Disney gift card and room charges question

[Rags]

Hi checking into Coronado Springs in two weeks as a surprise graduation gift.
Can I use Disney gift cards to pay off room only reservations and can I use to pay off charges on room before we leave?

Thank you for the guidance!

 

[starry_solo]

As long as you don't do online check in, you should be ok.

If you want to be able to charge to the room, go to front desk to link credit card. But you'll need to go every few days before they charge your card (different amounts per resort).

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi checking into Coronado Springs in two weeks as a surprise graduation gift.
Can I use Disney gift cards to pay off room only reservations and can I use to pay off charges on room before we leave?

Thank you for the guidance!

We pay off the room reservation balance using a gift card by calling Disney reservations a few days before arrival. Then the room is paid off and you don't have to worry about them charging your credit card. If you want to pay off the charges that are placed against the room during the trip then it is best to go to the front desk the night before check out to do it. Otherwise, the credit card will be charged overnight.

 

[lockets]

yes and yes.

I do the "old fashioned" in person check in. I show them the gift cards codes on my cell phone and they use the doohickey to scan them each in until paid in full.

Also my way of paying everything else while i'm there on gift cards is - I don't leave a credit card on file with the hotel for incidentals. I tell them I don't need that. And then I charge everything directly to the gift card in the moment. i.e. food, merch, etc.

The only thing that sometimes slips through the cracks is parking. If I know I'm using their parking then I go settle that with the gift cards before I leave.

 

[Dug720]

I show them the gift cards codes on my cell phone and they use the doohickey to scan them each in until paid in full.

You can make that process a lot easier by combining them into as few gift cards as possible on disneygiftcard.com - you can put up to $1000 on each card. MUCH easier than the time it takes to scan cards of $100 or $200 - or lower amounts.

 

[focusondisney]

Is there a specific reason you don’t want to use the gift card to pay directly? We leave a credit card on file just in case. But I just pay for most things with the gift cards. If you want a list of what you spent on it, you just have to enter it into the Disney Gift Card site. You can see a list of all transactions on that card.

If you do set up & use charge to the room, you may end up with several holds on your credit card. Every time you hit $100 charged to the room, they place another hold on your card. They do eventually fall off, but just something to be aware of.

 

[lockets]

You can make that process a lot easier by combining them into as few gift cards as possible on disneygiftcard.com - you can put up to $1000 on each card. MUCH easier than the time it takes to scan cards of $100 or $200 - or lower amounts.

Yep. I purchase large amounts and combine them like you said. Folks - Don’t forget to delete the cards after combining them. Disney card site is not to be used for long term e-storage.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I do online check-in, and I call before we check-in to payoff our room balance, so we have a clean slate when we do check-in. I do not like carrying GCs with me for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is that they are not secure, so if we happen to lose one anyone who finds it can use it, whereas using a MB to charge to the room is pin code protected. I allow room charging to all our MBs (DW, both DDs and myself) this way I do not have to give everyone a GC to do purchases or if I only had the GCs and one of my family wanted to get something, I would have to go with them or they would have to track me down so I can give them a GC to make the purchase. SO much more freedom
I normally will go to the front desk and pay off our room charges every 2-3 days and I also have them give me a detailed printout of all charges, and I have no issues if they put a hold on my CC on file. I also use the Disneygiftcard site, I like to start purchasing discounted GCs months before our trip and combine them as I get them.