So who else travels with cash, at WDW?

[leeber01]

My very first trip to WDW in 1992, my mom had a large amount of cash on her, around $600. Mom is prone to motion sickness and generally doesn't ride the faster rides. Anyway, she walked through the queue at Space Mountain with us to get out of the heat with the plan to use the chicken exit. Well, that didn't happen, thanks to a less-than-magical CM (from what my then 12-year old brain recalls). She ended up riding SM, getting off the ride totally disoriented and walking shakily out. About 20 feet down, another CM chases us down with the wad of cash that had somehow fallen out of mom's pocket! That was basically our spending money for the rest of the trip so thank goodness for that CM!

Anyway, now I rarely have cash on me on a daily basis but whenever I'm on a trip/vacation, I always make sure I have at least some cash on me for those quick little things I always seem to be picking up.

 

[katt789]

I do my absolute best NOT to use my credit card down in Disney, and coming from Canada, our debit cards usually don't work, so cash it is!

I usually take out a couple hundred on the day we get there and that usually covers most of the trip, if we do any sit down meals, or I end up buying something pricey, it goes on the visa, but cash is my main go to!

 

[Flamingeaux]

We usually bring a couple hundred in cash and the same on our Disney reward card. It works for us.

 

[ForeDisney]

Yup .. As everyone has already posted ... We too carry cash on our trips to have a little on hand each day. Never hurts when buying small snacks, water, etc. It just seems easier for us.

 

[MouseClubMama]

We always take cash for meal tips and souvenirs. For those of you that take cash, do you keep it in the room safe? I always worry that we will come back at the end of the day and find the safe empty....

I've always wondered if anyone has ever encountered an issue using a room safe. I have the same fear that our cash will be wiped out so we never use them. So.....how safe are the safes?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

I carry some cash. Computers break down. Not lots, but some.

I've always wondered if anyone has ever encountered an issue using a room safe. I have the same fear that our cash will be wiped out so we never use them. So.....how safe are the safes?

A housekeeper was arrested at one of the Allstar resorts recently after she was caught in a video sting removing cash from a room safe. The reports never said how she got into the room safe.

 

[MouseClubMama]

I carry some cash. Computers break down. Not lots, but some.



A housekeeper was arrested at one of the Allstar resorts recently after she was caught in a video sting removing cash from a room safe. The reports never said how she got into the room safe.

We'll I guess that settles it....use room safe at your own risk!

 

[kpearl]

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

this happened to my family as well in SSR in 2009. an employee at the front desk attached a device to the keypad and stole a lot of vistors card info.

 

[btk2333]

We'll I guess that settles it....use room safe at your own risk!

Cash vs. CC here, CC has a huge advantage- if Mousekeeping walks off with you CC and makes unauthorized charges you are not liable for them and will get reimbursed. If Mousekeeping walks off with your cash odds are you are SOL.

 

[Syndrome]

Well it happened again ..........just returned form WDW . My CC was skimmed again. This time it was my AMEX to the tune of $1800.
This time I used my magic band for 99% of all of spending (that was linked to my Disney Visa) .
I used my AMEX card 2 times ...........on the last day after we checked out. Once at BOG for lunch, and once at the WDW car care center (by Magic Kingdom) for fuel. The card never left my sight for both charges.
The scary part is that I had it in my pocket for the whole trip in case something came up where my magic band would not work. I am pretty sure my card was skimmed while still in my pocket. May have to get one of those CC protection wallets now.

Be careful with your CC at WDW ............ thats twice at WDW my CC was skimmed recently . Once last week, and once on our last trip in June (yes 2014 June) .

 

[nanceliz]

Just curious.. How is a gift card or prepaid card different from cash? I didn't think you had to sign or provide a pin number for these.
Any info would be great. Thank you

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Unless you have a RFID chip in your card, it can't be skimmed while it is in your pocket. And I'm not so sure about the RFID chips.

First of all you don't have to actually use the card for it to be compromised (there are records of it somewhere no matter what) and there are loads of ways to have the card compromised. A server at a restaurant can skim your card number while they have the card and sell it or use it themselves. Someone can fit a skimmer device over a card slot on a gas pump. No way you can tell how it happened or where. No, Walt Disney World isn't immune, a couple of years ago they caught a front desk person at Saratoga Springs skimming cards and selling the numbers.

 

[Princess Mulan]

Unless you have a RFID chip in your card, it can't be skimmed while it is in your pocket. And I'm not so sure about the RFID chips.

First of all you don't have to actually use the card for it to be compromised (there are records of it somewhere no matter what) and there are loads of ways to have the card compromised. A server at a restaurant can skim your card number while they have the card and sell it or use it themselves. Someone can fit a skimmer device over a card slot on a gas pump. No way you can tell how it happened or where. No, Walt Disney World isn't immune, a couple of years ago they caught a front desk person at Saratoga Springs skimming cards and selling the numbers.

You are correct. There typically is no way for the credit-card owner to know when the number was stolen. Credit-card info can be stolen and held for quite some time before it is used, so it often is coincidental when fraudulent charges show up.

Even with the all-too-common thefts, credit cards still are "safer" than cash in most cases.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

In WDW I mostly use MagicBand and a Disney VISA. I carry a small amount of cash -- only because every now and then their systems are down and they can't run a credit card.

 

[MartDM]

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

We carry a small amount of cash, but most of our purchases are room charged and then put on our credit card because we find that safer than carrying cash.

 

[disney212]

We carry a small amount of cash, but most of our purchases are room charged and then put on our credit card because we find that safer than carrying cash.

We do the same. We link our Disney Visa to our room and put all charges on our MB, that way we get Disney rewards towards our next trip. Last year we had over $1k in reward $$ we used for dining and shopping.

 

[sethschroeder]

I normally post about what "I would do", rather than tell people what to do.

I am going to divert from that strategy.

Everyone should carry at least a bit of cash at Disney World.

We learned this the hard way.

On our first trip, we wanted to snack around the world at Epcot. You wouldn't believe how many carts and kiosks would only take cash! We felt like idiots. Never again.

I use credit cards and gift cards for many things, but ...

SOME PLACES ONLY TAKE CASH!

Do yourself a favor and make sure you have at least a little cash with you in the parks.

Do everyone a favor and don't purchase anything from these cash only kiosks. For a place not to take some form of digital currency these days is unacceptable and practically bad business (its not like the margins are eaten up by CC processing fees). It would be like a store only taking precious metals or barter....

Why do I say this?
Digital Payment Methods:
Dial Up Terminal - Old school with that high pitch
IP Based Terminal - Normal CC machine you see at the store
Wireless Credit Card System - Specialized box that transmits via cell towers
Wireless Way System - Cellphone with CC machine attached
Computer Software - Software that is a PC/MAC that processes credit cards
Cell Phone Attachment - Little device that plugs into any smartphone to process CC
Digital Wallet - Things like paypal, google wallet, and others that transfer digital balances

Its way to easy for them to have a CC/Debit processing machine. I know Disney is a very safe place but you will never find me carrying more than $5-10 anywhere in the world. With my Credit Card and Debit Card I know I can get back any money that is "stolen" from my account. If I am carrying $200 for a dinner/other daily expense and I lose it or its stolen there is absolutely no recourse to get that money back.

Also why in the world spend $1.5 billion and make me carry a wallet...? Part of the point of the system is to "track" me and what I spend money on. I am fine with that as the tradeoff is a very easy system where I scan my wrist with a PIN# and I am good to go.

 

[Micca]

I find it interesting that there's so much concern over losing cash. Certainly one must be mindful when carrying cash, but I've never found it that difficult to keep track of it, and I'm pretty sure I've never lost any money other than maybe a pocketful of loose change. I avail myself of all the conveniences of plastic money and charging privileges, but it doesn't hurt to have a small amount of currency on hand.

In the years before the widespread availability of charging at WDW we used to carry travelers checks and some pretty substantial amounts of cash with no problems. Of course the cash dissipated pretty quickly.

 

[disneyfan55]

I agree 100percent. There is probably a greater chance of having a debit or credit card hacked than losing hard currency. We always used travelers checks up until about 10 yrs ago. Probably many would be much less in debt if we stuck to those methods

 

[btk2333]

I agree 100percent. There is probably a greater chance of having a debit or credit card hacked than losing hard currency. We always used travelers checks up until about 10 yrs ago. Probably many would be much less in debt if we stuck to those methods

I'm not concerned about losing cash however I am much more concerned about having cash stolen than a credit card. If your cash is stolen then you are sol. If your credit card is stolen then you are not responsible for any fraudulent charges. Plus you get rewards points for using credit cards. You might as well collect them if you can.

I put all my monthly expenses on a credit card and have for ten years. I've never had any of my credit cards used fraudulently however I have lost cash before. I pay my entire credit card balance every month.

Debit cards are a slightly different story and you should know the rules about using them because they're not as safe as credit cards in most cases.

IMO a credit card with a $20 as a backup is the way to go- on vacation and everyday life.