Will Disney Parks ever go cashless and just take debit and credit cards?

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
Back in 1985 I had a friend that worked at a local bank. She told me that the entire country would be cashless by 1990.....

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FettFan

Well-Known Member
AKL tried this a year ago, maybe two.

For AKL guests it generally worked OK, they were encouraged to use magic bands or gift cards. But for kids and day guests to the resort (for dining and so on) - not so much.

The trial didn’t last long and nothing more was heard of it.

I think the issue would be that swiping a card or a tapping a magic band takes actual critical thinking away from the consumer.

"Do I really need this?" turns into "Eh. I can pay it off later"....and then there is the existential dread that comes 30 days later from BoA, Citi, Discover, etc.
Meanwhile, cash in your wallet means that every time you buy something, you are FORCED to consider your purchases right then and there.

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Which always comes in handy at Epcot.
 

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
I'd call it a push. You would think that using the chip on your credit card was some crazy alien technology the way most people fumble around with it.
I was more referring to ApplePay, but a credit card is still faster than cash.

An idiot user can mess up any payment system, however.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
We are pretty much cashless...cash will probably always exist, but its mere existence doesn’t really make us a cash society.

Which is insane when you consider that credit cards actually up the prices on everything between the interest charges and the fact that businesses running cards have to pay around 2% of each transaction to the card company.

That's why gas stations have started listing two prices; they convert that processing fee into an upcharge.
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Disstevefan1

Well-Known Member
To the OP, short answer, No. Would I mind if they went cashless? Also no. We love using the cards at F&W. In general we rarely use cash now, mostly at yard sales and farmers markets.
 

donaldtoo

Well-Known Member
We are pretty much cashless...cash will probably always exist, but its mere existence doesn’t really make us a cash society.

Yes, but, she insisted we would be completely cashless as of 30 years ago. No matter how you slice it, that’s not the case. Granted, the most recent cash transaction I did was actually today, when I went to the corner store to get beer with my card, but, got quarters from a dollar bill to put air in my tires.
I can’t even remember the last cash transaction I did before that, but, I’ve yet to run into anyone who’ll turn down my cold, hard cash.
 

Smiley/OCD

Well-Known Member
Large % as in what number? You’re speculating. Cash payments are likely even lower at Disney than in general payments. Disney knows the exact number.

And there is something called a debit card.
And debit cards are much easier to "hack" than credit cards...my DD had her account number stolen and her account was cleaned out in minutes. There was a major breach at Wawa stores/stations last year...we were told that debit card account numbers are much easier to hack at the pumps. I have one but don't use it...don't know if the new debit cards have chips like the credit cards do. Credit cards and cash for me. Thjere's nothing more frustrating than being on line at a Wawa or 7-11, and someone's paying for their Slurpee with a debit card.
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
And debit cards are much easier to "hack" than credit cards...my DD had her account number stolen and her account was cleaned out in minutes. There was a major breach at Wawa stores/stations last year...we were told that debit card account numbers are much easier to hack at the pumps. I have one but don't use it...don't know if the new debit cards have chips like the credit cards do. Credit cards and cash for me. Thjere's nothing more frustrating than being on line at a Wawa or 7-11, and someone's paying for their Slurpee with a debit card.
All those hacking and stolen card issues we've all experienced is 'one' of the major benefits of switching to contactless payment methods like ApplePay or GooglePay. When using that method, a one-time card number is generated for each transaction that expires immediately on completion of the transaction. Your actual card (debit or credit) number is never seen by the merchant nor transmitted for the transaction therefore your number cannot be captured or stolen because your actual card number is not used in the transaction. Unfortunately, too many merchants have been too slow to adopt these methods. One of the benefits (and this is probably the only one) of the pandemic is an aggressive addition of support for contactless payments all over the place.

The bottom line is that these contactless payment methods are significantly more secure than using the physical card which to me is a very major benefit. I use ApplePay every single place it's available including in virtually every transaction at WDW. The only time I really end up using cash nowadays is at fairs or things like airshows where many of the food vendors are cash only but other than that I will always use contactless payment
 
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Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
And debit cards are much easier to "hack" than credit cards...my DD had her account number stolen and her account was cleaned out in minutes. There was a major breach at Wawa stores/stations last year...we were told that debit card account numbers are much easier to hack at the pumps. I have one but don't use it...don't know if the new debit cards have chips like the credit cards do. Credit cards and cash for me. Thjere's nothing more frustrating than being on line at a Wawa or 7-11, and someone's paying for their Slurpee with a debit card.
I think Using a debit card is equally dumb, but I’m just saying you don’t have to use a credit card to make cashless payments.

Cash can be lost.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Cash can be lost.

Only if you're a child or an idiot.

Cash requires responsibility to use effectively, chiefly by creating a monthly budget and sticking to it as strictly as possible.
Hence why I can keep cash around at all times, but if I wound up with my wallet stolen or lost, my only real concern is getting a replacement driver's license, since only have one card hidden for emergency situations, and I never keep more cash on me than I intend to use.
 
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