At what point do charges to the room actually get charged to the card on file?

[DisneyRN]

The title of the thread is pretty self explanatory....just didn't know what section this belonged under- "Accommodations" or "Vacation Planning"

Anyways, I wanted to see if it was a daily charge to my card, or, if it was like the Disney Cruise Line, and once it reached a certain limit, charged my card.

Just curious. I get paid in the middle of vacation and want to pay close attention to my souvenir buying until that check goes through for extra "umph" to my spending power! :blush:

[disneyboundagain]

I'm pretty sure they don't charge your room until you check out. If you hit your limit, I always thought you just couldn't charge any more. I still don't think they'll just charge it on their own. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. We've never hit our limit.

[Seasonscraps]

Your credit card will be charged if you reach the spending limit on your room card, at which point the spending limit is reset.

OR it will be charged the day of departure. I believe by having the card on file they will automatically charge your card that morning even before you physically check out.

[KylesMom]

There are vacations whereby once we've hit our spending limit, they've automatically charged our card & started our limit anew. Other trips they've locked our credit until we could sign off on the current charges at our resort's front desk before we could charge any more. This happened at the same resort - no rhyme or reason to why it was automatically renewed one year, and locked the next. However, your card won't be charged until you either hit your limit or check out.

As far as the last day, as someone mentioned they close your account & charge your credit card very early in the morning on the day of check-out.

[Zone Stop]

This happened at the same resort - no rhyme or reason to why it was automatically renewed one year, and locked the next.

The diligence, or lack thereof, from the Operation Support Cast is the reason... but that didn't rhyme, sorry ;)


Currently, a payment is taken on your card for four reasons:
1) You have a balance due at check-in.
2) For any reason, you ask to process a payment.
3) You have reached your credit limit, AND are participating in Express CheckOut (Which is included with Online CheckIn)
4) It is around ~3am on the day of your departure, and you are participating in Express CheckOut.

[GrmGrninGost]

We were there in Sept. and were told that as soon as we reached $500 it would automatically be charged to the card on file. Then it would start again. So if you use a visa check card, be sure not to "spend" over the amount you have in your account. The room key will continue to let you charge until you hit $500 whether it is actually available on your credit card or not. Something to think about.

[beksy]

For me, they have always charged my card (either a Visa or MasterCard debit card) at check-out. I always go over my limit (we pool our money so all of the spending goes onto the one account--it just looks like I spend that much! :blush:) and they have never contacted me about it. On the last day they just charged whatever amount I had charged to the room at check-out really early in the morning.

[DisneyRN]

We were there in Sept. and were told that as soon as we reached $500 it would automatically be charged to the card on file. Then it would start again. So if you use a visa check card, be sure not to "spend" over the amount you have in your account. The room key will continue to let you charge until you hit $500 whether it is actually available on your credit card or not. Something to think about.

So, the limit set by Disney is $500, like on the Disney Magic? Can I have them lower that if I want to spend less?

[Seasonscraps]

The limit is based on your resort
values - 500
mods - 1000
dlx - 1500

I am sure you can set it for something else but I would keep track of spending just in case. You could also elect not to have charging priviledges on your room key.

[SBETigg]

You can set your balance lower if you prefer. You can set limits on individual room key charge cards (say you have kids old enough to separate from you, but you only want them to be able to charge to a certain amount). You can also pay down your balance on a daily basis with a different card, cash, or checks (they take checks!). They're so amazing. I like to get printouts every now and then during the vacation to see what I've spent where and budget accordingly. When we've reached our limit, the charges have always automatically started over.

[DisneyRN]

The limit is based on your resort
values - 500
mods - 1000
dlx - 1500



:eek:

I hope I get nowhere near the $1500 mark! I think $500 is a little more my speed. :blush:

[Zone Stop]

You can set your balance lower if you prefer.
Yes, just ask at the desk.


You can set limits on individual room key charge cards (say you have kids old enough to separate from you, but you only want them to be able to charge to a certain amount).
Not at any of the WDW Resorts.


You can also pay down your balance on a daily basis with a different card, cash, or checks (they take checks!).

Absolutely. Make sure to bring your Government-Issued Photo ID if you're paying by check.

[CleveRocks]

Not at any of the WDW Resorts.

This is incorrect. It IS possible to set up more than one room charge account per room (resulting in different cards having different limits, for one example). Not sure if you're a current CM, but if you are, check the Front Desk Manual ... it is called a "share" and not many CMs know about it, yet it truly is an existing procedure.

[SBETigg]

This is incorrect. It IS possible to set up more than one room charge account per room (resulting in different cards having different limits, for one example). Not sure if you're a current CM, but if you are, check the Front Desk Manual ... it is called a "share" and not many CMs know about it, yet it truly is an existing procedure.

Yes, I've done it many times. We always set a limit on our kids' cards and it has never been a problem at all. In fact, we only know about it being possible because a check-in CM explained it to us about five years ago, when we started doing it.

[DisneyRN]

Okay, to put my card on file, do they hold any certain amount of money (pre-authorized)?

I know to put my Visa down at hotels, it will hold a certain amount for the lenght of stay, and then release it and charge the real amount upon check out.

Does this make sense?

Does Disney do this, and if so, how much? :confused:

[d_m_n_n]

You can set your balance lower if you prefer. You can set limits on individual room key charge cards (say you have kids old enough to separate from you, but you only want them to be able to charge to a certain amount)

That is excellent to hear! DS was wanting his own card this time and I was a bit nervous about giving him charging permission. This will let him have some responsibility without mom and dad having to worry about getting cleaned out if he loses it!!! :)

[CleveRocks]

Okay, to put my card on file, do they hold any certain amount of money (pre-authorized)?

I know to put my Visa down at hotels, it will hold a certain amount for the lenght of stay, and then release it and charge the real amount upon check out.

Does this make sense?

Does Disney do this, and if so, how much? :confused:No, Disney resorts don't do this for any reason. Not even when you set up a room charge.

In fact, if you don't set up a room charge and if you don't sign up for Express Checkout, then you won't even need to show the front desk a credit card for any reason. This makes Disney very very different than almost every other hotelier in the country. In almost every other hotel in the USA, you need to leave a credit card with them for "security" or "incidentals" or "to have on file" or whatever euphemism they want to use. Not so with Disney. With Disney, you can even set up the room charge without a credit card. The only thing a Disney resort requires a credit card for is Express Checkout. Otherwise, no plastic required.

But back to your question:
No, when you set up a room charge, they DO NOT place a hold on your account, they DO NOT pre-authorize any amount, they DO NOT even check to see if you have enough available credit (credit card) or available balance (debit card).

When you present plastic to set up a room charge, they do swipe the card, but what they are doing is sending through a charge for zero dollars and zero cents. This process is known as "pinging" the card. If the charge is authorized, it means that it's a valid card on a real account, and that's all that Disney checks to see, that the card isn't fake and isn't tied to a closed account. That's all!

NO HOLD. NO PRE-AUTHORIZATION. Nada.