At the end of February, a new credit card policy for Disney World Resort hotels went into effect. And it may not work the way you think it does! But here’s what you must know before using your Magic Band to charge back to your room.
What the New Credit Card Policy for Disney World Resort Hotels Means for Your Stay
We spent a few days at Disney World over spring break and got to “test” out the new room charging policy. We love the convenience of charging back to the room. And with Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival – the ease of tapping your Magic Band is priceless!
As soon as the new policy was released I studied it as much as I could. I knew we’d be at a disadvantage since our trip was just a couple of weeks after the policy went into place. But I read all the Disney blogs and followed the posts in the Facebook groups. But nothing prepared me for the mess I was left with at the end of our stay. To say I was shocked is an understatement.
What changed with the new policy?
Under the old room charging policy, Guests would place a credit/debit card on file upon check-in and that card wouldn’t be charged until you hit the preset limit (value and moderates – $1500 and deluxe – $2000) or the day of check out, whichever came first.
The new policy does away with the preset limits and instead, upon check-in, a $100 authorization hold is placed your credit/debit card. And anytime you spend over that $100 another hold is placed on your card.
I’m not a fan of the new changes, but I understand the need for the updated Disney World room charging policy. But hopefully, with this handy guide to the new credit card policy for Disney World Resort hotels, you’ll be better prepared!
What is charged when checking in to Disney World Resort hotels?
On the day of
I’m not sure if they run the cards all at the same time or if it’s based on when you check-in online or in person, but the hold was placed early in the morning on our arrival day. I did do online check-in with my card already attached and listed an early arrival time.
When will Disney Resorts charge your card again?
Anytime you reach over $100 in-room charges, another authorization hold will be placed on your credit/debit card for the amount over the $100.
On our first night, we went out to dinner at T-Rex Cafe in Disney Springs and charged almost $200 back to the room. When I checked my credit card the next morning the charge for the entire dinner was already “pending” on my account.
3/29/2019 Update: Our pending transactions from 3/12/2019 fell off on 3/28/2019 and our transactions from 3/13/2019 dropped as of this morning. So, it was just over two weeks before those funds were freed up.
What happens when you have an extended trip?
We just did a short two-night stay, but according to Disney’s policy online
Example: Staying for 14 days
- Day 1 – $100 hold placed on the card
- Day 1 through Day 5 – various holds placed on the linked card for charges over the initial $100
- Day 5 – credit card actually charged for account balance plus another $100 authorization hold will be put into place
- Day 6 through Day 10 – various holds placed on the linked card for charges over the initial $100
- Day 10 – credit card charged for the account balance and again another $100 hold is placed on your card
- Day 10 – Day 14 – various holds placed on the linked card charges over the $100 hold.
- Day 14 – (check out day) credit card charged for the
remaining balance
The end goal is there will always be $100 on your Disney Resort account for incidentals. But because it takes so long for the authorization holds to fall off you could end up multiple $100 holds on your card.
Please keep in mind this is what others are saying, since I haven’t done an extended stay, I don’t know for sure how this is working.
What you need to keep in mind with the new Disney credit card policy
- The daily transactions are authorization holds, not actual charges. This is so Disney can make sure you actually have the funds available at the time of charging.
- They will do multiple holds on the same day if you charge more than $100 to your room. We didn’t
charge much each day but ended up having two holds placed on our credit card each day of our stay. - The resort will do an actual charge on your account upon check out or throughout an extended trip. But the holds placed will stay on your card.
- Authorization holds show up as “pending” charges and can take up to 30 days to fall off your credit/debit card. Which can lead to these transactions tying up hundreds to thousands of dollars on your credit/debit
card.
Check out this post by Leslie from Trips with Tykes – Why every traveler needs a credit card.
My experience with the new Disney Resort hotel room charging
Our trip was March 12th through the 14th, so short and sweet. We didn’t do any parks but spent most of our time enjoying Saratoga Springs Resort and Disney Springs. As locals, we don’t buy a lot of souvenirs, but we do tend to go a little crazy when it comes to dining. We love table-service restaurants and would rather spend our time and money at two or three sit down meals a day.
For 3 days, two nights we ended up with almost $700 worth of room charges and five authorization holds on our credit card. This included the initial $100 hold that was charged the morning of check-in.
As of publication (March 25th, 2019), I still have four “pending” charges on my credit card which total almost $700. The only one that has fallen off is the $100 one. My card was charged for the full amount owed on the day of check out. That transaction has cleared.
Because I was unsure of how the new credit card policy for the Disney World Resort hotels worked, I made sure to use a card that had a zero balance with plenty of credit available.
UPDATE:
We did a split stay over two days, August 29-31st, 2019, and this time I put my debit card on file. On the day of each check-in, a $100 was held on my debit card. I purposely did not use my MagicBand to charge back to the room so I could easily track when each of the holds fell off.
I was surprised that they actually both fell off within a couple of days instead of the weeks it took with my credit card.
Now, our family spent over $1000 that trip, so if I had actually used my MagicBand to charge to the room that still would have tied up an extra $1000+ because of the holds plus actual charges. Even at just a couple of days, that would have been devastating to our household budget.
Tips for managing the new Disney room charging policy
If you don’t have a credit card, I would not link your debit card to the hotel reservation. With the possibility of having twice the amount tied up on your account for a month, the benefits do not outweigh the cost in my honest opinion.
You can pay off your charges daily with a Disney gift card or different card then the one linked. This would save you from having the double charges on your credit/debit card.
You don’t have to link a credit/debit card to your hotel reservation. Instead, buy some Disney gift cards to use to pay instead of charging to your room. They can be bought in various amounts up to $1000.
And there is always the option of just taking your wallet into the parks. Old school, but it works… Unless you’re like me and have an uncanny way of losing your card at every turn.
If there is a credit/debit card linked to your hotel reservation be prepared for them to place multiple $100 authorization holds throughout your stay, even if you do not charge to the room. This could add up to a few hundred dollars being held, depending on your length of stay.
If you do decide to link a credit/debit card to your Disney World Resort hotel reservation, use the My Disney Experience app to keep track of your room charges. This way you know how much is being held on your credit/debit card.
You do NOT have to have a credit/debit card linked to your hotel reservation to have Disney Dining reservations!
Check out The Best Family Resorts
So is the convenience of room charging worth the hassle while at Disney?
We have older kids who go off on their own and having the ability for them to charge back to the room, makes it worth it for our family. I am now fully aware of how it works, so I can be better prepared for our future trips.
But with these changes, it definitely makes the decision tough. It’s always been a personal choice. Some people love the freedom of tapping their MagicBand for everything, while others hate it. When it comes to the new way of things, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. Especially, if you don’t have a credit card and usually use a debit card only.
If you’ve stayed at Disney since the credit card changes I’d love to hear from you. Share your experience in the comments below!
Thank you so much for this information!! After reading this, we will be paying the old fashion way of our debut card or cash!! Thanks again for the information, it was very helpful!!!
Hi Chellie! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. The new policy does make you rethink how you’re going to pay during your trip. Have a magical trip!
Renee
I’ve used the credit card on file program every year we’ve gone to Disney except last year, but I’ve never done a preset limit. It’s always just been saying which card I wanted on file for purchases and that was it.
But I don’t do the charge on file anymore. I’ve never really trusted it. You don’t really see what they’ve charged until you get your final bill. Now I just buy Disney gift cards and combine them. You can transfer funds from one card to another up to a $1,000 limit. So even though the card may say $25, on it, there might actually be a few hundred. I buy them at Sams’ Club to get a discount on them which makes it double nice. They’re listed on the Disney gift cards web site if you set up an account, so it will be easy to report if it’s lost or stolen. Lot less stress.
Eeek! Sounds like a huge headache! We don’t usually add a CC to our reservation but keeping track of all the pending charges and making sure that everything goes through correctly (and a hold doesn’t sneak through) would drive me crazy!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. The new changes can really put a damper on vacations.
Renee
This seems confusing to me. It seems like they tried to reinvent the wheel.
Thank you for stopping by! It definitely makes your head spin. Hopefully some minor tweaks make the new rules work for everyone.
Renee
What a mess! Great tips for dealing with it though… sadly you had to go through it go give advice!
It’s a huge clustered mess! Luckily, we always use a card with no balance. If someone uses a debit card it could be a disaster.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Renee
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I had no idea! We always link our debit cards every year, and we love being able to leave our wallets in the room. After reading your post, it looks like we definitely won’t be doing that anymore! This is supposed to be something more convenient, not a complete inconvenience. Very sad news!
I’d definitely be steer clear of linking a debit card right now. Fingers crossed that they make some much needed changes soon!
I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.
Renee
Thanks for the heads up! We’ll probably use gift cards and cash for most of our purchases. Too complicated to track.
Yes, it becomes something you have to closely monitor, especially those working within a strict budget.
My family recently went in July and we had two reservations. I called to hotel before our arrival and they told me I had to have a debit/credit card on file in order to check in and that I would be charged $100 for each room but I could have the charging privileges turned off because if I went over the $100 they would charge me another hundred. Since we had the dining plan we went ahead and left the charging privileges on knowing we wouldn’t be charging that much. On the 4th day we went over the $100 and my card was charged for the full amount and another $100 was placed. The other room never went over the $100 and I wasn’t charged the actual amount until Day 6 at check out. Luckily my bank only holds the incidental charges for 2 business days. On the 3rd business day the released the incidental charges and the money was available in my account to use. My bank said that they can not hold money longer than 2 days without an actual charge being made but they have so many days to put the charge through if they decide. So basically I was just giving Disney my debit card number so they would know it was a legit account and active. So using our debit card was better for us than credit card because the incidental charges would not have fallen off after a couple of days with credit like it does debit. However, I’m not sure if that’s every banks policy.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think having the dining plan can make a huge difference in how things work, since many spend hundreds on food while in the parks.
In the end it all comes down to your budget, your bank’s hold policy and spending habits.
Thank you for the info! I’m sure Disney had some issues with people spending money they didn’t really have, and had to do something, though I’m not sure this is the best idea. My husband and I have taken 7 trips to WDW in the past 5 years, and one of our favorite parts is the convenience of paying for everything with our magicbands. We always link a credit card with a $0 balance, that we also earn reward points on. Because there’s no balance, these holds should fall off before our next statement comes and won’t affect us much hopefully.
Hi Rae!
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I agree that the reasoning behind it makes sense, but the execution leaves much to be desired. You should be fine! Two weeks seem to be the longest the holds are left on.
I am a DVC member but haven’t been to the parks in 18 months That being said I have plans to go this December. I have always used the gift cards rather then charging to my cc via my magic band. I wish they would allow us to link the gift card to the magic band, that would be ideal but thisvinfo has encouraged me to remove my cc # from my reservation especially since I’m going with a friend sharing a room and she doesn’t have her own card.
Hi!
I just found your blog while researching some strange charges on my credit card after my (very) recent WDW trip!
After calling my credit card company I found out that besides all the regular charges I’ve got a bunch of holds on my card and they’re from “some hotel”. (I live overseas so I’m guessing not all the charge info comes up as clearly as the examples you showed here in your post.)
Anyway, I’ve got a bunch of pending holds for strange amounts like $152, $137, $161, $104….. This was a 9 night trip and I shop and dine and charge everything to my Magic Band (like I’ve always done) so of COURSE I passed the $100 limit about a gazillion times!
This is really frustrating and I’ll definitely rethink attaching a card to my account next time I go!!
I’m so glad I found your blog! Thank you!
Oh I’m so sorry to hear this! The process can be very confusing and isn’t explained very well upon check in. Hopefully the holds fall off soon.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Renee, it’s been weeks and the holds have not yet fallen off. I have over $1200 held on my card!!!
Everyone I speak to blames someone else. Disney says they dropped the holds weeks ago. My credit card company says it’s up to Disney and there’s nothing they can do. It looks like it will be another 10 days at least until all the holds drop. (Because it’s not one lump sum, it’s a bunch of little holds.)
I had stupid little things like my Netflix account being cancelled or not being able to order a pizza because my card was over its limit. Truly, truly infuriating.
I am in the same boat right now!!! Double charged just waiting for the holds to drop off. Disney telling me they have dropped the charges. My bank saying the merchant has yet to drop the charges. What a damper on what was a fun trip!!
What a croc! And worse if you are visiting from overseas as any mistakes will have exchange rate charges impacting them. I’ll be using cash, which is a shame for Disney as a business because it acts like a budget…you can’t spend what isn’t in your wallet!!!
I wish I had found this Blog prior to our most recent trip (9/14-9/22)!
We have always in the past utilized the previous version of the room charging policy attaching our debit card and this more recent trip was out first since the change…that being said…
When we checked in we WERE NOT made aware of the new policy (which if you use a debit card is a disaster!)
and as didn’t change how we were set up. Not two days in to the trip due to all the holds Disney had essentially taken close to $800 from us! We were stymied! We went back to guest services at the resort, Coronado Springs, only to finally be made aware of what was happening! Needless to say we were appalled! We immediately removed the card from the account and were told “Maybe if you call your bank they can fix the issue”…having no luck we went back to guest services and spoke with upper management…FINALLY we were treated to “Disney” standards of customer service! The manager we dealt with was both exceedingly apologetic stating that this new policy had reduced MANY guests to tears! He helped us however and the rest of the trip went off without a hitch.
All this to say…the new policy is a TRAIN WRECK!
Thank you for sharing your story, Patrick. I’m glad you were able to get it resolved sooner than later, but yes the new policy and debit cards do not mix.
I am going in 2 days! I have a cc on my account but after reading more than one forum if bad experiences, I will not be paying with my magic band.
Will i still get charged on my card that’s on my account? I have a split stay, I’m super confused now! And the other half of my split stay is a DVC rental through my family
Hi there!
If your CC is attached to the room you’ll have $100 held the day of each check-in. As long as you don’t use your MagicBand to charge back to your room then that is all that will be held on your account.
Renee
My question having just returned from WDW, were your funds on hold for the 30 days? I read your blog too late so I’m watching $750 of my money remain on hold. Just curious when I might get my money back to use.
Thanks, Christie
Hi Christie,
Good news – no, they weren’t held for 30 days. Bad news – they were held for 2 weeks from the date they were charged.
It depends on your credit/debit card company, so you can try giving them a call to see how long until they release the funds.
Renee
Christie, I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to me 🙁
We had a reservation for 4 nights in December and added a “separate reservation” at the same resort the day before that reservation since fly into Orlando late at night (so we don’t waste a whole day traveling from the airport, checking in, etc the first morning of our original reservation).
They had to set it up as a new reservation for one night because they were out of rooms under the original package, etc. SO- I bet they will charge the$100 hold the late night we arrive for our reservation and then again the next morning for the original reservation ( we will be switching rooms). This is frustrating! I won’t be using the magic bands for charging anymore…which was SO convenient. BUT- I think the magic bands almost “trick” people into spending more money. It does add up fast. (like using chips at a casino instead of money). I think this might cause Disney to lose some money , as people will be watching more closely what they spend!
Just kidding…
Hi Matt!
I agree that when your tapping that magicband you don’t think about how much you’re spending, so I do think Disney might see a slight downtick in sales. They will probably put two holds for the $100 on your card for the two separate check-ins.
Good luck!
Renee
We went April of 3019 for 10 days. We didn’t know about the change. And the information the front desk gave us at check-in was false. Planning to use our linked credit card for our budgeted extras including water park tickets (waiting to see if it didn’t rain), we got to our planned water park day and realized our balance was tied up with several holds. This caused our trip to come to a screeching halt with limited funds with us. The holds didn’t drop till a week after we got home. Guest services was unapologetic. It was a nightmare. And milestones kids birthdays (that fall in the same week) were ruined. We have gone to Disney often, even got married there. It was the worst experience. I felt our financial privacy was invaded, and we felt completely devalued as long time customers. I get the practice, but we did nothing to earn this treatment. Why not set these limits only on offenders? Needless to say, next time, no credit cards and likely no magic bands. The only reason we were ok with being tracked around the parks was for the ability to charge to our room without a wallet. Taking back all our privacy, or what we can. I no longer trust Disney and approach our trips with suspicion now.
Kristin,
I am sorry to hear about the hiccups this policy caused during your trip! Thank you for sharing your story.
Renee
can someone pls explain again , if my family has the dining plan can we not put a card on file because we pay in cash for everything basically this is the first year we are using the dining plan
Hi Christa!
As long as you don’t do online check in, you shouldn’t have to have a card attached to your account.
If you do online check in, you have to have a card attached to the account. But if you don’t ever charge back to the room using your magic band or room card – you’ll only have one $100 hold placed on the card attached to your account.
Hopefully that makes it a little clearer!
thanks yes that makes sense
Hi, I was wondering. Is the $100 hold dropped if there are no other charges or damages?
Hey Darian!
Yes, the initial $100 hold is dropped. It all depends on your bank on how long it takes. It could be anywhere between 3-30 days.
It’s already been about 28 days since the charges. I t looks like it will take the 30 days for the charges to drop off.
I’m annoyed as I it’s a total amount of $1450.
Oh no! If you haven’t already contact Disney and your card company to make sure there hasn’t been a miscommunication between systems.
This helps me so much! Thank u!! I get text updates every time my card was charged. So the whole trip I was confused as to why they were charging everyday. By the time we left my card was charged doubled and it freaked me out because I had no idea they had changed their policy. It’s been 10 days since we’ve been back and almost all the charges are gone except 2. I wish I had known beforehand. We have been to Disney 25+ times and this was the first this happened. We like the charge back convenience. But I will be doing something different next trip. It was just unexpected…
Hi Rachel!
I’m glad I was able to shine a little light on the current charging policy at Disney. I have noticed that most holds fall off within a week but it can cause a bit of panic when you’re not prepared for all the charges!
I am so glad that I found your blog post. This exact thing just happened to us. I just got home and looked at my credit card statement. I have been googling and looking what has happened and then I came across your article. Guest services said they could not help me and my card company said I had to contact Disney.
This was the first time I have ever put a card on file to charge with magic bands. We have a large family with grow children and it made sense. I got my itemized bill at checkout and I have 7 more charges totaling over $1300. Seems I will have to wait the 2 weeks for it to clear. I will not do it this way again for sure. I will use Disney gift cards, debit card or cash.
Hi Tina!
I’m happy I was able to provide information that helped solve your mystery. Hopefully the holds will fall off sooner than later. I know with my debit card the holds are usually gone within a few days.
Renee
One thing I am not clear on is if I use my Magic Band to make charges to the room and pay them off nightly with gift cards, do the holds drop at that point? and then the $100 initial fee is started again?
This is what happened to us by paying the room balance before checkout or 5th day: 9 night trip, by 4th day had multiple holds to the equivalent of around $690. Paid the balance. Day 5 auto pay, Day 6 & 7 no holds when charged. Asked at front desk, CM said I hadn’t exceeded the original $690 so no additional holds were needed yet. Day 8 paid balance again without going over the $690. Checkout day, balance auto paid. Left with only the original $690 in holds being tied up.
Wow! I honestly never would have thought about that. I’ll definitely be trying it on our next trip!
Wow! I honestly never would have thought about that. I’ll definitely be trying it on our next trip!