One of the few things more magical than experiencing Disney, is saving money on Disney. Whether you’re shopping for Disney merchandise or planning your next vacation to a Disney theme park, I discovered a way to help you save up to an EXTRA 11% (or more). That’s 11% off IN ADDITION to any promo codes or special offers you have!
Unfortunately, I don’t have an easy code or special link for this offer. Getting this extra 11% off will take a bit more effort than that. However, if you shop and fill up at a store in the Kroger Co family, it shouldn’t be much of an inconvenience at all. Once I figured it all out in my head, the only thing extra I had to do was grab the gift cards while shopping for groceries.
To take advantage of this additional savings you must:
- Live near a Kroger Store (or a store in the Kroger Co Family – see below)
- Have a Kroger Plus Card
- Have access to a Kroger Co gas station
- Optional: Have a Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard
If you aren’t able to access the services listed above, scroll down to the bottom for other ways to save on Disney.
As you’ve probably figured out by now, I was able to save 11% on Disney Gifts Cards through Kroger. I then used those gift cards to pay for our Disney vacation. The gift cards can be redeemed at Walt Disney World & Disneyland Parks, Resorts, Restaurants, The Disney Store and Disney.com.
1. How I Saved An EXTRA 11% On Our Disney Vacation: THE SHORT
2. How I Saved An EXTRA 11% On Our Disney Vacation: THE LONG
3. Saving More With The Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard
4. My Break Down Of Savings
5. Other Ways To Save On Disney
How I Saved An EXTRA 11% On Our Disney Vacation: THE SHORT:
Here’s the quick of my method. If you’d like a detailed explanation, scroll down.
I frequent Kroger and their gas stations often. Redeeming fuel points isn’t new to me. I simply combined their 4x fuel point sale with use of my Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard and totalled 11% in savings! Here’s the short of it:
- Apply Kroger 4x Fuel Rewards coupon to your Kroger Plus Card
- Purchase Disney gift cards (or any gift cards other than Kroger, Visa, or Mastercard)
- Use the Kroger Mastercard or other rewards credit card to purchase
- Redeem fuel rewards using $1.00 (or $1.25 w/ credit card bonus) off per gallon.
- Use your Kroger Rewards credit card to get the additional $.25 off per gallon.
How I Saved An EXTRA 11% On Our Disney Vacation: THE LONG
If you shop at Kroger or a store in the Kroger Co family, you likely already have a Kroger Plus Card. The Kroger Plus Card allows store shoppers to access sale prices, use digital coupons and earn fuel rewards. Everyday, Kroger gives 2 fuel points per dollar spent on gift cards. Many times throughout the year, they will offer a 4X fuel points on gift card purchases. This is the promotion you want to watch for and use!
When Kroger offers their 4x fuel points on gift cards, you are able to purchase Disney Gift Cards (or any non-Visa/MasterCard or Kroger gift cards, including Delta, JetBlue, Uber, etc) and receive 4X fuel points on the dollar amount you spend. For example, if you purchase a $25 gift card, you’ll earn 100 fuel points. Currently, Kroger has Disney gift cards in denominations of $15 – $500. The savings this method provides will depend on how your fuel points are used (see below).
Before you check out, BE SURE you add the 4x coupon to your card through the Kroger app or website.
TIP: If you don’t see the gift cards you need in the main gift card section (my location is often sold out of Disney in that section), check other places. Kroger often has gift cards in checkout lanes and near the entrances/ exits as well.
Purchase your gift cards with a rewards credit card and save an additional percentage off. I used the Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard and earned an additional 1% back. You can use any reward credit cards for this and potentially save even more.
Redeeming your fuel points is where you are going to earn back the biggest % of the money you spent originally. It will take some planning to maximize your savings. 100 fuel points = $.10 off per gallon. Kroger allows you to redeem up to 1000 fuel points or $1.00 a gallon per visit (unless you have the Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Card, then you are allowed $1.25 off per gallon) and up to 35 gallons.
Again, this will take some planning. Be sure you don’t purchase more gifts cards than will collect more points than you’ll be able to redeem. Points expire at the end of the month following your purchase date.
Saving $1.00 per gallon (1000 points per fill up) results in the following total savings and % off of your gift card purchase:
Spend $250 on Disney gift cards during 4x points = 1000 fuel points = $1.00 0ff per gallon =:
Save $10 per fill up on 10 gallon tank = 4% savings off of the $250
Save $15 per fill up on 15 gallon tank = 6% savings off of the $250
Save $20 per fill up on 20 gallon tank = 8% savings off the $250
Saving More With The Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard
When you open a Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards Mastercard you’ll earn back 1% on all purchases from the Kroger Co family of stores. Additionally, the first year you have the card, you get an additional $.25 off per gallon when you redeem a minimum of $.10 in fuel point rewards. This is in addition to the $1 per fill up limit resulting in $1.25 off per gallon when you redeem 1000 fuel points. Click here to apply.
Saving $1.00 PLUS the extra $.25 per gallon results in the following total savings and % off of your gift card purchase:
Spend $250 on Disney gift cards during 4x points = 1000 fuel points + $.25 bonus = $1.25 0ff per gallon =:
Save $12.50 per fill up on 10 gallon tank = 5% savings off of the $250
Save $18.75 per fill up on 15 gallon tank = 7.5% savings off of the $250
Save $25 per fill up on 20 gallon tank = 10% savings off the $250
Here’s How I Saved 11% On Disney Gift Cards: A Breakdown
I purchased $1500 in gifts during the 4X fuel points events = 6000 fuel points
I filled up my 20+ gallon tank 6 times in one month using 1000 points + $.25 Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards card bonus = $1.25 off per gallon during each fill up.
$1500 x 4 = 6000 fuel points
6000 fuel points / 6 fill ups = 1000 fuel points
1000 fuel points per fill up = $1.00 off per gallon
$1.00 off per gallon + $.25 Rewards card bonus = $1.25 off per gallon
20+ gallon fill up x $1.25 per gallon = $25 off per fill up
$25 off per fill up x 6 fill ups = $150 saved total from fuel points
$150 of $1500 spent = 10% saved
PLUS 1% earned from Kroger 1-2-3 Rewards card = $15 on $1500
$150 saved from fuel points + $15 earned on credit card = $165 = 11% SAVED!!!
Other Ways To Save Money On Disney Gift Cards & Disney Vacations:
Costco and Sam’s Club stores offer 4% off gift cards, including Disney. Use a credit card with a reward program to save an additional 1-2%.
Using your Target Red card, you save 5% on gift cards purchased from Target.
Use your Disney Visa card for everyday purchases and earn money toward anything Disney. Click here for more info.
Current Disney Promo Codes can be found here.
Undercover Tourist: For the biggest discounts on WDW and other theme park multi-day tickets, be sure to use Undercover Tourist. We were able to get a free day through them on our last trip. Undercover Tourist is a safe and reliable Disney ticket reseller. They are a Disney Parks USA Selected Ticket Seller – Disney’s authorized program for ticket re-sellers. Click here to view their great prices (Remember when comparing prices, the Disney website does not include tax in their quotes but Undercover Tourist does).
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Disclosure: All opinions expressed above are those of the writer and are in no way influenced by companies or brands mentioned within. Original image owned by The Walt DIsney Company and used with media privileges. The Walt Disney Co logos, characters and products are owned and copyrighted by them. All rights and credit belong to owners on original images used within. Post and page may contain affiliate links and advertising. Thank you for clicking through them! It helps keep 4 The Love Of Family here for you
How To Save An EXTRA 11% + On Your Disney Vacation!!
Very neat idea! Combine this with credit card points to fly for free and you have a cheap trip!
Exactly what we did! 😊