Using Disney gift cards for dinner

[LoveMickey]

Asking for a friend.

Someone told my friend that you’re not allowed to use Disney gift cards to pay for your meals at Disney restaurants

I’ve been going to WDW for many years and have never heard this

Does anyone know what this is about?

Thank you

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hahaha! You can pay for meals, even tipped meals, with Disney gift cards.

(Good idea asking here, going forward I wouldn't listen to anything that friend has to say about Disney as they obviously don't check anything.)

 

[Mommb]

You can definitely use Disney gift cards at Disney-owned restaurants (which is most of the places in the parks and resorts) and may be able to use Disney gift cards at some restaurants at WDW that are not Disney-owned as well.

 

[LoveMickey]

This was a bank telling my friend, who is a first timer. Thanks for verifying

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been to the parks n

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

Yes of crouse you can use gift cards.
I'd say either your friend was confused about what the person told them or the person that told them that is confused.

 

[DaviVascaino]

I was just there literally 10 days ago and paid several meals and tips using my gift card

 

[Mle8308]

Same! We used them at Gideon's, too!

 

[purple figment]

Unless they've changed their policy, Disney gift cards cannot be used at restaurants in the Swan & Dolphin..

 

[gottalovepluto]

Unless they've changed their policy, Disney gift cards cannot be used at restaurants in the Swan & Dolphin..

Correct, those are not Disney Restaurants. The exception to that rule is 3rd party restaurants that use Disney's payment system like the ones in Downtown Disney, however the system is less reliable and on a couple of occasions I've been told by a vendor (Wine Bar George) the system is down and I needed to use a different payment method. Marriott's Swolphin properties are not on the Disney payment system.

 

[beccasmom]

For non-Disney-owned restaurants, it is probably best to check first. Raglan Road, as one example, does accept them.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I have run into problems using Disney gift cards.

It is also important to note that you can't use Disney+ gift card at WDW at all. People sometimes confuse them, especially if they get a deal on the D+ cards.

The person reporting that they were unable to pay for some meals w a Disney gift card could have been correct even if they were using the correct kind of Disney card. When WDW's system goes down, there is no way to use gift cards, so you get stuck switching to a cc. This happened to me in 2023 or 2024, and the system was down most of the day. I wasn't able to use giftcards to buy food, LL, or anything. (was G+ at the time) It was frustrating because it initially looked like our mobile order went through.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have run into problems using Disney gift cards.

It is also important to note that you can't use Disney+ gift card at WDW at all. People sometimes confuse them, especially if they get a deal on the D+ cards.

The person reporting that they were unable to pay for some meals w a Disney gift card could have been correct even if they were using the correct kind of Disney card. When WDW's system goes down, there is no way to use gift cards, so you get stuck switching to a cc. This happened to me in 2023 or 2024, and the system was down most of the day. I wasn't able to use giftcards to buy food, LL, or anything. (was G+ at the time) It was frustrating because it initially looked like our mobile order went through.

I had a problem with the system going down one year while using gift cards at a restaurant in Disney Springs so I switched to the cc on file at the hotel and later used the gc to pay the hotel bill. Easy solve and still got the lower cost benefit of using the gc.

Never bought or used Disney+ gcs although I heard of an infamous case of a family buying many to pay for their WDW trip unsuccessfully.

I buy discounted Disney gcs from BJs and Targets; pretty foolproof.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Don't forget that if you're planning on leaving the tip on the GC it has to have enough to cover and you can't forget and use the card before they take their tip out of it after you're all paid up.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I had a problem with the system going down one year while using gift cards at a restaurant in Disney Springs so I switched to the cc on file at the hotel and later used the gc to pay the hotel bill. Easy solve and still got the lower cost benefit of using the gc.

Never bought or used Disney+ gcs although I heard of an infamous case of a family buying many to pay for their WDW trip unsuccessfully.

I buy discounted Disney gcs from BJs and Targets; pretty foolproof.

Alas, the day the system was down for me was my last day, after I'd already checked out.

The lost meal order was my dinner that I planned to eat just before heading to the airport. I would have cancelled and not ordered it, but the manager said she would speed the order. I had allowed some extra time, but the food order still took a while.

And we'd had a problem w/ lunch that day, plus everything else we tried to buy so we didn't buy anything except food that day.

I have since used the gift cards. It was just an unexpected ending.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Don't forget that if you're planning on leaving the tip on the GC it has to have enough to cover and you can't forget and use the card before they take their tip out of it after you're all paid up.

It has not happened to me, but I did read on one WDW websites that people have had problems if there isn't enough left on the giftcard to cover the tip. that seems like outdated information to me, because I know I have successfully split a meal payment between two giftcards, where one was finished out.

 

[Paulaparm]

Yep, we used gc at each restaurant we ate at on our recent trip. No problems at all.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

It has not happened to me, but I did read on one WDW websites that people have had problems if there isn't enough left on the giftcard to cover the tip. that seems like outdated information to me, because I know I have successfully split a meal payment between two giftcards, where one was finished out.

If I know my GC doesn't have enough to cover the tip I'll give them a CC and tell them what to charge on each so that I can leave the tip portion on the CC

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

This was a bank telling my friend, who is a first timer. Thanks for verifying

It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been to the parks n

A BANK!!! Is that a typo? I really would like to know how/why a bank was telling her that.

 

[Paulaparm]

A BANK!!! Is that a typo? I really would like to know how/why a bank was telling her that.

I was thinking the same thing!

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Asking for a friend.

Someone told my friend that you’re not allowed to use Disney gift cards to pay for your meals at Disney restaurants

I’ve been going to WDW for many years and have never heard this

Does anyone know what this is about?

Thank you

Where do people get their information, seriously???
I've used D GC's for years at both QS and sit down on site property and have never been denied.