Despite all the previous preparations, there is still much to do now that the departure date is just six days away. For the past three weeks, however, I’ve been ill, fighting off a nasty viral infection, which has slowed me down considerably. I’ve had cold-like symptoms, including coughing, constant tiredness and lethargy, and sneezing all the time. This hasn’t been an ideal time to miss time off work, so I’ve pushed through and worked a few hours each day, napping where I could between meetings. To make matters worse, one of my team members decided to quit, so I’ve been knee-deep in the recruitment process, interviews, etc. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s the time of year to organise the budget for next year. With a budgetary responsibility that runs into the millions, this isn’t a walk in the park either. Through all this mayhem, the departure date has crept up on us. Things are now starting to get a bit surreal.
If I’m honest with myself, my body – both physically and mentally – is really feeling the strain. The decision to save up a year’s worth of holiday allowance to blow in one go has meant I’ve had no respite the entire year to date. I can tell you I’m certainly ready for this long-awaited break.
Diving into the trip preparations is one way I keep sane. Some of the things I’ve been organising recently have been:
- Loading the new ESIMS onto our mobile phones. Sandy and I will have new local US phone numbers for the duration, while the kids will receive a generous data allowance each.
- Tucked away with the passwords are printouts of all the things we’ll need throughout the journey, including details for things like the long-stay car park, the contact details for the disability assistance folks at the airports, our road toll registration details, information about the rental property and how to enter out of hours, etc., etc., etc.
- I’ve now downloaded a plethora of different smartphone apps, including airline apps, theme park apps, toll road apps, rental car agency apps, and more. Practically one whole screen on my phone is now dedicated to the myriad of apps we’ll need to use throughout the stay.
- For those left behind who will be looking after the house and cats, I’ve created a cheat sheet of all the relevant information they need while we’re gone.
- Having received the final salary before departure, we are now all set financially. Will we have enough to survive an entire month in Florida? Let’s hope so.
- The kids now have their online banking all set up, and Sandy and I are linked, sharing a common pot of money that we can each access as needed. We plan to transfer spending cash to the kids each week we’re there.
- I had to special order a bunch of the meds I take, as did Sandy, so that’s all settled now.
By far the most significant item on the to-do list for some weeks now was the application for Disney’s DAS (Disability Access Service). With Universal, we had to submit paperwork showing the kids’ diagnoses, which were evaluated before IBBCES approval was provided. Fortunately, that wasn’t a complicated process, since we had all the necessary documentation. That’s all done and dusted now.
Disney, on the other hand, have been cracking down on abusers of the DAS system and has tightened their approval criteria quite stringently. I personally think this is a good thing, since the system was clearly open to abuse previously. However, many people with disabilities are being denied the DAS status. I joined a Facebook group where people were discussing these latest changes, and there are tons of people claiming to have legitimate needs but being rejected nonetheless. This left me feeling anxious that we wouldn’t be approved.
Disney’s new process involves a face-to-face (via a conference call) interview with a cast member who challenges you on your need for a DAS. That interview was quite thorough. With Joey in particular, I was worried he would lock up and remain silent, hampering the cast member’s ability to complete their process. In the event, it went really smoothly. The cast member was outstanding. She said it was plainly evident that Joey had a legitimate need. She approved him after less than ten minutes into the call.
The following day, Sandy went through the process again, but this time for Jae. To my pleasant surprise, that was an even faster approval. We now have the DAS for both kids. This means that if there is a long queue for a ride or attraction, we can request a return time. If the queue is 60 minutes, for example, we register for a return time in the app, return 60 minutes later, and then proceed through the fastpass lane or exit. Essentially, we are virtually queuing instead of physically queuing. While virtually queuing, we can be anywhere in the park, as opposed to winding our way through a long queue that often takes place in dark, enclosed spaces. Having a DAS will significantly improve our enjoyment in the theme parks.
Another necessary evil to prepare for was to ensure that we were stocked up on any medications we usually take. In my case, that meant ordering the meds in the correct quantity for the duration of the trip. That’s all done now.
We bought some new suitcases some weeks/months ago. Now we are starting to fill them with whatever we’re taking. Between us, we have three large suitcases (the maximum combined dimensions allowed by the airline) and one smaller one about half that size. This combination fits just nicely into the back of the car. Sandy is already stressing over the 23Kg weight allowance and wondering whether she has enough space. Jae is the same. Me? Everything I am taking appears to fit quite neatly into one half of the small suitcase and weighs just 10Kg.
The final consideration is whether we should purchase a new laptop for this trip. The current one we have was bought when we emigrated from Australia to the Netherlands seven years ago. It’s about time that we consider replacing it anyway. I have my eye on a 15” MacBook Air, which would be more than suitable for my needs. However, finding one with a US ANSI keyboard is proving a bit tricky, as stocks and delivery times for those are limited, meaning we wouldn’t receive it in time. I effectively left this one too late, so I only have myself to blame. I am therefore considering leaving my current laptop behind and purchasing a new one when we get stateside. Similarly, our GoPro HERO6 is now several versions behind the latest model, so we are considering upgrading to the latest version when it becomes available. That will likely be a GoPro HERO13 Black.