I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[Haley R]

Crazy! You didn't pre-order that much after me! Mine is still showing for tomorrow via UPS. I will snap a pic when it comes! Hopefully its worth the wait!

I have no idea if the person knew what they were talking about or not but seems a little odd for it to come that much later

 

[Haley R]

When I took dd down a few weeks ago, it was colder in Orlando than in Denver And the sun is so intense here and the air so dry that we are warm at much lower degrees but the temps were actually warmer! I was freezing a lot of the time in Orlando.

ETA: My dd has been cold a lot since she's been there and having to wear a coat and she never wears a coat here lol.

Haha so people can’t tell me I’m being a wimp. It does get chilly here because it’s a damp cold and the wind can get horrible.

 

[Haley R]

Seriously! Pretty soon we will see F&W start right after F&G and MNSSHP start in July

If anything they should do Christmas in July lol

 

[WVMomof3]

Wow that is a huge difference! Were there walkable restaurants from Sand Key?

Yes. The Columbia Restaurant is across the street. The original Columbia is in the historic area of Ybor City, but they have other locations. The food is good, it is more on the pricey side. Also there is a small strip mall across the street that has restaurants in it. These are small mom and pop type places, but we ate a couple that were good. You can also walk to the Clearwater Beach area or take the Trolley. The Trolley is free with your hotel key. It is about 2 miles to the Pier area. Are you Marriott Platinum? Because we also got access to the club lounge for breakfast and evening snacks/drinks.

 

[WVMomof3]

Nothing says Halloween like MNSSHP on 8/13!

View attachment 476472

Tickets just went on sale

My friend starts wearing her Halloween shirt as soon as the kids go back to school, which is mid August. I am like NOOOOOOO, you can not wear that in August. lol Her reasoning, the kids go back to school in the fall, they are back to school, so it is fall/Halloween season. Now she just wears it earlier to bug me. lol

 

[Judique]

I don't think we've ever tried to just park there during Food & Wine but we've not had to tell the CM anything more just coming over to eat at Hurricane Hannah's or just to hang out at the resort. I think we've only had an ADR once and they didn't look it up lol. We've been able to park easily at any resort, even Poly at fireworks time

I was very interested to see that at Boardwalk they were turning people away. Mid morning everything was okay, but on returning in early afternoon, early evening up until 9ish, the cones were up and all had to go through the lane close to the gate.

As a guest this meant I could actually get reasonably close parking most of the time. I've seen them restrict the parking closest to the convention center in the past, but usually the left side was available at least for guests. They were having people uturn right at the gates.

The only time I was not allowed to park was at Contemporary when I was doing an early breakfast at the Wave. I had no ADR and the guy wouldn't allow me to park, so we made one while doing our u turn and came back through the line.

But, I would say a lot of people must get let in at BW as when I would leave early morning, or go to my car to get something - I had a case of water in it that I didn't want to lug inside - many of the close spots were now empty, after 10 or 11pm.

 

[Judique]

Yes! And when the phone rings and they say they can help me consolidate my credit card debt... and I say I don’t have any credit card debt ... long pause... well you must have some....everyone has some... nope- NONE! THrows them off.

I just don't answer or hang up. I haven't got the patience to talk about non existent credit card debt, my student loans, my car warranty or any other scam in a polite manner.

At the house this past 2 weeks, the calls were driving family crazy as the house phone was constantly ringing, had no caller ID, but had to be answered as a few people at the home had given the number out as a contact number. At first brother was polite, but he soon learned to just hang up.

 

[Alexle2007]

@Alexle2007 and I stayed there same time. I liked that it was away from the busy Clearwater beach area and @Alexle2007 family preferred their stay on the busier section. Hotel itself was alright. Just depends on what you are looking for.

@wendow As @WVMomof3 said we liked it well enough but preferred the main part better. The beach is quite a distance from the hotel and pool was fairly small. I think we were spoiled with our stay at the Sandpearl which is a beautiful evening property and much more luxurious.

 

[FoxC63]

I can actually see this happening. Crazy but Disney is crazy. I just priced the MK dessert party for my dh, dd19 and myself in early April. It was going to almost $300 For some fireworks and sugar. I.Just.Can't.

We were going to try a Firework Cruise, rent a pontoon or whatever with some friends. I believe it included desserts or snacks. Music was pipped in and AP discounts applied which made it a bit cheaper. WDW Link
We both cancelled our trip so I don't have a review. What got me on board was not having to fight for a spot or waste time trying to find one.

 

[Judique]

@Alexle2007 and I stayed there same time. I liked that it was away from the busy Clearwater beach area and @Alexle2007 family preferred their stay on the busier section. Hotel itself was alright. Just depends on what you are looking for.

@wendow , I was fine with it when I last stayed and I love the beach access and the park area. The hotel itself is older, with larger rooms and small baths, and this doesn't sit well with a lot of guests from reading reviews. It's been at least 2 and maybe 3 years since I last went. Like above, I like the area better than the congested area to the north near the pier. A couple of visits I was upgraded to junior suite and got access to the club which had a few refreshments.

It has a pool, tennis, beach badminton, firepit and lots of lounge area plus the parking was free and the county beach park next door. I didn't see the workout space but it has several restaurants and a shop plus walking access to some other restaurant options. The area outside is pretty large so you are able to have a lot of personal space which I like also.

 

[FoxC63]

If anything they should do Christmas in July lol

They do! In Disney Springs!!!


Ho, Ho Bloody Ho!

 

[FoxC63]

Haha so people can’t tell me I’m being a wimp. It does get chilly here because it’s a damp cold and the wind can get horrible.

I agree. It's a different kind of cold as if it chills right to the bone. I feel it more when riding the boat at night from WL to MK.

 

[Haley R]

They do! In Disney Springs!!!
View attachment 476505

Ho, Ho Bloody Ho!

Oh geez lol

 

[disfanforlife]

OT, all the articles being posted about how difficult it is to get a BG for ROTR now. My family is saying they don’t even want to try on our trip. They say they would rather wait until the next time we go and not be stressed by it all,
Bummer for me.

 

[LovesTimone]

Delta Gift Cards?

Can you use them on board the flight for snack boxes, or adult drinks....? His wife said they are just a gift card, not like a visa gift card...

Our friend just retired, well retires officially at the end of the this month... and he received several Delta gift cards for retirement gifts, totaling around 1,400.00... he traveled for work for years and years, 20+ and has hundreds of thousands of miles, perks, upgrades with several airlines, as well the same with hotels...So they are good with free flights, and hotels for a while...

She is trying to figure out if they can be used on board, will the credit card reader accept them?... She called Delta, and the customer service rep, said you have to apply them to your flight... or Delta account..., She said do I have to have a Delta CC to apply them to? ... CCR said they are something new... all the info I have is apply them to your flight at time of payment or to your delta account...

Can some tell me if they will actually work on board the flight?

Thanks in advance...

 

[FoxC63]

Delta Gift Cards?

Can you use them on board the flight for snack boxes, or adult drinks....? His wife said they are just a gift card, not like a visa gift card...

Thanks in advance...

Delta Gift Cards may only be redeemed for the cost of air transportation, including taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed on the air transportation.

 

[LovesTimone]

Delta Gift Cards may only be redeemed for the cost of air transportation, including taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed on the air transportation.

Thanks for the info... I will let her know...

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

@Alexle2007 @Judique I am probably remembering wrong but did one of you stay at the Sheraton Sand Key in clearwater? I'm looking for a one night stay there and that came up at 35k. I have a few certs so I could use those there (we'd need two rooms). Just wondering if you had any thoughts or another suggestion for a FNC redemption there?

I stayed there actually 2 years ago this past week. I liked the hammocks, LOL. It was an older hotel, but I was staying there free, it was 85 degrees there and like 20 degrees in Michigan, so a cardboard box would have worked, LOL. The pool area was fine for me, lots of chairs to be had when I was there. The pool isn't huge, but again, I wasn't really using it.

So my 2 closest Staples are now 1 per day Any other SE MI peeps have one in the area not doing this? I went to the one in Commerce (by school) and the one in Novi. I did the CIP offer yesterday at one, and put $200 towards my $15k free hilton night (Surpass) at the other. I still have an offer on my Chase Biz Checking. I was going to do the VCG for the chase offers to make them money makers...but I was also hoping to do a bunch on my surpass to get a chunk towards my free night. Can I order them online? I'm guessing there are limits online.

If my staples are going to 1 per day, I'm gonna need some other way to "earn" that free night. I could organically do $15k, but it would mean I'm moving all my spending to my Surpass. And I kinda wanted to aim to getting it with both hilton cards now.

 

[Judique]

OT, all the articles being posted about how difficult it is to get a BG for ROTR now. My family is saying they don’t even want to try on our trip. They say they would rather wait until the next time we go and not be stressed by it all,
Bummer for me.

Yikes! I have a differing opinion which is pretty much the norm for me.

Right now, you have a great chance of getting to ride by being there at opening and following directions as outlined in the other thread.

Some inner sense tells me that if this goes to fastpass, and standby, it will be a crazy wait, with fastpass disappearing almost instantly. Plus as the ride becomes known, it will increase in popularity. Seems there is nothing quite like it anywhere except the Disney parks.

Right now, there are visitors who still don't know this ride exists, which gives an edge in getting a boarding group. The pressure to ride will be high for years to come - I don't see the popularity decreasing unless the ride proves unreliable, and Disney is not about to let that happen. This is much bigger (in my opinion) than Avatar, FOP, and the FOP is still 2-3 hours wait mid day.

What's sad to me but I guess good for Disney is now you need fast pass to do rides during the main operating hours - no more slow times.

 

[FoxC63]

Thanks for the info... I will let her know...

If they have a Delta American Express card (even the Blue one) they can get a 20% statement credit for:

• Food (Premium snacks like Flight Fuel, the sandwich wraps, etc.)
• Alcoholic beverages
• Audio headsets
• And possibly Pre-purchased meals

Takes 8-12 weeks to post and you'll receive SkyMiles for In-Flight Delta Purchases. Note, you won't get squat when using Partner Airlines.