As an annual pass holder, we visit the parks A LOT! Sure the yearly pass helps get us into the park (because we don’t have to buy tickets each time), but I always use Disney Gift Cards to buy our annual passes so I can save on the cost.
Did you know that you can earn FREE Disney gift cards that can be used towards your Disney vacation?
Disney gift cards aren’t just for Disney stores at the mall; you can use them in the parks to help you stretch your vacation budget.
Disney gift cards can be used to pay for your Disney resort hotel, park tickets, dining plans, and more!
If you’re willing to do a little legwork, you can save hundreds on your vacation.
If you interested in earning free Disney gift cards you can use for your Disney vacation, keep reading because I’m going to show you how!
Buy Them At Target
Target sells physical Disney gift cards in almost every checkout lane. All you have to do is pick up a few of these cards and use your Target Red Card to save 5% on your total purchase!
If you don’t already have a Target Red Card, you can choose between getting a Target Credit Card or Target Debit Card (or both). If you choose the debit card option, it won’t be a hard inquiry on your credit report, and you can use it just like you would if you were paying with your debit card, except you get all the perks of being a Target Red Card Owner and that awesome 5% Off Discount.
This past Christmas, Target also had a one day sale with 10% Off all of their gift cards! Bonus!
BONUS FREE DOWNLOAD
Create A Plan For Your Money
These FREE Budgeting Spreadsheets will help you keep a pulse on your money (from the palm of your hand).
Warehouse Clubs
Sam’s Club, BJs, and even Costco will sometimes sell Disney gift card “packs” at great deals.
At Sam’s club, you can get a pack of three $50 gift cards ($150 value) for $143. You can use them to pay for your tickets, hotel room, souvenirs, food in the park, etc.
They’re not always available, but if you have a membership you might want to drop in and see. When they are in stock, you can find them for anywhere between 4-6% off. This is still better than paying full price!
Discounted Gift Card Sites
CardCash or Raise are Discounted Gift Card sites that sell Disney Gift Cards.
In some cases, you can save 3-15% on your gift cards by going through these sites, the only downside is that you have to be quick and buy them when you see them because they don’t stay in stock long.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Disney Gift Cards are not the same as Disney Store Gift Cards. The Disney Store Gift Cards can ONLY be used at the Disney Store (or at the DisneyStore online), you cannot use them at the Parks, Hotels or Restaurants. So make sure you don’t buy the wrong one (that would be SO frustrating!).
eBay
eBay is another great place to find discounted Disney Gift Cards.
However, a word of caution: While you can find Disney gift cards for $10 or more off their face price on there, you should be careful of fakes while browsing.
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Only purchase from sellers who have 100% Postive Feedback and allow you to pay via PayPal. That way if you have a problem you can get your money back from PayPal.
Savings Apps
There are hundreds of apps you can download to your phone to help you save money, and earn cash back!
Then use the money you’ve made from some of these apps to cash out for Disney gift cards!
Not all savings app let you redeem your points for gift cards, so be sure to stick with this list. Here are some of my favorite apps that allowed you cash out for Disney gift cards:
- Shopkick
- Ibotta
- Receipt Hog
- Fetch Rewards (use code BQ1CF to get $1.50 bonus when you sign up)
Disney Rewards Visa Card
This is probably one of the quickest ways to earn Disney Dollars.
While I don’t usually recommend signing up for a credit card just to get the points. If you can reasonably pay off your card each month (or at least use this card for 90 days and then cut it up forever). Because if you are a responsible card owner, this can be a great way to earn some free Disney gift cards super fast!
For new cardholders, Chase regularly offers a $150 Statement Credit when you spend $500 in the first 3 months of having the card.
We got this when we first signed up and used it for our groceries only. That gave us a FREE $150 towards our Disney Vacation!
Normally the $150 credit is only offered to people who get the “Premier” Visa card, which has a $49 annual fee. So it’s HUGE that they allow current cardmembers to refer their friends and get the credit with $0 Annual Fee Regular Visa card.
Disney Visa Cardholders also receive 1% cashback in Disney reward cash on everything you purchase (not just on Disney stuff). Despite it being a credit card, you can earn rewards toward your vacation just by using your card like a normal card.
Then you can use the reward dollars you earn at most stores on all the Disney properties (that means Disney Springs also) as well as Disney Stores. Plus you’ll receive exclusive discounts and perks in the park and online throughout the year! For example, you’ll get special pins or other gifts for free (I got an engraved wood cutting board one time) as well as discounts on your food purchases (10% off!). It’s been one of the best things I’ve signed up for.
BONUS: Gas Rewards Points
Some grocery stores offer rewards points that you can earn “fuel reward points” when you buy groceries, gift cards, and more in the store.
Kroger typically runs a gift card deal where you can earn double or more fuel rewards points just for buying gift cards at their stores.
While this isn’t a direct saving on gift cards themselves, you could still earn some hefty rewards to make the gas to get there much cheaper!
Learn more about the Kroger Fuel Reward program here.
BONUS FREE DOWNLOAD
Create A Plan For Your Money
These FREE Budgeting Spreadsheets will help you keep a pulse on your money (from the palm of your hand).
Where Can I Use These Gift Cards?
I would not suggest that you buy Disney Gift Cards for your entire vacation budget!
However, you will be able to pay for most of your vacation by using Disney gift cards. This includes your room, food you eat at Disney (or the Disney dining plan if you buy it at the time you make your reservation), as well as any purchase you make at any of the resorts or stores inside any of the parks.
But if you think about it, you will still have to pay for travel or any non-Disney company using cash.
Any store that is not owned and operated by Disney will need to be covered using another form of payment besides a Disney gift card.
Disney gift cards can be used in the parks and at most locations in the Disney resort areas. These can be used for food, merchandise, and many other items. However, some places don’t take gift cards, so be sure to keep some cash ready to use just in case.
So as you can see, there’s nothing more satisfying than paying for your vacation and knowing you got way more for your money!
This will save you hundreds on your trip so you can put more of your money toward travel or other parts of your journey.
There’s really no downside to using these gift cards, so what are you waiting for? Start getting some today!
YOUR TURN: Which one of these avenues are you going to do to get some free gift cards? Let me know in the comments below!
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