So who else travels with cash, at WDW?

[mi*vida*loca]

I've been thinking about this myself.

On previous trips we've gotten the DDP. We would carry $20 for carts that didn't take the KTTW card and cash for our TS meal tip. We would just attach a CC to our account and charge to the room. Over a 8-9 day trip we would have about a $500-600 charge. That would include 1-2 OOP TS meals, souveniors, etc.

Next trip we aren't doing the DDP. I don't want to charge everything to a CC and I don't have a CC with a very high limit to accomodate all of those fees. But I am saving cash into a vacation account and plan to have almost $3000. I plan on buying a $100 Disney giftcard every month leading up to the trip which will put us at about $1200-1300 in GC's.

My plan so far is to take my cash down in cash form. Keep it in the in room safe. Every night or so go down to the front desk and pay off our room charges starting with the GC's and then to cash.

I HATE carrying cash. Despise it. But I really don't want to deposit the money into my checking and attach my debit card to my account. I can just imagine the horror stories with that.

Any ideas with attaching a debit card?

 

[pinkvol7]

In June, we took $1500 in gift cards. Charged everything to the room and every other day I took a stack of cards and paid that amount on our balance. We did not do the DDP. Since we were checking out Sunday, I paid the balance off Friday night and took the remaining gift cards with us on Saturday to pay for everything. I left my check card for the card on file. My husband might have had $20 on him, but we never used it. I bought the gift cards at my grocery store and got $.05 back for each $50 in fuel perks.

 

[skywaywaver]

We carry cash for our drive down as you never know when you'll need money and not be able to use a credit card, especially in a small town.

We do charge mostly at WDW but we use our actual credit card and carry it around with us. I don't want to have to worry about going over the room charges each night. That just works better for us.

Plus when we use our Disney Visa, we rack up more points to redeem against our next trip!

 

[dougzt]

I've been thinking about this myself.

On previous trips we've gotten the DDP. We would carry $20 for carts that didn't take the KTTW card and cash for our TS meal tip. We would just attach a CC to our account and charge to the room. Over a 8-9 day trip we would have about a $500-600 charge. That would include 1-2 OOP TS meals, souveniors, etc.

Next trip we aren't doing the DDP. I don't want to charge everything to a CC and I don't have a CC with a very high limit to accomodate all of those fees. But I am saving cash into a vacation account and plan to have almost $3000. I plan on buying a $100 Disney giftcard every month leading up to the trip which will put us at about $1200-1300 in GC's.

My plan so far is to take my cash down in cash form. Keep it in the in room safe. Every night or so go down to the front desk and pay off our room charges starting with the GC's and then to cash.

I HATE carrying cash. Despise it. But I really don't want to deposit the money into my checking and attach my debit card to my account. I can just imagine the horror stories with that.

Any ideas with attaching a debit card?

We did a pre-paid Amex loaded it with our allotment of spending/meal money and attached that to the room. Worked out great.

 

[DisneyLvr55]

I was about to post on this thread, but then realized that my arrival date, and resort stay is on my signature..... Not to smart!

 

[karen1987]

We use cash in the parks for counter service meals and snacks from the carts etc. Otherwise, table service meals will be put onto a CC which will be linked to the MB. Somehow, using cash lets me know how we're doing budget-wise whilst we're away! If I was using the CC on the MB all the time I don't think I'd be able to keep track as easily, and would probably spend too much!

 

[disneyfan55]

I never charge to the room or give a cc to be attached to the room key. I don't use MB either. They are hardly magic to me. We use cash and gift cards purchased through the year and some disney dollars from the CC as well

 

[Syndrome]

We are now strictly on the Magic Band for payments, and perhaps a little cash in pocket daily. Rooms charge gets paid off with Disney Visa for the points.

Last trip in June we used magic bands for almost everything . I used a seperate CC for 3 "big dinner" expenses to keep them off the room charge. Well from using the CC 3 times vs the magic band for everything else ..........yep my CC was skimmed and compromised. Thankfully it was caught before the charges got too out of control (they started small and started working there way up !) The card was deactivated, and all charges declined after the fraud was detected. All fraudulent charges were wiped clean, but I had to wait a little bit for a new card, and couldn't use the card at WDW for the rest of the trip. Bummer, but it could have been worse ! Lesson learned.

I feel with the magic bands there is less chance for unauthorized charging as the band never leaves your site. So for us, from now on, Magic Bands only ...........and maybe a little bit of spending cash.

Dont ever think that just because you are at Disney, you are safe from fraud. If anything you may be more vulnerable because its "easy pickens" ! Too many tourists who feel "safe" just because they are at Disney ........

 

[disneyfan55]

Did you ever find out the point where the cc was compromised? Was it at WDW or someplace else. Just wondering.

 

[Syndrome]

Did you ever find out the point where the cc was compromised? Was it at WDW or someplace else. Just wondering.

No, CC company says it happens so much at WDW they didnt even ask where specifically I used it. They did verify my charges vs the fraudulent ones, so they can clearly see where it was used at WDW.
I was at disney for over a week, and it was towards the end of the trip that the charges started flying. CC company was "sure" it happened while at WDW (maybe they did find out where it happened, but never told me ??? )

BTW, the fraudgulant charges ALL originated from the UK . (which I have never been, lol ..........not even in Epcot that trip ! )

 

[DisneyFreq]

I used to but now I prepurchase gift cards from target. Using the redcard to buy them I save 5%...so for instance $800 in GC saves me $40. We charge everything to our rooms and then pay the balance with the GC.

Did this on a Disney Cruise as well and paid for our gratuities/bar bill/excursions. 5% isn't a lot but it adds up!

 

[JanaDee]

Each resort type has a limit that once it is reached they charge it. I think value is something like $300, moderate $500 and $800 for deluxe. I know I'm probably wrong on the numbers but it's a rough estimate to give you an idea.

I honestly don't know why anyone would pay any other way! Unless someone has a credit card that offers more than 10% back- I guess some people just don't need to save.

Edit: Ok, I looked it up and it's $500, $1000, & $1500 max. Unless it's changed.

Values are $500, Mods $1000 and Deluxes $1500. Once that number has been reached on your resort account, your credit card will be charged automatically and your resort account will roll back over to $0.

 

[disneyfan55]

No, CC company says it happens so much at WDW they didnt even ask where specifically I used it. They did verify my charges vs the fraudulent ones, so they can clearly see where it was used at WDW.
I was at disney for over a week, and it was towards the end of the trip that the charges started flying. CC company was "sure" it happened while at WDW (maybe they did find out where it happened, but never told me ??? )

BTW, the fraudgulant charges ALL originated from the UK . (which I have never been, lol ..........not even in Epcot that trip ! )

So I wonder if it was just a 'guest' with one of those RFID readers or someone actually working for disney frightening stuff. A few yrs ago you had to worry about written items being left around but now with RFID readers who knows. I have an RFID blocking wallet at least

 

[JanaDee]

So I wonder if it was just a 'guest' with one of those RFID readers or someone actually working for disney frightening stuff. A few yrs ago you had to worry about written items being left around but now with RFID readers who knows. I have an RFID blocking wallet at least

My CC has been skimmed at Disney twice, both by employees. One was in the major SSR breach years ago.

 

[mousefan73]

Just remember to pay room balance night before check out. Overnight any charges will be billed to room cc. You can change back, just a hassle and you never know if you are charged twice. I like to see zero balance and
Check for no cc charges before I leave.

 

[btk2333]

I don't travel with cash if I can help it- I am much more likely to spend cash than I am to spend with a credit card. To me spending money with a credit card is more "real" than cash. I only carry enough cash to tip and for an emergency cab if needed.

Aso, we track our monthly spending pretty closely and the credit card goes into our budget software and tells us exactly what we've spent money on. If we spend cash we have to try to remember what we spent it on and it makes it harder to organize our budget

 

[gtpoohbear]

I don't travel with cash if I can help it- I am much more likely to spend cash than I am to spend with a credit card. To me spending money with a credit card is more "real" than cash.

Me too! I rarely find anyone else that feels this way. To me, cash is already taken out of the bank account, so it is effectively "gone" already. Whether I spend it or keep it in my wallet doesn't really matter, so I might as well spend it, lol! Although I get a nice little rush when I do buy something with cash, because it feels like it was "free", since it isn't going to show up on the CC statement

I don't even have an ATM card, I just use my CC for everything. When I need a few dollars in cash for something, I have to beg DH for it, lol!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Values are $500, Mods $1000 and Deluxes $1500. Once that number has been reached on your resort account, your credit card will be charged automatically and your resort account will roll back over to $0.

Yes, I noted my mistake at the bottom of my post. I knew I was wrong but I wanted to give the PP an idea of how it worked.

 

[btk2333]

Me too! I rarely find anyone else that feels this way. To me, cash is already taken out of the bank account, so it is effectively "gone" already. Whether I spend it or keep it in my wallet doesn't really matter, so I might as well spend it, lol! Although I get a nice little rush when I do buy something with cash, because it feels like it was "free", since it isn't going to show up on the CC statement

I don't even have an ATM card, I just use my CC for everything. When I need a few dollars in cash for something, I have to beg DH for it, lol!

Haha I totally know how you feel- although I do have an ATM card . Usually when I have cash it's because I've been reimbursed by someone, taken cans back to get the deposits, or something else that doesn't get directly tracked in our budget that it's almost like "Free money"

Some people on here are probably going to point out that this makes me financially irresponsible but our budget is managed very strictly and I have projections out about 18 months at a time that have proven to be very accurate- not that I'm a financial guru but we are good at managing our spending this way.

 

[disneyfan55]

My CC has been skimmed at Disney twice, both by employees. One was in the major SSR breach years ago.

That's really a shame. And at WdW Sometimes you just get a false sense of security there