The Walt Disney World Resort Hotels will start implementing a new credit card policy starting February 27 for guests who wish to put a credit card on file during their stay.
New credit card policy coming to Disney World Hotels
Under the new policy the hotels will place “incremental authorization holds on the card for estimated incidental expenses, in addition to any balance due on the reservation.”
According to Disney Destinations, the authorization hold on the card will be for any balance due on the reservation plus $100 for estimated incidental expenses. If guest spending exceeds the initial $100 hold, additional incremental holds will be placed automatically. The authorization holds will not exceed the current balance plus $100.
Touch to Pay at a Counter Service Location
Disney World Resort Hotel guests do have the option of not having a credit card on file, but they will be unable to charge to their room or MagicBand.
Guests will be advised of this change in policy – which Disney says “better aligns with hotel industry practices” – during online check-in through My Disney Experience or at the front desk of their Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. Guests who have already completed their online check-in will receive a letter this month about this change.
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So the hotel will basically take $100 extra from the card and hold onto it until the end of the trip and then give it back unless there are damages to the room?
Bree, Disney says the hold is for “incidental” expenses, like charging to the MagicBand or charging to the room. There’s been no indication that it’s for damages.
Can you still pay for your Magic Band charged with Disney gift cards?
I’m a bit confused regarding what the “hold” exactly means? Ultimately, a credit card will only be charged what an owner has purchased, correct? I’m assuming there will not be additional dollars placed on a credit card by the completion of a WDW visit.
They will not give the $100 back at the end o your stay? You mean its an extra that you will have to pay for charging things to your room or magic band? On my next trip I am staying in 3 hotels, does this mean that my trip just got $300 more expensive?
Carlos, they will release the hold if you don’t use the funds by charging things to your room or MagicBand.
Joy, that’s correct. Any purchases you charge to the room/on your MagicBand will come from the hold. There shouldn’t be any additional charges.
What they do is put a “hold” for the amount of money, but don’t actually charge the card. The main way it affects you is the credit card company will deduct that hold from your available credit line. So say you have a credit line of check-in that covers your package, and you have a left over credit line of say $1000, then the $100 hold means you’ll only have a credit line to use of $900. But in the end you are only charged, and have to repay, for the actual charges you incur.
This doesn’t mean that there will be additional charges. This is simply because so many people’s cards are maxed out that Disney is making sure enough funds are “held back” on your card so that when it’s time to check out, the charges will clear. If you don’t use what they have held, it will fall off of your card. (By the way, this is not a Disney thing. It’s pretty standard. Most gas stations even do it.)
I am shocked at how many people don’t know what a Hold on a credit card is LOLOLOL Wow
This is in line with many resorts we have stayed at over the years and not a problem for the guest
They do this at all the fancy hotels now. It’s in case you watch movies, take something from the minibar, charge a meal to your room, etc. For Disney it will be in case you charge a meal, buy something in a shop, etc. If you don’t use it, you get it back when you check out. It’s important to know ahead of time though, so you don’t use a debit card that will be overdrawn if they take this extra money. If you use a credit card, it will be a temporary hold. Personally, I hate it, but what are you going to do?
Every time we go, I have always charged on the band, now Disney doesn’t want us to use the band to charge… It makes it so much easier to pay for merchandise when in the park, instead of carrying around a card or cash which can be lost or stolen… Isn’t that one of the reasons that we have the bands…. So now If I charge, I pay for the merchandise plus the money comes out of the hold, like double paying….
So will they continue to hold more and more money as you use your MagicBand? Meaning will they be holding the total amount that you are spending on your MagicBand?
What if the 27 is in the middle of your stay
Then how do we use Disney Gift Cards to pay off charges to our room (like in the past I would charge dining to my magic band and then pay off the balance with a gift card every few days)? So will I have to keep it under $100 per day and just pay with the Disney gift cards every night to keep from the “balance” being charged to my card. This could greatly affect how I handle dining, shopping and Disney gift cards in the future.
This is no different than when you go to the gas station. When you put your card in it will put a $50 hold on the card. Then when you finish pumping it makes the actual amount purchased charge and releases the hold. The only thing you have to makes sure is that you have enough limit on the card to cover the $100 hold. Personally, we do not use the magic band/room charge, but on the rare occasion when you go down to the hotel shop and decide you got to have a Mickey Bar and did not bring your wallet it is a nice feature!!!
I never link my credit card. I pay cash or I use my bank card each and every time I buy something. That way I have FULL control over my experience.
Question. Can I use a prepaid Visa/MasterCard(like Vanilla)loaded with, say, $200 for the incidentals? I want the option of using room charge on my magicband but don’t want to use any of my regular CCs. Before this I had planned to pay off room charges daily with a Disney gc.
Yes, that is our question as well… we had intended to charge things to our room using Magic Bands and then periodically stopping by the front desk to pay off the charges with Disney gift cards. Does anyone know if the hold truly remains just a hold until the end of the trip giving us the opportunity to pay it down with gift cards prior to that, or does the hold convert to true charges as it is used?
So does that mean when you use your MagicBand they are going to put additional holds for everything you purchase with your MgaicBand? I like the option of my card being charged at the end of my stay for all of my purchases. This seems like they will charge my card everyday for what I am charging to my MagicBand.
I too am interested in how this affects paying off magic band charges with gift cards at the end of the stay?? Does the new policy take that option away since the charges will come out of the $100 hold to start??
In the past I’ve charged to the room with my magic band then paid the bill with a disney gift card before leaving. Will I still be able to do this ?
Cathy, I hope so too. I plan on doing this on our next trip.
these type of holds happen all the time with other hotel chains
you just need to make certain there’s the capacity on the credit card for the hold as it does take the credit card company itself, in my experiences, a couple of days to release the hold once you check out of the hotel/resort
Marc is right. Most hotels do this when you put your card on the room when you check in. Something I assumed they did already. Just protecting themselves from people using cards maxed out.
What about if you put a debit card on your account instead of a credit card?
Also, I’m confused on everything that was stated above. Can you please explain to me what this ultimately
means? thanks!!!
If you use Disney gift cards (like I do) instead of putting a credit card on file I just give them enough Disney gift card to cover what I know is due PLUS an extra one for $250 for magicband charging, then during the trip if I need to add more I take a gift card down and give it to them, I’ve never had a problem doing it this way.
Can DFB make a video about this?
I booked at Disneyland Hotel for a stay in May and was told the credit card hold would be $250 for “incidentals and parking”. Have never been to DL so not sure if this is their typical policy ?
It boils down to this. Too many people are going to WDW, having a FANTASTIC time and in the end, they don’t have the money on their cards to pay for it. This is a “CYA” for Disney to make sure all of their guests have the money to pay for their vacations. You’re still only going to pay for what you buy, but their going to make sure in advance that your eyes aren’t bigger than your wallet.
So, if i’m Reading this correctly. I will have this $100 charge on my card and only at the end of my stay will my card be credited. Quite often a credit To your charge card takes a couple of days. What’s the real reason for this new policy?
So usually I pay at the end of my stay, are they saying I will have a hold for the entire stay plus incidentals at the time of check in??? I usually end my stays on a payday (for obvious reasons) but if I check in the week before am I going to get charged for the whole trip then?
This practice is to deter those who rack up their card with purchases and can’t pay for it. Ruining it for those of us who pay our bills on time. I can’t blame them one bit. We always pre pay and leave it at the front desk and check on it periodically *O*
To Melly, I would highly recommend NOT using a pre-paid card for these incidental holds, as sometimes (depending on where you get it), it will take over 30 days to release the funds back to the card.
I’ve worked in hotels for 12 years and pre-paid cards are my biggest pain the butt, because basically the system gets confused sometimes when the return is supposed to happen, and it takes a while for the transaction to refund. Granted, this doesn’t always happen, and I’m not sure which system Disney resorts use, but I would highly advise you to just use your credit card.
I like to pay cash when I check out…use card as hold….so now what?
Becky, that’s a great question — and I wish I had more info for you! What we expect guests with cash or gift cards can do is to head to the front desk to apply those to the account. The best thing to do is to go to the front desk when you check in (or soon after you arrive) to ask.
Linda, I wish I could give you a certain answer to your question, but unfortunately Disney hasn’t released all the specifics of how this would work. It sounds like there’s an initial $100 hold, from which incidentals are drawn. If you reach the $100 threshold, they’ll hold another amount of money (unspecified) for future incidentals. You might consider calling Disney directly (or see if you can find a direct phone number for the resort you’ll be staying in!) to see what they recommend.
Jean, we haven’t heard anything except that they’re trying to align with industry standards.
Jennifer, typically if there’s a change in the middle of the stay, it won’t affect you because you began your stay prior to the change. You can double check with the hotel (call before you go or stop at the front desk when you arrive). Have a great trip!
Hi, all! Many thanks to those who’ve further described a credit card hold, and for those with concerns: we hear you! One of our team members chatted with Disney this morning to confirm that, yes, it’s just a $100 hold that will extend if you charge beyond the hold. If you want to pay off your balance with something other than the card you put on file (like gift cards or cash), you should speak to the front desk at your resort at the start of your stay, and they’ll talk you through how that will work. I hope this helps!
I am sure that most everyone commenting knows that extra charges are added at check-in to hotels with amount being different between each hotel chain & can take up to 10 days to be refunded.
However, Disney is a totally different entity. In the past, guests were allowed a hotel convenience of being allowed to charge Magic Band purchases up to a set limit & when your credit card on file would have approx $100.00 credit left, then Disney would automatically charge your balance oweing to your credit card on file.
Being from a country outside USA, I prefer to keep an eye on foreign exchange rates & the extra % that is charged every time a credit card is used. Once a hold is refunded, the % charge is not & if USA drops, refund will be less.
Having my credit card charged every $100.00 will incur a lot of extra $$$ being spent.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but we usually average at least $100.00 every day in charges just for meals & snacks.
If wanting to purchase 3-4 things in a day where each sale would be individually $101.00 plus dollars, is Disney going to hold a $100.00 on each purchase???
Also, we usually go for 3 weeks & usually a pay day is in the middle of it all. I am used to paying off the charges when we get close to the limit (4-5 times during the trip & then clearing the check out bill the nite before we leave.
Thoroughly confused.
I love Disney & have been going since 1979, but the last couple of years everything is getting so intense, scheduled & complicated that going there is starting to feel like work, not fun.
What about putting a debit card on file instead? this is what my husband and i want to use for magicband purchases.
Lane, I think that’s possible.
Sandra, I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can. It’s my understanding based on Disney’s language that there is an initial $100 hold, then when that amount is reached via charges, “incremental authorization holds” would be placed (one at a time in the event that you regularly meet the hold limit). We expect you will still be able to pay things off as you go (4-5 times, as you mentioned, including the last night of your stay). Per a conversation a team member had with Disney this morning, you’ll want to talk to the front desk and let them know you plan to pay off the bill without utilizing the credit card hold. Unfortunately I can not speak to the fee on a foreign credit card, but you could try calling the resort you plan to stay in to see if they can answer that for you.
What if I want to spend more than $100 at a time (which happens often) will my charge not go through? That would be so embarrassing to be shopping &/or drinking and then your card is cut off. What happens after the $100? I spend more than $100 every day it seems, would my card be in a constant state of holds?? WTF?
A hold is not a charge.
Disney will electronically “ask” your bank on check-in if you have, say, $1500 available on your credit line. The bank says “yes – and we will HOLD that amount of the credit line aside for Disney so no one else can ask for it”. A few days later you have charged $117 more to your room. Disney will again contact the bank and say ” can we make that HOLD $1600 now?” The bank says “OK, now the amount of the credit line set aside for a charge from Disney is $1600.” This back and forth communication of “can they afford this” and “yes they can” will just keep going on behind the scenes.
You still have not been charged anything.
If you were to go to the front desk during your stay and pay cash or a gift card against the charges, your total balance due would decrease but the hold authorization would not change, so Disney would just not need to go ask the bank if you have enough credit limit to pay until you hit that number they asked about the last time.
You will be charged what your actual balance is. The hold will clear once the final transaction processes. If you settle with cash or gift cards and there is no credit card charge in the end, the hold will eventually clear. Each bank has it’s own rules about releasing hold amounts so check with your specific bank.
Linda, you can spend as much as you want. The hold will adjust with your spending.
For heavens sake, people! You need to learn how your credit cards work! Disney is NOT taking an extra 100$ from your account!!! You can still charge to your magic bands. You can still pay your balance with your gift cards. A *HOLD* is NOT a CHARGE! (See BRM above for a nice, lucid, detailed explanation.
So if I am reading some of these posts correctly, I can “prepay” with a gift card and therefore avoid having them charge my credit card each time I reach $100? I ask because I planned to put our dining “budget” on gift cards and then just charge to our magic band and pay off each night with the gift cards. BUT if there is a $100 limit before they charge the card we are likely to go over that with just a nice meal and a couple of snacks. SO….can I just place the gift card with the front desk (prepay in essence) and then have the credit card on file for anything over the amount of the gift card. I still plan to check daily at the end of the day to see what we have charged, etc. I just want to see if I should bother buying the gift cards at all.