Best way to handle money - cash, Travelers checks, charging to room or disney dollars

[imgoingtodisney]

I need help. I have cash, disney dollars, will put charge on room key, etc. What is the best way to handle the paying of different things? What cant I use where? Im not sure if I want alot of Disney dollars/cash hanging around.

 

[luvdzny]

We always room charge as much as we can. It can be used everywhere in the parks except at the small carts. It can be used at most of the restaurants in DD as well, but some will not take it. It is much easier for us then carrying cash around. It is great for the kids too (you have the option of letting them room charge.)

 

[fkj2]

well, you can defer the cost for a month if you use the credit card but the downside of that is that it's easy to loose track of your tab. Traveller's checks help you keep track of what and where you spent them and of course you have less chance of loss. Disney dollars are just like cash there and anyone can spend them if lost.

 

[kendeann]

We do disney all cash/travelers checks/disney dollars..... never use credit card even for hotel.
Hotel I do travelers checks, town car - travelers check, souvenirs broke down in disney $,
and reserved reservations for dinners/etc, I do travelers check and just snacks, resort eating I do cash.
I have everything broke down daily in envelopes for Am/PM and it works great because you come back with no credit card bill and you don't over spend ......
I keep the $$ in our resort savings box and have had no trouble ever..
I take the envelopes in my carried bag on the plane.

It is so satisfaction feeling to know it is paid for and go home with no expenses hanging on and ready to start saving for the next trip.

 

[SandraC]

We charged a ton to our room. At least I thought it was a ton, until I got the bill ~ turns out I only charged around $50.00! I even remember one VERY early morning when my baby woke up, I took him for a stroller walk to OPR (CBR) I only took my room key and BOY DID IT COME IN HANDY! I shared a nice muffin with ds nice and early in the morning ~ using the room key.

 

[nhrenee]

We use a combination of credit cards ($ is already in savings acct to pay the bill!) to pay the hotel bill, room charges for meals (convenient) and a little cash for incidentals. The kids have their souvenere $ in cash.

 

[Krissalee]

I charge everything to my credit card (or room card connected to my credit card) because:

1) I make sure I have enough saved in the budget for all the Disney rooms, meals, souveniers and misc. expenses before the trip.
2) I pay off my credit card balances monthly.
3) My credit card is connected with an airline, and for each dollar I spend, I get a mile. I earn, and have earned, many frequent flyer miles through my credit card, thus, there is more of a chance to return on a vacation with "free" airline tickets!

Note - This may only be an effective system if you do not carry a credit card balance, and are able to be aware of what you are spending, in relation to your budget.

Krissalee

 

[Gillian]

When we were younger & trying not to use credit cards, we used cash to buy travellers checks. I would figure out how much we needed each day & that was all we got! Usually we ended up with extra at the end which we used for a special treat when we got home, like a dinner out. It worked for us because we didn't over spend.

I am afraid of getting a huge bill if we charge everything to our room, so I still use a lot of travellers checks!

 

[ducklite]

First, I would NEVER take more than a hundred dollars or so in cash. To risk more than that is downright stupid IMHO.

If you really do'nt want to use credit cards, get travellers checks.

I put a credit card down at check in, and put everything possible on room charge.

If you are worried about a big bill, send off some of that cash to get a big credit on your credit card account before you leave. That way you won't hve sticker shock, it's still already paid for. And safest, and best in case of a problem where you need a refund or want to challenge a charge, etc.

I just got back from a trip to WDW. About half way through I went to the desk to get a print out of my folio. More than anything I wanted to be sure DS wasn't abusing charge priveleges. It had just about hit my $1500 limit, so I signed off on it and started a new tab. When I get the bill, I'll write a check out of my special WDW account. Plus, by adding it to the credit card I got frequent flier miles for it If you use a card tied to an airline, buy your plane tickets, hotel rooms, and everything else with it. Depending on your spending habits, you could easily earn almost 6000 frequent flier points on a week long trip between actual air miles and purchases.

Anne

 

[jsmla]

Whatever you do don't keep it all in one place. I lost my wallet the second day of our trip and it had everything but my Visa in it. We would have been up a creek if I hadn't set aside that Visa. I had to cancel the AMEX that our charging privileges were on so without the Visa charging to the room would have been a no go. I also had all of our spending money in it (never again!!!!) I was lucky, my wallet showed up 4 days later everything intact (the line at check-in at the ASMu was quite amused by my happy dance, but the next person might not be so fortunate. I learned a valuable lesson very cheaply.

Hey, I just noticed I am now a DIS veteran. Does that make me cool or someone with way too much time on my hands?

 

[ducklite]

Jennifer brought up a great point. DH carries a Visa, I carry a MC and I also stash another Visa in the safe just in case.

Anne