Grandparents spend $10,000 on Disney+ gift cards — thinking they were for the theme park

In the race to stay relevant in changing times, media and entertainment giants such as Warner Brothers, Paramount and Disney have naturally launched streaming services. But this can confuse people who still associate these brands with their traditional offerings. Among them is an elderly couple from Illinois who accidentally bought $10,000 worth of Disney+ gift cards, thinking they could be used at Disney World in Florida.

According to a video by Andrea Coston, known as @AoftheCoast on TikTok, the family found out about the mixup just before the vacation to Disney World that they had planned. The family often talked about how their parents were getting older, and hence they planned a grand trip to the Walt Disney World Resort for all 16 members. While everything was going great, things turned gloomy when they realized that the parents had made a blunder, Coston told CBS News.

Just six days before they were scheduled to leave for Florida, the family discovered that the gift cards were for Disney+, the streaming service. Unable to figure out what to do, Coston took to TikTok to share the story with the hope that someone might provide a solution.

"We leave in six 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," Coston wrote at the end of the video, according to the news outlet.

In the video, she mentioned that the $10,000 gift cards were enough to pay for more than 70 years of streaming. "I made this very quick TikTok. I had also contacted the travel agent my parents were working with," Coston told CBS.

She shared several follow-up videos with more information about their situation. “My parents are 78, they don’t use streaming services,” she explained. She further shared that they had student loans to pay off and a mortgage, so this was their only shot at taking their family to Disney World. Coston added that their parents hadn't realized the mistake and had already scratched off the numbers for each gift card, which meant they couldn’t be returned either. Numerous commenters shared similar experiences and claimed that there could be a solution.

Through the support pouring in from viewers and a friend who works for Disney, the family was finally able to buy the correct gift cards with their funds. Coston shared that Disney asked for pictures of each of the Disney+ gift cards to complete the transfer. Coston told CBS that she, her mom, and niece spent around four hours emailing the photos to customer service. Despite internet outages and network issues, they finally mailed everything.

After a bumpy ride, the Costons were finally set to embark on their highly anticipated vacation. They were able to keep their original flights, and restaurant reservations and booked a resort nearby.

“I’m glad that this is resolved. I hate that this is what it took,” Coston told TODAY. She further hoped that Disney would take note of the incident and make their systems a bit simpler to help everyone avoid such mistakes.