Applying Disney Rewards Dollars during our stay

[TheVBs]

I know people have had mixed experiences on this. The last time we stayed, (3 years ago) we asked the person checking us in to apply our rewards dollars to our account. She said that she couldn't do that, so I ended up bringing it down every once in awhile to apply to charges. It's a pain. I know before our last trip, there were members here who said they CAN apply it and they've successfully done it. Are there some kind of magic words I can say at check in to make this happen? Some special person I should talk to? Have they gotten better at this? It shouldn't be complicated.

[VWL Mom]

I've never been able just to have the rewards card or gift card just put on the account. Usually I just use the cards rather than my band or go down and apply it to charges. One thing that has gotten a bit easier IMO is your charges appear in MDE so you know where your at and don't have to keep checking with the desk. Just remember to ask at what $ about they charge to credit card so you don't miss out. It used to be $500 value $1000 mod and $1500 dlx but that may have changed.

[Fangorn]

The only way you can establish a credit balance at a Disney resort, is with cash. They won't let you use rewards cards or giftcards to do so. The explanation I've always been given by resort management is that it is due to Disney's interpretation of State and Federal laws, rules and regulations involving general accounting principles.

That said, I'm sure that on rare occasions it has happened - miracles do happen at Disney. But it's far, far from the norm.

Steve

[TheVBs]

Ok, good to know! I will ask when we check in, but if they can't do it, then I will plan to either carry it on us to use, or take it down to the desk for the charges. Probably the latter, because there's a fair amount on it and I would hate to lose it!

[TheVBs]

I've never been able just to have the rewards card or gift card just put on the account. Usually I just use the cards rather than my band or go down and apply it to charges. One thing that has gotten a bit easier IMO is your charges appear in MDE so you know where your at and don't have to keep checking with the desk. Just remember to ask at what $ about they charge to credit card so you don't miss out. It used to be $500 value $1000 mod and $1500 dlx but that may have changed.

Really good to know that about MDE! I know we've gotten caught out a couple of times.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Are there some kind of magic words I can say at check in to make this happen? Some special person I should talk to? Have they gotten better at this? It shouldn't be complicated.

I do it every time I have unused reward points, and my strategy is that I WON'T take no for an answer. I'm not ugly with them at all, but I have around a dozen trips where I have established a credit balance at check-in, sometimes with no resistance, sometimes I had to insist. Most say "our system isn't capable" and that's when I say to ask a supervisor, they will show you how.

I will admit that recently I have spent all of my points on reservations (hotel, tickets, dining) prior to my arrival and so I probably haven't done it since 2015.

There is no accounting principle or Florida law stopping them. Think about it, if you book a Grand Floridan Sugarloaf package reservation for 14 days, then a week before your trip your car catches on fire and you downgrade to Pop Century for 7 days, Disney will give you the choice to have a refund issued to your original payment method(s) during the downgrade, or leave the credit on your room folio (I've done this too, but not such a dramatic downgrade as my example) and spend the credit away on MagicBand charges.

Maybe they have tightened the noose recently, but my batting average is 1.000

[Goofy4TheWorld]

One thing that has gotten a bit easier IMO is your charges appear in MDE so you know where your at and don't have to keep checking with the desk.

This is a new tidbit for me, that's awesome!

But it makes me wonder, can the OP also make a payment on their room charges via the app?

[UpStateDisFan]

I just returned from a stay at Disney and wanted to apply the full balance of my reward dollars before racking up the charges such as the OP. The cast member warned me against doing this as the refund process would not allow for a easy refund if not used. I knew I would use it all but I decided to apply the balance in 2 trips to the front desk. Both trips didn't take long at all and went late in the evening after putting the kids down. It allowed me to talk to the cast members about various activities without a lot of distraction, so I didn't mind it at all.

A couple suggestions/lessons learned as it sounds like we like to apply our balance and use it in the same fashion as the OP.
Day 1 - we went to Typhoon Lagoon and found that the Magic Band system nicknamed "Mickey Pay" was down across the park and prevented paying for anything on your account. We needed to go grab a another form of payment.
Day 2 - Once Mickey pay was working, we found out that there was a system issue, that reset the account credit balance to zero dollars and were unable to use the magic band. It was verified that there was a credit card on file but the glitch set the credit limit on the account to $0. Again requiring the use of another form of payment and a visit to a cast member at the hotel to address the issue. As a note we check-in online, so you may want to verify your credit balance once onsite.
Day 3 - That night, I stopped down to apply the rewards balance and found out about not applying the full balance. I cleared the charges I currently had on the account and planned to stop back once I had sufficient charges.
Day 4 - I couldn't pay with my magic band "Mickey Pay" as the credit on the account again was zero'd out, thus causing me to pay my another means. Luckily it was only breakfast and was able to visit the front desk to have it addressed again.

I illustrate this as a word of caution as you may not want to apply the full balance initially and keep the card on you in case you run into similar issues.

MDE was really nice at allowing you to monitor your spending and balance. I did not come across an option to use it to pay your balance, The flow of the app is different than in past versions so just be aware navigation is a bit different with it.

Enjoy your trip

[TheVBs]

Goofy4TheWorld, UpStateDisFan, thanks for sharing your experiences! We typically never bring another type of payment into the parks, but a couple of times we wished we had. We'll be bringing our Disney Visa, but not the rewards card. Maybe I'll just deal with taking the card down to the desk a few times. If that balance were applied as a credit to the account and it all of a sudden disappeared due to a glitch, I would flat out have a heart attack.

[baldburke]

Reading through these posts I was curious if the process had changed, but we didn't have any issues in applying our points to our open balance last week. Generally we cash out less than $1,000 in points so it's not a lot if you are going for a week or more, but it's a nice perk. We charge everything to the room. The hotel will charge your card on file somewhere between $1,000 and $2,000 during the course of your stay. With prices what they are at WDW, I can generally check our balance somewhere between day two to four. The front desk has always been happy to apply our points to our balance. Good luck!