Bama Banana, I'm glad I found your thread.
I live fairly close to you in Atmore, I'm about 2 miles from the FL line. I bought a CIDP a few days ago and I'm also wondering how well it will do here. I bought it from a nursery in Summerdale and they said that they don't give their palms any protection at all (they have some huge ones), but they're a little closer to the coast. Mine is in a 7 gallon pot but I think I will wait until spring to plant it. It usually doesn't get below the lower 20's but as you know every now and then we get that one night that dips into the mid-teens. I have thought about trying to find some of those old fashioned Christmas lights with the big bulbs (aka granny lights) to wrap it with on the really cold nights.
I also will be planting a few Washingtonia filifera X robusta "filibusta" palms, but I'm not worried about those as much since I already know of some growing nearby. Cabbage palms and Pindo palms are so common here that I wanted something different. Please keep me informed on your date palms.