Nothing to See Here...

[Sherry E]

Ugh. Giada's show was just on again. I think her intermittent Italian accent would not bother me if English were her second language. As far as I know, Giada and family moved to the U.S. (New York) very soon after she was born (in Italy), and then to SoCal when she was very young and she's lived here ever since. I grew up with a Mexican stepfather and Mexican step-relatives who would often speak in Spanish, and I don't slip in and out of an accent when I'm talking! To me, it just seems like Giada is trying too hard to seem like she is fresh off the boat from Italy, when really, she's off the boat from SoCal!! She was in Rome for like 2 minutes after her birth!

Like just now, for example, she was talking about pasta. First, she pronounced it like we Americans pronounce it - pasta, which rhymes with 'rasta'!! She didn't seem to struggle with it - it came easily! Then, it's like she suddenly remembered that she has to seem more Italian, and she reverted to pronouncing it like it rhymes with 'last-a.' That bugs me - pick a pronunciation and stick with it. If you are going to play up the Italian thing, really go all out! Don't do it half-heartedly!

 

[Sherry E]

Well, looks like I am one step closer to knowing more about any kind of HalloweenTime trip to DLR, if there is to be a HalloweenTime trip. I had really kind of wanted to do a DLR trip earlier in the Halloween season this year so I could do an earlier Christmas trip and they wouldn't be smooshed too close together. It's less crowded in late September than it is in October, so I was seriously thinking about late September for DLR HalloweenTime. Also, Jazz (Belle Ella) is going to be in DLR at that time and I wanted to meet up with her. The only, only, only reason I would have gone this year in October is if I wanted to do the Halloween Party...but September was looking mighty tempting...and cheaper.

But, alas, my choice has been made for me (even though no dates have been chosen yet). I just learned that TSMM - surely one of my top 2 favorite rides in all of DLR, and one of the main things I look forward to doing when I am at DLR - is going to be closed from August 30th - October 10th!! I just cannot bring myself to go to DLR and NOT ride TSMM multiple times, so... it looks like if there is a HalloweenTiime trip to DLR in the cards for me, it shall take place after October 10th (which is a Sunday)!! I just love TSMM too much to miss out on it.

I didn't really want to go in October and then try to swing a late November or early December Christmas DLR trip - way too close together, and not enough time for me to scrape up $$$. But I don't want to go too close to Christmas again, as it was way too crowded for me last year.

 

[bumbershoot]

On the next bank day, I would definitely be contacting them.

Well wait. When you look online, do you see if a statement has been generated at all? Could things have gotten off their normal timing b/c of opening the card? Because it does seem that something has gone wrong.

I wonder if the card they ended up closing (since they sent you the two cards) was the one that had the 25 attached to it? If so, if they have half a brain they should be able to play connect the dots and work it all out and make you happy.


I thought I had more to say, but my brain just went blank.

 

[Sherry E]

On the next bank day, I would definitely be contacting them.

Well wait. When you look online, do you see if a statement has been generated at all? Could things have gotten off their normal timing b/c of opening the card? Because it does seem that something has gone wrong.

I wonder if the card they ended up closing (since they sent you the two cards) was the one that had the 25 attached to it? If so, if they have half a brain they should be able to play connect the dots and work it all out and make you happy.


I thought I had more to say, but my brain just went blank.

Funny you mention that, Molly. I looked at my Chase account online today, and I found the area where I could view a copy of the statement that I should have received a hard copy of (which never arrived, and its closing date was 6/18). I see what the 39 cents were from - in teeny tiny print, I could see that the first two of my qualified purchases earned the 39 cents (towards the $1.00 goal, I suppose). So even though I have definitely reached the $200 mark (and beyond) to be able to earn a full dollar in rewards, it just has not shown up in my account yet, nor has the $25 activation bonus. As for where my statement hard copy went, who knows? I am a bit uncomfortable knowing that it could possibly have ended up in someone else's hands - not that will see I have lots of money in my account, because I don't, but still...you don't want anyone having your financial information and address, etc., in their hands.

And, Molly, I, too, wondered if those ridiculous Chase people somehow applied my rewards to the "other" Visa Debit they sent me accidentally...because, when I click on the link that says "Disney Rewards" in my Chase online account, and I see the 39 cents, I also see the last four digits of the other Disney Visa Debit in the upper left corner of the section, and it's listed under "Linked cards." Now, if they truly removed all traces of that accidental card from their system, it should not be mentioned as being linked to the Disney Visa Debit I am using. It shouldn't be on there at all.

Oh, I dread having to call Chase again...or schlep into the bank and have to talk to anyone. I'm assuming the $25 and the other earned rewards just haven't shown up online yet, for whatever reason, but the fact that there is even a reference to the other, wrong card as being linked is worrisome and could be an indicator that Chase screwed up yet again. Sigh... And what happened to my statement? Who has that?

 

[bumbershoot]

Playing detective.

Was the 6/18 closing the very first since the opening of the card? Was it really soon after you got the card?

Perhaps it's all innocent. Perhaps they just needed one more month to do it all. We opened our card around 8/17 last year (remembered well as we had MIL with us...we were on our way up to R's company picnic (yes, with MIL) and she wanted to open a safe deposit box with Robert, and while there we signed up for the Disney debit). The first statement, generated in September, does not have the reward on it. But the next one, generated in October, does.

The fee was only charged in later September. And that's when all the rewards we had earned so far showed up. The rewards don't show up as you spend; they appear in a chunk after the statement is generated.


I feel like I should have been given you this info, but my brain has been really scattered, and I'm sorry I'm late with it.


It's interesting that you can still see the linked card! I mean, we see a linked card, b/c I have an online account and DH has an online account (both for the same accounts, though his also has the car loan showing), and each of us has a debit card with a different number. But the *total* we see on either account, the total of Rewards, is the same. So right now I see whatever I see, as a total, no matter which account I'm logged into. But if I click to see more info, on HIS account for this month I see Zero because he hasn't used his debit card this month. My debit card shows what we earned . Make sense?

So actually, even if they have it on that card, it hasn't posted, because otherwise you'd see it.

Confusing!!!!!

 

[mariezp]

Just want to share this real quick since we have been sharing save money tips and the codes are about to expire. I will be back later to check out what I've missed today!

I just found out something very cool at Kohls.com today! You can piggie back 2 coupon codes! So.... today I made my purchase with my Discover card which gives 5% back, used the code TOPSECRET for 20% off everything through 7/4/10 and SHIP2ME for free shipping when you spend $75 or more through 7/5/10. Total savings was over $30! PLUS the whole reason I was shopping to begin with was because they were having a big sale with lots of summer clothes 50-60% off. My bunch wears short sleeves year round so it was a great deal for us! I ended up with 17 items. My highest priced item was 12.99 and most were 3.99 minus 20%.

As mentioned the first code ends today and the other tomorrow so hurry!

 

[Hawleys]

Hawleys - if you haven't done so already, try signing up with QuickRewards too. I took Marie's advice and signed up (and she is not profiting or benefiting in any way from my joining QR, nor will I benefit in any way if Hawleys joins QR ) and while the survey issue could be a bit confusing because they have surveys from many or all of the same places that SR offers surveys from, in certain ways I like QR better. These are a few reasons:

1. First of all, if you do a Greenfield survey (I know you can't get those to load on your computer), you get 90 cents at QR, as opposed to 80 cents at SR. If you do a SurveyHead survey, you get 75 cents at QR all the time, as opposed to the usual 60 cents at SR (not counting this weekend when SurveyHead went up to 75 cents on SR just for the holiday). Some of the QR surveys pay less then SR's surveys, but some pay more, so you have to kind of compare.

2. Also - and this is a BIG plus in QR's favor if I read all the verbiage correctly - you can cash out at any time, and there is no minimum for PayPal cashouts. In other words, you don't have to wait until you have been a member for 45 days to get what you earned, and you don't have to wait until you get to a certain point level. Maybe Marie can confirm that and set me straight if I am totally incorrect, but the way I read it on QR's site is that, essentially, if you have already earned $1.00 on QR, you can have that sent to PayPal right away. If you want a gift card, you have to make it to a certain number of points, of course, but if you just want to accumulate bits of money in your PayPal account, you can do that as many times as you want, as you earn it. There is no minimum amount. And, if you get a Disney gift card from QR, there is no 44 cent fee like there is on SR.

3. There are many more daily 'paid click' options on QR. You can get 1 cent for every click and there could be up to 16 or 18 of them daily. Plus, they send you paid emails to click on as well. Also, you can answer trivia questions and get cents for those too. I've done all of those.


So I am going to spend more time on QR and start depositing any tiny bit I earn into PayPal, since there is no minimum amount required. If I earn 50 cents, I will send it to PayPal. Life is too short to wait for the money!! The world could end tomorrow and if so, I want my 50 cents now!!

I am going to continue with SR too, but I have to juggle the surveys carefully because of the duplicate issue. I don't want to burn any bridges and make anyone think I am intentionally taking the same survey twice, but it gets so confusing because sometimes you can't tell where the surveys are coming from right off the bat. It may say "United Survey Router" on QR when it actually means SSI, and SSI is on SR. If I do Greenfield on QR, then I won't even bother with that on SR. Same with SurveyHead.

This thread is growing so fast I can't keep up! Thanks Sherry for the info on how much QuickRewards pays for their surveys. I love the idea of free clicks everyday. Do you (or anyone else) know if they are a small business or the front for some larger company? One of the things that drew me to Sunshine is that they are clearly a small business. The strong web presence of the owner/operators is a selling point for me. The other question I had about QuickRewards and Sunshine is if there is a Paypal transfer fee? I would hate to pay a fee to transfer a 50 cents.

I absolutely agree with you about not always being able to tell what company a survey is coming from. The other problem I have is remembering which surveys I've already done. Doh! I have no intention of doing them twice but sometimes I screw up and forget whether I did it today or yesterday. Must be getting older.

 

[Hawleys]

And on a related note, just b/c it's amusing and not because I think I'm in my OWN trip report, the other day he told me that I was "addicted" to beer because I have one "almost every day". He said it loudly and clearly, and there were others in the aisle.

Oh, this story made me truly lol! Off to feed my addiction (ie drink a beer) in honor of E.

 

[Sherry E]

I haven't had a chance to post in this TR yet today, but just wanted to pop in and say, for anyone tuning in, that Food Network is airing a brand new episode of "Unwrapped" tonight, called "Disney Delights," and it features segments on both DLR and WDW. Here's the info from the FN website:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/unwrapped/disney-delights/index.html

Discover the magic of Disney cuisine today on Unwrapped. Venture inside the Disney Bakery, where they cook up more than 2,000 cookies for Disneyland guests every day. Then, travel to Japan, Germany, and China without leaving Orlando. We sample the best dishes from the Epcot World Showcase. Learn how the experts eat a Mickey Bar, then get ready for the royal treatment! Ever wonder where the princesses eat? We'll reveal the best spots to dine with your favorite characters. Later, create your perfect treat at Goofy's Candy Shop and get a rare peek inside Disney's most mysterious restaurant, the members-only Club 33.

• Jul 05, 2010, 8:30 PM ET/PT
• Jul 06, 2010, 3:30 AM ET/PT
• Jul 15, 2010, 11:30 PM ET/PT

 

[bumbershoot]

I bet my Disney/Cooking show guys will want to watch that!


I think QR is a small operation like Sunshine. I could'nt stand QR personally, and actually left it. He, Dmitri, had a thing where you could try it, and if you hated it, he'd double your rewards and let you cash out. I tried it, I hated it, and took him up on the offer. I could tell by how he worded his email that he was NOT happy with me! But ya know, not all sites make sense to all people, and he might as well have written it in Greek, for all I could understand what to do. (it might be different now)


If you have a normal, personal paypal account, with Sunshine there should be no fee, as they have been covering it (pp started charging several months ago, and SR made that decision a month or so later). They do have a minimum of $20 to cash out pp with, and not all earnings are allowed to be cashed out for paypal...those are all set by the merchant/offer, and the info should be on the merchant's or offer's sunshine page.

 

[Sherry E]

N/A

 

[Sherry E]

N/A

 

[bumbershoot]

Sunshine delays it after the merchants asked for it. I don't think they much like it either, but on the other hand, it slows down fraud, keeps them from having to take money BACK from people if it turns out the people did something wrong and the merchant didn't pay Sunshine, and keeps Sunshine in business (vs losing all their money). The owner of Sunshine is a former lawyer, and tries to do everything by the book.

 

[Sherry E]

I can see where the Sunshine people/person are coming from and why they have to do things that way. But as a user of both SR and QR, right now QR is looking like the better deal for several reasons.

 

[Hawleys]

I bet my Disney/Cooking show guys will want to watch that!


I think QR is a small operation like Sunshine. I could'nt stand QR personally, and actually left it. He, Dmitri, had a thing where you could try it, and if you hated it, he'd double your rewards and let you cash out. I tried it, I hated it, and took him up on the offer. I could tell by how he worded his email that he was NOT happy with me! But ya know, not all sites make sense to all people, and he might as well have written it in Greek, for all I could understand what to do. (it might be different now)


If you have a normal, personal paypal account, with Sunshine there should be no fee, as they have been covering it (pp started charging several months ago, and SR made that decision a month or so later). They do have a minimum of $20 to cash out pp with, and not all earnings are allowed to be cashed out for paypal...those are all set by the merchant/offer, and the info should be on the merchant's or offer's sunshine page.

Thank you Bumbershoot. The Sunshine website was confusing at first as well. When I signed up in 2009, the first survey I tried didn't load and I abandoned the site because I couldn't figure out what to do. After reading what you wrote, I gave it another shot and have been successful. I'm very glad that Sunshine does not charge a fee for transfers to Paypal. These transactions will be the first time money has ever come in to my Paypal account. I'm not even sure how I transfer to my brick and mortar bank. Maybe I will stick to Disney and Amazon gift cards as my cash outs...

Sherry, I agree with you that the faster cash out at Quick Rewards is a big bonus. Here's another silly reason to earn rewards with QR. They have Disney Dollars as a cash out option! For those of us that eat many snacks for the snack carts (where gift cards are not accepted) the temptation is great to choose Disney Dollars, even with the associated $0.50 fee. Is it possible to use a Disney gift card to buy Disney Dollars?

Sherry, did you get to see Bret on TV?

 

[bumbershoot]

Glad to be of help.

The paypal/checking account thing is lovely. I've done it twice, I think. But I get the giftcards far more often.

I assume the QR people are in Orlando or Anaheim, so they can run over and buy some Disney Dollars. Remember, giftcards *can* be tracked back if they go awry in the mail, but the Dollars, if they are lost they are lost. I remember cashing out for some of them early early on in Sunshine (when they were offered), but I was a nervous wreck the entire time!

 

[mariezp]

I have been trying to make my way back over here but you know I am like you Sherry..... if I don't have time to come make a good long post it's just hardly worth the effort! LOL! Anyway, my family is otherwise occupied so if I work fast I may be able to hammer out a reply worthy of posting.

Marie -

From all that I could find in the fine print on QR, it looks like there is absolutely no minimum of any kind to cash out to PayPal. There is only a minimum requirement if you want gift cards. So if I have only 50 cents in my QR account, I can send that on to PayPal...and I don't have to wait 45 days. Big bonus in favor of QR!! Again, even if I make the $25 at SR to get a Disney Gift Card, I have to wait out the 45 days, then I have to wait for them to get around to sending me the card, which could take 6 weeks AND I'd have to pay 44 cents for it. At QR, there is no 44 cent charge for the Disney gift cards. I'm liking QR more and more all the time!!

It's a shame that the Sunshine Rewards site takes so long to process. I find her site really easy to find my way around. It' been good to me so I will be sticking around but I am glad you pointed out the processing time again so I make sure to cash out way before trip time.

Yes, I have a PayPal debit card and it works wonderfully. I used it at DLR last year. It's a GREAT way to access your PayPal money instantly - like right after someone sends it to you - without waiting for it to transfer to another account. In fact, I used it for all kinds of bill payments, groceries and things before I got the Chase Disney Visa Debit (which I am now trying to use all the time to get Rewards). I'm definitely verified - I've been a PayPal customer for years. I can pay other people from PayPal and I can send money from PayPal to my bank (Chase) with no problem, but I thought you said you were "deposting" money into PayPal, and I didn't know if you meant you were actually depositing money yourself into PayPal like you would at a bank, or if it was the automatic transfers from places like QR or wherever going into PayPal that you were talking about. My PayPal account will not let me deposit money into it from myself. I can only receive money in PayPal if someone else sends it to me. But once it's there, I send it on to my Chase account, pay bills with it or leave it in PayPal.

Good to hear that the Paypal debit card works well at DL. I will probably get one rather than put all my earnings into Disney gift cards just in case we need cash outside of Disney. I know we will go to Rainforest Cafe and Bubba Gump and possibly a few places to eat.
So with the Chase Disney Visa Debit does it draw straight from your bank account or do you load money onto the card? I am such a dork and all new to using debit cards! At the time I mentioned deposting money into PayPal, I was probably talking about from the rewards BUT I have seen a tab where you can Add Funds to your Paypal account which is just what I assumed I would need to do if I were to use a Paypal debit. Is that not how it works? I can't leave funds in my Paypal account or my DH will end up inadvertently spending it which is why I have to transfer the money out of the account to my Disney savings fund to be later transferred back right before our trip if I were to get the Paypal debit card.


Thanks for answering the question about the Disney Rewards and explaining about the expiration - at least I know what I am dealing with!! The odd thing is I should have gotten a statement in the last several days of June (it usually arrives by the 26th of each month), and I have not yet received it. My statements are never this late, so I have no clue if it wound up in someone else's mailbox or what. But all I keep seeing in terms of Disney Rewards in my online Chase account is "39 cents." Meanwhile, I have more than met the requirements for the 25 bonus reward points as well as the $200 requirement to get $1.00, but all I see is 39 cents online!! And my June statement is MIA!!

Did they get your Disney Rewards straightened out yet?

Were you talking about inviting the friends along to DLR in your November thread? If so, I think I did read that. It's your son's girlfriend's family, right? Yes, you did at one point say 'no more friends coming along,' but it seems for the good long length of time you will be at DLR this year, if they showed up for even a short part of the trip it shouldn't mess the whole thing up!!! And your son will be happy!

Yes, that's right, the GF's family. Still haven't heard anything back yet. Don't really expect to unless I go drag it out of them. I really don't expect them to take us up on our offer but it would be a pleasant surprise. We really do enjoy their company. You obviously think the way I do. I figure if they stay a week or even a weekend it would be better than nothing and might be all we can talk them into. They really are not big Disney fans but I know they would have fun if they went. So for now we wait and then if they say no I've got to convince my son that he can still have fun with just us.

That would be so fun, to go to Catalina and explore!! There are a couple of folks from the DIS who were/are planning Catalina trips, and I was trying to explain to them that they really need to take an early boat out and a late boat back - the Flying Fish Tour at night is really worth staying until evening for. Unfortunately, in both cases, it sounds as if these DIS-ers' trips might be very abbreviated, as in arriving on Catalina in the 10:00 a.m. hour and then leaving to go back to the mainland in the late afternoon. There is really not enough time to explore and do too much in Avalon in such a short visit, and the boat tickets are too expensive to not make the most of it. The golf cart alone takes about 3 hours. If I ever get back there for a day trip again, I am taking the 6:30 a.m. boat out (which I have done plenty of times before), sitting outside and looking for dolphins and sharks, and then leaving on the latest boat to come back at night (like in the 10 p.m. hour) - if I'm going to do it and spend that boat money, I'm in it for the long haul!
I cannot imagine wanting to go and NOT take an early boat out! As a matter of fact, if it were me I would be staying overnight. Heck, I want a chance to see if I can make it over on the boat ride without getting puked on now that my DD is older! We just stayed in the main part of town. I'd like to take a tour, maybe get over to the backside of the island and explore the "wilderness", ride up to the top of the mountain and see the fancy hotel, go to the theater and do the glass bottom boat again.

I am going to continue with SR too, but I have to juggle the surveys carefully because of the duplicate issue. I don't want to burn any bridges and make anyone think I am intentionally taking the same survey twice, but it gets so confusing because sometimes you can't tell where the surveys are coming from right off the bat. It may say "United Survey Router" on QR when it actually means SSI, and SSI is on SR. If I do Greenfield on QR, then I won't even bother with that on SR. Same with SurveyHead.

I absolutely agree with you about not always being able to tell what company a survey is coming from. The other problem I have is remembering which surveys I've already done. Doh! I have no intention of doing them twice but sometimes I screw up and forget whether I did it today or yesterday. Must be getting older.

It is a challenge to keep all the surveys straight when dealing with multiple sites. I've had to resort to taking notes of the ones I do. Probably not a bad idea anyway so I can keep up with whether I get credit. One thing I have been wondering is what are you supposed to do when you start a survey and you know it is the same one you have taken before but even from a different site? Do you just stop then and there or do you continue? Sometimes I think that some of the repeat questions are just for narrowing down who qualifies. I don't want anyone to think I am screwing up intentionally either!

I ran across some stuff that might be helpful over at QR. Besides the obvious help section, check out the blog area. There is a place for announcements where I just happened to find out that my payment would be delayed because of the holiday until possible Friday thanks to Paypal. And, under the member discussions there is a New QuickRewards Member Guide thread which might prove be useful.

Here's another silly reason to earn rewards with QR. They have Disney Dollars as a cash out option! For those of us that eat many snacks for the snack carts (where gift cards are not accepted) the temptation is great to choose Disney Dollars, even with the associated $0.50 fee. Is it possible to use a Disney gift card to buy Disney Dollars?

I saw that and totally agree! I thought it would be a fun reward just because they are so darn cute! Plus fun to give the kids for spending money.


Sherry, sorry to hear that you are having plumbing problems. I hope they are getting that straightened out ASAP!
I am glad that you are narrowing down your plans for your next trip. If TSMM means that much to you then I would definitely wait until October. All of us have those rides we just cannot do without! So if you do October do you think that will be your only trip for the year?
So far we are looking good on refurbs for our trip. They just announced that Star Tours and Roger Rabbit will be down while we are there. Thankfully, while I like them both we only ride each one a few times each during our 2 week trip so I would totally rather have both of those go down than one of the big ones like Pirates or Splash.

I remember you liked the popcorn turner guys. Did you see this article today?
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2010/07/07/popcorn-personalities/

 

[mariezp]

Yippee, my QR deposit was received in my Paypal account! Another $31.96 promptly transferred to my Disney fund! Already got another $2.77 towards the next cash out. Ahhh, it's the little things!

 

[Sherry E]

I haven't forgotten everyone. I'm falling behind in my replies again. I haven't had time to get over to this TR side of the board!! I don't know where the day goes, but I am on the computer all day long, either working for my client or doing things to scrape up money for myself (like SR or QR), which takes a lot of time, then trying to fulfill my moderating duties and do things on the main DL section of the board (which involves posting a lot and keeping things active) - so it's all productive in some way. It's not like I'm just lolly-gagging around on the PC to kill time. But suddenly, 12, 13, 14 hours go by of me being on the PC all day and I have to give it a rest. And I never seem to get everything accomplished that I need to do. And all of this doesn't even count any errands I might have to run outside of the house.

I just did another long survey for Ipsos the other day - and, as I've told you guys, Ipsos i-Say is one of the better survey places for me - and that earned me 600 points! They send me a survey pretty much every day and rarely do I get one that I don't qualify for. Most of them I qualify for, and they all have points attached. So my point level now should be where I can order a $15 American Express gift card from them, but I am still waiting on a $10 check from them that has not arrived yet, and I feel like I want to receive one thing before I order the next thing.

I'm also still waiting on my $50 Visa Rewards Card from Lightspeed. It's taking forever.

I have done two small QR transfers to PayPal. Again, that's a big plus in their favor! Meanwhile, I have this 'money' sitting in SR that I won't be able to get my hands on until at least late September!

I never received my bank statement that I should have gotten in June, and the same 39 cents in rewards is still showing online. I'm sure the next statement will show all my recent Disney Visa earnings in rewards, but it seems like it takes a full month before the rewards show up, and then another month for the next rewards to show up, and then another month, etc., and that's a long time! They don't appear right away, or even within a week of earning them.

I must run now and get back to money-earning endeavors

 

[Sherry E]

N/A