You’ve got your trip to Walt Disney World booked! YAY! But what do you need to do next? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
ESTA
First things first, you NEED to have an ESTA. You physically won’t be let into the USA without one. So, make sure that’s the first thing you do after you finish reading this blog post! ESTAs will last up to 2 years, and they only cost $21.
You can get yours here on the official ESTA website – https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
Passport
Once you’ve done your ESTA, you might want to check your passport is in date! It sounds silly, but the amount of people who get to the airport and realise they can’t fly is unreal. Don’t be one of those people. Go check right now!
Travel Insurance
Unlike here in the UK, the USA doesn’t have the wonderful NHS. You have to pay for every single doctor’s appointment, any medicine, and trips to the hospital (Did you know, the average cost of an ambulance ride is around $1200!) So, make sure everyone in your party has got travel insurance, just in case anything unfortunate happens!
Travel Card
You’ll find most places accept card these days because it’s just so easy. You probably don’t want to take your debit card all the way out to the Disney World, so a travel card is an amazing option. Me and Adam have used Revolut for all our trips since 2017! It’s so easy to add money and transfer it to whatever currency you need. It’s also got a super handy app as well that you can use on the go.
Link to Revolut (you get £50, I get £50) – https://revolut.com/referral/bethanond
Mobile Data
Everyone needs their phone – but what use is a phone without Wifi/data! You might be super fancy, and have a mobile provider that allows you to add on data roaming at a reasonable cost. But if you’re like me, you don’t have that option!
I’ve used Holafly for the past 2 trips to USA now and it’s been fantastic! I always have service and have never been stranded. Walt Disney World does have Wifi everywhere, but it’s a bit goofy at times… (hyuck)
Link to Holafly – https://esim.holafly.com/esim-usa/
Break in your Shoes
This sounds like a weird thing to put on this list, but honestly you’ll be thanking me once you get to Disney World. You’ll be doing around 20,000 steps a day round the parks and that’s why you need some good ‘broken in’ shoes.
No one wants blisters on the first day of their trip!
Me and Adam both have a pair of Nike Wearallday trainers – https://www.nike.com/gb/t/wearallday-shoes-nvNH1D
Pets at Home
Do you have any pets? Now’s probably the time to think about what’s going to happen to them whilst you’re away. Start looking at local kennels or catteries now, or (if you’re super lucky) you’ll have some nice neighbours that will look after your babies whilst your away! However, you need to shower them with gifts before you ask them…
Linking Reservations
When you get all of your reservation details, log on to the airline and make sure all your names and date of births are correct. Otherwise you won’t be flying!
It’s also good to have a look if you want to pre-book seats or request a special dietary meal on your flight. For example; a kids meal!
Uber/Lyft App
If you haven’t already, I recommend downloading the Uber AND Lyft app on your phone right now. My go-to ride sharer app is Uber, but I always check Lyft as well.
They both try and compete with each other, so if you want a ride somewhere, take the time to check both apps. All those dollars add up and it’ll save you a lot of money in the long run.
Uber – https://www.uber.com/gb/en/ride/
Lyft – https://www.lyft.com/
Youtube
You’ve done all the important stuff, now lets get excited for your trip! In our house, we’re always watching Disney vlogs. It gets us so excited for upcoming trips and keeps us up to date with everything going on in the parks.
Our favourites have to be Disney Food Blog, Tim Tracker and Paging Mr Morrow. I’ll link them all below so you can get watching!
Disney Food Blog – https://www.youtube.com/@DFBGuide
Tim Tracker – https://www.youtube.com/@TheTimTracker
Paging Mr Morrow – https://www.youtube.com/@PagingMrMorrow
I hope you found this guide useful and let me know if theres anything else I should add to my list in the future.
If you want help booking and planning your next magical trip, then get in touch! I’d love to help. You can get in touch here.
Bethan Does Magic 
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