Our DS is going to WDW in December with his marching band and I’m not crazy about sending a great deal of cash with him. One thing we could purchase (through the band) were Disney Dining Cards to be used for food. My questions are: How do these differ from gift cards that can be purchased at Target (with the discount of course)? and Can regular Disney gift cards be spend at most CS restaurants?
Not sure about the dining cards vs gift cards but I do know that you can use your gift card for almost all the CS as well as snacks.
Did a little digging and found this: http://www.gettravel.com/eventcommonflavour/pdfs/Walt%20Disney%20World%20Resort%20Meal%20Cards.pdf
Not sure how this is a benefit over a Disney gift card.
I always bring gift cards and my Visa Reward card with me. I have used them at CS, TS, special events, stores, booths. I think the Disney gift cards would give you more flexibility. I went through Get Travel when I booked a trip to the Disneyland area for my school (I got a great hotel rate and they found last minute airfare for my group). I think these are for people that do not have your knowledge or experience.
The “Be Our Guest Podcast” just had an episode about this topic. The guest was the planner for a high school band trip, and instead of going with Disney’s meal vouchers, she chose to use Disney gift cards. It worked out really well for them, because with the gift cards, any leftover money can be spent on a different trip or on Disney.com. She said that any unused credits/money from the meal vouchers were just going to be “burned.”
http://beourguestpodcast.podbean.com/mobile/e/episode-733-this-one-time-on-a-band-trip/
Thank you so much to all who responded for your input and information!!
Yes, u can also use them ar checkout to pay for magic band charges