Buying Disney Gift Cards in Canada

[PalmettoPath]

Our experience is we save a lot of time mobile ordering if the parks are busier. On quieter days it can be the same amount of time to stand in line or mobile order but we still prefer to mobile order.

We take a ziplock bag of gift cards that I keep in the bottom of my backpack. As I start to use one I move it to an easily accessible pocket in my backpack that has a sharpie in it and mark the remaining balance. Very easy to do.

I prefer this as I leave most gc’s in the safe in our room rather than carrying large denominations. (Each below was $50CDN) I see it as similar to me not choosing to carry large sums of cash to the park.

This was our stash before our trip last year. Worked wonderfully!! We’re well into our collection for this summer’s trip too!

All below were purchased with PC Optimum point so free money!!! Our own version of ‘free dining.’

Love this approach. Thanks for sharing! So those balances are the remaining USD amounts that you get onsite after each use, correct?

 

[KeroKero]

All below were purchased with PC Optimum point so free money!!! Our own version of ‘free dining.’

PS They are very easy to use at retailers and resorts as it’s swipe and go. For mobile ordering I key in the number but it doesn’t take long. Sometimes I pre enter them in the notes field if my phone but more often take a quick break to mobile order and key in GC number.

Oh ... PC Optinum points! Good thinking and thank you for that reminder. Definitely going to put those points to Disney uses from now on.

 

[peacefrogdog]

Loblaws at Yonge and Empress ( Empress Walk). Maybe other Loblaws. What's this magical credit card?

Amex cobalt

 

[FinnFogg]

Amex cobalt

I love that card.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

Can you mobile order to your magic band, and then use the gift cards to pay at the hotel at the end of the trip?

 

[hdrolfe]

Can you mobile order to your magic band, and then use the gift cards to pay at the hotel at the end of the trip?

No. You can only pay for mobile order with a credit card, gift card or using meal credits (when on dining plan).

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I loved using the gift cards for everything at the parks. If you buy any merch, just remember to keep your receipt AND that particular gift card in case you need to do a return while still in the bubble.

 

[romanr27]

All below were purchased with PC Optimum point so free money!!! Our own version of ‘free dining.’

Sorry to reply to such an old thread, but are you able to use Optimum points for gift cards?? My partner used to work and Loblaws and swore you couldn't redeem them on gift cards.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Sorry to reply to such an old thread, but are you able to use Optimum points for gift cards?? My partner used to work and Loblaws and swore you couldn't redeem them on gift cards.

No, people are just using the "shell game" method of using their points - shop for your groceries and add a gift card to the transaction of the same value and then tell yourself that the points were used for the gift card instead of the groceries. Make sense?
"Buy" $100 worth of groceries and a $100 gift card for a total transaction cost of $200.
Redeem $100 worth of points and tell yourself that the points paid for the gift card not the groceries.

 

[samsteele]

Reporting back that the $50 Disney gift cards I purchased at Dollarama worked perfectly at WDW for food purchases, etc and no problems at all.

 

[romanr27]

Reporting back that the $50 Disney gift cards I purchased at Dollarama worked perfectly at WDW for food purchases, etc and no problems at all.

How did the exchange rate work? I had always assumed the card value was always in CAD and then when you used it, the conversion of the purchase to USD was done. However, I read on planDisney that the first time you used it, it converts the entire card to USD at the current rate and then the value doesn't fluctuate in the future.

 

[samsteele]

How did the exchange rate work?

On a $50 gift card I didn't pay as much attention to the exchange rate as maybe I should have. My reading of the terms and conditions small print is the actual exchange rate at the time of each separate transaction (point of purchase) governs. Just like your original assumption that the card value is always in Cdn$ until you make a transaction. I know the card balance printed on the receipt is in US$ but I took that as more of a guideline or estimate of how much I actually had left on the card for future purchases. I understood that the printed receipt was not the 'forever' true balance left but just how much was left when that last transaction was made at the exchange rate governing at that time. If that makes sense. Perhaps someone who knows for sure can answer with more authority.

 

[Donald - my hero]

How did the exchange rate work? I had always assumed the card value was always in CAD and then when you used it, the conversion of the purchase to USD was done. However, I read on planDisney that the first time you used it, it converts the entire card to USD at the current rate and then the value doesn't fluctuate in the future.

That used to be the case - you could load it onto the Disney gift card site and it would instantly convert the entire value of the card to USD funds. What happens now (probably over 5 years at this point) is that the card value is always in CDN and is converted at the time you use it based on the previous business day's closing rate. As mentioned above, if you use the card onsite the receipt will show the USD value remaining on the card at the time the transaction took place.
We buy the gift cards here for 3 reasons:

• We buy them using a credit card and earn whatever rewards that card offers, currently building up our WestJet dollars but have also used Airmiles credit cards
• We don't end up paying the foreign transaction fee if we use a CDN credit card
• It keeps us aware of how much we're actually spending, in CDN funds!

 

[jeepwreck]

We will be at WDW on dec 1

So far we have $1,850 in gift cards all from both PC point and Aeroplan points