system, it is very easy lose track of how much $ you have left on each card, miss some funds, etc.

There is a way to check balances online. After the trip, if I'm ever unsure, I check the balances before tossing.

If you make a return- the balance GOES BACK ON THE CARD !!!! If you tossed the empty card, you might be out of luck.

So as I use the cards up, I toss them in my suitcase.

If I use them to pay a room balance, I prefer to call the day before we leave, rather than using vacation time to process one card at a time. I mark each card after I read off the code.

Yes on all of the above. For our trip in August, I purchased mine at Target to get the 5% and that was great. However, we stayed offsite and it was a MAJOR pain to keep track of them, what was left on the cards. I tried just wrapping the last receipt I got around the last one I used so I could keep track, but it was cumbersome.

If you are staying onsite, definitely think using your magic band to charge and paying off balance as you go at the front desk is the way to go.

I have used the Disney gift card app to keep track of the balances. It works perfectly. Seconds after using the card the balance is updated. No need for a sharpie, just your smartphone when you want to check balances.

NEVER MIND. I JUST CHECKED THE APP AND IT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE OR WORKING. What a bummer, it was super convenient. Sorry for the outdated information.

 

[winthropf]

I prefer gift card over credit card or magicband in the parks, especially the Food & Wine kiosks. Gift cards do not require a signature or PIN and work out faster much of the time.