TripAdvisor codes as travel FYI through Chase.
Just for fun, here is an example of pricing for a
Disneyland 3-day Park Hopper with
Genie+ (not date specific since Disneyland doesn't have date-specific pricing for multi-day tickets):
1.
https://tripadvisor.com - $495 after 10% off coupon, I did not include any Cashback since that changes all the time, but often you can get 4% or more back, plus CC rewards (codes as travel)
2. Disneyland Direct Pricing - $550, your out of pocket pricing will vary based on GC discounts. 5% is "easy" through Target, 10% is certainly possible. If you use a GC, does not code as travel, no Cashback (unless you got it on the GC), if you assume 10%, then $495.
3.
https://target.com - $522.50 with 5% Redcard discount plus any Cashback (usually 1%)
4.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/ - $504.29, codes as travel, refundable (minus 5% "restocking" fee) - Note: This price is part of their current Adults pay Child pricing promotion, it likely will go back up closer to $515 when this promotion ends.
5.
https://www.arestravel.com/ - $515
6.
https://www.ticketsatwork.com/ (also used by Sam's Club, AAA and others) - $536.00 after $21 in "fees"
7.
https://www.getawaytoday.com/ - $545
Those are the most popular options I'm aware of - not sure if anyone else has better ones? Would be happy to of course save more
Undercover Tourist is probably the only one who offers a refund, but you never lose the value of the ticket - you can always apply the value of an expired ticket to a future trip.
So yes buying from Disneyland directly using gift cards can be the best deal, depending on your GC discount. If you're regularly pulling 20% off DGCs then it is absolutely the best deal, but YMMV. If you're getting less than 10% off, then you're better off buying from TripAdvisor or Viator depending on coupon availability and Cashback.
As far as what route I would choose? I am always in need of discounted DGCs and often discounted ones are quantity limited, so a guaranteed 10% off plus additional cashback, plus Chase 3x travel from TripAdvisor and I don't need to spend my discounted DGCs? I'm going with TripAdvisor.
If there was a way to buy an unlimited number of DGCs at 15%-20% off face value, then I'd go the direct from Disney route, but I haven't found that to be the case.