Using Disney Gift Cards at WDW: Physical Card or Digital Card Printout, which is better?

[c_los75]

I have a triple-digit balance from four Disney Gift Cards. Three were digital gift cards. One is a physical gift card. I have combined all the balances and transferred them to one of the digital gift cards. But, I have kept the physical card.

Would it be better to transfer the entire balance to the physical gift card or, if I bring the printout of the one digital gift card, keep the balance on the digital card?

My plan is to charge my WDW purchases to my Resort room and then, at checkout, apply the gift card balance towards those purchases.

(I hope this makes sense.)

 

[Marionnette]

I have a triple-digit balance from four Disney Gift Cards. Three were digital gift cards. One is a physical gift card. I have combined all the balances and transferred them to one of the digital gift cards. But, I have kept the physical card.

Would it be better to transfer the entire balance to the physical gift card or, if I bring the printout of the one digital gift card, keep the balance on the digital card?

My plan is to charge my WDW purchases to my Resort room and then, at checkout, apply the gift card balance towards those purchases.

(I hope this makes sense.)

Having just one physical to hand the front desk CM will be easier than dealing with multiple GCs. As long as the total is under $1000, it's possible to combine all GC balances on a single GC. If charging to the room and paying it off with a GC at the end of your stay is your plan, then by all means combine all of the GCs on the physical GC.

 

[Best Aunt]

OP, you probably already know this but I'll mention it anyway - if you buy something in a shop, you can use your Magic Band to charge the purchase to your room. But if you mobile order at a quick service restaurant, you cannot use your magic band to charge the food to the room. You can use a gift card for mobile order, but you have to enter the gift card number each time, so people put it as a note in their phone which they can copy and paste.

Also, I don't know if Disney will wait until checkout to process credit card charges. They might process a charge to your credit card -- including the purchases you charged to your room -- before checkout. So I don't know if you need to go to the front desk periodically before check out if you want to charge those purchases to a gift card rather than to the credit card which the hotel will have on file. Somebody who has done this should be able to give you better info.

I think the Budget Board gets a lot more traffic than the Tips Board, so you might to see if anything has been posted over there.

 

[ShannyMcB]

When are you going and where would you be keeping your GC?
I only ask because sweat/water rides and a piece of paper may not mix well...however you would have the option of re-printing an email if need be.
I prefer the physical type card myself but that's just personal preference.

 

[happiestpoe]

If you're only using the GC at the end of the trip, to pay your charges, then physical is easiest.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

I think they charge your credit card periodically during your stay, so I wouldn’t wait until the end of the trip to pay for the room charges. I went to the lobby every night and paid for my room balance daily to ensure my credit card wasn’t charged.