Disney Visa Card and Disneyland Hotels question

[Shootingstaar]

There is a possibility that I may be staying at the GCH sometime in January, but I won't know for sure until a few weeks to a month beforehand. I have been saving my Disney Visa rewards points for this trip, and I was worried about requesting the rewards with enough time to receive them before my trip, but then I read that you can request them at the park. My question is, if the hotel charges your credit card at the time you make the reservation (I seem to remember a post saying that they do?), can I use my points at check-in and have them refund my credit card? Also, are there any discounted rates at the DLR hotels for card holders? I was hoping my trip would land during an AP rate time, but it doesn't look like it will . Thanks in advance!

[fairyprincessmom]

We have disney rewards visa also, we had to call and order our "rewards card". It is a seperate card from your credit card.Once you have it you can call or go online and transfer the points balance to the "rewards card". So it's like having a gift card. You can use it to buy whatever. Keep checking for ap rates at that time. Last year I got the same fall discount in jan.

[my2princesses]

I just ordered my disney rewards points card. It only took about 4-5 days to get it. I just went with the free shipping. They will give you an estimate of when your card should arrive. The points that you transfer to the card expire a little more than a year from when you order it. I just got mine a couple days ago and my expire date is 12/09. You don't have to tranfer all your points right now. I think you just have to transfer 10 or 20 to get a card. But you definitely need to get a card so you have one to transfer points to.
Good Luck

[evilqueento2]

I didn't have enough time to order my rewards card through the mail, so I went to city hall in Disneyland. You will need your visa card and your drivers license and they will issue you a card. You then call the 1-800 number provided on the card and this will activate the card as well as transfer your points. When you make your reservation with gch let them know you want to use your points, they probably deal with this all the time and will know how to help you. Have fun!