Credit limits raised at Walt Disney World Resort hotels

[ThemeParkJunkee]

As a person who brings gift cards to pay off charges on my resort account, this is welcome news. Over a 9 day stay at POP, the number of times we needed to go to the front desk was just plain silly. We ended up just bringing the cards with us and using them directly at the point of service. A $500 limit for people who enjoy dining experiences was far too low for convenience.

 

[zero creativity]

Don't think we ever came close to that limit. Unfortunately we forget and end up charging to the room instead of using the disney card to get the discounts when we can.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Great More room for me to spend money

 

[awilliams4]

I don't get the Little Richard reference, sorry.

Consumer costs increasing is not limited to Disney. Dropping in a thread and making a bandwagoning joke about Disney price increases is an obvious attempt to further the narrative that Disney charges more than anyone else in the world and costs are out of perspective. It's a tired act to get likes.

I liked your General Zod avatar!!!!

 

[PhotoDave219]

Really? Which particular prices have increased faster than the rate of inflation? If you are going to hijack a thread then at least add some context instead of dropping a lame attempt of humor and leave.

I wouldnt say its hijacking, its bringing the credit limit in line with the associated costs, especially of meals. Lets say you do QSR lunch (family of 4), you're looking $50-60. You do a table service dinner, probably 100-125. Add in other stuff and youre easily blowing through 200-250/day. After 2-3 days, room charge is maxed out.

What does this have to do with the prices? Because food didn't used to be anywhere near this expensive. The constant progression of increased costs for a burger and fries are pretty astounding.

They have to raise the room charge ceiling as meals cost a lot more than they used to. Everything adds up.

 

[Nubs70]

I am so tired of the ridiculous comments that add absolutely nothing to the discussion, but are simply constant digs and smartass attempts at jokes. I have found new life on this board by actually using the ignore button. Thanks for being another candidate.

And this adds to the topic how???

 

[note2001]

I'm curious how this change will affect the average user. In order to have room credit, one has to have a credit card on file. When the room account has reached its limit, it is automatically applied to the credit card , clearing out the room account for more charges.This is the way it has always worked for me at VWL, Kidani and SSR.

The only real changes seem to be in how often the charges are applied back to the CC on file (Disney won't catch fraudulent cards as often), and raising that imaginary bar on how much money is available to spend.

 

[asianway]

I wonder how many deadbeat pixie dusters default on this charges every day

 

[zero creativity]

Not to derail the topic but, does anybody have a comparison of prices of things like food and souvenirs from 20-30 years ago to today? I am curious to see how much they have actually gone up.

 

[ford91exploder]

Why did they do this?, I USED to need my CL increased in years past, But with the changes in the past 2-3 years I find it hard to even approach the $1,500 limit (ie there is NOTHING I want to buy) last 10 day trip for 4 of us room charges were about $600 bucks... Same trip 5-6 years ago 2,500-3000 bucks... Way to go Disney!!! give us less and less reasons to spend!

 

[Captain Chaos]

I am so tired of the ridiculous comments that add absolutely nothing to the discussion, but are simply constant digs and smartass attempts at jokes. I have found new life on this board by actually using the ignore button. Thanks for being another candidate.

As you just added absolutely nothing to the discussion. Thanks for being a hypocrite.

As for the increase, anyone stupid enough to allow themselves to be fooled into spending more cause of magic bands are the exact idiots Disney wants as customers. They don't want smart people visiting their parks. They want morons. This feeds right into the "THEY ARE TOURISTS, WHAT DO THEY KNOW? ALL OUR GUESTS ARE IDIOTS AND WE CAN SUCKER THEM OUT OF LITTLE JIMMY'S COLLEGE FUND!!!!"

 

[Brad Bishop]

We have hit this limit a few times before. We had our purchases declined and were required to call the front desk; at which time they will flushed our account to our credit card and reset us back to zero. It was really only an issue when we stayed at at Animation which had a $500 limit.

A few years back I hit it by using my Keys to the Kingdom (I think that's right - the hotel key) card. I was using the card as intended (food and odd items) with the idea of, "Just use the KTTK card and it all just works!" I went to pay for something and my KTTK card was declined. I pulled out another credit card or cash, I don't remember, and paid.

It seems to me that the $500 limit ought to be a soft limit (they process your transactions for $500 but let the MB and, at the time, KTTK cards go through) and maybe have a hard limit of 50% above that $500 ($750) as what they'll allow until they get a new authorization for charges from the credit card issuer. Maybe have a thought as to me being able to ask for hard limits to be in place if I need help with my own spending.

It just seemed dumb to me to say, "Use this magic card for all of your purchases!," when that magic card had a hard limit of $500 and when you bumped into that limit the magic was turned off.

 

[note2001]

Why did they do this?, I USED to need my CL increased in years past, But with the changes in the past 2-3 years I find it hard to even approach the $1,500 limit (ie there is NOTHING I want to buy) last 10 day trip for 4 of us room charges were about $600 bucks... Same trip 5-6 years ago 2,500-3000 bucks... Way to go Disney!!! give us less and less reasons to spend!

You must be eating off property to get away with paying only $60/day for four on your room charge ... or you're on the DDP.

 

[Wildflower]

Finally! We've had it happen to us a couple of times, went to pay for something and it was declined due the limit. We then had to either pay another way or wait while they contacted the resort and had them charge through and set the limit back. VERY annoying and somewhat embarassing (no one else around knows why you've been declined, only that there is a problem). It didn't seem that there was a particular method or time as to when they would "sweep" through, process the charges around the limit and reset you. You almost had to keep close track and go to the hotel desk periodically...

 

[GeneralZod]

I wouldnt say its hijacking, its bringing the credit limit in line with the associated costs, especially of meals. Lets say you do QSR lunch (family of 4), you're looking $50-60. You do a table service dinner, probably 100-125. Add in other stuff and youre easily blowing through 200-250/day. After 2-3 days, room charge is maxed out.

What does this have to do with the prices? Because food didn't used to be anywhere near this expensive. The constant progression of increased costs for a burger and fries are pretty astounding.

They have to raise the room charge ceiling as meals cost a lot more than they used to. Everything adds up.

Right, but this is not strictly a Disney issue as some on the forums like to portray the narrative. From my experience, most things on property costs about the same as any other entertainment venue, ie. local sports whatever, movie theatre (dining, not concessions), amusement/theme park, etc. If people want to (rightfully) complain about rising costs then the discussion is at a much higher level.

 

[Phil12]

I'm curious how this change will affect the average user. In order to have room credit, one has to have a credit card on file. When the room account has reached its limit, it is automatically applied to the credit card , clearing out the room account for more charges.This is the way it has always worked for me at VWL, Kidani and SSR.

The only real changes seem to be in how often the charges are applied back to the CC on file (Disney won't catch fraudulent cards as often), and raising that imaginary bar on how much money is available to spend.

Indeed, I've gone over the limit on many occasions. I've never had a charge declined at WDW because I exceeded the limit. As you describe, they simply apply that amount to the credit card and request that you go to the front desk to authorize the charges and then set another limit. They do this to protect themselves from fraud.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Right, but this is not strictly a Disney issue as some on the forums like to portray the narrative. From my experience, most things on property costs about the same as any other entertainment venue, ie. local sports whatever, movie theatre (dining, not concessions), amusement/theme park, etc. If people want to (rightfully) complain about rising costs then the discussion is at a much higher level.

I get where you're coming from. The cost of all the other things like food and the walk not have gone up considerably. Making that 500 Dollar Limit Way too small. The two things have a lot to do with one another because that $500 limit is been there for at least 11 years. (I'd have to dig out my paperwork but I'm pretty sure on that one.)

They are rather related to one another.

 

[DaisyDoesDisney]

I don't really get what you mean by there being a limit on what you can charge to the Magicband. Last time I was at WDW (Wilderness Lodge in April) we just used the band for everything and when it hit the $1500. mark they charged the credit card on file. Then our resort balance was back to $0 and we could go another $1500 until the process was repeated. Then on the day of check-out, after all of the charges came through, they did a final charge to the credit card regardless of the total. It was nice because on my credit card statement I just had several large charges by Disney instead of dozens of individual charges from over the course of the trip. I don't need to review every bottle of water or snack. (But I was later emailed a detailed receipt by the resort for my review as needed.) I think the only thing we used cash for the entire trip were daily tips to housekeeping and tips to anyone who handled baggage. I think the system is great honestly. Made things very easy.

EDIT: I guess that all I'm trying to say is that I don't see why it's being called a "credit limit" increase, since really your only limit is the limit on your credit card which is not determined by Disney.

 

[Wildflower]

Indeed, I've gone over the limit on many occasions. I've never had a charge declined at WDW because I exceeded the limit. As you describe, they simply apply that amount to the credit card and request that you go to the front desk to authorize the charges and then set another limit. They do this to protect themselves from fraud.

I agree with the fraud protection and wish they had another option as opposed to simply shutting people down. The issue with us came when we hit/went over the limit while we were out at the parks (why wouldn't they zero out nightly if your balance was above X or were close to limit?). They let the first room charge go and didn't say anything, we were then declined on the second and told what our options were/what we needed to do (we spent an extra 15-20mins at the restaurant while the CM was on the phone with the Poly having them zero us out).

 

[DaisyDoesDisney]

I agree with the fraud protection and wish they had another option as opposed to simply shutting people down. The issue with us came when we hit/went over the limit while we were out at the parks (why wouldn't they zero out nightly if your balance was above X or were close to limit?). They let the first room charge go and didn't say anything, we were then declined on the second and told what our options were/what we needed to do (we spent an extra 15-20mins at the restaurant while the CM was on the phone with the Poly having them zero us out).

That would be embarrassing. Sorry that you had to deal with it. Now I think I understand what you all are saying a little better. I've only ever had a package (rather than room-only) and it's paid in full when we arrive. If room charges were going on the card then we'd be at the limit quite often.