How Much Cash Do You Bring?

[theostwalts]

Can you still apply cash to your room charges or pay the charges off in cash before they charge your card?

 

[Dina]

We bring all of our money in cash. Don't do credit cards anymore. Gift cards scare me (what if we get there and they weren't loaded properly). worried about doing my debit card. We bring what we need in cash. We used to use travellers checks but my husband foudn that to be a pain.

 

[Dina]

Can you still apply cash to your room charges or pay the charges off in cash before they charge your card?

So that's what we used to do....we'd give them our debit card to have charging priveleges, and goal was to pay off in cash before they charge. We usually go once mid week and pay off and then pay off again at end fo trip. We did not know though, on the last trip, that they charge your card at 4am the day you leave.....we thought we'd pay it off when we checked out...it was charged. No big deal...when we got home we just put the cash in the bank to replace, but could have been an issue I guess. Now we just carry our cash and pay as we go.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

I plan on using my Magic Band for everything in the parks and staying on site the entire time. I feel like I should bring some cash just in case but how much???

11 more days!!! Woohoo!!!

I bring enough $1 bills for housekeeping tips and about $40 cash for any kind of emergency but I usually don't use it.

 

[cjparker0110]

When you use your Magic Band, you are just "charging to the room". Your CC doesn't get charged until you reach your charging limit, or the end of your trip, so Disney would only be paying the swipe fee for that one charge to your CC.

Thanks. I really wondered how that worked. I know the last time I stayed on property it worked that way with our room key I think. We did a preapproved amount at check in and they went from there. I just wasn't sure how it was all set up now. In that case, I would say bring cash for those cash only carts and perhaps for tips. If you have kids maybe you could bring some cash for them so that they can go buy a few things for the joy of it.

 

[awalker1015]

We bring very little cash. Maybe $200, half in smaller bills. We usually bring high balance gift cards (Kroger fuel points!). Which we lock in the room safe. I pay down our room balance every few days. We always have $20-40 in the parks in case magic bands aren't working but generally charge to the room and pay with gift cards.

 

[Micca]

While I can appreciate that we're becoming a cash-less society, I think it's a good idea to travel with some cash. We usually have a rental car, so we need some for highway tolls. We use MB and credit cards at every opportunity, but we carry cash because stuff happens that you don't expect. I might want a roll of Lifesavers at the airport and not want to charge it.

 

[ckcnj]

How do you pay tips at table service restaurants? I know these are not included on the dining plan. Do you bring cash or can you put the tip on the magic band or credit card?

 

[jtowntoflorida]

How do you pay tips at table service restaurants? I know these are not included on the dining plan. Do you bring cash or can you put the tip on the magic band or credit card?

We charge tips to the room. But then again, we don't do the dining plan so we charge the entire meal to the room.

 

[jettgrrlaust]

I also use cash as much as i can. Being from Australia, everytime i use my credit card over there i am hit with a conversion fee (which at the moment is terrible for us, 70c to every $1 of yours). So i get out a bunch of cash at one time and keep it in the safe and just take what i need with me for the day/night, so enough cash for tips, snacks, quick serve lunches at the parks, drinks and small things. However in saying that, its my holiday so if i want to have fun and splash out for more expensive things like larger souvenirs and ADRs then i stop caring about the conversion fees and enjoy being at Disney. Last time i went, i took about $50 in small notes with me to the parks, and for tips for bell services if i was resort hopping to another resort. With quick serve lunches and dinners paid for in cash, i still had enough in my pocket at the end of the day, to buy my friends and I a round of mickey bars while we watched a movie under the stars when we got back to the resort just another perfect day at disney!

 

[buzzrelly]

I bring about $100, with at least $30-$40 for tips and such. I use my CC/MB for everything else.

 

[Tennille]

I plan on using my Magic Band for everything in the parks and staying on site the entire time. I feel like I should bring some cash just in case but how much???

11 more days!!! Woohoo!!!

I believe it is safer to use your credit card to your magic band. You don't want to loose case or have it stole.

 

[revdon64]

We don't do credit cards, so how much cash do we take? All of it. I squirrel away money every week when we're planning a trip so that we have plenty while we're there. When we get in the room I put it all in the safe and take out just enough for each day in the morning. We're also on DDP, so we don't need to carry a whole lot around although I'll need to carry a bit more for those Morimoto reservations on this trip!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

How do you pay tips at table service restaurants? I know these are not included on the dining plan. Do you bring cash or can you put the tip on the magic band or credit card?

We leave cash - trying to help the servers as much as we can.

 

[busymommy2pink]

We bring cash for everything. We are Canadian, so need to buy the money before we go. We don't use credit cards on a regular basis and would get charged an international fee plus exchange each time. We separate all the cash into envelopes for the allotted expenses and leave it all in the safe. We bring $20-40 in the parks just in case and charge to our magic bands, then pay cash each night at the resort. Sk cash for:

Spending (approx $700 for souvenirs, extra snacks, drinks, food not in the dining plan etc)

Tips for dinners around $200

Mouse keeping $45

Taxis $100

CRT meal $200

Extra sit downs and quick service $160

ME driver tip and bell services $20ish

Airport food $100 (50/way)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

 

[MagentaMulan]

I bring about $60 in cash each per day and more if we have ADRs. I like to tip in cash. I usually pay any purchase over $30 (or if I run out of cash, with my MB.) Using my MB to pay for a $5 snack seems a bit silly to me.

 

[bpadair32]

I bring about $60 in cash each per day and more if we have ADRs. I like to tip in cash. I usually pay any purchase over $30 (or if I run out of cash, with my MB.) Using my MB to pay for a $5 snack seems a bit silly to me.

Just curious why the $ amount makes a difference in whether you use the MB or not? Theres no extra fee or anything.

 

[disneypanda11]

I bring pre-packed envelopes of cash to tip housekeeping (about $5/day) and another $100 or so in a variety of bills for sky cap, food in the airport, bell services tips, cab fares, etc. For actual spending in WDW, I bring very little, choosing instead to charge back to the room.

 

[MagentaMulan]

Just curious why the $ amount makes a difference in whether you use the MB or not? Theres no extra fee or anything.

I know all the charges made during my trip are added up into one total, but I don't want a huge bill after my trip. I would rather spend cash during the trip than have to "pay later" with my credit card. Also If i see that I'm running out of cash it's my warning sign that I may be spending too much. Using my MB as a back up for when I run out of cash probably won't happen, but that's just how I think.

 

[jgplimdesign]

Just the cash needed for mousekeeping and magic express tipping---$25-30 in singles. Otherwise, happy to charge to magic band or apple pay or card. . .