Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card Review

For you and your family, vacation time is Disney time. In fact, Disney is #1 for you and your brood all year round. You have the Mickey ears to prove it!

Lucky for you, the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card makes it simple to earn cash-back so you can spend your rebates at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Store and more.

Sign-Up Bonus and Earning Disney Dollars

Enjoy a Disney gift card after your first purchase with the card’s current sign-up bonus for new cardmembers. It’s ideal for a shopping trip at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line and other select locations.

With the card, get 1% cash-back on all purchases good for Disney Reward Dream Dollars, which will be worth $1 each. Unlike other credit cards, there’s no limit to the number of reward dollars you can earn!

Bottom Line: The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card comes with a decent sign-up bonus and the opportunity to earn a flat 1% cash back.

Tons of Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card Perks

Disney fans, check out all of the perks that come with the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card.

First, get 15% off select guided tours at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. Also, get 10% off select dining locations at both resorts.

Love Disney merchandise? Get 10% off select purchases of $50 or more at Disney Store and DisneyStore.com, plus 10% off Star Wars merchandise of $50 or more at select Disney properties.

That’s not all. Watch the reaction when you tell the kids about the special Disney and Star Wars character private meet & greets, only for Chase Disney credit cardholders.

In addition, you’ll get a 0% APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages! That’s half a year to pay off the trip of a lifetime.

Bottom Line: Special discounts on Disney tours, merchandise, and dining, plus character meet & greets make the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card a dream come true for Disney fans.

Other Benefits of the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card

The card has no annual fee, unlike the more premium Chase Disney Premier Visa® Card, which costs $49 per year.

That means you’ll start out ahead of the game earning Disney Dream Reward Dollars to redeem for almost everything Disney: DVDs, toys, movie tickets and more! You can even redeem your cash-back rewards for Disney theme park tickets and services.

Of course, a true Disney fan wants everyone to know it. Show off your Disney style with your choice of 10 different Disney and Star Wars designs on your credit card.

Finally, for the traveling family, you’ll be glad to know that the card also comes with purchase protection, extended warranty on products, and baggage delay insurance to make sure a lost bag doesn’t ruin your trip!

Bottom Line: The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card comes at no annual fee, earns cash-back that is redeemable for anything Disney-related, and has 10 different choices for card designs! You’ll also get a few insurance options, like baggage delay coverage.

Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card Drawbacks

The biggest drawback of the card is that you are limited to Disney-brand benefits. (Of course, for die-hard Disney fans, that’s hardly a problem!)

If you love Disney but want a little more flexibility when it comes to redeeming your points, you might consider the Chase Disney Premier Visa® Card. In addition to Disney benefits, it allows you to redeem Disney Dream Reward Dollars for airline tickets.

This card has a $49 annual fee, but you’ll earn 2% back on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations and Disney purchases. Plus, you get a Disney gift card for the sign-up bonus, which is typically more than the value of this Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card offer.

If you aren’t going to be using the Disney perks, you can also consider other cash-back cards entirely, such as the Citi Double Cash Card, Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, or the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Bottom Line: The Chase Disney Premier Visa® Card offers 2 ways to spend your Disney Dream Reward Dollars: on Disney products and services, or for airfare. The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card only allows you to redeem your cash-back for Disney rewards.

Final Thoughts on the Card

With 1% cash-back rewards in the form of Disney Dream Reward Dollars and no annual fee, there are no actual downsides to owning this card.

It would be quite valuable when going to one of the Disney parks, due to additional perks like the 10% merchandise discount and 15% guided tour discounts.

Perhaps most valuable are the character meet & greet offers, which might be what makes your kids the happiest! Finally, you get purchase protection and extended warranty for any merchandise you purchase, and baggage delay insurance to ensure your trip stays on track.

Bottom Line: The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card does not have any downside since it doesn’t carry an annual fee. Perks like the 10%-15% discounts on a variety of merchandise and services along with character meet & greet opportunities make this a valuable card for the Disney lover!

• You visit Disney Parks and vacation properties frequently
• You make regular purchases at DisneyStore.com
• You would use the 0% financing benefit on Disney vacation packages

• You want a card with flexible redemption options
• You want to earn a ton of points each month
• You rarely take Disney vacations

Because you earn a flat 1% for your purchases with the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card, it’s tough to find a way to increase your cash-back each month.

If you are committed to earning Disney perks, it’s best to use the card for all of your monthly spending so you max out the value.

Spending $2,000 will accumulate 20 Disney Dollars, which is enough to request a Redemption Card so you can redeem them. That’s a lot of purchases, but if you use the card for everything the 1% can add up!

It’s important to remember that, although you earn Disney Dream Reward Dollars by using the card, it’s still considered a 1 % cash-back card. As such, you are limited in the number of ways you can maximize points.

Obviously, the more you use the card, the more Disney Dream Reward Dollars you will accumulate. But don’t go overboard with your spending to increase your cash-back amount! Any interest accrued on a balance you can’t pay off will always offset rewards earned.

The only way to redeem points is for Disney Dream Reward Dollars.

Before you can redeem your Disney Dollars, you’ll need to order a Disney Rewards Redemption Card. It’s a reloadable card that holds your Disney Dollars until you are ready to spend them.

This is very similar to the American Express Serve® Card.

Redeeming Disney Dream Reward Dollars

One Disney Dream Reward Dollar is equal to $1 when you redeem them for Disney products and offerings. Whether you redeem for a $99 Walt Disney World Park ticket or a $55.95 Star Wars costume, Disney Dream Reward Dollars are always worth $1 each.

You do have quite a few options for using your Disney Rewards Redemption Card, whether purchasing a voucher or vacation rewards. However, all of your redemption options are of course Disney-related.

Consider it a great way to budget your spending, or to give your kids a gift that makes them feel like they have their own money to spend!

Vouchers for Disney Merchandise

Get vouchers for Disney DVDs, games, toys, and music. The vouchers come in denominations of $10 (toys, music, books, and games) and $15 (DVD & Disney Blu-ray). They expire one year from the month during which they were purchased.

Movie vouchers are good for admission to Disney movies. Each voucher can be redeemed for one admission to a Walt Disney Pictures or Star Wars movie playing at participating theaters.

See voucher restrictions here.

Disney Vacation Rewards

Disney Dream Reward Dollars can also be redeemed for hotel stays at Disney Resorts, seasonal park passes, Disney Cruise Line spa experiences, souvenirs, and much more.

Use your Disney Dollars to cover the full value of your Disney reward or a portion of the cost. See a list of locations where you can redeem your Disney Dream Reward Dollars here.

There are no additional partners with this card.

So far in this Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card review, we’ve discussed the benefits of owning the card and explained how to redeem Disney Rewards Dollars. Now we will explore the value of the card overall.

A Quick Card Recap

We’ll start by reviewing the basic cost and benefits of the card.

The card is pretty easy to understand: it has no annual fee and cardmembers earn 1% back on all purchases.

Using the Model Families to Calculate Card Value

Using our 3 model families, we’ll look at the value of the card to them. When you match your yearly spending to the examples, you can discover the relative value to your own situation.

Total Value of the Card for Everyday Yearly Spending

Because the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card does not have any separate spending categories, the math is easy.

After a year’s worth of spending, our families will have accumulated a decent number of cash-back dollars to redeem for Disney Dream Reward Dollars. The table below shows the exact number of dollars.

So the card is worth between $453-$1,177 in Disney Dream Reward Dollars per year for the families, assuming they put all of their spending on it. Note that it may not always be reasonable to put all your spending on a credit card, like in situations where you’ll pay a fee above 1%.

Though not an insubstantial amount, 1% cash-back is also not an extremely large amount for all of that spending. Using a card with better benefits could bring our families considerably more value for their dollars.

Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Alternatives

If the card does not have the potential to provide enough value for your own situation, there are a few alternatives to consider.

First, like we discussed earlier in the review, there is the Chase Disney Premier Visa® Card. It earns 2% for purchases at supermarkets, restaurants, and gas stations, as well as 2% for selected Disney spending.

Of course, it also comes with a $49 annual fee, but this card will allow you to redeem rewards for both Disney merchandise/services and airline tickets.

If you want to avoid an annual fee altogether, there is the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express.

It’s a great everyday cash-back card that earns 3% at U.S. supermarkets and 2% at U.S. gas stations and department stores.

Another alternative to the Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card is the Citi Double Cash Card. It’s another cash-back card that offers 2% back for all transactions and has no annual fee.

Card Math Conclusion

If you are a Disney fanatic, then the extra perks such as character meet & greets and vacation discounts might make the card worth it, especially with no annual fee.

But while the gift card is a nice bonus, it may not be enough, especially if Disney isn’t your first choice for vacations.

Another card like the Citi Double Cash Card or Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express may be more valuable in the long run.

Bottom Line: The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card provides a solid 1% cash-back for everything, but the real value is likely in the additional perks you get such as character meet & greets. Otherwise, you would likely be better off with an alternative choice.

Allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery of your Disney gift card sign-up bonus. To receive the bonus, you must either be a new cardmember, or not have received the bonus for this card within the last 24 months.

The Disney gift card is not redeemable for cash, and it will not be replaced if lost or stolen.

Disney Dream Reward Dollars expire 5 years from the date they post to your account, and there is no limit to how many you can redeem.

You cannot earn Disney Dream Reward Dollars on balance transfers, cash advances, or checks that access your account.

Once ordered, it takes 2 to 3 weeks for Disney Rewards Redemption Cards to arrive. You may only have 2 active cards at one time. There is no expiration date.

After you request a card, Disney Dream Reward Dollars cannot be transferred from your Redemption Card back into your rewards account balance.

Some items are excluded from the 10% Disney Store discount, including theme park passes, Disney INFINITY, video games, Disney electronics, art & collectibles, and more. See a full list of exclusions here.

Other Unique Features

The Chase Disney Rewards® Visa® Card does not have as many purchase and travel benefits as other cash-back cards. However, it does have a few. Here is a list of those and the rest of the benefits.

Purchase protection – Get reimbursed for damaged or stolen purchases up to $500 within 120 days.

Extended warranty protection – Add 1 year to eligible manufacturer’s warranties.

Baggage delay insurance – Receive up to $100 a day for 3 days when essential purchases are delayed more than 6 hours by the carrier.

Disney and Star Wars character meet & greets – Receive special privileges in designated areas for card holders to meet and greet with the various Disney and Star Wars characters. Great way to skip having to wait in the long lines!

Savings on select merchandise, dining, and guided tours – The card offers special discounts and savings on a variety of things. See the card benefits package you receive or the terms and conditions online for more details, because there are certain exclusions.

0% APR for 6 months on Disney vacations – A great way to finance a trip if you need to. Note that the 0% APR only applies to certain vacations, so you’ll likely have to do some research or call to make sure the one you want is covered!

Save 10% on select Disney and Star Wars merchandise for purchases over $50 – The savings can change at any time, but in general you will save 10% on all merchandise purchases valued at $50 or more for Disney and Star Wars.

Redeem cash-back toward Disney services and products – Redeem cash-back for Disney theme park tickets, resort stays, dining, Disney movie tickets, DVDs, toys, costumes and more.

Photo Credits/Credit/Copyright Attribution:

Disney Characters Posing: s_bukley/Shutterstock.com
Handing Over Credit Card: Pressmaster/Shutterstock
Family Enjoying Pool: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock
Thinking Portraits: Ollyy/Shutterstock