Sadly, Disney announced the closing of the Disney Vacation Account program on July 25, 2017. They are no longer available for use.
In another twist to gathering your dollars for the mouse, Disney has established the Disney Vacation Account (DVA). The Disney Vacation Account is a savings account offered by Disney that allows you to pool your money while you accumulate the full amount. The money that you save in your DVA is easily used to pay for upfront costs (such as Magic Your Way packages, rooms, tickets, cruises, etc). The downsides are that the money you save is captured for use at Disney (it can’t be directed to a different vacation if plans change) and doesn’t accrue interest. Another drawback is that the money from your Disney Vacation Account isn’t convenient to use while at Disney; it can’t be used at the parks to pay for souvenirs, food or other expenses, and it can’t be linked to your Magic Band or used for room charges.
One major benefit to the DVA is that you can accumulate cash back from Disney with its use. For each $1000 you put into the account, you will receive $20 on a gift card for your trip. Note that to receive the gift card benefit, your account must have been created more than 120 days before your trip; we recommend requesting the card 4-6 weeks before your trip to make sure you receive it on time. It is a 2% discount for each $1000 increment you add to the account, so $2500 gives you the same benefit as $2000, a $40 gift card. The maximum gift card amount per account is $500.
Another benefit of the DVA is that you can easily load gift cards into one place and then use the account to pay for your trip. You don’t have to read multiple gift card numbers to Disney or to a travel agent — just log into your DVA account and enter the numbers. Prior to your vacation, you can call Disney and provide the account number to pay for the trip. This will work even if you have booked your trip through a travel agent.
We are currently using one of these accounts to save for our trips. It provides a small benefit (2%), but every little bit helps.
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