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

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Had my first lounge experience at Charleston Friday. This lounge just opened a few weeks ago. I feel like maybe we missed seeing parts of it, because we didn’t see the cocoon chairs or notice the quiet area or showers, but then again, we did not visit the rest rooms there. I feel like the main advantage we found was that it was far less frenetic than sitting in the terminals....well, except for those two guys who had very loud, very long business calls on their cells.

Although the articles I read said that alcohol would be available from a free standing cart because the bar isn’t finished yet, when we arrived there was a sign that alcohol was not available because the lounge does not have their liquor license yet. There were a couple of infused waters and a coffe machine that made various types of coffees, such as lattes. There were maybe three types of sandwiches, fruit, a green salad bar, and three other types of salad, along with vegetable soup. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies, a small candy bar in a separate location, and some seriously yummy teeny tiny brownies.

I don’t know if this is the norm for lounges, but I felt rather like a glutton because the plates were small, so in order to get a decent amount of food, I had to go up several times to get new plates. I noticed that others were doing the same. I felt rather bad for the lady who came around constantly collecting people’s used dishes. She got a workout! Not to mention that the place probably had to use more water to clean all the dishes.

I’d say to make a normal sized brownie would have taken 6-8 of the small brownie pieces, and the sandwiches were about one eighth of normal sandwich size.

Supposedly there were 50 something seats, but it seemed smaller than that. But, then again, I may have missed a section because as soon as we found two seats together, by daughter and I grabbed them. Eventually seating will be expanded to 80 something, as they are building another section.

Oh, and I overheard a conversation three women nearby me were having. One woman was explaining to the other two how she got access to the lounge from her credit card, and how she got free flights every year because she puts $50,000 spend on her Merrill Lynch card. I SO wanted to butt in and tell her she could earn so much more with that spend every year, but of course I didn’t.:ssst:
 
Amtrak is not a budget way to get to Florida at least on auto train. But if you don't like to fly and don't want to drive, it is definitely an option.

I've been pleasantly surprised by the Silver Meteor from DC. It's certainly not a budget option especially if you opt for a roomette like I do, but boarding at 7:30 PM and arriving the next day around 1 PM in Orlando is quite nice.
 


If I had to rank resorts...

1. YC/BC
3. Contemporary with a Castle View
3. GF
4. Poly
5. Contemporary (any other view)
**(I assume Boardwalk would fit in here somewhere in this area, but we've never stayed there)
6. POR
And then nothing else is really on my list - we've stayed at CBR, CSR, Pop, ASp, ASm but none are on my list even at this point. If we had to do a value for some reason it would definitely be Pop though.

Our families favorite DVC resorts are:
1-Boardwalk Villas.. love the access to Epcot and Studios...added plus booking the low point SV rooms
2-Bay Lake Villas....walk to MK, plus the 3rd bathroom in the 2br villa
3-Grand Floridian Villas...whole feel/look of them....downside is the increased number of points needed to book
4- Beach Club Villas...walk to Epcot and pool
5- Wilderness Lodge- Boulder Creek ....beautiful themed resort..
6-Animal Kingdom-
7- Saratoga Springs
8- Old Key West

We have never stayed at the Polynesian...since we book 2 br Villas or Copper Creek
 
How was the Halloween party?

Crowded. It really felt like a normal park day and the Club Level cast memebers we’re trying to get everyone to buy tickets I don’t think it was sold out lol I can post more thoughts when we get home or when we get to the airport. We are heading to the Galaxy’s edge preview no. I have my Disney hotel rankings saved in a note on my phone and since everyone was sharing I copied and pasted lol
 
Crowded. It really felt like a normal park day and the Club Level cast memebers we’re trying to get everyone to buy tickets I don’t think it was sold out lol I can post more thoughts when we get home or when we get to the airport. We are heading to the Galaxy’s edge preview no. I have my Disney hotel rankings saved in a note on my phone and since everyone was sharing I copied and pasted lol
Looking forward to your review. Have fun at SWGE!
 


This hasn’t been mentioned yet but we love Fort Wilderness. It’s an entirely different vibe than any of the other resorts, and the cabins are perfect for a family of 5. Here’s my list:

BC/YC
Fort Wilderness
AKL
Poly
POFQ
Grand Floridian
Carribbean Beach
Contemporary (have only done garden wing)
AS Movies
 
If you get a popup ever- that has precedence.

You should not get a pop up on multiple variations unless you’d get a popup regardless. I never have and I’m at over 20 AMEX cards this year alone (I can get into the specifics if you’d like, but I’m riding this train hard and fast as there aren’t many options). Lots of no lifetime language cards, loads of referrals between P1/2, etc. I have multiples of the same cards; but they all require speaking to a human (either through NLL application or Recon for referrals). Those, of course, get pop ups as I’m currently holding the cards.

As for the iterations, you do need a Morgan Stanley. Access investing @$5k is adequate. Ameriprise doesn’t require one. Charles Schwabb, you’ll want a free checking account with them anyway.
No fees for ATM withdrawals overseas is a total game changer. Also you’re able to cash out MR @ 1.25cpp.

I’m kind of in “advanced churner” mode as I’m out of a lot of options. I wouldn’t recommend doing what I do unless you have an enormous amount of spend or you’re out of options. Because what I do is riskier (chance for clawback because, well, AMEX) and it is also more work, to be frank. I’m having to keep timelines and make phone calls and all sorts of stuff where If I was just under 5/24, life would be much easier. :)

This is great stuff thanks. I do have a lot of organic spend but not like you’re talking. I also have some other options so I’ll take it slow with the above but I really appreciate the thoughts.
 
Sorry you got bad info about the POR buses. I follow threads and FB groups on POR so I did know the DS bus route is different. As far as I'm aware, all the park buses stop at the South Depot (lobby) last. All the times we have stayed at either PO resorts, there was also an internal bus passing sometimes. We used it multiple times on our last visit to POR, but it's possible that has changed.

Yep, this is true. I know because DD3 and I were in a RR and that was our bus stop. Coming back from the parks was excruciating having to ride that whole loop every time. Eventually I started getting off at POFQ and walking to our room from there....that was faster.
 
Had my first lounge experience at Charleston Friday. This lounge just opened a few weeks ago. I feel like maybe we missed seeing parts of it, because we didn’t see the cocoon chairs or notice the quiet area or showers, but then again, we did not visit the rest rooms there. I feel like the main advantage we found was that it was far less frenetic than sitting in the terminals....well, except for those two guys who had very loud, very long business calls on their cells.

Although the articles I read said that alcohol would be available from a free standing cart because the bar isn’t finished yet, when we arrived there was a sign that alcohol was not available because the lounge does not have their liquor license yet. There were a couple of infused waters and a coffe machine that made various types of coffees, such as lattes. There were maybe three types of sandwiches, fruit, a green salad bar, and three other types of salad, along with vegetable soup. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies, a small candy bar in a separate location, and some seriously yummy teeny tiny brownies.

I don’t know if this is the norm for lounges, but I felt rather like a glutton because the plates were small, so in order to get a decent amount of food, I had to go up several times to get new plates. I noticed that others were doing the same. I felt rather bad for the lady who came around constantly collecting people’s used dishes. She got a workout! Not to mention that the place probably had to use more water to clean all the dishes.

I’d say to make a normal sized brownie would have taken 6-8 of the small brownie pieces, and the sandwiches were about one eighth of normal sandwich size.

Supposedly there were 50 something seats, but it seemed smaller than that. But, then again, I may have missed a section because as soon as we found two seats together, by daughter and I grabbed them. Eventually seating will be expanded to 80 something, as they are building another section.

Oh, and I overheard a conversation three women nearby me were having. One woman was explaining to the other two how she got access to the lounge from her credit card, and how she got free flights every year because she puts $50,000 spend on her Merrill Lynch card. I SO wanted to butt in and tell her she could earn so much more with that spend every year, but of course I didn’t.:ssst:

Whaattt???? What kind of lounge??? This is great news!
And how did CHS get a lounge but BNA doesn't have one?

ETA: Should've kept that HH biz card. Now I need to get another that has PP access.
 
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Crowded. It really felt like a normal park day and the Club Level cast memebers we’re trying to get everyone to buy tickets I don’t think it was sold out lol I can post more thoughts when we get home or when we get to the airport. We are heading to the Galaxy’s edge preview no. I have my Disney hotel rankings saved in a note on my phone and since everyone was sharing I copied and pasted lol
I have a theory that there isn't a max capacity anymore. I guess we will know if any of them sell out this year.
 
Omg you are opposite to me. I much prefer to fly than drive. Sit around and read my book, have a glass of wine, rinse and repeat... :rotfl2: I find it less stressful despite sometimes coming at additional travel time/cost.

LOL, you know you travel too much when you're more excited about the flights than the trips, like me.:laughing:
I can't decide if I'm more excited about Australia/NZ or flying Virgin Australia😂

If I had to rank resorts...

1. YC/BC
3. Contemporary with a Castle View
3. GF
4. Poly
5. Contemporary (any other view)
**(I assume Boardwalk would fit in here somewhere in this area, but we've never stayed there)
6. POR
And then nothing else is really on my list - we've stayed at CBR, CSR, Pop, ASp, ASm but none are on my list even at this point. If we had to do a value for some reason it would definitely be Pop though.

1) Yacht (unlike BC which would be below the values/moderate/off property)
2) WL
3) Grand Californian
4) Paradise Pier* tie-we've gotten really amazing upgrades at both PP/DLH!
4) DLH*
6) BWI (ranked higher if it didn't have creepy clown pool)
7) POFQ
8) Pop
9) AoA
We've stayed at all the Deluxes, Moderates and 3/5 of the values. AKL and BC, after several bad trips and second and third chances don't make my list.
 
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Whaattt???? What kind of lounge??? This is great news!
And how did CHS get a lounge but BNA doesn't have one?

ETA: Should've kept that HH biz card. Now I need to get another that has PP access.


Oops, forgot to mention it was a PP lounge. I’m lucky I even had my card with me. The lounge is on the second floor in terminal b, and the elevator is around the corner from Eddie Bauer.
 
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