Illinois family accidentally bought $10K in Disney+ gift cards instead of Disney vacation

A family who has been planning a vacation since the start of the coronavirus pandemic recently discovered they accidentally purchased $10,000 worth of Disney+ streaming gift cards for their future Disney experience instead of gifts cards to the popular parks.

Andie Coston, of Normal, Ill., said her parents had planned to take their family on a big vacation in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic put their plans on hold. The family eventually decided to reschedule their trip for Christmas of 2023.

With 16 family members on the list, her parents purchased a series of gift cards to help offset the costs of the trip and to help secure reservations.

In total, they purchased roughly $10,000 in gift cards online. But when they went to book the trip, it became clear something was off.

The gift cards weren't working for their purchases.

That's when the family realized the gift cards were not for Disney parks, but for Disney+ streaming services. Enough for what Coston said is 70 years of streaming.

"We leave in 6 days and the parks are selling out of tickets because it's Christmas. My mom is distraught, Dad frustrated, and the kids worried we won't get into Disney," she said.

@aofthecoast

Do I have a story for you! PLEASE HELP! Note that the purchaser is not familiar with Disney Plus and did not know the difference! Honest mistake. It is not about the funding of the trip. It is about finding someone who can help us transfer the money into the correct gift card so we can make it to Disney! @Disney Parks @Disney+ @Disney #ohno #fail #disney #disneyworld #disneyplus #disneyfail #help

♬ Oh No - Kreepa

The error was an "honest mistake" made by her 78-year-old parents, who don't use streaming platforms.

Coston took to Tiktok seeking help for a contact that might be able to help the family replace the streaming gift cards for ones that are usable at the parks.

"It is not about the funding of the trip. It is about finding someone who can help us transfer the money into the correct gift card so we can make it to Disney!" she wrote.

Her story quickly went viral and, after much effort, the family finally discovered an email that would resolve their issue.

"I'm glad that this is resolved, I hate that this is what it took. I really hope this doesn't happen to other people," Coston said. "I mean I know that it has, so I guess it probably will, it just is so frustrating to think that there are other people who have done this, in smaller amounts ... but I know that there are people out there who this would have been disastrous or would have set them back ... so I'm really hoping Disney takes note of this and creates a little bit better system because they are not transferrable - we tried."

@aofthecoast

Thank you.

♬ original sound - Andie.ink