I have never redeemed any rewards in my Disney visa. How does it work? Are the reward $$ on a reloadable card or do you get a new card each time you request $? And approx how long does it take to get them? Have a trip coming up and I’m going to cash out.
I think they report it could take 3 to 4 weeks to get the initial rewards card, but we received ours in less than 2 weeks.
But, you can also get them on site at Disney Guest Relations by showing your Disney Visa and photo ID. I’d prefer to have it in my hand before the trip and not waste valuable vacation time at GR, but in a pinch that’s a nice perk.
The card is reloadable, so any future rewards can just get added to the card you have. Also, don’t forget you have to activate it before first use - just like a regular Visa.
My wife handed me our rewards card at 50’s Prime Time as she and daughter ran out to catch a Fastpass and our card got denied. Took a phone call to Chase before I realized she hadn’t activated it. 
Ok thank you!! That’s how I was thinking it worked but I wasn’t sure. So I can go ahead and order the card now and if I accumulate more rewards and want to transfer I can do so??
The rewards cards do have an expiration date - usually a year or two - I can’t remember exactly, so keep that in mind as well.
1 Like
Yep!
One other thing: In our vacation haze we probably didn’t take advantage of all the dining and purchase discounts consistently. If not on Dining Plan, I’d go through the list of restaurants etc and keep them in mind or see if they match any of your ADRs.
1 Like
Also, with regard to the purchase discounts, I believe the discount is only given on purchases of $50 or more. We made the mistake of making several small purchases under $50 and not getting the discount. If the items you are thinking of purchasing are under $50 and you aren’t afraid that they will not be available later, you might keep a little list of the items you want throughout your store visits and purchase them later once they total $50 or more.
2 Likes
I am guilty of not taking advantage of the discounts available. We are on the dining plan but as far as purchases and the meet and greets, we forget about those! And we will be there during the wine and food festival and I have been reading about a chase/visa hospitality room??
We were there by chance at last days of F&W 2 years ago - the hospitality room opened at 11AM then I think, and they were also giving out passes to special Illuminations viewing location.
We completely forgot about the 11AM opening by 9:01AM so didn’t try to use it or get the passes - and I don’t think they had the passes last year, but I’d keep my eye open for any new stuff as I got to the date!
We did use the Visa for the meet and greet, which was nice and quick compared to the “regular” one.
Next time I’m adding all of the things to my phone calendar for reminders - I had my ADRs and FPPs in my calendar time last time, but didn’t add these other things I was more likely to forget!
1 Like
Yes. Easy to do!
The points do expire but once you transfer to a rewards card, they have no expiration.
1 Like
It looks like they have changed the expiration policy on the cards themselves since I last had one. (I used the rewards toward airfare last time.) Here is what the information from Chase says:
Q: Do my Disney Dream Reward Dollars expire?
A: Disney Dream Reward Dollars in your Disney Rewards account will expire 5 years from the date they are earned (and posted to your account). If you were issued a Redemption Card during the calendar years of 2014 and 2015, it may have an expiration on the card, so if you have not redeemed all of the Disney Dream Reward Dollars prior to the expiration date on the Redemption Card, you may transfer those Disney Dream Reward Dollars to a new Redemption Card. Once you transfer your Disney Dream Reward Dollars to a new Redemption Card, the Disney Dream Reward Dollars on the new Redemption Card will not expire.
It was really pretty quick and painless process actually getting a new redemption card at GR in May, but it is not activated, and they can’t add the rewards from your account… you have to do that yourself. If you don’t have time to get it in the mail then I would plan on not using it until the second day, that way you can just pick it up and then do the activation and transfer that evening or afternoon at the hotel.
If you do get the card in the mail then you can use the rewards to pay for your vacation as well (they accept it online, over the phone, or at your hotel desk). I used mine to pay for the upgrade to deluxe dining last year, but to be honest, I usually use them for flights and skip the whole redemption card step.
Ok, just ordered my card! And the reward card can be used anywhere at Disney, correct? Like a gift card?
I had more on there than I expected That was a nice surprise!
2 Likes
I think that’s a good rule of thumb – anywhere you can use a Disney gift card, you should be able to use the Disney Rewards card.
We just got ours in the last month, and the booklet they sent actually answered all these questions. I found most of the information repeated on their site http://disneyrewards.com so definitely read through to make sure you’re getting all your benefits!
Also remember that the list of restaurants where you can receive a discount can change. So check it again right before your vacation.
Yes! You can call them at almost any time and they will transfer any new accumulated rewards to your card, its so awesome!
1 Like