Updated Disney Gift Card Deals and More

[FoxC63]

DP: I had Staples pay out via RMN

You're missing some details for this to be a DP...

Data point…I’ve had both of my RMN Staples Disney gift card purchases track.

Perfect DP!

 

[StarCruzer]

I have Staples again in my chase card, so I guess it's about time to sign up for RMN. Does RMN do referral codes? If I'm going to sign up it may as well give some sort of bonus to one of the long-time contributors here

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I have Staples again in my chase card, so I guess it's about time to sign up for RMN. Does RMN do referral codes? If I'm going to sign up it may as well give some sort of bonus to one of the long-time contributors here

The Dis frowns upon referrals so we don't do it in this thread.

 

[FoxC63]

Michiganders - Rite Aid closing all stores in Michigan.
No timeline given however liquidation process has begun at several locations.

Rite Aid Offer Valid 08/25/24 – 08/31/24.
Direct link

 

[FoxC63]

ShopRite has a new gift card offer starting on 8/23/24 or 8/25/24 (depending on your location) for Select gc. . Yeah, I can't read that, hopefully others who shop there will chime in. Physical ads should be delivered tomorrow, I believe.

 

[FoxC63]

H-E-B / Digital Coupons & Weekly ad

H-E-B has some nice offers too.

 

[Bmramaut]

Kroger has a coupon for 8 bucks off two 100 dollar visa/master card gift cards. Combine with 4x the fuel points on gift cards coupon. Could stack with 5 percent cash back with discover for grocery stores.

Must clip the coupon for use.

 

[PrincessGidget]

ShopRite has a new gift card offer starting on 8/23/24 or 8/25/24 (depending on your location) for Select gc. . Yeah, I can't read that, hopefully others who shop there will chime in. Physical ads should be delivered tomorrow, I believe.

View attachment 888275

Re SHOPRITE
My add says “save $10 off your next shopping order when you purchase $50+ select gift cards”
Participating cards include Red Robin, Fanatics, Spafinder and Bath and Body Works.
*with price plus club card
8/25-8/31
(I am in NY)

 

[bbsearchlight]

For those who missed it, the NY Times had an interesting article today about people going into debt to go to DisneyWorld.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/families-going-debt-disney-vacations-114841254.html

So I decided to do a cost breakdown of what it just cost us for 4 people to go to DisneyWorld for 4 days/ 5 nights and visiting all 4 parks. To make it simple, I am not including any savings we got from discounted Disney gift cards. (I also didn't include the cost of the Amtrak tickets, which was a fluke).

Transportation to/from airport: $213.20
Transportation in Orlando: $64
airfare: 53,200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points + taxes = $576.80
4 park tickets: $1,687
hotel: 65,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points = $650
food: $600
lightning lane at 2 parks: $180

Total Cost: $3,971

If you take off the savings from discounted Disney gift cards, it probably saved us around $400 making the total cost $3,571.

The difference between our costs and the people in the article is that not only did we spend a year planning and buying discounted gift cards, we also didn't splurge on things. The article claims a one week trip for 4 costs $6500 - $15,500; while we didn't stay for a week our cost still would have been less than that.

 

[bnf0522]

For those who missed it, the NY Times had an interesting article today about people going into debt to go to DisneyWorld.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/families-going-debt-disney-vacations-114841254.html

So I decided to do a cost breakdown of what it just cost us for 4 people to go to DisneyWorld for 4 days/ 5 nights and visiting all 4 parks. To make it simple, I am not including any savings we got from discounted Disney gift cards. (I also didn't include the cost of the Amtrak tickets, which was a fluke).

Transportation to/from airport: $213.20
Transportation in Orlando: $64
airfare: 53,200 Chase Ultimate Rewards points + taxes = $576.80
4 park tickets: $1,687
hotel: 65,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points = $650
food: $600
lightning lane at 2 parks: $180

Total Cost: $3,971

If you take off the savings from discounted Disney gift cards, it probably saved us around $400 making the total cost $3,571.

The difference between our costs and the people in the article is that not only did we spend a year planning and buying discounted gift cards, we also didn't splurge on things. The article claims a one week trip for 4 costs $6500 - $15,500; while we didn't stay for a week our cost still would have been less than that.

Thanks for this! I read the article and thought it was very misleading!

Some people are willing to go into debt for any vacation, whether it is at Disney World, Las Vegas, Hawaii, etc.....it doesn't mean everybody who takes trips to Disney World is going into debt on each trip.

Maybe they should do an article about those of us finding ways to make their Disney World trips a little cheaper

 

[Willow Ufgood]

Thanks for this! I read the article and thought it was very misleading!

Some people are willing to go into debt for any vacation, whether it is at Disney World, Las Vegas, Hawaii, etc.....it doesn't mean everybody who takes trips to Disney World is going into debt on each trip.

Maybe they should do an article about those of us finding ways to make their Disney World trips a little cheaper

I didn't find it to be misleading so much as it is Disney-focused. We all know YOLO plays a big influence on spending and parents want that big Disney trip while the kids are young. There's a tiny window where magic is alive and cartoon characters are real.

Quoting the article: "In June, LendingTree, a financial firm, published the results of a survey of over 2,000 people that found that 45 percent of parents with children under 18 who have gone to Disney went into debt for the trip."

45%!!!!! Nearly half of all families with children who visited the Mouse went into debt for a Disney vacation. That's alarming, especially when credit card interest rates are so high.

There are plenty of articles and blogs on how to do Disney cheaper. But it's an expensive vacation that has ballooned in price beyond inflation no matter how you slice it. Saving 10%-15% on GCs for a $6K vacation (the price quoted in the article) still means that you spent $5100-$5400 somehow.

 

[bnf0522]

I didn't find it to be misleading so much as it is Disney-focused. We all know YOLO plays a big influence on spending and parents want that big Disney trip while the kids are young. There's a tiny window where magic is alive and cartoon characters are real.

Quoting the article: "In June, LendingTree, a financial firm, published the results of a survey of over 2,000 people that found that 45 percent of parents with children under 18 who have gone to Disney went into debt for the trip."

45%!!!!! Nearly half of all families with children who visited the Mouse went into debt for a Disney vacation. That's alarming, especially when credit card interest rates are so high.

There are plenty of articles and blogs on how to do Disney cheaper. But it's an expensive vacation that has ballooned in price beyond inflation no matter how you slice it. Saving 10%-15% on GCs for a $6K vacation (the price quoted in the article) still means that you spent $5100-$5400 somehow.

Very true!

Just another reason to be thankful for this forum and all the people helping each other save money

 

[f1rstxlas7]

I didn't find it to be misleading so much as it is Disney-focused. We all know YOLO plays a big influence on spending and parents want that big Disney trip while the kids are young. There's a tiny window where magic is alive and cartoon characters are real.

Quoting the article: "In June, LendingTree, a financial firm, published the results of a survey of over 2,000 people that found that 45 percent of parents with children under 18 who have gone to Disney went into debt for the trip."

45%!!!!! Nearly half of all families with children who visited the Mouse went into debt for a Disney vacation. That's alarming, especially when credit card interest rates are so high.

There are plenty of articles and blogs on how to do Disney cheaper. But it's an expensive vacation that has ballooned in price beyond inflation no matter how you slice it. Saving 10%-15% on GCs for a $6K vacation (the price quoted in the article) still means that you spent $5100-$5400 somehow.

It is most definitely a bait and switch mislead. "Going into debt" is being used to trigger readers to point the blame at Disney pricing. In reality, families are charging vacation expenses to their credit cards, which act as a debt vehicle so the author is getting off on a technicality while still pointing the blame at prices.

The 45% of families go into debt headline is horribly twisted, even from the original survey itself. The actual survey results were that, "Among the 77% of theme park-going parents with children younger than 18 who’ve been to Disney, 45% have gone into debt for a Disney trip".

Every article that keeps popping up about this, including the survey to some degree, is just a fun-with-numbers experiment to try and put Disney on the hot seat for their pricing. Which I'm not against, but I do think this narrative is horribly misleading.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

I think people in this particular forum are very budget minded not only about WDW but life in general. I think you also have to look and see where people travel from to visit the world. Coming from the midwest airfare is very expensive vs. large east coast cities. In the above example the individual had airline and hotel points to help with the costs. Many people don't have jobs that create those kinds of savings. There is a whole other world that just pays the price on the ticket and never even thinks to look for a discount. 20+ years ago I was one of those people. I found the Dis and used it for planning purposes but over time began to delve into the various other forum. I have received so much useful info from the budget boards that has been so helpful in everyday life, shopping deals, GC deals (not just DGC) grocery deals, the occasional recipe and so much more. I do think paying $6500+ for a family of four with airfare, transportation to and around WDW, mod resort, tickets, a variety of meals, some LL, some souvenirs is realistic for many that aren't aware of the deals to be had. I don't believe it is exaggerated just not discount.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

The 45% of families go into debt headline is horribly twisted, even from the original survey itself. The actual survey results were that, "Among the 77% of theme park-going parents with children younger than 18 who’ve been to Disney, 45% have gone into debt for a Disney trip".

I read the Lending Tree article from last month. https://www.lendingtree.com/debt-consolidation/disney-goers-debt-survey/

I would point out that the bolded part in your quote is particularly twisted.

100% represents all theme park-going parents with children under 18 (Universal, Six Flags, Disney and others).

77% is the subset of those theme park-going parents with children under 18 who visited Disney.

45% represents all Disney going parents with children under 18 who took on debt.

When you read it from that perspective, it's still true that 45% of Disney-going families took on debt in order to go TO DISNEY, while about 35% of all theme park-going families took on debt to go to Disney. One analyst also called this "good debt" because it brings a memorable experience.

What is more interesting is the interactive graph. If you choose to see Disney debt by household income, the percentage of households that took on debt (not the total amount of debt) increases by income. IOW, those with higher household income were more likely to take on debt in order to go.

It should also be noted that 75% of those who took on Disney debt say that it would be paid off within 6 months.

The article also mentioned that 41% of all Disney park goers (not just parents of kids under 18) were able to take advantage of some discounts on food, resorts, transportation and tickets.

 

[mickey916]

I got all excited today when I got an email from BJs saying "oh baby! Save $20 when you spend $100". Upon opening the email it turns out it's only on baby products. Considering my babies are 26 and 28 and have no babies of their own, I think BJs targeted emails might be a bit off!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I think the bigger problem, beyond going to debt for a Disney vacation, is the rising number of people who use credit card debt as a vehicle to acquire the lifestyle their incomes don't (responsibly) support. I do believe in "good debt," sometimes you gotta stretch to make something happen while the people one loves are still around/are the right age. Sometimes. But then there's eating out a lot, new phones for the family every year or two, that other "it" item everyone else seems to have... then it's not a once in a while thing but a systemic problem of unbalanced family budgets.

 

[Twilghtsprkle]

It is most definitely a bait and switch mislead. "Going into debt" is being used to trigger readers to point the blame at Disney pricing. In reality, families are charging vacation expenses to their credit cards, which act as a debt vehicle so the author is getting off on a technicality while still pointing the blame at prices.

The 45% of families go into debt headline is horribly twisted, even from the original survey itself. The actual survey results were that, "Among the 77% of theme park-going parents with children younger than 18 who’ve been to Disney, 45% have gone into debt for a Disney trip".

Every article that keeps popping up about this, including the survey to some degree, is just a fun-with-numbers experiment to try and put Disney on the hot seat for their pricing. Which I'm not against, but I do think this narrative is horribly misleading.

What gets me is that every so often you have people that post Europe is so much cheaper than Disney. I just spent 6 days in London…no, it is not. Airfare was $4000 for 4, hotel was $3000 (maybe we could’ve gotten cheaper if we got a smaller place, but it was tight for 4 as is) and food/transport/tickets to attractions (yeah museums were free, but churches, anything royal, west end and Harry Potter were not) came in at $3300. We weren’t eating at fancy restaurants - a burger place cost us $95 for dinner.

 

[BaybeeYoda]

I think the bigger problem, beyond going to debt for a Disney vacation, is the rising number of people who use credit card debt as a vehicle to acquire the lifestyle their incomes don't (responsibly) support. I do believe in "good debt," sometimes you gotta stretch to make something happen while the people one loves are still around/are the right age. Sometimes. But then there's eating out a lot, new phones for the family every year or two, that other "it" item everyone else seems to have... then it's not a once in a while thing but a systemic problem of unbalanced family budgets.

This.

Everyone seems to have way more money than us. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't. For sure everyone seems to spend more than we do (with the exception of our 50k/yr private school expense for our older child, and we unfortunately do NOT qualify for financial aid, we do not spend much money if at all -- DH is driving a 6yr old mazda3 and my car is the 10 yr old honda odyssey!).

We only spend $$ on our kids. Disney. DVC. Private school. But we are that kind of parent.... and I want to retire someday or not worry about whether I can afford retirement.

 

[Willow Ufgood]

This.

Everyone seems to have way more money than us. Maybe they do. Maybe they don't. For sure everyone seems to spend more than we do (with the exception of our 50k/yr private school expense for our older child, and we unfortunately do NOT qualify for financial aid, we do not spend much money if at all -- DH is driving a 6yr old mazda3 and my car is the 10 yr old honda odyssey!).

We only spend $$ on our kids. Disney. DVC. Private school. But we are that kind of parent.... and I want to retire someday or not worry about whether I can afford retirement.

$50K/year for private school!!!! Oh my blessed aunt! My undergrad tuition room and board at a private university was less than that! I'm not judging. I'm just flabbergasted at the price tag.