Tell me about the Disney vacation account

[MrsBergs]

We are considering the disney vacation account, what are the pros and cons and how does it work?
Thanks so much!

 

[mindymouse1]

I have used it for years. You can put money into the account on a schedule or just whenever you want. I used my debit card and every two weeks the money came out of my account on payday. My mother preferred to add money to her account when she felt like it. It is easy to get the money back if need be but does take a few days. When you are ready to make a payment to Disney you just call them and give them your DVA number and they enter it like a gift card (I have had CM's not know what the DVA was). Afterwards you click on a link and the DVA will send you a gift card of $20 for every thousand dollars that you used towards your trip. I have loved it! It makes saving for my trips so much easier. My family members also use it now. I should make a DVA commercial because I'm always bragging on it. Lol.

 

[Marionnette]

We are considering the disney vacation account, what are the pros and cons and how does it work?
Thanks so much!

Pros:

• Easy to set up
• Easy to fund with EFT, credit card or gift cards
• $20 Disney gift card for every $1000 spent on qualifying purchases (not the same as 2% back)
• Refunds can go back to their original form of credit or be used to purchase a Disney GC

Cons:

• Poor IT and customer support
• Reports of missing funds (one Disboards member reported missing $1K from their account just last week)
• Reports of automatic funding being done twice, causing some users to be overdrawn on their bank accounts or over the limit on their credit cards
• Reports of adding a gift card, the gift card amount going to zero but the DVA balance not increasing
• The $20 per $1K spent offer is due to expire at the end of 2017
• Cannot be used for onsite purchases at the parks and resorts
• Money is tied up in "Disney Funds" and can take a while to get back if you need it for an emergency..

My advice, if you're going to use it, is to open an account with the minimum amount at least 120 days before you're going to use it (account must be open at least that long before any purchase qualifies for the bonus gift card). Leave it alone and save your money in an interest-bearing account elsewhere. Fund the account using a rewards credit card (or discounted gift cards) when you're ready to pay for your Disney vacation (or DVC dues, or tickets, etc.). Pay off the credit card with the money you saved. Then request the bonus gift card.

 

[dcfromva]

Marionette and mindymouse1 have pretty well summed it up.
I started mine with $10.00 back in 2015 to get the clock ticking. I waited about a year before I put anymore $$ in the account. I have used it with some trepidation due to some of the problems folks have reported. I use it much in the way Marionette describes above--I put the money in just before a major purchase and then I use it right away. I prefer to use a CC, but sometimes I receive gift cards at Christmas and it is a convenient way to aggregate them.

 

[crisi]

Without being able to use it for onsite purchases, it seems its use to DVC members would be pretty limited. I can get better than a 2% ticket discount through a ticket reseller - so it isn't ideal for that, though I suppose if I were renewing APs it would work. Dining Plan? What else are people using it for?

 

[madchatter]

I've heard you can pay dues with it also

 

[glencoe]

I have it and am using it for a trip this June (only for dining plan for 7 people-since I bought tickets at parksavers, have DVC and will get the remainder on a gift card) The next trip is my daughter's sweet 16 which I plan on getting dining and possibly tickets- however like others have posted....for DVC it doesn't really help. I normally never buy dining plan but these two planned trips it is the best option. I might use the Disney Gift card I get back to pay for DVC dues? Can you use it for AP's in the park? I thought not...if that is the case then I guess another Disney gift card?

I also heard that if they refund $$ it goes back on the original payment. So if you used Disney Gift Cards to load the DVA account, it would go back on those original cards...meaning you would have had to keep them. I am not sure if I will continue it after these trips as I am not sure it really is any different than me setting up an account at my bank with automatic withdrawals.

I have had not problems with the account it self as others have posted.