Elijah,
Thanks for asking your question to planDisney!
At this time you cannot pre-load a gift card directly into your account via the
My Disney Experience account or app. Don't worry, most venues in Walt Disney World will accept them, so you can still use them.
But if you are staying at a Disney resort, there is still a way to add them to your account once you have arrived. Sometime after checking in to your hotel, visit the front desk and have the gift card credits applied to your resort account. When you charge food or other purchases to your MagicBand the purchase will go on your resort room account. With that balance of your gift cards already put onto your hotel account, they deduct those costs from your credit balance rather than bill the credit card you have on file for your room.
BONUS TIP #1One very important note to consider. If you have several cards, I do not recommend that you put all their balances over to your resort account at the start of the trip. Why? Well, Disney cannot refund any of those transfers to you, so if you put $100 of a gift card onto your resort balance and only spend $90 of that, you lose the $10 balance. Pace yourself.
When I go, I put down only that amount that I know I will spend, and every couple of days I will return and use more cards as I get closer to spending that credit balance. Oh, and remember that you can always check your balance from your
My Disney Experience app!
BONUS TIP #2Gift cards are a great item for kids to list on birthday or Christmas wish lists. My teenagers have a hard time finding gift idea suggestions for relatives that are reasonably priced, so this gives them a lot of flexibility. Then they get some 'mad money' for souvenirs and treats!
Write me back if you have any follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!
Doug