Important Things I Still Need for Florida*

One week from today I’ll be freaking out because I’ll be able to say “I’m going back to Florida next month!” It still feels completely crazy and it hasn’t fully sunk yet since I only came back a few months ago, but there we have it. In case you missed it, I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of someone “paying it forward” it’s literally like having a fairy godmother grant a wish.

Over the past few months I’ve worked my butt off and between myself and my friends out there I’ve managed to secure our park tickets and I’m well on my way to sorting the spending money. However as the trip creeps every closer there are a few things I must keep reminding myself to sort. And since they’re rather important I thought I’d share with you today.

ESTA or Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. This is something you NEED if you are travelling to the US on holiday for up to 3 months. It lasts one year which is why only I need to pay for a new one. LM’s is still valid. If yours is still valid make sure you still log and change the details of where you’re staying though. I forgot to do this last time and got pulled up at the airport as LM’s said she was staying in Florida while mine still said Washington DC. It’s nothing serious, I simply showed my hotel confirmation and explained what happened, that I’d been to DC the previous year and they updated the system for me. I was still terrified for a second, but thankfully LM defused the situation.

Travel Insurance. I always invest in decent travel insurance when travelling to the states because their medical bills are insane for even their own people let alone outsiders. Also, I have a huge fear of things going wrong and ruining the horrible, one of the biggest is losing money or bags, so I always insure that I have fair amount of coverage on those. UK Claim Lawyers have put together an interesting infographic on the real numbers of holiday claims. And although it is great seeing my back is covered by them, I would rather just not have anything go wrong to ruin out holiday!

Memory Maker. I loved having Disney’s Memory Maker last time around but it was so expensive! I found out while out there that there was a way to still have your photos so I had originally decided not to bother with it.. that was until Disney slapped three huge watermarks over their prints so unless you have Memory Maker you won’t have access to them. Thankfully the photos are so important to me I am going to pay up for it. Last time we managed over 1000 photos on it, so it was worth while in the end.

Travel Money. Last one is a biggie, the funds. I haven’t had any birthdays or Christmases to be gifted dollars this time around, nor has LM so the saving is all on me. Although we don’t need to buy loads, I know we won’t be able to help it. I haven’t booked many character dining as that really drains the funds but we are still staying on site for five days of our trip so we will be eating at parks or in resorts. I’m so glad next year we’re part of the dining plan!

I don’t have long left, I really better get my butt into gear on the saving front!