Nobody pulls on the heartstrings quite like Disney, and the Disney Visa card is no exception. Fans love to customize their physical cards with their favorite Disney characters—from Baby Groot to Darth Vader to the original Fab Five. It’s no accident that you might be thinking about charging a Disney vacation on your customized Disney Visa card.
If that’s you, think again: There are better options available that can maximize your potential rewards. I reached out to Disney experts to see what cards they use and recommend for their visits to the House of Mouse—and as a Disney World guidebook author, I have thoughts on this topic as well. Let’s examine some options that offer a higher return in rewards on your vacation spending.
Savor Rewards from Capital One
It’s important to understand that credit cards consider amusement park tickets to be entertainment expenses, not travel expenses. When planning a vacation around a Disney amusement park, it can be beneficial to have a card that earns rewards for entertainment spending.
Jana Seitzer, a longtime Disney writer at Whisky + Sunshine, likes the Capital One Savor for her Disney ticket and dining expenses.
“The Savor Rewards from Capital One card gives 3% cash back on both Disney tickets and dining,” says Seitzer. “The Savor is a better deal for Disney World than even using the Disney Visa cards, which offer only 1-2% in Disney rewards.”
Besides the obvious advantage of earning actual cash over Disney Dollars, the Savor genie grants three more wishes:
- The Savor has an intro 15-month 0% APR offer so you can stretch out your spending without worrying about interest. The Disney Visa cards only offer 6 months intro APR, and only on Disney vacation purchases.
- The Savor has no annual fee, as opposed to the Disney Premier Visa. The entry-level Disney Visa has no annual fee as well, but only offers 1% in rewards.
- The Savor has no foreign transaction fee, so it works at Disneyland Paris as well as it works in Orlando.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
If you are more hands-off with your Disney vacation planning, luxury travel agent Jason Lawenda recommends the Chase Sapphire Reserve® for the combination of travel perks and high earnings on travel.
“Disney vacations are an expensive endeavor and picking the right credit card to maximize the value can help take a little bit of the sting out,” says Lawenda, owner of Mobius Journeys based in Cleveland, Ohio. “I love the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card as it will earn three points per dollar spent for dining out and on travel which will easily add up to some significant points to be utilized for future travel with many of Chase’s fantastic travel partners.”
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is not for the casual traveler, as it carries a steep $550 annual fee. But don’t see that as credits thrown into a Sarlacc pit: The card also gives a $300 annual travel credit, which includes Disney vacation packages. And the points you earn can transfer to airline partners including United Airlines and Southwest Airlines so you can offset your costs of getting to the parks. Or if you prefer, you can book your own flights via Chase Travel and use points for 1.5 cents each as payment.
When it’s time to travel, the Sapphire Reserve will add a spoonful of sugar to the airport chaos with a TSA PreCheck credit and airport lounge access.
Target Circle Card
If you’re not a fan of credit and prefer to pay-as-you-go for your Disney trip, the Target Circle Card could be your magic wand. The Target Card has both prepaid and debit options and they both perform the same spell: an instant 5% off Target purchases.
Here’s where the Circle Card bibbidi-bobbidi-boos. “Target Circle Cards allow you to save 5% on Disney gift cards purchased at Target, which is a bigger savings than the Disney Visa rewards perks,” says Seitzer. Disney gift cards can be used not only in the park gift shops, but also toward your tickets, meals, and Disney Resort stays.
The takeaway
While a Disney Visa card lets you carry your fandom in your pocket, other cards will sprinkle a more generous dash of pixie dust onto your vacation. By clicking your remote off of the Disney Channel, you’ll earn rewards that you can use not only on your castle trips, but at home as well.
