I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Haley R]

HAHA for airside 2 you will have McDonalds in addition to Chipotle, Jersey Mikes, Green Leaf, Auntie Anne's, chinese food, and a pizza place. Not sure what will be open at 6am, but there are definitely more options in this area.

Lol I’ll probably just starve at 6 am since I don’t really like breakfast food unless Dh makes it. That’s not necessarily true but I don’t say enough nice things about him

 

[Ngwira]

Perhaps I will give that a try next lol. Thanks for the info

But...human contact...lol

I would give it a try. I tried a few days ago before I got the card and got a hard no. Hung up and tried yesterday and the rep couldn’t have been nicer. She even gave me a 1,000 extra points for my “patience” while she matched me. She did ask me if I was targeted for this offer but didn’t ask for proof.

 

[kmc8826]

Great advice! I always overpack and people think I am crazy. I never know if I may need something! That is the right attitude. Better to have cooler weather and to be in WDW then home with even colder weather/snow!

Have you considered doing laundry in the 1-bedroom if need be? A great perk of the DVC stay

For this time of year definitely worth it to overpack.

We have used the dryer pretty much everyday...Kali River Rapids is closed but not Splash and jackets and pants have been casualties. And then of course last night my oldest who is a real life Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter universe) showered in the master bathroom while other girls showered in other bath. She didn’t notice a washcloth covered the drain and flooded the entire bathroom floor of our BLT one bedroom. Needless to say I was up late last night washing and drying all the towels. Kids!

Our BLT standard one bedroom gives us a view of the lake and trees and looking over once in balcony the parks. It is on the side of tennis courts. So glad I saved the points and just got a standard room. With fireworks so early at 8 we haven’t seen them yet from the room but still it is pretty sweet to have the view but not have to had to pay for it.

 

[Alexle2007]

Eh that sounds like too much work lol. We probably just won’t use it then

We've gone over to The Club and never gone back through security. For the international flights that were arriving there was a separate train and it was clearly marked to use that train to go through customs. We typically take later flights out of MCO so I am not sure what breakfast food they have but in the evening, it has always been decent.

 

[Alexle2007]

Darn, AmEx they have an offer for Loew's Hotels but the hotels onsite at Universal are excluded I might just have to give it a try anyhow to see if it works next weekend. It would be nice to save $70.

ETA: And DH has it on his AU Gold. So $140. I am trying it! I am pretty sure we will hit $700 between meals, hotel room and upgrading the APs.

 

[linzjane88]

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I hibernate when it is below 50. Between 50 and 60 I will at least check the mail and run into a store. 45 with shorts on!?!?

Yes, absolutely me too. And I get downright crabby too. Being cold is torture for me. I want to be comfortable in shorts and a tank year round.

For what it's worth, we've basically gone this same week for 7 straight years and the forecast always is showing rain on 4 or 5 of the days at this point. This year could be different, but in my experience, we've NEVER had more than one truly "rainy" day on each trip (i.e. 1 out of 8 days). Otherwise, it may have rained for an hour here or there but nothing that affected our day.

I always pack rain gear, and then I ignore the rain in the forecast and only pay attention to the high/low temps.

We went January two years ago for the first time and got to experience Florida's torrential downpours...... In 50 degree weather! We usually go in the fall so I'm used to the downpours in the heat but that was an experience. My BFF and I had just run to the store to grab groceries for the condo and we were dripping, soaked to the bone, mascara running down our faces and freezing when we got back. I'll pass on doing that again although it made for a good story.

Eh that sounds like too much work lol. We probably just won’t use it then

I've never used it either. Mco is so overwhelming and such a zoo that the idea of trekking around for a lounge that may or may not be accepting PP and may or may not need an extra trip thru security - - it just is always a no go for us.

Also ...... Pulling into the airport parking lot right now! Will be getting to MK in like 12 hours !

 

[palhockeymomof2]

New offers this morning on my Chase cards...XM radio and TurboTax...nothing I’ll use but may be of interest to someone

 

[GlamMistress]

New offers this morning on my Chase cards...XM radio and TurboTax...nothing I’ll use but may be of interest to someone

I got Ruby Tuesday as a new one. Meh.

 

[DixieBri]

Very behind since starting the new thread but just wanted to give an update - I waited for the letter from Chase after getting the 7-10 day notice for my SW plus card. They needed to just verify that I had applied. Very easy, they just sent me a verification code through text. Instantly approved! Now just need to complete the spend on my SW Biz and SW and I'm on my way to the CP!!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Very behind since starting the new thread but just wanted to give an update - I waited for the letter from Chase after getting the 7-10 day notice for my SW plus card. They needed to just verify that I had applied. Very easy, they just sent me a verification code through text. Instantly approved! Now just need to complete the spend on my SW Biz and SW and I'm on my way to the CP!!

Congrats

 

[PolyRob]

For this time of year definitely worth it to overpack.

We have used the dryer pretty much everyday...Kali River Rapids is closed but not Splash and jackets and pants have been casualties. And then of course last night my oldest who is a real life Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter universe) showered in the master bathroom while other girls showered in other bath. She didn’t notice a washcloth covered the drain and flooded the entire bathroom floor of our BLT one bedroom. Needless to say I was up late last night washing and drying all the towels. Kids!

Our BLT standard one bedroom gives us a view of the lake and trees and looking over once in balcony the parks. It is on the side of tennis courts. So glad I saved the points and just got a standard room. With fireworks so early at 8 we haven’t seen them yet from the room but still it is pretty sweet to have the view but not have to had to pay for it.

Sorry about the towels! Glad the view is great for the standard 1-bedroom. Things like that are always exciting. Nice to hear you are enjoying your DVC!

 

[PolyRob]

New offers this morning on my Chase cards...XM radio and TurboTax...nothing I’ll use but may be of interest to someone

I also got TurboTax on both cards. Its kinda steep at $20 off $100!

I got Ruby Tuesday as a new one. Meh.

Got this on my CSR. I've only redeemed both Staples on it. My CSP seems to be getting things I like more. I find that strange considering I practically never use the card. Unless Chase's algorithm tries targeting people with different things to make them spend more. Who knows!?

 

[Chancery8]

Very behind since starting the new thread but just wanted to give an update - I waited for the letter from Chase after getting the 7-10 day notice for my SW plus card. They needed to just verify that I had applied. Very easy, they just sent me a verification code through text. Instantly approved! Now just need to complete the spend on my SW Biz and SW and I'm on my way to the CP!!

Yay! I'm glad it was just the verification issue for you too.

 

[Tikitoi]

Ohh...I love Vera Bradley luggage...my daughter worked there during college...she got great deals and bought me luggage...

I got a nice VB weekender bag from Macy's. Definitely will use it on upcoming trips.

 

[Tikitoi]

We didn’t watch that show but we watched minimalism. We went through just our upstairs and filled my car with things to take to goodwill. It was quite sad but so awesome to get rid of stuff. Next is our basement and then our garage when it’s not below zero outside

DH was complaining that I threw away spices that we had purchased at Woolworth’s. They were 20+ years old considering they went out of business in 1997.

Must be that time of year. I bought a new shredder and have been using it so much. I had cc statements that went back to 2017. And tax forms back to 1999. Think I was just afraid to throw those out..Lol. But I agree it is nice to get rid of stuff.

I don't have old spices but I remember buying hot sauce from Bj's. Took us so long to go through those big bottles i said never again...

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I am SO jealous of everyone heading to WDW soon! I tagged along on a business trip this time last year during which we spent a few days at Vero and a week at WDW. Dh visited clients while I played

I mainly just don’t want rain/storms on our dah nights since we can’t really reschedule those

We did the free DVC equivalent of MK DAH last January and it POURED for almost the entire time. It was still a blast! We saved Big Thunder and 7 Dwarves until the rain slowed down.

Our BLT standard one bedroom gives us a view of the lake and trees and looking over once in balcony the parks. It is on the side of tennis courts. So glad I saved the points and just got a standard room. With fireworks so early at 8 we haven’t seen them yet from the room but still it is pretty sweet to have the view but not have to had to pay for it.

While I am all about the savannah view at Kidani, I don't care what view I have at BLT. Standard 1 bedrooms rock!

 

[Chancery8]

@Haley R Be aware that the MCO lounge is not on the same terminal as SW, as others have mentioned. If you google whether or not you have to go back through security, you will find that half the internet says they had to and the other half says they did not. It has to do with whether passengers coming from Int'l flights are currently coming from their planes. If they are, and you are mixed in with them, you will have to go back through TSA. So, if you do want to use the lounge, plan accordingly because you have no way of knowing if you will end up back in security or not.

While there are terminals A and B, there are 4 airsides (2 A, 2 B).

We've gone over to The Club and never gone back through security. For the international flights that were arriving there was a separate train and it was clearly marked to use that train to go through customs. We typically take later flights out of MCO so I am not sure what breakfast food they have but in the evening, it has always been decent.

How is it marked? So once you go through security, there are two train tracks, one going to the left and one to the right. I can't remember which side the priority lounge is, but lets say it's the train to the right. Is the customs train coming back also on that same track? I'm wondering how the customs train prevents you from jumping over to the train on the left. Does the customs train only open one side of the doors when you get back to the main terminal area, so you can't cross over to the train on the left?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Can someone help me with mco...

I come in on SWA everytime so I am familiar with that.
My mom is coming in on AA about 30 mins after us, baring anyone having delays, and I need to figure out where to meet her. She doesn’t travel much and never alone, so I want to make her as confident as possible. Should I just tell her to take the monorail and then meet me where? I’m not sure which end of the food court she will get off on. I am always at the Hyatt end.

 

[speedyfishy]

Heading back home from Disneyland now. We had a great time. We stayed at the Fairfield inn. The hotel was amazing from the moment we got out of the Lyft, there were people welcoming us and taking the bags out of the trunk. (Didn’t have that at the Disneyland hotel or the Grand Californian.) They also texted me during the stay to ask how everything was (again never happens at Disney hotels) the chargers near our bed weren’t working so I texted them and they fixed it. It broke a few nights later, but I forgot to text them again. Overall, the service was amazing and the hotel was clean.


We got a water and cookies when we checked in for being Gold elite members and we were upgraded to a theme park view room.


Disneyland thoughts:

The parks are crowded. I was kind of expecting it because of the holiday, but it was so packed. I really can’t blame them for raising prices on tickets. I wish they would just expand capacity instead of raising pricing but Disneyland really has no room for that lol.


The pricing for other things is off the rails. 24.99 for a Mickey sipper that I can get filled with a soft drink once? The same sipper that world has for $13.99? I really thought the 24.99 was a mistake. It’s a shame because it was adorable and I would have gotten one for $13.99 lol. Also, we got a 6 pack of beignets and a mint julep and it was $13!!! I feel like when we were there in August it was a good deal maybe like $9ish? There are still good deals to be had tho. A large soft serve ice cream at Clarabelle’s in Toon Town was only $4.79.


The garbages in toon town were overflowing. I think I’m Pete Werner and Disney will care about my opinion so I tweeted them and they said they would have their custodial staff take care of it. Disney’s cleanliness is what separates them from others in the industry and I know they are cutting back in staff and it pisses me off.


There are plaids everywhere in Disneyland. I wish I had money like that. Trying to convince SO to join club 33 (so we get 4 a year) it’s not working lol


Food thoughts:

Carnation cafe: amazing as always, best deal on property. I tried the chicken fried chicken and it was great. We also shared a sundae that they said was two scoops... it was way more than two scoops lol we couldn’t finish it and it was only $7.


Blue bayou Fantasmic Dining Package: our reservation time was at 1:45 got seated earlier at about 1:35 and we were out of the restaurant by 2:15. No joke. Wayyyyyy too rushed for a three course meal. The food was good but no way did they cook my food that fast. they just make a bunch of food and it’s probably sitting out. The meal is too expensive for that. Next time we will try River Bell. I did enjoy the butt cushion and the view from the Blue Bayou section is the best so we will probably do it again.


River Bell Terrace Breakfast

We never ate here before and we were pleasantly surprised. I got the chicken and biscuits and SO got the short rib and eggs. We both loved our food. Idk how tho place was dead.


Steakhouse 55

I wasn’t in the mood after the meh steak the night before at Blue Bayou so I asked to order off the lounge menu. The lady made a face but they did it. I got the loaded potato chips and the burger. I asked for the burger customized no bacon, bbq sauce and a cheddar cheese. They did not listen but I didn’t bother sending it back. It was still good I just wish the service was better. SO got the steak which I tried and regret ordering off the lounge menu lol oh, and of course he got the 24 layer chocolate cake.


Naples:

I’m always nervous about getting Italian food outside of NY but this was really good. SO and I both enjoyed our meals here.


Overall, we had a great time. Idk when we will be back (I may have said that in August when I left lol) when we go back though we want to stay at the Grand Californian again. Even though the Fairfield inn has better service and the room was great and close. I’m brainwashed and I love the Disney bubble.

 

[marsh0013]

How is it marked? So once you go through security, there are two train tracks, one going to the left and one to the right. I can't remember which side the priority lounge is, but lets say it's the train to the right. Is the customs train coming back also on that same track? I'm wondering how the customs train prevents you from jumping over to the train on the left. Does the customs train only open one side of the doors when you get back to the main terminal area, so you can't cross over to the train on the left?

We saw this in November. The train designated for the international flights was blocked off. They had international people getting on and off the same side instead of the regular way where it's on in the middle, off on the outside. Too bad my husband had lost his card and we couldn't get in the lounge. I still need to get him a replacement. Before our trip in April for sure!