Packing For Your Holiday

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While you are taking your vacation in one of the many Disney villas, Florida villas, Orlando villas, Florida vacation rentals and villas near Disney that are available to rent, we feel the following tips may be helpful to you.

Remember to complete your ESTA form for all members travelling.  Florida requires this to be completed before you check in at the airport.  If you do not complete an ESTA, you will not be allowed to travel.  Go to https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov to complete the form free of charge.  Be wary of some web-sites offering to complete the form for you at a cost.  The form is really easy to complete and will only take around 5 minutes per person.

If possible, pre-book you seats on the plane well in advance of flying (you can do this with most major airlines such as Virgin, BAA, Delta, completely free of charge).  Some charter airlines may charge extra.  Once the seats are booked you know your family will be travelling together and this just takes a little pressure off you wondering where you will be seated.  Ask your travel agent for the "locator number" and log into the airline web-site and manage your booking from there.

What clothes to take.  Packing for Florida is really easy, most people wear casual clothing such as t-shirts, shorts, trainers etc.  You may need a pair of trousers or a light jumper for the evenings in late Autumn / Winter but most of the time shorts and t-shirt are just fine.  If you are staying in an Orlando Disney villa, you will almost certainly have a washer and tumble dryer and so there is no need to pack enormous amounts of clothing.  In the Florida climate, clothes also dry very quickly.

Without doubt, you will need a swimming costume but nearly all Disney villa owners supply towels and so there is no need to pack these (just check with the owner before you travel).  If for some strange reason, your Florida villa owner does not include towels, then I would suggest you do not pack any but buy a couple in the cheap tourist shops for a couple of dollars and then throw them away before you go home.  By doing this, you will leave plenty of room in your suitcases for everything you buy to bring back. Most items in the US of A are cheaper than in the UK.  This is particularly true for trainers, trousers, t-shirts.  Some DVD's can be cheaper, but check that they will play on your player in the UK.  Also, remember that you are only allowed to bring home around £140 of goods per person, unlike the EEC where you can bring back much more.

No doubt, you will be visiting Disney, Universal or some other parks and you will be doing a lot of walking and be on your feet for a good few hours during the day.  For this reason you will need some good footwear.  Most people wear trainers as they are practical and also comfortable.

Please remember that there are very strict rule regarding taking food into Florida.  You are allowed to take jars of food (such as Marmite – love it or hate it !!!), but items such as bananas, apples, meat etc are definitely forbidden.  Do not even try it as there a really cute dogs at immigration, sniffing all around your bags, and they will find you out.  Most items you will need will be found in Wal-Mart, Publix etc.  They even have their own brands of corn Flakes etc., and are cheaper than buying known UK brands.

Even people with who have special dietary requirements should be able to find most things at Wal-Mart or Publix.  These two large stores stock gluten free products and soya milk for those who are lactose intolerant.

Sun screen and sun barrier are an absolute must in Florida.  The sun gets very, very hot.  Be extra careful while in the pool as the cool water will seem to negate the heat of the sun.  It is only when you get out of the pool that you realize how much you may have been burnt.  Be especially careful with small children.

If you are taking a good quality camera with you, then we would suggest you purchase a good quality camera bag that will protect the camera from the afternoon storms that can occur in Florida and also from the potential splashing while you are on the water rides.   If you buy a bag that also has a loop that slips on to your belt, this will help to ensure you do not lose the camera.  Any god camera shop will sell these for around £10.

Do not forget to pack things like Aspirin or other medication you might need in your hand luggage.  If you need it, it is readily available.

And last but certainly not least (in fact probably most important), take a small document wallet with you to keep all you important documents together.  These should be your passports (remember you need at least 6 months from your date of return left on your passport before your passport expires to enter the US of A).  you should also keep you car hire voucher, Disney tickets etc, drivers licence, insurance policy, travellers cheques, directions to your Disney villa in the wallet.  If you keep these all in one place they are easier to find and in my opinion much safer than being in various other places.

It is also a very good idea to take some photocopies of these documents and give them to another member of your party to keep just in case the originals are lost.  It is so much easier obtaining a replacement passport if you have a copy of the original.  Also keep the travellers cheques separate from their numbers so if they are lost, you will still have the numbers that you can report as being lost and replacements will be easier to obtain.

We hope the above tips will help you holiday to be a little less worrying.  Remember, if you prepare properly everything will run smoothly.