Hello Joe!
Welcome back to the Disney Parks Moms Panel with a great question! I am pretty sure you must be very excited about your upcoming visit to the Walt Disney World Resort!
All Disney Resort hotel Guests must link a credit card to their
Disney account when
checking in online or at
Front Desk upon arrival. The credit card is kept on file to be used in case you have incidental expenses. You are also required to link a credit card to your Disney account in order to make dining reservations. Once again the credit card is added as a precaution to charge you a fee in case you do not cancel a dining reservation within the cancelation period.
Your credit card will only be charged at your Disney Resort hotel if you have other expenses added to your folio, and even then you can still stop by Front Desk to pay for these expenses with another payment method. Just be sure to visit Front Desk the night before check-out, otherwise your credit card will be charged at midnight. I usually use Disney Gift Cards to pay for purchases charged to my room, so I simply visit Front Desk the evening before check-out and the credit card I have on file is not charged.
I hope this helps you while planning, Joe! Please stop by once again real soon, we are delighted to help.
Best magical wishes,
Thiana