We received a ton of Disney gift cards for Christmas. Can I apply them somehow to my account when we arrive/check in and charge against them using our magic bands? Anyone ever do this or have a way to do this I overlooked? I just want to avoid bringing a ton of cards with us into the park each day.
Thank you!!
You can use gift cards to pay your resort account, but you cannot apply them to your account up front if that would result in a credit balance. It used to be allowed, I believe, but the past few trips, I've consistently been told that it is now against Disney policy. It has to do with them requiring any credit balance at the end of your stay to be returned to the same card from whence it came - something they can't accomplish with gift cards.
However, Disney has recently added a feature on disneygiftcard.com that allows you to transfer balances from one card to another card. If you have lots of cards, you can choose one card and transfer the balances from all the others to that one card. It's very easy. There is a maximum amount that can be placed on any one card ($1000, I think). I did this for our trip in December, and was able to combine 10-12 cards with small amounts ($25-$50) onto one card. Much better than carrying a pocketful of cards to the parks.
You also have the option of just using your magic band and charging things to your resort account. You can then use the gift cards to pay those charges at anytime.
Steve
First visit: Disneyland, July 17, 1955 (well, somebody had to be there on opening day!)
Most Recent Visit:
Disneyland - June 21-25, 2017
WDW - Sep 22 - Oct 5, 2019
Next up: WDW - May 9 - 16, 2020 at Riviera!
Dec 5 - 16, 2020 at Poly
Fangorn;2477462 wrote: You can use gift cards to pay your resort account, but you cannot apply them to your account up front if that would result in a credit balance. It used to be allowed, I believe, but the past few trips, I've consistently been told that it is now against Disney policy. It has to do with them requiring any credit balance at the end of your stay to be returned to the same card from whence it came - something they can't accomplish with gift cards.
However, Disney has recently added a feature on disneygiftcard.com that allows you to transfer balances from one card to another card. If you have lots of cards, you can choose one card and transfer the balances from all the others to that one card. It's very easy. There is a maximum amount that can be placed on any one card ($1000, I think). I did this for our trip in December, and was able to combine 10-12 cards with small amounts ($25-$50) onto one card. Much better than carrying a pocketful of cards to the parks.
You also have the option of just using your magic band and charging things to your resort account. You can then use the gift cards to pay those charges at anytime.
Steve
Thank you so much! This is so helpful. I appreciate it. I will definitely check out disneygiftcard.com. That will make it so much easier to manage.
I did not know that you could transfer the balances to one card. I will have to do that. This post reminded me that I have a couple cards I need to look for. I put them in a "safe" location until our next trip so they wouldn't get lost and I don't know where that "safe" location is right now. haha!
Off-site August 1986
All Star Music May/June 1999
Coronado Springs August 2012
Animal Kingdom Lodge May 2017
Port Orleans Riverside June 2022 (planned)
Great Information. I too have received a lot of gift cards for birthday and Christmas. I'm gonna try and transfer all onto one card. Thank you so much!!!!!
