Using Disney gift cards?

Witchy Chick

Witchy Chick

Well-Known Member
What, if anything, would we be able to use Disney gift cards for on an upcoming trip?

We'll be staying at Swan (or Dolphin) so not sure gift card can be used for hotel bill since that's Marriott properties.

Can we use a Disney gift card for food/snack purchases in the parks? Can we use for G+/ILL purchases?

(I'm getting discounted park tickets thru my work, and called the work ticket office today and was told I can't use the gift cards there for ticket purchase.)


Thanks!!!
 
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Vacationeer

Vacationeer

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
When is your trip? You could also use them on most “Enchanted Extras”, that’s things like Halloween or Christmas party tickets, Building lightsaber(s) at Savi’s, Dessert parties at MK & EP, horseback riding, a bunch of different food tours and fireworks dining packages, different animal experiences at AK, etc.
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Are you asking because you already have gift cards and are trying to figure out how to get rid of the balance?
Or are you going to buy them?
If you haven't yet DON'T.
If you have then yes use them on food/drink/merch/special events etc.
 
Upvote 1
Weather_Lady

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
We ended up in this situation when we visited WDW last August. We bought something like $5K worth of discounted Disney gift cards (4% BJ's Wholesale Club discount + 5% Discover card cash-back for wholesale club purchases that quarter) to cover the cost of what was initially going to be a splurgy WDW room-and-ticket package at the Polynesian, plus onsite dining, etc. THEN, WDW turned the Polynesian into a construction zone with no monorail service, announced that they wouldn't be introducing early entry until after our trip, etc., and generally did their utmost to convince us that it wasn't worth the extra money to stay onsite. So we canceled the package, rebooked with Marriott at the Dolphin, and bought our tickets from an authorized reseller. We easily saved $1K, but now we had all those gift cards!

We used the WDW gift cards to pay for all of our onsite dining and snacks (since the MDE app now allows their use even for mobile-ordered CS), a few souvenirs, and Boo Bash tickets, but we still have well over $3K left for next time. They don't expire, so as long as we don't misplace them (and we shouldn't - I keep them in a safe, and registered all the numbers with disneygiftcard.com so I can check balances, although I also do it the old-fashioned way with a blank sticker on the back of each card where I subtract purchases and keep track of the current balance), we'll be in good shape to pay for all of our food and sundries (if not hotel and/or tickets) for our next WDW trip, tentatively projected for August 2023 or 2024 at the earliest.

*FWIW, although Genie+/ILL wasn't a thing when we last visited, per the Disney website, you absolutely CAN use a Disney GC to purchase in-app items like PhotoPass photos, Genie+, and ILL. https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/gift-card-purchase-genie-475087/ https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...sney-gift-cards-last-months-know-able-469155/
 
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MickeyCB

MickeyCB

Well-Known Member
Weather_Lady said:
We ended up in this situation when we visited WDW last August. We bought something like $5K worth of discounted Disney gift cards (4% BJ's Wholesale Club discount + 5% Discover card cash-back for wholesale club purchases that quarter) to cover the cost of what was initially going to be a splurgy WDW room-and-ticket package at the Polynesian, plus onsite dining, etc. THEN, WDW turned the Polynesian into a construction zone with no monorail service, announced that they wouldn't be introducing early entry until after our trip, etc., and generally did its utmost to convince us that it wasn't worth the extra money to stay onsite. So we canceled the package, rebooked with Marriott at the Dolphin, and bought our tickets from an authorized reseller. We probably saved $1K, but now we had all those gift cards!

We used the WDW gift cards to pay for all of our onsite dining and snacks (since the MDE app now allows their use even for mobile-ordered CS), a few souvenirs, and Boo Bash tickets, but we still have well over $3K left for next time. They don't expire, so as long as we don't misplace them (and we shouldn't - I keep them in a safe, and registered all the numbers with disneygiftcard.com so I can check balances, although I also do it the old-fashioned way with a blank sticker on the back of each card where I subtract purchases and keep track of the current balance), we'll be in good shape to pay for all of our food and sundries (if not hotel and/or tickets) for our next WDW trip, tentatively projected for August 2023 or 2024 at the earliest.

*FWIW, although Genie+/ILL wasn't a thing when we last visited, per the Disney website, you absolutely CAN use a Disney GC to purchase in-app items like PhotoPass photos, Genie+, and ILL. https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/gift-card-purchase-genie-475087/ https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...sney-gift-cards-last-months-know-able-469155/
Click to expand...
I don't remember if you are DVC but you can use them to pay your annual dues also. We buy our cards here at a grocery chain and get a serious amount of free gasoline at their gas stations.
 
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Witchy Chick

Witchy Chick

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks very much for the replies! Sounds like (for us anyway) QS lunches and G+ are our best bets to use up the gift card(s). I have one card (for me) with a pretty significant balance we can use for G+ and a dinner or two, and I plan on $100 card each for DD13 and DS12 for when they are not hanging with us in the parks and want to get a snack at some point.
 
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"El Gran Magnifico"

"El Gran Magnifico"

I unclog my nose in your direction
Premium Member
Been a little while since I’ve stayed at Swolphin - but was unable to use them there (maybe it’s changed - best to call to check). Any Disney owned location you should be fine.
 
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WDWmazprty

WDWmazprty

Well-Known Member
Hey, so we're planning on doing a similar thing for our upcoming trip. One gift card for just dining, another for just souvenirs, etc.

Been to Disney so many times, but never actually used gift cards during a stay. We figured we could load the cards up there when we checked in. Is that all something that we can do? Can the gift cards be used all throughout the parks and resorts?
 
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Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
WDWmazprty said:
Hey, so we're planning on doing a similar thing for our upcoming trip. One gift card for just dining, another for just souvenirs, etc.

Been to Disney so many times, but never actually used gift cards during a stay. We figured we could load the cards up there when we checked in. Is that all something that we can do? Can the gift cards be used all throughout the parks and resorts?
Click to expand...
Gift cards are pretty universal…

It’s actually kinda fun…I started using them a few years ago to mix it up and take advantage of discounts and cash back.
 
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WDWmazprty

WDWmazprty

Well-Known Member
Great! Yeah, seems a lot easier to just whip out your yellow gift card for dining and your blue gift card for souvenirs, etc.

I'm guessing they can load up the cards there at check-in, correct?
 
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Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
WDWmazprty said:
Great! Yeah, seems a lot easier to just whip out your yellow gift card for dining and your blue gift card for souvenirs, etc.

I'm guessing they can load up the cards there at check-in, correct?
Click to expand...
I don’t think they can…

But what you want to do is buy a card…either retail or from shopDisney…and load them yourself prior. There’s a Disney gift card portal that allows you to input and combine them.

Each card has a $1000 limit. So if you get one - say $100 - you can enter others and load it up to $1000

Or you can purchase larger ones with bigger amounts directly.

Have fun
 
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WDWmazprty

WDWmazprty

Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh said:
I don’t think they can…

But what you want to do is buy a card…either retail or from shopDisney…and load them yourself prior. There’s a Disney gift card portal that allows you to input and combine them.

Each card has a $1000 limit. So if you get one - say $100 - you can enter others and load it up to $1000

Or you can purchase larger ones with bigger amounts directly.

Have fun
Click to expand...
Right, ok! Thanks!
 
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