Will I need cash in the parks?

[abnihon]

Or can I pay for all snacks and everything with a CC?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Balloons are they only thing I can think of that require cash, but there may be a few more "floating" vendors like that who accept cash only.

 

[mom2rtk]

How certain are you that Disney tech is 100% foolproof?

 

[wench]

I always bring cash to tip Bell Services, but that’s it. You should be fine with just a credit card, but I’d be sure to bring your ATM card too. That way if you have a cash emergency you can easily get some.

 

[LittleFlounder]

I always make sure I have a very small amount of cash on my at Disney parks, but for the most, aside from balloons, CC for everything. Last trip to DL, I came across an ice cream cart whose credit card machine wasn't working.

 

[MillauFr]

I never carry cash. Hasn't been a problem

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If we are staying at a hotel, we always carry enough cash for tips. Laundry money we can get at the front desk, if needed. For the parks, we carry a small amount of cash, just in case. This has worked fine on every trip.

 

[Malcon10t]

I have enough cash for tipping valets, bellmen, housekeeping, and $20 for snacks if CC goes down.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I never have a dime on me other than for tips. Never needed it as you can use plastic anywhere, even at the street carts. VIsited the parks may time and never had a CC system go down.

 

[DLgal]

I have a few hundred visits under my belt and NEVER have cash on me and have never needed it.

 

[tarheelalum]

I'd bring some cash for some of the food carts just in case.

 

[Vala]

How certain are you that Disney tech is 100% foolproof?

The credit card system broke down park wide for one of the recent Windows of Magic pin releases. So a really big event for a popular pin. It was not pretty.

 

[gerilyne]

As others have said I carry enough cash for tips at the hotel and enough just in case of emergency but over the years I have seemed to carry less for that purpose

 

[ParkHopper1]

Pretty much everywhere but the strolling vendors take credit cards.

If you are staying on site, enable charging privileges on your room key the. You just get one charge vs a ton of transactions at each purchase

Another strategy is to load up and reload Disney gift card for purchase if a ton of CC transactions are a concern.

But like others above, while I always have cash on hand I rarely need it in the parks

 

[gottalovepluto]

As others have said I carry enough cash for tips at the hotel and enough just in case of emergency but over the years I have seemed to carry less for that purpose

Ditto. Emergency cash and hotel tip cash. The amount of emergency cash has dropped over the years for sure.

 

[cmwade77]

Ok, so Disney's CC system does indeed go down from time to time. In case anyone wants to know, the charges get routed through Florida, then on to their CC processor, then back through Florida and back to California. So there are several stages where the communications can break down.

Disney has gotten better about having some redundancy than they used to, so in some cases the charges can still be processed, they just may be delayed in hitting your bank when the system is down.

But I have been there when the system is down completely. They will still take CCs, but only if they have embossed numbers on them, as the manually run them old school at that point with manual imprints and carbon paper.

It is rare they get to that point, but I can happen, as I said this is the entire system going down because communications with Florida failed. That also means they can't scan tickets (and rely on manual methods of taking days off the ticket), can't charge for parking and some attractions run at massively reduced capacity, for example the Disneyland Railroad can only run one train when this occurs because the signal lights that tell them when there is a train ahead of them run through Florida before coming back and lighting up properly. Yes, a major safety system runs from California to Florida and back, seems a bit poorly planned to me. Pretty much everything runs through Florida to some degree or another, but that's another story.

The bottom line is if your credit card doesn't have embossed numbers (it is becoming more and more cmon for them not to) and the system goes down, you will need cash and at that point using a CC will take substantially longer, as anything over a certain dollar amount also has to be approved over the phone.

That being said, if you have a Chase account (or are willing to pay the fees), even when the entire system goes down, you can still use the ATMs as they are run by Chase and do not go through Florida.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I must be living right! In 20 years of visiting DLR I have never seen the CC system down. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I saw a CC system down anywhere unless the power was out.

 

[cmwade77]

I must be living right! In 20 years of visiting DLR I have never seen the CC system down. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I saw a CC system down anywhere unless the power was out.

Well, one I know someone that works food at DL, so I do hear about when the system goes down at times, which means I know it happens at least once every other month or so, but usually only for an hour or two and you could very well be on a ride at that time. Two, we happened to have the misfortune of showing up the one day where it lasted substantially longer because we were meeting DWs aunt and uncle in the parks that day. Between the two, I know what happens when it goes down and my luck is when I don't have any other means to pay is when it will go down.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Once I wanted to buy a churro from the cart on Main Street and his card reader was down. I didn’t have any cash so I couldn’t buy one. That is the only time that’s happened to me though in many visits.

 

[BlueRibbon]

Since Disneyland has more locals, you don't notice the gift cards as much as you do in Florida, but they are the way to go!

This is just anecdotal, but to me, those gift cards process a lot faster than credit cards. It's seemingly instantaneous from when they swipe the card to the receipt popping out!

As others have mentioned, carry some spare cash for the off chance you need to purchase from an ODV cart, but for mainstream purchases, bring those gift cards.