So you have your savings growing for your Disney vacation. Put that money to the best use and buy Disney gift cards. Buying Disney gift cards is one great way to save at least 5% off your trip. How? I’ll show you.

1. Buy gift cards at Target. If you get a Target Red Card, in credit card or debit card form, you get 5% off on most purchases at Target. Guess what they sell there? Disney gift cards! That means you can get 5% off Disney gift card purchases. (Please note this only works because Disney gift cards are categorized as “entertainment” rather than a gift card.)  You can actually get these gift cards even cheaper if you follow the steps below. Note: It is best to do this online – in store your mileage may vary.
2. Buy gift cards at a warehouse store. Both Sam’s Club and Bj’s Wholesale offer Disney gift cards in store at 5% discount. 
3. Buy gift cards at grocery and drug stores during promotional periods. Many have taken advantage of sales at both grocery stores and drug stores wherein you purchase X amount in gift cards, and get gas points, store credit or some other bonus. These opportunities are usually pretty rare and sporadic so if it pops up, take advantage. Many times they occur during the holiday shopping season, so keep your eyes peeled.

Don’t fret if you are buying gift cards in only small increments, one or two at a time. I will show you how to organize these gift cards and earn even more.

Purchasing gift cards with a cashback credit card, or Disney Visa and you’ll get even further savings.

OF NOTE: Most stores will not let you purchase gift cards with a gift card. There are two exceptions to this rule: Target and Walmart. Both will accept their store’s gift cards as payment for a Disney gift card. So you can convert those unwanted gift cards into Disney ones if you choose.

Because these stores will accept gift cards as payment, you can make your dollar stretch even further by purchasing discounted gift cards on Cardpool . I usually wait until Target gift cards are 6% off. By first visiting TopCashback, and then clicking through to Cardpool, I earn an additional 2% cashback.

Using back of envelope math that means for every $100 you need for your trip you’ll receive roughly 15% off, or pay $85. For a $3000 trip that’s a savings of $450!!

That’s 1% back on Disney Visa, 2% back from TopCashback, 6% off on Cardpool, and 5% off at Target with a red card.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that you can earn rewards on those gift card purchases at Target via MyPoints. For every $1 spent, you receive 2 points. So for that same theoretical $3000, you would earn 6000 points. You can redeem those points for many things including – you guessed it – Target gift cards. For 1750 points you can receive a $10 gift card, for 4000 points you can receive a $25 gift card, and 7800 points you can receive a $50 gift card. So in our theoretical scenario that’s another $35 in your pocket for free.

It does take a little work and planning, but to me the savings are worth it. Combined with a Disney Visa Card opening bonus of $50-200, plus a $60 payout from the Disney Vacation Account, and you are well on your way to paying for your vacation.

PLEASE NOTE: Disney Gift Cards can be used on hotels, food, merchandise and park tickets through Disney ONLY. If you plan on purchasing these items elsewhere, this is not the plan for you. I examine third party purchases in a few other posts.