Ordering Options Display

[firstrunfeatures]

I am trying to get a note to display alongside a product throughout the checkout/confirmation process. Per an earlier forum discussion (http://support.shopsite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8347&hilit=ordering+options+description), I tried to use the "ordering options" fields to do this. However, using the method described in the previous thread, I cannot get it to work. I have put the phrase I want in the first line of the pull-down menu (since the "ordering options description" field is not parsed through the checkout process, only the actual options). I then added a couple non-options, like so:

Preorders will ship mid-April.
none
none

And then I made sure that "Ordering Options can not be changed" was checked off in Commerce > Order System > Shopping Cart, so that my phrase does not appear as a drop-down menu but simply as text. Unfortunately this doesn't work. As soon as I toggle the "Ordering Options can not be changed," the ordering options field disappears from the cart and onward altogether. It seems I can choose to have an actual drop-down menu displayed, or else nothing at all. If you have an option that the customer cannot change, it simply does not display it to the customer at all. Am I missing something? Is there a way around this? Is there any other field I can use in this manner to add a note to an individual product that will get parsed all the way through to the confirmation email (other than the product title itself)? Thanks! Oh, and I am using ShopSite® Pro 11 sp1 r1.

[ShopSite Lauren]

A quick solution would be to have the ordering options pull down menu just have the one line, Preorders will ship mid-April. Then leave the Ordering Options can not be changed checkbox unchecked. This would display the text (in a pull down look) and carry that information throughout the checkout. There is probably another work around for this, such as adding CSS so that the pull down menu doesn't look like a pull down. Or having that text in the product name, but in a hidden span that only appears when you add the product to the cart, but just making the option a pull down is the quickest option.