Magic With a Discount: How the Disney Visa Card Made My Disney Trip Cheaper

Disney World doesn’t just have to be a reward for the kids.

Recently, I brought my Disney^® Visa^® Card along on a holiday trip to Walt Disney World. While the rewards earning isn’t great at 1% on all purchases, it does have a $0 annual fee.

I can get 10%, sometimes 20% savings on many purchases at Disney World. I consider it a coupon pass rather than a rewards earner, and it pays to know where discounts apply.

Take a look at how I saved over $100 by using my Disney Visa card on purchases at Disney World to get 10% to 20% off dining and merchandise.

Disney Visa Card Overview

Some of the benefits of the Disney Visa card at Disney World include:

• 10% off select merchandise at participating locations at Disney World and Disney Springs
• 10% off at participating dining locations at Disney World and on-property resorts
• Cardmember exclusive photo opportunities

If you’re planning ahead, the card can also get you Disney vacation financing with a 0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.49% - 27.49%.

Disney^® Visa^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A straight 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars that can be redeemed for Disney tickets, merchandise, and other offerings makes this a Mickey fan's go-to card.

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Disney^® Visa^® Card

A straight 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars that can be redeemed for Disney tickets, merchandise, and other offerings makes this a Mickey fan's go-to card.

Welcome Offer

Earn a $150 Statement Credit after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

$150

Annual Fee

$0

APR

18.49% - 27.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

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 Disney^® Visa^® Card makes it simple to earn Disney Rewards Dollars that you can spend at Walt Disney World^®, Disneyland^®, shopDisney.com, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Save 10% on select purchases at shopDisney.com when you use your Disney Visa Card
• Receive 10% off select merchandise purchases at select locations at the Disneyland^® and Walt Disney World^® Resorts when you use your Disney Visa Card
• Earn 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars on all your card purchases with no limits to the amount you can earn

Cons

• Does not earn transferrable points to other travel partners
• Has a foreign transaction fee

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Card Highlights

• Earn a $150 Statement Credit after you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Earn 1% in Disney Rewards Dollars on all card purchases. There are no limits to the number of Rewards Dollars you can earn.
• 0% promo APR for 6 months on select Disney vacation packages from the date of purchase, after that a variable APR of 18.49% to 27.49%
• 10% off select merchandise purchases at select locations and 10% off select dining locations most days at the Disneyland^® Resort and Walt Disney World^® Resort.
• Save 10% on select purchases at DisneyStore.com
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 18.49% - 27.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Disney Rewards

Saving on Dining With the Disney Visa Card

Eating at Disney World isn’t cheap. Sure, you can pack snacks, but you’ll need a real meal at some point, and it’s great if you can get it at a discount. The Disney Visa card can help you save on select dining, though the savings are limited mostly to table service restaurants.

For example, Disney cardholders can get 10% off at Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom, Coral Reef Restaurant, and Le Cellier Steakhouse at EPCOT; Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant and the Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios; and Tiffins at Animal Kingdom. Resort dining with 10% off for Disney cardholders is valid at Sanaa, Grand Floridian Cafe, Kona Cafe, and Ale & Compass Restaurant.

We don’t get much out of this perk because my family generally prefers quick service restaurants. My school-age kids aren’t impressed by character dining anymore, and we tend to focus more on rides and shows than taking long breaks for meals. Quick service meals are almost always cheaper than table service meals, too. We sometimes plan on table service dining once per Disney trip, but this time, we went to Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, without a cardholder discount.

Though the Disney Visa card dining discounts are limited if you’re not doing table service, there are still savings opportunities, particularly at Joffrey’s and some Disney Springs dining locations.

We hit Joffrey’s a few times during our trip at Disney Springs and at the parks, usually grabbing a coffee, tea, pastries, and sometimes hot chocolate for the kids. Over the course of our trip, we spent about $60 before discounts at Joffrey’s locations throughout Disney World and Disney Springs. With the 20% discount, we saved about $12 on drinks and snacks.

Joffrey’s locations are easily accessible, with stores at the entrance of every park, inside the parks, and at Disney Springs.

However, there’s an asterisk to the Joffrey’s savings, as it doesn’t apply to alcohol. We got an iced Irish coffee at Animal Kingdom and didn’t get to use our cardholder discount.

Numerous dining locations at Disney Springs offer a 10% discount to Disney cardholders. These include:

• eet by Maneet Chauhan
• Ghirardelli^® Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop
• House of Blues^® Restaurant & Bar
• Jaleo by José Andrés
• Paddlefish
• Paradiso 37, Taste of the Americas
• Planet Hollywood
• Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant
• Terralina Crafted Italian
• The Polite Pig

Like Joffrey’s, none of the Disney Springs restaurants offer discounts on alcohol. Raglan Road’s discount is limited to weekday lunch.

One of our new favorite spots to use the Disney cardholder discount at Disney Springs is eet by Maneet Chauhan. We got 10% off at this crowd-pleasing Indian spot with build-your-own bowls, flatbreads, and tandoori chicken poutine.

We visited eet twice on our trip, spending about $90 before discounts both times to feed a family of 5. With our 10% discount, we saved $18.

Saving on Merchandise With the Disney Visa Card

Disney cardholder savings is much more reliable than dining. You can count on 10% off at practically every Disney store, whether in the parks or Disney Springs. Cardholders also get 10% off on select purchases at DisneyStore.com if you’re shopping ahead of your visit to Disney World.

Although my kids use chore-based debit cards for most souvenir purchases and don’t get 10% off with those, we usually treat them to at least a few items each trip, particularly at the World of Disney store at Disney Springs, where we can get 10% off. We also picked up a few purchases for them at the parks, and my husband and I bought souvenirs and shopped ahead for the holidays.

All told, we spent about $750 on merchandise. We got 10% off on all of it for a savings of $75.

Best Credit Cards for Disney World

I use my Disney Visa card only when I can get 10% or 20% off because the rewards earning is dismal at 1%. For all other purchases, we relied primarily on my Chase Freedom Unlimited^® for everyday spending (and it’s one of our favorite cards for Disney and Universal Vacations) because it earns 3% cash-back on all dining and 1.5% on other eligible purchases.

I also used my Chase Sapphire Reserve^® to make this Disney World trip happen, transferring Ultimate Rewards points to United MileagePlus for our flights. I also earned 3 points per $1 by booking our car rental with the card, as well as getting primary rental car insurance.

Final Thoughts

In all, the Disney Visa card saved me more than $100 on this recent holiday trip to Disney World.

While I didn’t use it for every purchase, it was great to get savings of 10% and 20% where we could. If you do a lot of table service dining, heavy souvenir shopping, and daily stops at Joffrey’s, the savings can add up — even if the rewards aren’t spectacular.