Need some help with how gift cards work when buying food...

[Dameon2k]

We head out for our trip early tomorrow morning and we discovered we still had a nice chunk of change on our gift card from out last trip plus the place I booked through has sent me a digital card. How can we best combine these gift cards and to help pay for meals while at Disney world? I know if the card is physical, it can be scanned but can the physical card and digital one just be combined into a wallet and used that way? How does this process work? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[cincystamper]

If you go to Disneygiftcard.com you can move all the funds from the separate cards onto one card (up to $1,000). So you could move the digital card funds to your physical card and then just use the physical card on your trip.

Have fun!

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Yes, I was going to post about Disneygiftcard.com also.
I would also caution about putting a large amount on one card. Personally, I like $100 cards to use for meals during the day OR use your MB for room charges and then use the GC at the front desk to pay off those charges. Actually, my#1 preference is to use GC for my vacation package balance!

 

[kilik64]

We head out for our trip early tomorrow morning and we discovered we still had a nice chunk of change on our gift card from out last trip plus the place I booked through has sent me a digital card. How can we best combine these gift cards and to help pay for meals while at Disney world? I know if the card is physical, it can be scanned but can the physical card and digital one just be combined into a wallet and used that way? How does this process work? Thanks in advance for any help.

I’d add the digital gift card to your wallet on your phone and transfer balance from physical to that. More secure.

 

[subtchr]

I’d add the digital gift card to your wallet on your phone and transfer balance from physical to that. More secure.

The only type of digital Disney gift card you can add to an Apple Wallet (I'm not familiar with Android) is one directly purchased from ShopDisney.

My workaround for that was to buy the cheapest card from ShopDisney ($25), add that to my Apple Wallet, and then use the gift card website to continually add value to the one in my digital wallet, using cards I purchase elsewhere, usually at a discount.

To use gift cards in the parks, you can have the cashier scan either a physical card or a bar or QR code for a digital one.

For mobile dining orders, mobile checkout at gift shops, and purchases of Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, you can either scan the barcode or enter the gift card number on the payment page in the app.

I keep the gift card number as a note on my phone, so I can use copy/paste on the payment page for each purchase in the app.

 

[slo]

Yes, I was going to post about Disneygiftcard.com also.
I would also caution about putting a large amount on one card. Personally, I like $100 cards to use for meals during the day OR use your MB for room charges and then use the GC at the front desk to pay off those charges. Actually, my#1 preference is to use GC for my vacation package balance!

This is great advice!
Question….Can you use your MB as payment at table service restaurants?
I’ve never thought to try this in the past - I just gave the server my gift card.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

This is great advice!
Question….Can you use your MB as payment at table service restaurants?
I’ve never thought to try this in the past - I just gave the server my gift card.

I hope someone here knows for certain. My experience with using MB at table service was only with a free dining offer. (or was it a prepaid dining pkg?)

 

[slo]

I hope someone here knows for certain. My experience with using MB at table service was only with a free dining offer. (or was it a prepaid dining pkg?)

Thanks - we’ll see if anyone knows.
We may learn something new today

 

[Maxie86]

This is great advice!
Question….Can you use your MB as payment at table service restaurants?
I’ve never thought to try this in the past - I just gave the server my gift card.

Yes you can use your MB at Disney owned table service restaurants. You may be able to use it at some non Disney owned restaurants in the parks, I'm pretty sure we used it at Yak and Yeti, but not positive. You can not use it at the Swan and Dolphin restaurants.

 

[lovethattink]

I’m going to move this to the dining forum where the dining experts can answer that.

 

[slo]

Yes you can use your MB at Disney owned table service restaurants. You may be able to use it at some non Disney owned restaurants in the parks, I'm pretty sure we used it at Yak and Yeti, but not positive. You can not use it at the Swan and Dolphin restaurants.

Awesome - thank you for answering this question.

The next trip I’ll pay with the MB and pay off the purchase with my GCs at the front desk. Sounds like a plan

 

[subtchr]

Awesome - thank you for answering this question.

The next trip I’ll pay with the MB and pay off the purchase with my GCs at the front desk. Sounds like a plan

I used to do this, but I got tired of waiting in what were often long lines at the front desk to make the payments. So I just use the gift card at the point of sale. To me it's no more efficient to use a MagicBand to make a purchase as it is to use a card, especially since I have one in my Apple Wallet. So scan my watch/scan my band -- same thing, and I don't have to do the extra step of paying at the front desk.

Also, we use mobile ordering for food a LOT, and you can't use the MagicBand for that. I copy/paste the gift card number from a note on my phone.

But if it works best for you, then go for it!

 

[preemiemama]

This is great advice!
Question….Can you use your MB as payment at table service restaurants?
I’ve never thought to try this in the past - I just gave the server my gift card.

Yes- we do this all the time. We stay at Disney resorts- usually DVC- and use the bands to charge the meals to the room. Then we periodically go to the desk and pay down the room balance in gift cards throughout the trip.

 

[nw6675]

We only use the GCs for meals. I just have a physical card and pay at the restaurant that way. You still have the tip line like paying with a credit card.

 

[SL6827]

Surely at some point you will be able to pay your balance on your MDE.

 

[Dameon2k]

Thanks for all the input, everyone. It helped me a lot!