Hmmmm, new roadblock:
changed my original checkout page to a confirmation page by leaving everything alone with the exception of changing the forms to "hidden"
Created a new checkout form page that links to the above page. Weirdly enough when I point to this page it seems like the form is auto-submitting and the user gets no chance to review their information.
EDIT:
So I see what's going on, this line is running the minute the page is requested
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
Is there a way around this?