Sarah,
Thanks for asking your question to planDisney!
Yes, you can pay cash at your Disney Resort Hotel for charges that you will incur in the parks.
I do that on many of my trips. I don't want to carry around cash or gift cards, and I really don't want to have to search for either when buying something on my trip. At some point of my arrival day, or on the first full day of our vacation I will go to the front desk to transfer the value of gift cards, or any cash I have on hand, to my hotel room account. From there, whenever I purchase food or souvenirs in the parks, I charge it to my room. With this pre-loaded credit on my account, Disney subtracts the costs from that credit until it is all used up.
BONUS TIP #1If you are putting cash or gift card balances over to your resort account at the start of the trip, only put what you know you will spend. 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.
When I go, I put down only that amount that I know I will spend, and every couple of days I will return and apply more to the account as I get closer to spending that credit balance.
BONUS TIP #2Remember that you can always check your balance from your
My Disney Experience app!
Please do
write me back if you have follow-up questions.
Have a Magical Vacation!Doug