I love credit cards so much!

[Jaime4004]

Whew, got all caught up here and am glad to see that nothing earth-shattering happened in the past week. It looks like I missed out on the discounted Disney GCs at BJ's .

I'm pretty confused on the new ticket price changes. We're planning on getting DVC APs for our May trip. Will it still work to buy tickets through UT and then bridge to APs when we get there?

Darn, you just missed the BJs discount. I ordered some yesterday and they had the 8%, gone today. I had planned on getting more this week

 

[schmass]

Darn, you just missed the BJs discount. I ordered some yesterday and they had the 8%, gone today. I had planned on getting more this week

I KNEW I should have bought them last night instead of putting it on my to-do list for today. Oh well, hopefully there will be some other good Disney GC deals soon.

 

[elgerber]

Toy Story Mania is also perplexing me strategy-wise. Slinky Dog is new, so it makes sense to pick it over TSM, but TSM seems like such a better ride. Frozen seems the same, and even Mine Train -- these would not be my first picks, except they are new so we want to try them. Do people who have ridden these rides really like them more, or is it the newness factor?

I do think Slinky Dog is that great. We LOVED it! And TSM is easy to rope drop now. We also love Mine Train and fast pass it multiple times per trip.
As far as single rider we always single rider Test Track. Agree with everyone else, it’s useless on RnR except early in the morning but at that time the regular line is good too. We used it once this last trip when the main line jumped to 30 minutes and it worked. Wouldn’t even try it after that. EE for some reason seems more efficient even though the seating is the same as RnR.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I definitely need to give this some thought. We are going the week of Christmas, so super-crowded. I am thinking that if our FPs are for the afternoon, then it seems unlikely that there will be FPs left by the time we could get the fourth FP, just given the crowds. If the three scheduled FPs are 12-1 pm, 1-2 pm, and 2-3 pm, then what are the chances there would be FPs available then? Although there might not be any by 1 pm either . . . I feel like I really don't know enough about how quickly FPs will be gone to really plan this well. With the old system, I knew I could get 4-5 sets of FPs by noon, because I could start getting them first thing in the morning.

I will say, we have never gone week of Christmas, when it’s super busy. Then I might go FP at 10/11/12 after ropedropping. The super popular FPs won’t be available day of, no matter what. They will usually be gone before 30 days. So get those when your window opens. Sometimes we have to be flexible. Last trip the only FP we could get for FOP was 4 pm. So we RD another park and headed to AK for afternoon then stayed til close. Had dinner at Tusker House for ROL seats.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

I try not to even pay for the Disney GCs, but I do sometimes buy them discounted.

The DCL cruise to Alaska forced my hand on that. No way I could accrue $6k in free DIsney GCs.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Darn, you just missed the BJs discount. I ordered some yesterday and they had the 8%, gone today. I had planned on getting more this week

Wow, I really vacillated on whether to do that, then bought $800 worth before going to bed last night. I used my first year Discover for an extra 10%. Glad I didn’t procrastinate.

 

[GlamMistress]

I'm curious as to which vehicle you have. I have to nurse my van for another year or so, but am planning on an electric car after that

Not OP but DH owns a volt and I have an iMiev. The Volt makes sense for just about everyone - give one a test drive!

 

[georgina]

Also, I've now gotten 2 of the $300 Marriott gift cards as my AU was able to get one. So, I can have some cash nights if necessary or use for other essentials.

How do you get the offer on the AU card? I mistakenly used my AU card when DH had an offer on his card and I did not get the credit (Starbucks offer, not the Marriott one).

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Not OP but DH owns a volt and I have an iMiev. The Volt makes sense for just about everyone - give one a test drive!

Thanks The Volt is on my short list, as is the Bolt.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Last year it was really nice - warm days (not hot) and low crowds! Cheap DVC points too if you own/want to rent. Rental car and flight prices are decent and that is a nice plus! I know many say it's too "cold" in January but I'm coming from Ohio where it is cold and miserable.

I did pack jeans and sweatshirts for the nighttime.

I did get cheap flights on SW and CSR for $159 a night, I believe it was. Considered renting dvc but I like the flexibility of just having a regular reservation. I've been known to make a few changes along the way.

 

[jhoannam]

10/13/17 DIS Visa
01/19/18 CIP
03/27/18 SPG Biz
08/28/18 CSR/CSP DD CSP closed early Sept

I would call Chase and have them remove the CSP from your credit.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I would call Chase and have them remove the CSP from your credit.

Is that really a thing?!?!!!

It's from a failed double dip and I have been avoiding Chase at all costs to prevent them deciding they should punish me further for breaking the rules and closing the CSR as well.

 

[jhoannam]

Is that really a thing?!?!!!

I have no idea but I would take the 10 minutes to at least try.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I have no idea but I would take the 10 minutes to at least try.

See my above edit

 

[Albort]

Thanks The Volt is on my short list, as is the Bolt.

my dad recently bought a Prius Prime from Toyota... really cool car. i think i may have to steal it when he retires

lots of tax credits on the car, its around 6k return making the car a lot cheaper and close to a regular gas guzzling car.

Is that really a thing?!?!!!

It's from a failed double dip and I have been avoiding Chase at all costs to prevent them deciding they should punish me further for breaking the rules and closing the CSR as well.

i think it only reports as 1 hardpull on your credit report. Does it show up as 2? also, does it show the a closed account on your credit report?

 

[AmyAnne]

For most park days, I book our FPs for 9/10/11 and use the 9 at the end of the time period. That would look like

MK: Space/Buzz (we split up), 7DMT, Splash
Epcot: Soarin or TT (we usually have 2 Epcot mornings, so one each w FP and the other at rope drop), Spaceship Earth
Studios: Slinky Dog, RnRC/Star Tours (split up also), ToT
AK: FoP, Everest, and whatever else

But other days, we start in one park at rope drop without FPs and then hop to another park after our afternoon break to use FPs. For example, in July we started at MK (multiple rides on Big Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, and then a few other things with no waits like Philharmagic and Mermaid), took a nice long break at Kidani for lunch (dh has to check in with the office every afternoon so we break almost every day for 3-4 hours), then hopped to AK for small plates and drinks at Nomad Lounge, a FP for FoP, a FP for the Safari timed to walk into the queue 15 minutes before sunset, and had a third FP for Rivers of Light.



Slinky Dog is a great ride for people who enjoy coasters. it's a mild coaster that seems so much more thrilling because it's open with no "mountains" underneath. The wait times are also horrendous. You need to use a FP unless you plan on being near the very front of the rope drop crowd or if you plan on riding at the end of the night. We hit two 7am openings in July and were right at the front. Like, first or second trains/dogs. After we got off SDD, we walked onto Aliens and then walked onto TSM. One of my dds can't spin at all so she did TSM twice. We returned to Toy Story Land an hour or so later after doing RnRC/ToT/Star Tours to grab some breakfast and use our Slinky FP.

Frozen was a one-and-done for us. We'll ride again in the future if we ever go with small kids. I think everyone should ride it at least once though because it is cute and fun.

We no longer do the race to Seven Dwarves in the morning; instead we prefer to start in Frontierland at Big Thunder or in Tomorrowland at Space/Buzz. Sometimes the kids (they're 25, 23, and 18!) feel nostalgic and we start in Fantasyland at PP/Pooh/Mermaid/Small World

I definitely am getting FPs for the new rides first, even though FOP seems (from what I can tell from youtube) to be the one that's most worth that first-FP spot. But we do want to ride the new rides (maybe with the exception of Frozen) and I realize the only sane way to do that is with FPs.

Starting in Fantasyworld is still the plan for my crew of teens and twenty-somethings. Hopefully I can get an early FP for Mine Train and we can do a few rides standby before (PP, Pooh). That's also my hope for HS -- an early FP for Slinky Dog, with TSM standby before.

 

[Mopedmom1]

my dad recently bought a Prius Prime from Toyota... really cool car. i think i may have to steal it when he retires

lots of tax credits on the car, its around 6k return making the car a lot cheaper and close to a regular gas guzzling car.


i think it only reports as 1 hardpull on your credit report. Does it show up as 2? also, does it show the a closed account on your credit report?

One hard pull, shows opened 8/28, closed 9/1 or 9/14 depending on which agency, and says closed by credit grantor.

 

[AmyAnne]

I do think Slinky Dog is that great. We LOVED it! And TSM is easy to rope drop now. We also love Mine Train and fast pass it multiple times per trip.
As far as single rider we always single rider Test Track. Agree with everyone else, it’s useless on RnR except early in the morning but at that time the regular line is good too. We used it once this last trip when the main line jumped to 30 minutes and it worked. Wouldn’t even try it after that. EE for some reason seems more efficient even though the seating is the same as RnR.

Glad to hear the good reports -- we are definitely doing Slinky Dog and Mine Train (because new) and definitely with FPs (because crowds, assuming I can get them).

We have used single rider at EE and RnR -- EE seems to load faster for some reason.

 

[AmyAnne]

I will say, we have never gone week of Christmas, when it’s super busy. Then I might go FP at 10/11/12 after ropedropping. The super popular FPs won’t be available day of, no matter what. They will usually be gone before 30 days. So get those when your window opens. Sometimes we have to be flexible. Last trip the only FP we could get for FOP was 4 pm. So we RD another park and headed to AK for afternoon then stayed til close. Had dinner at Tusker House for ROL seats.

By mid-afternoon I am fine with pretty much any ride, especially at MK. The other parks are a little more limited, but I just don't want to be spending an hour waiting in line for a 3 minute ride, whatever it is.

 

[Oscar Madison]

The DCL cruise to Alaska forced my hand on that. No way I could accrue $6k in free DIsney GCs.

Pardon my newbie: I know there were some great deals last month on gift cards, like RMN, but how do you guys get Disney GCs free? I know bonuses can be turned into cash, but what am I missing?