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boohead
05-18-2006, 02:26 PM
Does anyone know if you can use travelers checks at Disneyland? We've never used them before but everyone keeps telling us we should. I'm just worried about not being able to use them anywhere.

The Lovely Mrs. tod
05-18-2006, 04:56 PM
The last time i went overseas I wanted to get travelers checks and the guy behind the counter at my bank said not to bother, just use my ATM card.

I did, and it was easy to do, even in foreign countries where they don't use US dollars. Although "English" was often not the first choice of languages :eek:

Any place in Disneyland that has a cash register will happily accept travelers checks in any denomination and in any currency. (ODV carts, not so much. ;) )

But I wouldn't bother.

--TLMt

SeansMom
05-18-2006, 06:20 PM
We used travelers checks without a problem...just make sure you carry your I.D. as well. It helped us stay on budget ($100 per day for food and such). These resorts are experts at handling all kinds of $ transactions, so no worries :). It was a bit more of a hassle at the grocery store. Next time, I'd use a credit card there.

Drince88
05-18-2006, 07:06 PM
The other plus side to travelers checks are if you're sharing expenses with others from different budgeting families.

When I travel with my sister(s), we'll pool a set amount of money together and use that to pay for meals, etc. We tend to eat/drink about the same amount, so not an issue with 'fairness' but it's a lot easier for us to do that, than to keep track of who's paid for which meals and were they expensive meals or not.

Disnerd
05-19-2006, 09:02 AM
Be aware that some merchants in Downtown Disney will not take $100 travelers checks or personal checks. That is the policy with my wifes store. The Disneyland Resort gets a lot of counterfit $100 checks. The stores also no longer accept foreign currency. You have to go to a Cash Exchange. At DTD it is TravelEx they are at the end of DTD around the corner from Compass Books. With the new cash registers its amazing they can accept U.S. currency. Just the other day the system went down globally (California & Florida) and all transactions had to be done by hand and all credit cards had to be called in. This went on for 2 1/2 hours. A nightmare. Big problem is that the whole system runs on servers at WDW. If anything happens to communications between here and back east you have a problem. The system won't run here in California on its own. Any way in my travels I use my credit cards or ATM cards here in the states or at any of the other Disney locations around the world. The exchange rate is done by the credit card companies and it is faster than exchanging your money for the local realm of the land.

chrisaustx
05-19-2006, 04:24 PM
My advice is to buy AMEX prepaid traverls check debit cards, you can purchase these at many banks or from any AMEX travel office. AMEX wants to eliminate the paper traverl checks and switch to plastic cards. The cards are accepted at any location at the DLR.

I Heart Disneyland!
05-19-2006, 06:22 PM
What I did pre-DL last week. For the last few months I've been buying myself DL gift cards. Some $25, some $50, whatever I could afford. When I went to DL last week, I had $350 in gift cards to spend. :)

chrisaustx
05-19-2006, 06:27 PM
Here is the link to the new AMEX travelers check gift card, AMEX will soon stop offering paper checks.
http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/page/0,1641,22395,00.asp

kiwifuz
05-19-2006, 08:01 PM
I would just be a bit leery because not everyone accepts AMEX. Not in Disney, but outside restaurants, gas stations, etc might not all accept that particular card. Also according to their website they charge a $2.50 ATM fee in addition to anything the ATM might charge.

I'm not 100% sure because we bank w/ Chase, but I think the ATMs at Disney charge a $3 fee themselves.

chrisaustx
05-19-2006, 09:19 PM
All major retail locations accept AMEX, many companies only have corporate cards through AMEX, and the businesses will lose their corporate business. Mobil,Chevron,Valero,Shell and 76 in the Disneyland Resort all take AMEX cards. All businesses on the property should take AMEX since the majority of their corporate business are conventions, some people who attend conventions in Anaheim pay completely with American Express.

kiwifuz
05-20-2006, 11:54 AM
All major retail locations accept AMEX, many companies only have corporate cards through AMEX, and the businesses will lose their corporate business. Mobil,Chevron,Valero,Shell and 76 in the Disneyland Resort all take AMEX cards. All businesses on the property should take AMEX since the majority of their corporate business are conventions, some people who attend conventions in Anaheim pay completely with American Express.
Actually the convention goers are the people who allerted me to the fact that sometimes places outside of Disney don't accept AMEX. My in-laws attend their yearly convention in Anaheim and have encountered restaurants and some places they've stopped to buy things that don't take it. The cards they and their employees carry and AMEX.

Oh well personally I'd stick to a debit card. If I need more cash I just stop by a drug store or something and get cash back. That works as long as you don't bank somewhere that charges for debits. That way you avoid the ATM fees.

PeoplemoverMisser
05-20-2006, 04:44 PM
The only place we had any problem was the Village Haus in Fantasyland - and I think it may have been the rather-green cashier, instead of restaurant policy.

I used them in restaurants & shops all over the resort - much safer than cash, and more replaceable than gift cards.

boohead
05-21-2006, 07:52 PM
We went ahead and got travelers checks through our bank where my mother in law works, I believe they were through american express.

So beside those we will also have cash, credit cards, and our debit card. Not sure if I mentioned before that once on vacation our bank had some kind of computer problem and we couldn't use our debit card at all, and let me tell you it was terrible because we were pretty much depending on that. So this time I didn't want to take that chance.

Hopefully we'll be okay this time with everything. I feel like a dork but I also bought one of those money belts that you wear under your pants. Of course I'm making my husband where it because being 7 months pregnant it ain't gonna happen for me!!! Anyway I feel like a dork with the whole money belt thing but I guess I'd rather be safe than sorry.