Got an email from Disney I'm not sure I understand

[skyblue17]

With the costs of meals at WDW restaurants, it's interesting how many people are just like 'Yes, I have enough cash to feed my family of six at Jiko's on me!" ;-)

I make it rule to have SOME cash on me, as many in my generation do not and then cannot adapt when they sometimes need it. Too often, my subway machine is only taking cash, I want tacos from the food truck that doesn't have a iPad card reader, etc. Cash is good to have.

That said, there are multiple options here. Chances are you didn't pay for your flight with cash? Did you pay for all your park tickets with cash? Why is all of a sudden not being able to pay for a meal or a gift shop item with cash a dealbreaker? I guess I just fail to see the reason for being outraged. If a kid saved up, the only change here is maybe they give YOU the money instead of the cashier. Hopefully not being able to hand money to a CM doesn't ruin a trip for a kid?

 

[AnnaKat]

There is one reason that Disney changes policies, to make more money. It costs them money to process cash and more importantly guests spend more when they do not pay with cash.

Bill

You are absolutely correct,Bill!
The Bean Counters thought out of the box on this one!
They were running out of new upcharge ideas,
SO they figured " just get rid of cash;
" force " Guests to pre-spend on gift cards.
Hope they book a second trip to use up their left-over gift cards!
They already went to expiration dates on the ALL the tickets,
with non-use screwing you out of your investment!

Hello! The credit card companies charge the merchant 5% . FOR. EVERy SINGLE.TRANSACTION.
Cash is BETTER for WDW's bottom line;
They should encourage cash by giving out a discount for paying by cash!

 

[AngiTN]

When their systems go down, they are unable to accept cash, as well!
We know because on our last night all of WDW went down whilst we were @ the California Grill. We had an amount comped to our room which would have covered all of our bill except $7.
The CA Grill manager was able to get the comped amount put thru on our bill(called AKL
concierge).

When we returned , we tried to give $7 cash to the front desk to clear our bill before we checked out the next mornibg(we had used ALL gift cards & NEVER charged to our room).
They could NOT take our cash as their computerized system could NOT process it!

Early the next morning, our credit card was charged for the $7 room balance.

Personally, I do not like if they do away with cash.
Yes! --we used Gift Cards last time which was totally awesone(especially as we got them through the Target Red Card for a 5% discount ).

We don't use Debit Cards,
plus I have heard if they are compromised, that you are NOT protected like a credit card is!
For real life, we use cash often.
Of course one does not want to carry around a lot of cash,
but I don't like that they might take away the option!
Especially as credit card skimming could easily happen @ WDW,
it's nice to pay cash if you don't want to charge on your Magic Band.

NOT allowing cash definitely affects OFF site guests--they can't charge to their room!
We ran out of gift cards @ the Biergarten (we were staying off site; we had purchased an extra $200 plus on our gift cards, prior).
With NO credit card on us,
we had to pay cash for the tip.
Again, we purchased a ton of gift cards to AVOID EVER giving a credit card (to avoid skimming);
getting rid of cash option throughout WDW would hurt offsite Guests for sure!

You heard wrong. Debit Cards carry a Master Card or Visa logo. They have protections

 

[Cornish Lad]

We tend to use our MBs for everything and only carry a minimal amount of cash with us - works for us so no problems seen here.

 

[DLgal]

When their systems go down, they are unable to accept cash, as well!
We know because on our last night all of WDW went down whilst we were @ the California Grill. We had an amount comped to our room which would have covered all of our bill except $7.
The CA Grill manager was able to get the comped amount put thru on our bill(called AKL
concierge).

When we returned , we tried to give $7 cash to the front desk to clear our bill before we checked out the next mornibg(we had used ALL gift cards & NEVER charged to our room).
They could NOT take our cash as their computerized system could NOT process it!

Early the next morning, our credit card was charged for the $7 room balance.

Personally, I do not like if they do away with cash.
Yes! --we used Gift Cards last time which was totally awesone(especially as we got them through the Target Red Card for a 5% discount ).

We don't use Debit Cards,
plus I have heard if they are compromised, that you are NOT protected like a credit card is!
For real life, we use cash often.
Of course one does not want to carry around a lot of cash,
but I don't like that they might take away the option!
Especially as credit card skimming could easily happen @ WDW,
it's nice to pay cash if you don't want to charge on your Magic Band.

NOT allowing cash definitely affects OFF site guests--they can't charge to their room!
We ran out of gift cards @ the Biergarten (we were staying off site; we had purchased an extra $200 plus on our gift cards, prior).
With NO credit card on us,
we had to pay cash for the tip.
Again, we purchased a ton of gift cards to AVOID EVER giving a credit card (to avoid skimming);
getting rid of cash option throughout WDW would hurt offsite Guests for sure!

That's ridiculous that they couldn't take your $7 and hand write a receipt for you. That's what they used to do way back in the day when systems would go down. Remember those credit card imprint devices with the carbon paper? I mean, sure it is extra work but they absolutely COULD have accepted your cash or processed the $7 manually to your credit card. They were just being lazy. We literally had this happen to us at a large computer store very recently. Their card processing system went down and they could only process credit cards manually if people didn't have cash. The cashier had to call in each transaction to the customer's credit card company to get an authorization number, then processed it manually using the imprint machine.

 

[goldie09]

As PPs have said, foreign travellers may well have problems with this, especially for smaller purchases. I'm from Canada, and I can get a better exchange rate if I exchange cash before I leave than the rate the credit card companies charge, even with a no-exchange fee credit card (plus my primary card, as well as most other cards carry a 2% exchange fee). Larger purchases I may make with a credit card because I don't want to travel with tons of cash, but for purchases of less than $30, I don't want to have to pay the banks/credit cards! And honestly, the gift card option is basically guaranteed money in the bank for Disney, unless they offer AKL guests the chance to refund that gift card back into cash should there be money remaining on the card, which is extremely unlikely. I've never heard of a situation where you could get money remaining on a gift card back in cash.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

This is a bummer. Funny, but when we go on vacation, it is the one time we use cash. We do use credit cards (for larger purchases) and giftcards too on vacation, but we use a least half cash. We never use the magic bands at wdw to pay and never put a credit card on the account. Just doesn't seem as safe and why go through a third party if we will use a credit card anyway.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I work in a cash heavy business, and besides the one night deposit on a credit card, I always pay for my entire resort stay in cash, as well as all meals, souvenirs etc etc. This would definitely be a line in the sand for me. Dogs? Whatever. Magicbands that trace me all over the park? Ok. But tracing every penny that I spend on my own vacation by forcing me to "buy" gift cards or whatever the heck it is, is pushing it way too far. If they want to push all of these creepy traceable transactions then offer a 5% discount if you use your magic band, or a 5% upcharge if you pay in cash. That might seem unreal, but heck, they're charging money for extra fast passes now so nothing seems unbelievable anymore. Stuff like upcharges, tents at Space Mountain, buses you had to pay money for, the general consensus was "oh well if you don't want to pay the upcharge you can just take the regular bus, or just get a regular fastpass - these don't affect you if you don't opt into it" but this new deal does affect me, directly. It's forcing me to not pay cash at a disney resort which seems weird even to type. We were going to stay club level at AKL in April but considering they just kinda told their guests via email that next month hey, you better warm up your credit cards in 30 days for the trip you've been planning for 8 months cause we are not taking cash, who's to say it won't last til March? April? If this spreads all over WDW it might be time to go back to our Disneyland roots.

That is a good point about tracing people. I forgot that when you use your magic band for purchases they are collecting data on everything you spend.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

I’m not a big cash carrying type of person so it really doesn’t bother me. I usually have a little for emergencies but I mean a little. Usually I charge everything to my room when I’m onsite and use a credit card when I’m offsite. I have a Chase visa I use whenever I travel because I’m Canadian and they have no foreign transaction fee. It just makes my life simple and I don’t have to worry about cash on hand or having enough exchanged.

 

[Moliphino]

I had the opposite problem in Munich (sooo many places didn't take credit cards at all or only took German credit cards - I had to run down the street to an ATM to pay for lunch our first day there, we learned to ask first after that), so I can see how this will be a big annoyance for those who prefer cash.

 

[disneynutz]

I really doubt this is a money saving thing. It is probably just makes logistics easier and allows lines to move more quickly.

If WDW doesn't accept cash, they don't have to:

• count-out drawers at the beginning and ending of each shift
• transport money to the bank
• manage the amount and variety of change in the drawers

There are probably more small benefits like this as well. These things surely cost WDW *something*, but it is such a small amount that I doubt the money saving alone would account for the change. It probably has something to do with everything I mentioned above, plus speeding up the lines, plus motivating guests to use the Magic Bands, etc.

By not having to do the above they are saving money. In addition, don't forget the gift cards that get misplaced and never used.

Bill

 

[AngiTN]

This is a bummer. Funny, but when we go on vacation, it is the one time we use cash. We do use credit cards (for larger purchases) and giftcards too on vacation, but we use a least half cash. We never use the magic bands at wdw to pay and never put a credit card on the account. Just doesn't seem as safe and why go through a third party if we will use a credit card anyway.

Because most of the time, it's way safer to leave a card stored electronically with the resort to charge room charges to vs. handing it over to countless strangers, to do who knows what with, over the entirety of your trip.

 

[skyblue17]

Not to mention that it's is much easier to leave a bag that has cash/credit cards in it on a bench, at a restaurant, on a ride!, etc. than it is to lose a Magic Band that's attached to your wrist and still requires a PIN number to function.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

As PPs have said, foreign travellers may well have problems with this, especially for smaller purchases. I'm from Canada, and I can get a better exchange rate if I exchange cash before I leave than the rate the credit card companies charge, even with a no-exchange fee credit card (plus my primary card, as well as most other cards carry a 2% exchange fee). Larger purchases I may make with a credit card because I don't want to travel with tons of cash, but for purchases of less than $30, I don't want to have to pay the banks/credit cards! And honestly, the gift card option is basically guaranteed money in the bank for Disney, unless they offer AKL guests the chance to refund that gift card back into cash should there be money remaining on the card, which is extremely unlikely. I've never heard of a situation where you could get money remaining on a gift card back in cash.

Definitely agree with everything in goldie09's post ... the forex fees on credit cards can add anywhere from 2 to 3.5% on the top of already lousy exchange rates used by the credit card companies.

I can see why they want to encourage the use of electronic methods of payment but it's crazy to make it mandatory for someone to load cash upfront onto a gift card or a magic band just to be able to shop in a gift store or buy a mickey bar. It's highly unlikely they'd refund the overage back in cash at the end of the trip.

A pp mentioned the affiliation of Visa, Mastercard or other credit card companies with debit cards. In Canada debit cards are usually affiliated with the issuing bank and not a credit card issuer --- so for Canadians a compromised debit card is a bigger deal as the banks are far slower to resolve and refund fraud charges on debit cards than credit card issuers are. No way I'd use my debit card in Orlando even at WDW.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Because most of the time, it's way safer to leave a card stored electronically with the resort to charge room charges to vs. handing it over to countless strangers, to do who knows what with, over the entirety of your trip.

I guess there is some truth in that except I do not completely trust the magic bands as unhackable or the cast members to always put the right card/room with the right band. We have been given the wrong bands before. Our kids always lose bands and I know they require a pin if activated but it still seems like someone tech savvy could get into it.

 

[AngiTN]

I guess there is some truth in that except I do not completely trust the magic bands as unhackable or the cast members to always put the right card/room with the right band. We have been given the wrong bands before. Our kids always lose bands and I know they require a pin if activated but it still seems like someone tech savvy could get into it.

As many as they've used and as long as they've been used it's the one thing they haven't screwed up (they haven't been hacked). I feel much saver given them my credit card then I do 20 or so CM during an entire trip. But, still, I do support a system that gives someone the freedom to do what they want, vs. a single option. And no matter what folks think about this, there isn't a single option. Cash left with the front desk remains an option. For those staying on site of course. And since we are talking about MB, that's all we are talking about in this case.

 

[WDW_Ding]

By not having to do the above they are saving money.

If you read my whole post, I noted that.

...but it still seems like someone tech savvy could get into it.

And then what?

 

[Sue M]

As PPs have said, foreign travellers may well have problems with this, especially for smaller purchases. I'm from Canada, and I can get a better exchange rate if I exchange cash before I leave than the rate the credit card companies charge, even with a no-exchange fee credit card (plus my primary card, as well as most other cards carry a 2% exchange fee). Larger purchases I may make with a credit card because I don't want to travel with tons of cash, but for purchases of less than $30, I don't want to have to pay the banks/credit cards! And honestly, the gift card option is basically guaranteed money in the bank for Disney, unless they offer AKL guests the chance to refund that gift card back into cash should there be money remaining on the card, which is extremely unlikely. I've never heard of a situation where you could get money remaining on a gift card back in cash.

I have a CIBC US credit card. And a CIBC US savings acct. I watch rates and when they go up I add $ to my US a acct. before we leave for WDW I pre load the US Visa with cash from savings acct with a little less than what I think I’ll spend.
You can also get Disney Gift Cards here at several stores. Shoppers & Safeway have them. When you use them in WDW it converts the CAD to USD at that days exchange rate. You also avoid paying the Bank of Canada 2% exchange fee. I used these during my last trip in December.

 

[MainMom]

I got the

I guess there is some truth in that except I do not completely trust the magic bands as unhackable or the cast members to always put the right card/room with the right band. We have been given the wrong bands before. Our kids always lose bands and I know they require a pin if activated but it still seems like someone tech savvy could get into it.

Anything is hackable. I used a cc at both Target and TJMaxx and both had their systems hacked and my cards were compromised. Everything has its risks. You can lose a bunch of cash, your card could be hacked.

 

[Farro]

We use cash so rarely that if they implemented this without telling anyone, I wouldn't even know it was happening! So yeah, it won't bother us.