Lots of people link their MagicBands to their Disney World hotel room so they can use the bands to pay for stuff in the theme parks. It’s convenient and easy, but we almost never do it…and we’ll tell you why!
Magic Kingdom during the holidays
There’s a BETTER way to pay for stuff in Disney World that can actually SAVE you money!
If you buy Disney gift cards from Target, you can actually get 5% cashback as long as you’re a Target Red Card member (it’s free to sign up if you aren’t already). That means you’re saving 5%! So we always stock up on Disney gift cards before our vacations.
Target
There are plenty of uses for Disney gift cards from Target at Disney World — here are just a few of the most common things we see them being used for.
Food Booths At EPCOT Festivals
If hitting up an EPCOT festival is at the top of your Disney to-do list, it can be really easy to accidentally go overboard and buy more than you intended to. That’s why using a pre-loaded gift card is a great way to budget!
Swirled Showcase booth at EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
You can keep track of your receipts to see how much is left on the card after each stop, and you can check out all the menus before you go (we always talk about each one on our blog to help you prepare) and make a list of what you’d like to get. Be sure to allow yourself some wiggle room, but be firm with that budget if you really want to save some money!
Snack Budget
Now hear us out real quick — we’re making a distinction between a snack budget and a dining budget here because meals are ALWAYS important to eat, whether you’re at a theme park or at home! We wouldn’t want a gift card budget limit to keep you from eating a meal, but if you’re someone who always regrets spending money on one too many snacks at the parks when you get home, then maybe a gift card budget can help with that.
There are some amazing snacks in Disney Springs!
For example, we’re ALWAYS tempted by Dole Whips and churros and Mickey Ice Cream Bars just because hey, it’s Disney, but having a budget for snacks in place reminds us that we have to choose which ones we’d like carefully.
Souvenir Budget
Using a gift card as a souvenir budget for yourself can be highly helpful, but it’s also a great way to teach older kids about money responsibilities.
Disney Merch
If you’ve got a child old enough to understand, give them a gift card with a pre-loaded balance and tell them that’s their souvenir budget. Once they spend it, that’s that! Now, if your child would like to replace the unused toy with something else they see later, most stores in Disney World can take back something that hasn’t been used and give a refund if absolutely necessary, but that’s a last-resort plan that we don’t necessarily recommend.
EPCOT’s The Land Pavilion
We’re always here to give you the latest tips and tricks on saving money in Disney, so stay tuned to DFB!
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We apply our Target gift cards directly to our room and charge everything we can to our room. It’s simple and clean.
I use a gift card to pay for mobile order. Since Disney gift cards are reloadable at most gift shops in the parks and hotels, I can reload my card using cash whenever I need to. That way I’m not charging all my meals to my credit card.
Good for you, Tracy! I would have liked to have seen information on HOW to use a gift card with mobile order, but guess I will have to figure it out when I get there and actually try it.
Hi Dottyanna. You use the Disney gift card the same way you would a debit or credit card with mobile order. The only difference is that you have to input the number every time because it won’t store it in the app the way it does for credit and debit cards.