So who else travels with cash, at WDW?

[barbaraann]

I can't possibly be the only one who uses cash on a Disney vacation.

I understand that some people register the magic bands with their credit card information, so they don't have to carry cash, and/or their credit cards. I do the opposite. I carry about $50 cash each day, and my credit card. I don't spend much on my Disney vacations. I am not into a lot of souvenirs, and gave up long ago collecting pins, and other cute Disney collectibles.

I don't do many ADR's and if I do, I might sometime use the credit card there. Otherwise, my cash is definitely enough to cover my food. Special purchases, emergencies, and or a unique item that I might find can always be bought with my credit card.

I travel alone, and my cash allotment has almost always been enough.

So who besides me uses cash, rather than putting everything on a credit card that they linked to their magic band?

 

[NashBridges]

I can't possibly be the only one who uses cash on a Disney vacation.

I understand that some people register the magic bands with their credit card information, so they don't have to carry cash, and/or their credit cards. I do the opposite. I carry about $50 cash each day, and my credit card. I don't spend much on my Disney vacations. I am not into a lot of souvenirs, and gave up long ago collecting pins, and other cute Disney collectibles.

I don't do many ADR's and if I do, I might sometime use the credit card there. Otherwise, my cash is definitely enough to cover my food. Special purchases, emergencies, and or a unique item that I might find can always be bought with my credit card.

I travel alone, and my cash allotment has almost always been enough.

So who besides me uses cash, rather than puts everything on a credit card?

I always bring about $1500 cash for any trip. We use it for quick service meals at the parks, waters/snacks/booze at the parks, tips, small souvenirs etc. Any table service meals/trips to the shopping mall etc are charged on our MC. We always come home with cash, which we tuck away for next time and out MC is always paid in full by the time it's due.

 

[barbaraann]

I charged more purchases when I traveled with my grandson, and his mom to Disney World. It used to shock me sometimes exactly what we paid for some of the ADR's that we made. Or we would buy a lot of souvenirs. Easy to pick up a few t-shirts, because they are cute, and hand over the credit card for payment. When I'd get home, and add up all the bills, sometimes it would take me a while to catch up.

So, this solo traveler, now stays within her budget, and by the way, I always have a marvelous time, and don't feel slighted in the least.

Now my vacations are always paid in full, before during and after I have a good time.

 

[isaboo]

We do the gift card thing. I've been stashing Disney gift cards all year. We charge everything to the room, then each night I go by guest services and pay down what we charged that day.

 

[BigAlsGal]

All cash for us. Only use my credit card if I want to use my 10% discount. I lock my cash in the room safe and take about 200-300 dollars a day depending on the ADRs we have.

 

[jcjen519]

We don't use cash in the parks. I'll have some because I've encountered carts that don't take cards or the magic bands...like the light up stuff during parades. We have our cc on the magic band and use it for everything.

we don't rack up debt though, we pay our credit cards off in full at the end of each month. some trips we spend a lot but sometimes we really don't buy much and our spending is just tips and meals if we don't do the dining plan.

 

[AngiTN]

My mom once gave me advice to never carry more cash than you can afford to loose. As I can't afford to loose any I never carry any. Even if I was going to use cash to pay for stuff while at Disney I would charge it to my room and pay the cash at the desk to pay off the balance. So much easier.

 

[barbaraann]

I guess everyone has a system that works for them.

I'd be interested in hearing what other travelers do.

 

[DavidG1966]

Can't get my Capital One Cash Back using Cash... What's in your pocket?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I go with a set amount of gift cards that will cover the entire trip. Saving 10% with the gift cards is the reason I take gift cards. We'll go down to pay down every couple of days. No biggie.

 

[photo_chick]

We do the gift card thing. I've been stashing Disney gift cards all year. We charge everything to the room, then each night I go by guest services and pay down what we charged that day.

This is how I handled our recent trip as well. Only I went and paid the balance like every third day.

 

[Hrhpd]

I can't possibly be the only one who uses cash on a Disney vacation.

I understand that some people register the magic bands with their credit card information, so they don't have to carry cash, and/or their credit cards. I do the opposite. I carry about $50 cash each day, and my credit card. I don't spend much on my Disney vacations. I am not into a lot of souvenirs, and gave up long ago collecting pins, and other cute Disney collectibles.

I don't do many ADR's and if I do, I might sometime use the credit card there. Otherwise, my cash is definitely enough to cover my food. Special purchases, emergencies, and or a unique item that I might find can always be bought with my credit card.

I travel alone, and my cash allotment has almost always been enough.

So who besides me uses cash, rather than putting everything on a credit card that they linked to their magic band?

We get a refillable Visa card and use that. Protects our regular debit and cc cards from fraud. We never load much on the card, so would not be out much if it was compromised. We just log in and load more when needed. And if it is compromised, we still have our regular cards as backup till we get the balance restored on the CC. We also get the protection of using a CC if something is lost or stolen. There is no recourse if your cash is stolen.

 

[Elizamarie763]

We do the gift card thing. I've been stashing Disney gift cards all year. We charge everything to the room, then each night I go by guest services and pay down what we charged that day.

Great idea I think I'll definitely do that instead of carrying a bunch of gift cards around with me everywhere. Thanks!

 

[tlpbupu]

I'm to worried about loosing cash in the parks to carry much. I do carry about $20 - $40 with me for the carts that don't allow charging. I also use my band to charge what we buy and go down to the front desk of the hotel and pay it off every day or two. My dd picks out a gift card the first day we are there and we put her souvenir money on it. When it's gone, it's gone.

 

[elriel]

I do! That way i only spend what i have. I'm also a server so i feel weird paying for anything on a card lol

 

[deakam]

I use cash---never put a card on my room key nor will I put one on my magic band. I always have a credit card and some cash.

Last year at the Food and Wine festival I was in line with my friend waiting for my annual Grand Marnier Orange Slushie. The line was, and I am not exaggerating, 20 people long. I see a register off on the side of the cart with 2 people at it. I am thinking "okay what is this" so I went over and asked. It was a cash only line. Got my drink and was watching Illuminations before the people in front of me had moved 2 feet. In my opinion cash is king.

 

[BudgieMama]

We took a lot of cash to NYC last year, and came back with quite a bit as we realised we were getting a much better exchange rate by paying on my credit card (a fee/commission free one).

We won't take much cash to WDW this summer- we'll get a few more dollars, but not a lot more than we have left over from NYC.

 

[Cyrano]

I much prefer credit card and would happily use MB or credit card for $1 transaction. I am the same at home and frequently have zero cash on my person

 

[Disney_Princess83]

We only use cash in the parks for everything. We find this makes it much easier to keep track of what we have spent. Using a credit card it's too easy to not realise just how much you've spent. We found this out on the Disney Dream last year, since the ship is "cashless"

 

[mousefan73]

We bring a lot of cash as we are from overseas.. Worst thing that could happen is for some reason our cards don't work.. Then we are SOL.

So we use our CC at the beginning and keep cash as safety net. Once our trip winds down, we use the cash up.

For the parks, I usually bring 20 but use MBs.. 20 is a safety net..