Disney points and gift cards

[cayenneKT]

Does anyone have experience with Disney visa reward dollars and Disney gift cards? I have several different cards of all different quantities of money totaling about $800 or so. Just trying to figure out how to use these in the most logical way.

We are eligible to purchase our tickets via the military at the tax-free rate. So obviously I cannot use them there. Is it worth using them to buy tickets via Disney even if I do pay taxes? Or Should I use them to pay for the hotel or food and souvenirs? We do not plan on getting a meal plan. Can you really use them for just about any and everything at Disney World?

Thanks- newbie here planning our first trip!

 

[Tinkerbell397]

Welcome and enjoy planning your Magical Trip to Disney.
I have a Disney Visa and over the years, I have accumulated quite a bit of $$ toward my trips. Yes....it is true that you can use your Disney points/gift cards anywhere in Disney. This is what we usually do......while in the park, we charge everything we buy to our room. At the end of our stay, usually the night before we leave, we go to the front desk of the hotel and pay whatever balance is on our account using gift cards or Disney points that ave been transferred to a gift card. We will be visiting in November but we will not be staying on property. We plan to use our Visa Disney points/$$ to pay for meals in the park. We plan to buy our Disney passes through AAA. This is our first trip out of 12 that we will be staying offsite....
Enjoy this board....so many nice knowledge people.....a good resource for you while you plan.

 

[G8rchamps]

We are going on Sunday and have a bit on the rewards card as well as a small pile of gift cards from Target at 5% off with our red card. I'm planning to charge everything to the room and them have all my cards applied to the balance.

 

[boilerpicc]

The MWR discount on tickets is usually enough that it's probably not worth paying extra to use your gift cards. I would by the tickets through the military and use the gift/rewards cards for everything else. I have the Disney Visa, and I use my reward dollars to pay for our souvenirs. Both the gift cards and the rewards card will work like a credit card when you are in parks and at the resorts. We have used the rewards card for everything from stuffed animals to hotels rooms to liquor. Also, you get a 10% discount at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney if you have a Disney Visa (you don't even have to use the Visa). If you are going to buy a lot of souvenirs, it's worth buying all of them there so you get the discount. They have almost everything you can find in any of the parks/resorts.

 

[dreamfinder]

Pretty much any place on property that has a cash register will accept them. Some of the roving vendors, specifically balloon sellers will not, as they are cash only.

Thought, if you are staying on property, you can just charge everything to the room, and then stop by every day or two (or as needed depending on spending) and have them apply the gift cards to the room balance.

Also, you get a 10% discount at the World of Disney in Downtown Disney if you have a Disney Visa (you don't even have to use the Visa). If you are going to buy a lot of souvenirs, it's worth buying all of them there so you get the discount.

The Disney Visa discount is now phrased as the following

10% Off Select Merchandise7
Receive 10% off on select merchandise purchases of $50 or more at select locations at Walt Disney World® Resort owned and operated locations.

You can enjoy this discount any time during normal Theme Park hours. Just use your valid Disney Visa® Card or Disney Rewards® Redemption Card and mention this offer.

with the fine print of

A $50 minimum pre-tax single transaction merchandise purchase is required to receive discount. Must use your valid Disney Visa Card and/or Disney Rewards Redemption Card as payment form and mention this offer..........

So you can get the discount at pretty much any WDW O/O location, and with any real Disney souvenirs. Buying golf clubs, some other luxury items, or trying to use the discount in China or Japan won't work. Some CMs will let you show the Visa and pay with a magic band, cash, whatever, others will require you use the Disney Visa to make your purchase.

In my mind OP, it comes down to how much you plan on spending in any of the categories. You can definitely use your gift cards/reward points to pay off your WDW resort hotel. You can also use them to pay for food, or souvenirs. But if you are eating at a TS location that offers a Visa discount, or buying $50 worth of merch, then it may make sense to pay for that using the Visa. See full terms and locations for the Visa discounts here -> https://disneyrewards.com/vacation-perks/

 

[KCheatle]

I've been accumulating ours. I only have about $100, but by the time of our trip, I should have a little more. I have never had enough to really justify brig the GC to WDW. But, this year I'm going to use it to pay for our breakfast at Crystal Palace. It's like getting an extra TS meal!!

 

[boilerpicc]

The Disney Visa discount is now phrased as the following...

Sneaky credit card company! Thanks for the update. I always end up spending more than $50 anyway