Parents Accidentally Purchase $10K in Disney+ Gift Cards Instead of Dream Disney Vacation

A family experienced the disappointment of a lifetime after learning that the $10,000 worth of Disney gift cards they'd purchased for a future vacation were actually for the entertainment company's streaming service, Disney Plus.

Andie Coston, who goes by @aofthecoast online, chronicled the nightmare scenario in a series of TikTok posts.

She said her family of 16 had planned to go on a trip to Disney World in 2020 but had to reschedule due to the pandemic.

Instead, her parents decided to save ahead for a Christmas 2023 vacation by purchasing what they believed to be Disney gift cards. One clip shows a large stack of blue cards that each appear to be worth $100.

The family first realized that something was wrong when they tried to purchase tickets on their computer and found that the online portal kept rejecting their cards.

Upon closer inspection, they realized the Disney logo had a "+" sign at the end, indicating that the gift cards were actually for the company's streaming platform — not the park itself.

The service costs just $8 a month, meaning that they'd inadvertently purchased "over 70 years years of Disney Plus," Coston calculated in one video.

"We leave in six days and the parks are selling out of tickets because it's Christmas," Coston lamented. "My mom is distraught, dad frustrated, and the kids worried we won't get to get into Disney."

Coston pleaded with her audience for advice in a video that has now been viewed more than 2.8 million times.

But thankfully, Coston's family didn't have to wait for long, as Disney reportedly reached out to them within about 24 hours and offered to convert the gift cards free of charge, PEOPLE Magazine reported.

She said she knew her parents had purchased the gift cards from Sam's Club but had no idea how they were able to buy so many.

But they're both 78 years old, and they don't use streaming services — so there was little reason for them to believe that the cards would be for anything besides the park, she explained.

"It really is this weird and wild and honest mistake that happened, and I'm a little dumbfounded as well."

In a follow-up interview with PEOPLE, Coston said she'd realized the scenario isn't as rare as she'd originally thought.

"I received many messages and comments from people telling me that they or someone they know have had similar experiences," she said.

"I hope that this story makes more people aware of the card difference so no one else experiences this."