The Benefits of Disney Credit Cards at Disney Parks [2024]

Heading to Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort soon? You’re probably planning to pack comfy shoes, snacks, and your favorite Disney apparel, but adding one of the Disney credit cards to your must-pack list can offer savings and enhance your Disney park experience. 

From money-saving benefits such as promotional financing on Disney vacation packages and 10% off select food and merchandise to time-saving perks such as mobile checkout and exclusive character experiences, the Disney^® Visa^® Card and Disney^® Premier Visa^® card can provide a lot of value when you visit Disney parks.

For example, you could use your Disney card to get interest-free financing on a Disney vacation package and then spend the rewards you earned on the package on food and merchandise at the parks — or save rewards to help pay for your next Disney vacation. If the rewards don’t cover everything, you can get 10% off select food, merchandise, and more when you use your Disney card at Disney parks.

Let’s explore how you can benefit from Disney card perks when visiting Disney World or Disneyland.

Disney Premier Card and Disney Card Overview

Both the Disney Premier card and Disney card earn Disney Rewards Dollars. That means you can use either Disney card to earn rewards that you can use at the parks, whether you’re booking a vacation package, buying park tickets, or taking home souvenirs.

Disney Premier Card

The Disney Premier card offers greater rewards potential than the Disney Visa card. With the Disney Premier card, you earn 5% on purchases at DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, or ESPNPlus.com, 2% at most Disney locations, gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants, and 1% on all other purchases.

You can certainly find a better card to reward you for gas station, grocery, and dining purchases, but it’s tough to beat 5% on a Disney+ bundle or 2% with Disney.

Disney Card

The Disney card earns 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars on all purchases. That’s a flat rate for everything, whether you’re shopping with Disney or not. At just 1%, we can’t recommend the Disney card for great everyday rewards earning. 

However, the Disney card is still a good choice if you’re using it on a Disney purchase you can get a discount or other promotion on. For example, if you’re booking a Disney vacation package with your card to get the 6-month 0% APR financing, you get 1% back that you can spend at the parks, which sweetens the deal. The same is true for Disney shopping or dining where you can get 10% off with your card.

The Disney card sometimes offers more than 1% back. For example, my husband was recently targeted for an offer to earn 5% at grocery stores, gas stations, and Amazon.com for up to $1,000 in combined purchases (up to $50 in Disney Rewards Dollars). This type of bonus might be worth it to you if you have an upcoming Disney trip planned and want to stack some Disney Rewards Dollars to spend at the parks.

Disney Cardholder Benefits Before Your Park Visit

While you can get great Disney perks at the parks, it’s equally important to consider the Disney card benefits you can use to save on getting to Disney parks or making purchases ahead of your visit. Disney cardmembers get promotional financing on select Disney vacations, save 10% on qualifying shopDisney.com or Disney store merchandise, and earn Disney Rewards Dollars redeemable for nearly anything Disney — including park tickets.

Promotional Financing

Get a Disney card ahead of your Disney vacation, and you can use it for no-interest financing on select Disney vacations. The offer gives you a 6-month 0% APR on packages you book with your Disney card through the Walt Disney Travel Company, online with Disney, or with other eligible travel agents or sites. 

This financing can be a good way to pay for your Disney vacation over time. Just book and pay for your Disney vacation with your card at least 6 months before your trip, and you can pay it off interest-free before you hit the parks!

Disney vacation packages, events, and tickets that qualify for promotional financing include:

• Adventures by Disney vacation packages
• Aulani room accommodations, plus choose between 1 of: rental car or ground transportation, insurance or dining (you can’t finance excursions or spa treatments)
• Disney Cruise Line bookings and added hotel stays at Walt Disney World Resort or a participating port
• Disneyland Resort Park Hopper tickets you buy before your vacation with your card
• Disneyland Resort vacation packages at Disneyland Resort hotels or Good Neighbor Hotels booked through the Walt Disney Travel Company
• National Geographic Expeditions
• Walt Disney World Resort vacation packages purchased from the Walt Disney Travel Company, Disney Cruise Line, AAA Vacations, or on DisneyWorld.com
• Wedding and honeymoon ceremonies

If you become a Disney Vacation Club member, you can get 6-month 0% APR promotional financing on your real estate interest purchase charged to your Disney card. However, you can’t finance your annual dues or loan payments.

Exclusive Resort Offers

Disney may offer resort packages designed for Disney cardmembers. For example, one of the offers available to Disney cardmembers is a 2024 Disneyland Resort vacation package with extra benefits, though it only applies if you meet specific requirements:

• Minimum 1-night stay
• Must be purchased through the Walt Disney Travel Company
• Stay at a Disneyland Resort hotel or a nearby Good Neighbor Hotel
• Have a Disneyland Resort eTicket for 2 to 5 days for each person on your reservation

Disney cardmembers who meet those requirements get an exclusive Disney Rewards insulated cooler. Plus, guests on your reservation ages 3 and older receive a collectible pin and lanyard. 

Disney Shopping

Whether you shop online at shopDisney.com or visit a Disney store, you can save 10% on select purchases. If you’re stocking up on Disney gear or toys to bring to the parks, you can save 10% by using your Disney card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card. However, this discount has numerous restrictions, so it pays to read the fine print.

You must present your Disney card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card at Disney stores to get 10% off on applicable merchandise. Online, enter the code DRVCMEMBER in the Special Offers and Discounts field in your shopping bag. 

While a standing 10% discount at the Disney store is a nice deal, there are many — and we do mean many — restrictions on what you can get 10% off of. Despite the fine print, this is a nice perk to save if you’re picking up some Disney tees or costumes to wear to the parks or want to stash away toys to surprise your kids once you get there.

Hot Tip:

Planning a theme park trip to Orlando or Southern California that isn’t 100% Disney? Check out our guide to the best credit cards for Disney and Universal parks.

Redeeming Disney Rewards Dollars

Disney Rewards Dollars have a wide variety of redemption options within Disney:

• Disney movie tickets at AMC Theatres
• Disney store purchases
• Disney Premier cardholders can use Disney Rewards Dollars for airline purchases using the Pay Yourself Back feature
• Disney resort stays and park tickets

You can load a Disney Rewards Redemption Card to use the Disney Rewards Dollars you’ve accumulated on your Disney card. Alternatively, you can use the Pay Yourself Back feature to redeem your Disney Rewards Dollars for qualifying purchases on your Disney card. 

Disney Rewards Dollars can expire if you haven’t loaded Disney Rewards Dollars onto a Disney Rewards Redemption Card within 5 years from the date you earned the reward. We let rewards accumulate in my husband’s Disney card account for years and received an email reminding him to move the rewards to a Disney Rewards Redemption Card before expiration, which we did.

Hot Tip:

Don’t wait until you’re about to travel to get your Disney Rewards Redemption Card! You can order a card online, but there’s a wait of 5 to 8 business days. If you’ve cut it too close, you can pick up a card at various Guest Relations windows at the parks, but that involves waiting in line during precious vacation time. 

Disney Cardholder Benefits at the Parks

There’s a lot of value in Disney cardmember benefits ahead of park visits, whether you’re financing your vacation package or loading up on merchandise and rewards to use when you visit. But the on-site cardholder benefits are where the Disney cards really shine. You can get food and merchandise discounts, use mobile checkout, and get exclusive photo opportunities at Disney parks.

Merchandise Discounts

You can receive 10% off select purchases at stores within Disney resorts, at Disney Springs, and the Downtown Disney district. This isn’t a statement credit — you get 10% shaved off your purchase right when you make it.

However, as with regular Disney stores, you have to wade through a wall of fine print to understand what exactly you can get 10% off of. There are many restrictions.

You can expect to get 10% off your purchase of in-stock select items at Disney stores as long as your total is at least $50. That means if you’re just buying a pin for $15 or so, you’re not getting a discount. But if you’re hitting the World of Disney store at Disney Springs in Orlando with $200 worth of merchandise, expect your 10% discount to work if you’re using your Disney card to pay for your haul.

You don’t get a discount on specialty items such as handmade products, snacks, cosmetics, or jewelry from Tiffany & Co. or Swarovski. Thinking you’ll get a nice discount on a pricey custom lightsaber or droid? Think again — Savi’s Workshop and the Droid Depot are excluded from the discount.

Look for Disney card signs at checkout everywhere you want to use your card for a discount. If a store is eligible, you should see a sign right where you pay. And if you’re unsure whether your discount will apply to your purchase, it’s best to ask. 

Hot Tip:

In my experience, Disney cast members are helpful and knowledgeable about card discounts. A cast member at Goofy’s Candy Company helped me realize a bag of cotton candy would be basically free because it pushed our total over $50. I’m not proud of spending nearly $50 on candy, but my daughter was thrilled to eat free clouds of sugar!

Mobile Checkout

If you load your Disney card into the My Disney Experience app, you can use it for mobile checkout at participating locations. From my experience, the shops where you can get 10% off with your Disney card are the same ones where you can use mobile checkout.

You just self-scan your items, pay in the app with your card, and show your checkout receipt to a cast member before you walk out the door. Resist the urge to wave to the guests not using mobile checkout still waiting in line.

The mobile checkout feature is excellent if you’re facing long lines and want to get on with your day or don’t have your physical card. It came in clutch when I was shopping close to park closing time, but my husband was on a ride and had his card in his wallet. I could quickly use mobile checkout before the store closed — and the 10% discount applied!

Food Discounts

Disney cardmembers also get 10% off select food purchases. Like the merchandise discount, this can be a nice perk, but it doesn’t apply everywhere, and there are many restrictions you should know about before you expect to use it.

Generally, the 10% food discount works at sit-down restaurants within the parks and resorts, such as Tiffins at Animal Kingdom, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant at Hollywood Studios, Le Cellier Steakhouse at EPCOT, and Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. 

At resorts, highlights include Sebastian’s Bistro at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort, Grand Floridian Cafe at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, and Kona Cafe at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. You don’t have to be a guest of the resort to dine at any of the restaurants. 

The discount works at some Disney Springs eateries, including Planet Hollywood, Cookes of Dublin, The Polite Pig, Raglan Road, and Ghirardelli. Notably, you can get 20% off your entire purchase — excluding alcohol — at Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Co. 

While this can be a sweet perk, don’t expect 10% off every single thing you eat at a Disney property. You need to make sure the location participates in the cardholder discount and that additional restrictions don’t apply. A major restriction to note is the discount does not apply on many dates throughout the year, mainly holidays.

Some locations don’t offer a blanket 10% off everything. For example, we visited Cookes of Dublin at Disney Springs. We didn’t get a discount because at that restaurant, the discount only applies to weekday lunches — we visited for dinner on a Saturday. And there’s no discount on alcohol any day of the week.

While there are restaurant-specific restrictions, there are also perks. At Planet Hollywood Disney Springs, for example, you can use your Disney card to skip the line with priority seating upon request.

Bottom Line:

Because it’s often tough to know where you’ll get a discount, it might make sense to use your Disney card for all purchases while at a Disney property. That way, if there’s a discount or rewards bonus to be had, you’ll get it, and you don’t have to think too hard on vacation about which card to use when. However, if you want to maximize rewards earning overall, there are better-earning cards. For example, we used my Chase Sapphire Reserve^® to earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining purchases when we were sure the 10% Disney card discount wouldn’t apply.

Exclusive Photo Opportunities

You’ll stand in many lines when you visit Disney parks, and Disney character meet-and-greets are no exception. But show your Disney card, and you can meet Disney characters in cardmember-exclusive locations. 

There are Disney World cardmember character locations at EPCOT and Hollywood Studios:

• The EPCOT character experience is open daily from 1 to 6:30 p.m. It’s at the Disney Visa Photo Spot at EPCOT in World Celebration next to Journey Into Imagination With Figment. When we’ve visited this spot, it was always a mouse — either Mickey or Minnie — and another character, such as Pluto.
• The Disney World Star Wars character experience is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Star Wars Launch Bay in the Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We met Kylo Ren each time we visited.

You can also meet characters at Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland:

• The California Adventure Park character experience is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Hollywood Land near Stage 17.
• The Disneyland Star Wars character experience is open daily from 2 to 6 p.m. outside of Star Wars Launch Bay, across from Autopia in Tomorrowland.

You receive complimentary downloads of your photos, even if you don’t have a Photo Pass for your visit.

In my experience, these lines are short, move fast, and offer a great way to meet characters, get your photos, and go. My favorite part? Both Disney World cardmember experiences are indoors, so you can cool off and get a break from the sun while waiting.

Exclusive character experiences were a big factor in my husband getting the Disney Visa card. Discounts and rewards are nice, but math aside, this is a huge time-saver that helps maximize valuable time in the parks! We will probably never step inside Club 33, but we enjoy knowing we have this members-only perk.

Hot Tip:

Even if your Disney card is loaded into your My Disney Experience app or mobile wallet, you have to show your physical credit card to get into cardmember character experiences. Don’t forget it!

Guided Tours and Experiences

Disney cardmembers get 15% off select guided tours. The discount excludes premium VIP tours, group-exclusive tours, or great team building programs. The discount does apply to several tours throughout the parks:

• Behind the Seeds
• Caring for Giants
• Celebrating Disney100 at the Disneyland Resort
• Cultivating the Magic
• Disney’s Happiest Haunts Tour
• Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour
• EPCOT Seas Adventures – DiveQuest
• EPCOT Seas Adventures – Dolphins in Depth
• Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour
• Savor the Savana: Evening Safari Experiences
• Starlight Safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Up Close with Rhinos
• Walt’s Main Street Story
• Wild Africa Trek
• Wilderness Back Trail Adventure

There’s also a 10% discount on select recreation experiences, including:

• Carriage Rides at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
• Horseback Trail Rides at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

Savings on Disney Cruise Line

Disney cardmembers also get savings on Disney Cruise Line, including 10% off select digital photo packages, select merchandise purchases, and select Castaway Cay getaway packages. There’s also 20% off select onboard spa treatments.

Hot Tip:

Additional locations offer savings and perks for cardholders, including Aulani, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, and Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.

Final Thoughts

The Disney Premier card and Disney card are not top-earning rewards cards, but if you’re visiting a Disney property, the perks can offer a big payoff. With either Disney card, you can get 10% off on select food and merchandise, finance vacations interest-free for 6 months, and get exclusive access to character experiences and other perks.

I consider my husband’s Disney card a coupon book we can take advantage of whenever we visit Disney parks. It’s delivered on savings of money and time, and with a $0 annual fee, all of these perks are free.