Trade in/cash out Disney gift cards?

I screwed up (kinda). I paid for a Disney hotel room using discounted Disney gift cards from Target. Then changed the reservation to be fewer nights.

Refund went back onto gift cards. It’s a lot of $$, and while we’ll spend most of it on our trip (food, souvenirs)…I’m concerned we won’t spend all of it. Plus, it prohibits us from mobile ordering (right? can’t pay for mobile orders with gift cards?), which majorly sucks.

Is there an easy way to convert these back to cash? I looked at a few gift card resale sites and the payment seems pretty low (80%). Appears they aren’t returnable to Target either.

I think foregoing mobile ordering is something you might have to do if you can’t otherwise spend it.

Look at your souvenirs and snacks as well.

But if worst comes to worse, then you’ll just have to plan another Disney trip. :wink:

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Can you charge mobile orders to your room? Don’t know, as I have never done this. If you can, then you can pay off your room balance with GCs - you just need to go to the Front Desk and pay off the balance before they charge it to the CC on file.

Nope, only to the linked credit card.

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I thought the same thing, but according to this, it sounds like that’s not true:

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney.go.com/question/mobile-food-ordering-pay-gift-card-charge-room-not-dining-421790/

Hmmm. I don’t trust Moms Panel very much as they are not official and often provide wrong answers. I have used mobile order many times on both coasts, and there is never an option to charge to the room, only to the credit card linked (or dining plan but I don’t buy that). I just tried it on my phone…once you get to the payment screen it brings up “payment method” and under that is my CC linked to MDE. Only other choice under that is “use a different card” and then a box to enter promo cards and discounts. Definitely no option to charge to room.

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I don’t trust the Moms Panel answer either.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/mobile-food-orders/

Lists only credit card, debit card, and dining plan as mobile payment methods.

Even if possible, we’re only at a Disney hotel for one night, so pretty limited helpfulness for our situation.

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But reading that post, it doesn’t say you would choose charging to the room…but that if you have already put gift cards applied to the account, that instead of charging the credit card on file, it will FIRST use the money from the gift card transfer.

I’d be curious if anyone has done it (other than “Doug” from the post).

One thing I’m curious is if mobile order actually saves you enough time to matter. I’ve been reading reports of folks experiencing LONGER waits using mobile order…so I guess it kind of depends on the circumstance.

But if it means you can use the money you already “paid for”, I’d forego mobile order. We have to do the same during our May trip. Mobile order ends up not being an option since we like to pay with cash or gift card (staying off site).

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Guess I should have read the entire Moms Panel answer. :laughing: Anyway, I think it if was possible, Liners would know and would exploit that to the fullest!

Agree. If it’s the best way to get the most value back on the gift cards, we’ll skip mobile ordering.

I just like having the option :slight_smile:

Can you use the funds to upgrade to an AP? That will definitely save you money. Oh wait, maybe not. :rofl:

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We get military tickets, so it would take a LOT of trips in a year to make AP worth it! not sure I can convince DH to let me try :joy:

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Yeah, I definitely do not trust the Mom’s Panel answer, especially given the fact that they say to apply GCs to your room account in advance which a) I believe you cannot do and b) is a bad idea if you can as per “Doug’s Tip”.

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The answer on the Mom’s Panel, though, starts out with him saying he’d done it himself. So are we to assume the guy is just flat out lying? Or is there truth there? He even goes on to explain DETAILS on how this works (that is, if you apply the GC ahead of time and don’t spend it, the money is lost). This guy would have to be going out of his way to mislead people…not simply getting a detail wrong.

How about doing a party/event/tour? Or eat at Takumi-Tei?

He probably read that you could do that in another answer!

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Good ideas! Unfortunately, we already bought our VAH tickets and Rhino tour :frowning:

Expensive meals aren’t our thing, either. I’d rather not burn up valuable park time by scheduling more table service restaurants than we already have just to use up the money. I think taking 80% on whatever is left on the cards at the end of the trip would make more sense for us than ‘wasting’ it on extra souvenirs or expensive food.

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Instead, head to Goofy’s candy shop in Disney springs, and buy loads and loads of Disney candy to take back home with you. You can enjoy the treats for months that way. :wink:

Except unless things have changed a LOT, you cannot “pre-load” your room account. You can go to the front desk every night or so to pay down your balance, but cannot put money on the account as you can buy onboard credit on a cruise ship.

Even if you could, anything left would go back to the gift cards.

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