This issue comes up all the time and I always like to clarify for folks.....
There are Disney Dollars and Disney Reward Dollars....they are two totally different animals.
First, the traditional "Disney Dollars" that have been around for years are paper dollars that come in different denominations (the bills are the same size as US currency), each with a character logo on them. The denominations are 1's, 5's, 10's & now 50's and can be purchased at your local
Disney Store. These can be redeemed most anywhere on a Disney property like the Parks, resorts, hotels, restaurants as well as used at the Disney Stores and onboard
DCL and can be used just like cash, dollar for dollar everywhere mentioned except DCL. If you want to use them onboard DCL you have to use them at guest service to pay off or down your account....they cannot be used within the shops or bars onboard as the cruise is a "cash-less" system and everything you purchase is put on your KTTW card....but they can definately be redeemed at guest service.
Now...there is also something called "Disney Reward Dollars" that can be earned by using your Disney Visa Card (through Chase..used to be Bank One). Many people get these confused with regular Disney Dollars but they are completely different. Disney Reward Dollars are "dollars" that can be earned by making purchases with your Disney Visa Card.....I believe you earn $1.00 for every $100.00 you spend on the card. These Disney Reward Dollars are accumulated and once you hit a certain amount these dollars can be transferred to a Disney Rewards Card. I believe you must have at least $20 in Disney Reward Dollars to have them transfer to a Rewards Card. Let's say you use your Disney Visa Card often and you rack up $250 in Disney Reward Dollars. You can either call Disney Visa (Chase) and tell them you want to transfer the whole $250 of earned Reward Dollars or just part of it to a Rewards Card. They will then mail you the Rewards Card (looks just like a gift card) and you can use this card at guest service onboard....either by using the whole amount on it or just part of the amount on the card....you tell the CM at guest service desk how much of it you want to use to pay off or down your onboard account. They can tell you how much is on the card at any given time. You can also order a Reward Card online instead of calling Visa. Just visit the Disney Visa Chase website and you can manage your reward dollars that way.
Note:...it takes up to two weeks to get your Rewards Card in the mail after you order it....so plan accordingly before your trip. They are reusable so when you rack up more reward dollars they can be added to the same card. Once you put Reward Dollars on a Rewards Card they expire at the end of that year and cannot be replaced so make sure you use them all up before the end of that year or only put the amount you know you will use on the Rewards Card.
Disney Reward Dollars on your Reward Card can also be used at most Disney places...like the parks, hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.
Hope this helps!!!!
We have used our Disney Rewards Dollars several times on the cruise. I just go to Guest Service and they can tell me how much I have on my card and I tell them how much I want to put toward my onboard account. Very simple!!
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