Taking Cash to Disney

[disney4evr]

I know this question was asked somewhere, but I can not find it right now. So forgive me for asking again. I have an 11yo DD who likes to be independent, especially with her money. I really do not want to take a lot of cash for her to spend. Does anyone have any good ideas?

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

When DS12 takes his own money, we allow him to bring $15-20 per day, which ends up being around $100 total for our 7 day trips. DS hardly ever buys things if he's not at a park. Usually he has something in mind that he wants to buy, something he saw on a previous trip, and buys that and some other little things, and he likes to buy mickey shaped ice cream for everyone after riding splash mtn.
On the night before we leave to WDW sometimes DH will give the DS cash to put with whatever DS has saved, just to make sure he's got some to spend and splurge, and of course to be called the "Best and most Coolest Dad Ever"
DS usually comes home with money left over. He knows how much he has and makes decisions about what he really wants!

 

[HonnyDipp]

I have 3 children ages 13, 10 and 6. I went to the Disney Store last week and bought 3 gift cards. My goal is to add money to them for our November trip. I'm thinking $75.00 a peice will be good for spending money. They can use the cards anywhere, and its a good way to keep track of their money. I asked the store clerk what she preferred either the gift card or Disney dollars, and was told the gift card was better, because there willl be no loose change, everything stays on the card, that way the older kids can keep up with it better

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

My kids took about 20.00 in cash and the rest was in a Disney Gift Card. hey saved and earned their money all year and my DD9 took 200.00 with her. My other kids had much less. It worked great because everytime they bought something the receipt showed how much they had left.

 

[madalex]

Here's another vote for the Disney gift card. Kids can keep track of how much they spend and no need to carry around cash. And, of course, they can be used in all the stores at the parks and most of the portable carts as well.

 

[marvin12]

Here's another vote for the Disney gift card. Kids can keep track of how much they spend and no need to carry around cash. And, of course, they can be used in all the stores at the parks and most of the portable carts as well.

Agree,

 

[dawgfan]

Gift cards work great. We usually take cash. $100 for a 5 day trip and about $200 for a 9 day trip. No problem to keep up with really.

 

[Atchley]

Can't you put charging privleges on a room key for kids. If I remember correctly, you can put a limit on how much they are able to charge to the room. You could just tell them when you check in what their charging level should be. A Disney Gift card would work too, but I am not close to a Disney store anymore so it isn't quite as convienient. (Also good if you forget before you go! )

 

[marvin12]

I did buy our gift card on line. In fact you could put alot or a little on it and you could keep adding to it. And the money that is left (if any) could be use for a later time or at a Disney store.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

I have used the Gift Cards with younger children and let the older children charge to the room.

When we go for the Food & Wine Festaval I use the Gift Cards I don't like so many $3.00 $4.00 charges on the room key. I also don't use my Credit Card at Disney (except room) any more because to many guest have had their cc information taken.

To purchase a Gift Card before your trip click on the link below:

Disney Gift Card

 

[madcat]

we let our sons have some cash (which we held for them) but we also got them some "disney dollars" last time we went. And they got to hold that money if they wanted to, most of the time they still wanted us to hold it and then give it to them before they bought something. They didnt want to spend them all, so we ended up bringing them back and will use them on our next trip. They look just like real money except they have mickey, donald etc on them.

 

[disnut8]

Just to note that you can get any gift card, not just the Disney one. Disney accepts American Express, Master Card, Visa, Discover and Diner's Club. We have used the American Express, Master Card, and Visa gift cards that were given to us as gifts without any problems at all.

It would be a good exercise in keeping a budget. Tart your daughter out with, say, $100 gift card. As she makes purchases, she needs to save her receipts and then determine how much is left on the card. When it's gone, it's gone.

(You can also check the balance on line but that would be too easy, don't you think?)

 

[disney4evr]

Just to note that you can get any gift card, not just the Disney one. Disney accepts American Express, Master Card, Visa, Discover and Diner's Club. We have used the American Express, Master Card, and Visa gift cards that were given to us as gifts without any problems at all.

It would be a good exercise in keeping a budget. Tart your daughter out with, say, $100 gift card. As she makes purchases, she needs to save her receipts and then determine how much is left on the card. When it's gone, it's gone.

(You can also check the balance on line but that would be too easy, don't you think?)

I thought with those cards (AmEx, MC, Visa) your signature is required?

 

[Mamalisa58]

A prepaid Visa or MC gift card might work better than cash. It can be replaced if lost or stolen. Or American Express has a travel card that can be loaded and it supposed to be just as easy to replace a Am Ex travelers checks.

Hope this helps

 

[dis75ney]

I had thought about the gift cards, but I don't want DS to get the impression that the money never stops (unlike our CC ). Plus, he just finished money counting in first grade, so DH and I both wanted him to get the idea of handling real money, yet we didn't want to hand him a wad of cash that he's saved up (he's got close to $100 saved so far - mostly allowance) and have him be responsible for it...

What we've decided to do is make up our own form of currency for DS to use on our trip this October. One of the amazingly talented DISigners here created $1, $5, and $10 bills with the Lego Star Wars characters that we'll be using in place of real currency. DS sees something he wants, he pays us with his "money," we charge it to our room and give him his "change" from our own stock of Lego money. This way, we don't have to worry about money being lost or stolen...it's easily replaceable. And DS will LOVE the Lego money!

 

[disnut8]

I thought with those cards (AmEx, MC, Visa) your signature is required?

There's a space on the back for your signature but we never signed ours. The bad thing is that if you lose the card, anyone can use it. But that would be the same way with cash.

 

[cjackearl]

We'll be using these for our two daughters who will be 11 and 9 (almost 10) at the time of our vacation. We're planning on spending some time with grandparents in NC after Disney and didn't want all their money tied up in a card they could only use at Disney. I believe you can purchase them through AAA w/membership w/o a fee, but not positive. I plan to tape a piece of paper to the inside of their autograph books for them to keep a balance ledger so that they can have a visual of how much money they still have available.

 

[LSchrow]

we prefer disney GCs to the prepaid (aka GCs) Visa/MC/Amex.

either can be replaced if lost (keep the receipt & acct # in a safe place). fyi: if stolen, used funds on a disney GC will not be replaced; the policy differ for different CC GCs (read the fine print).

the receipt will show your balance when paying with a disney GC.
however, you must keep track of your balance with CC GCs. the card will be declined if the purchase amt is greater than card balance. also with CC GCs, some places cannot split transactions to use another credit card or cash for the balance.
CC GCs normally charge a fee at initial purchase (i won't pay to use my own money simply on principle), have an expiration date, & incur monthly fees within 6 months up to a year or two of purchase date (e.g, i was given a $100 Visa GC, & wound up with less than $40 on it when i went to make my initial purchase a bit over a year later ). disney GCs are free to purchase, & never expire or incur fees.
the only drawback of a disney GC might be that they are not good "everywhere credit cards are accepted". however, since they are good at WDW, DL, DCL, disneyshopping.com, as well as at the disney store, we have never felt that was an inconvenience.
hth

 

[Disneyholic]

When we took DS & a friend (both 16) a few years back, we went to AAA & got 2 person travelers checks. Each kid signed their own & I signed as the second person on each. We gave them so many every day to carry with them & kept the rest in the safe. At the end of the day we marked down what had been used and doled out the next days checks. They are replaced if lost and there are no charges if you are a AAA member. The VISA (&other)cards have service charges and other fees for use and sometimes they put a hold on part of the available balance depending on where they are used.

 

[Pixeldust Fairy]

Just my opinion but I HATE gift cards. I have about 6 of them sitting here on my desk with balances of anywhere from .99 to 5.00 that is so hard to spend. You almost have to have an exact purchase to get every last penny out of that card. Most of the time, say if I have a purchase of 22.00 and I try to use the card, it will decline it because obviously there is not enough money to cover that amount. Thats why they are such a big money maker. They charge you a fee for purchasing one, then they get to keep that last little bit of money that you can never spend.

I give my kids cash. I monitor their cash and when its all said and done and if they come home with any money, it goes right back into their piggy banks for our next trip. No company gets to cheat them out of their last few dollars.