Disney Gift Card Pros and Cons

There are several pros and only a few cons to using Disney gift cards to pay for your Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Disney Cruise Line vacation.

The pros are as follows:

1. It is more secure as there is no need to give your credit number to make a payment.  A valid credit card will still be required at check-in and to make dining reservations, but it is possible to book and pay off the entire vacation package without a credit card.
2. If you put all of your vacation savings onto Disney gift cards, there will be no temptation to use the money for other purposes.
3. It’s convenient.  Disney gift cards can be bought online as well as at several popular shopping locations including Wal-mart, Target, and Best Buy.
4. Gift cards can be purchased with credit cards, cash, or, at some retailers, with other gift cards, thus allowing the use of multiple tenders that may not otherwise be available.
5. You may be able to get free gift cards through reward programs, such as Disney Movie Rewards and Best Western Rewards.
6. Last, but not least, you can buy Disney gift cards at a discount from Target, Sam’s club, and BJ’s.

*Follow this blog for future posts in which I will give more details on obtaining discounted and free gift cards*

The only cons are:

1. If you have to cancel your vacation for any reason, whatever refund you are entitled to will be refunded to the original payment type.  This is not an issue if you plan to rebook for another time, but it could be a problem if you are cancelling for financial reasons and need the money for another purpose.
2. It’s a bit more time-consuming than making a payment with a credit card.  The gift cards come in increments of $25, $50, and $100.  You can use disneygiftcard.com to combine them onto one card up to $1000 to make the payment process smoother, but it still takes more time than just paying with a credit card.
3. If you purchase physical gift cards rather than e-gift cards, you may find yourself with a lot of empty gift cards by the time your trip is paid off.  This isn’t a huge con but it just seems wasteful.