Chapter 7Taking Care of the
Remaining Details
In This Chapter
Sorting out your rental-car options
Buying travel and medical insurance
Dealing with illness away from home
Staying in touch using the Web and cellphones
Getting through airport security
Y
ou’re almost ready to leave for Orlando. All you need to do is take
care of a few last-minute details, plan an itinerary, put the dog in
the kennel, stuff your bags with everything that’s clean, water the gerani-
ums, pay the mortgage, and finish 50 other 11th-hour musts.
The information in this chapter gives you planning tips and saves you
from wasting precious vacation hours after you’re in Magic Mickeyville.
You can discover whether it’s worth your while to rent a car, get advice
about buying travel insurance, check out your options should you get
sick on your trip, find out how to keep in touch with your relatives back
home, and figure out how to navigate your way through today’s airline
security procedures.
Renting a Car — Or Not
First off, you have to decide whether you need a rental car for your
Orlando vacation. If you’re going to spend most of your time at a resort,
especially Walt Disney World, you may not need a car. Disney has its
own free transportation system; buses, ferries, trams, and monorails run
throughout the property, connecting all its resorts, parks, and entertain-
ment venues. (See Chapter 8 for more information about the Disney
transportation system.)
The Disney system does have some notable drawbacks: You’re a pris-
oner of WDW’s often slow and indirect schedule. Depending on your
starting point and your destination, it can take up to an hour to get
65Chapter 7: Taking Care of the Remaining Details
where you’re going. During peak hours in the busiest seasons, you may
have trouble getting a seat on the bus, so keep that in mind if you’re
traveling with kids, seniors, or with companions with disabilities. Also,
if you’re bringing along children and strollers, consider the frustration
factor of loading and unloading strollers and all their paraphernalia on
and off buses, ferries, and trams.
If you plan to spend most of your time at Universal Orlando and stay at
one of its resorts, a rental car may also be unnecessary. All of Universal’s
resorts offer boat transportation to its theme parks and CityWalk (See
Chapters 18 and 19 for more on Universal’s theme parks).
If you won’t be spending all your time solely at either WDW or Universal,
and you want to visit SeaWorld and other attractions or areas of Central
Florida, you need to either rent a car or choose an alternate form of trans-
portation, such as one of a number of hotel shuttles. (Some are free;
others charge an average of $7–$12 per person.) Mears Transportation,
which is a shuttle service, and taxis (though horridly expensive) are other
options. (See Chapter 8 for more information on transportation options in
Orlando, including the I-Ride Trolley.) Getting several people to the parks
on a daily basis can be expensive if you choose these routes, but you can
save on car-rental fees, gas, and the $8 or $9-per-day parking fee at the
major attractions if you take advantage of Orlando’s transit system. You
need to decide whether the added convenience and mobility of a rental
car is worth the extra expense; if you plan to be in Orlando only for a
short while or are traveling with kids, I definitely recommend you shell
out for the car in order to maximize your vacation mobility.
WDW has an Alamo car-rental desk (% 800-327-2996) right on property,
so if you’re interested in renting only for a day or two instead of your
entire vacation, this may be a good option for you.
Getting a good rate
Car rental rates vary even more than airline fares. The price depends on
the size of the car, the length of time you keep it, where and when you
pick it up and drop it off, where you take it, and a host of other factors.
Doing a little research may save you hundreds of dollars.
Weekend rates may be lower than weekday rates. If you’re keeping
the car five or more days, a weekly rate may be cheaper than the
daily rate. Ask whether the rate is the same for pickup Friday morn-
ing as it is for Thursday night.
Some companies may assess a drop-off charge if you don’t return
the car to the same rental location; others, notably National, don’t.
Check whether the rate is cheaper if you pick up the car at a loca-
tion in town rather than at the airport.
Find out whether age is an issue. For drivers under 25, many car-
rental companies add on a fee, while some don’t rent to them at all.
66Part II: Planning Your Trip to Walt Disney World & Orlando
Under-age rental fees are common in Orlando and can add as much
as $15 a day to your total rate.
If you see an advertised price in your local newspaper, be sure to
ask for that specific rate; otherwise you may be charged the stan-
dard (higher) rate. Don’t forget to mention membership in AAA,
AARP, and trade unions. These memberships usually entitle you to
discounts ranging from 5 to 30 percent.
Check your frequent-flier accounts. Not only are your favorite (or at
least most-used) airlines likely to have sent you discount coupons,
but most car rentals add at least 500 miles to your account.
As with other aspects of planning your trip, using the Internet can
make comparison shopping for a car rental much easier. You can
check rates at most of the major agencies’ Web sites. Plus, all the
major travel sites — Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), Expedia
(www.expedia.com), Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), and Smarter Living
(www.smarterliving.com), for example — have search engines that
can dig up discounted car-rental rates.
Most car-rental companies charge on a 24-hour basis. That means if you
pick up the car at 3 p.m., you need to return it by 3 p.m. on the specified
end date of your rental. Often, if your flight arrival and departure times
in Orlando are far apart (say you arrive at 10 a.m. and don’t fly out until
8 p.m.), you need to rent the car for a day longer than your stay. However,
if the inbound and outbound flight times are within an hour or two of each
other, inquire about hourly rates — they may be less than the cost of
another full day. If you want information about specific rental-car compa-
nies serving Orlando, see the Appendix in the back of this book.
Adding up extra rental costs
In addition to the standard rental prices, other optional charges apply to
most car rentals (and some not-so-optional charges, such as taxes). The
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), which requires you to pay for damage
to the car in a collision, is covered by many credit-card companies.
Check with your credit-card company before you go so you can avoid
paying this hefty fee (as much as $20 a day).
The car-rental companies also offer additional liability insurance (if you
harm others in an accident), personal accident insurance (if you harm
yourself or your passengers), and personal-effects insurance (if your
luggage is stolen from your car). Your insurance policy on your car at
home probably covers most of these unlikely occurrences. However, if
your own insurance doesn’t cover you for rentals or if you don’t have
auto insurance, definitely consider the additional coverage (ask your
car-rental agent for more information). Unless you’re toting around
the Hope diamond, and you don’t want to leave that in your car trunk
anyway, you can probably skip the personal-effects insurance, but driv-
ing around without liability or personal accident coverage is never a
good idea. Even if you’re a good driver, other people may not be, and
liability claims can be complicated.
67Chapter 7: Taking Care of the Remaining Details
Some companies also offer refueling packages, in which you pay for
your initial full tank of gas up front and can return the car with an empty
gas tank. The prices can be competitive with local gas prices, but you
don’t get credit for any gas remaining in the tank. If you reject this
option, you pay only for the gas you use, but you have to return the car
with a full tank or face charges of $3 to $4 a gallon for any shortfall. If
you usually run late and a fueling stop may make you miss your plane,
you’re a perfect candidate for the fuel-purchase option.
Playing It Safe with Travel
and Medical Insurance
Three kinds of travel insurance are available: trip-cancellation insurance,
medical insurance, and lost luggage insurance. The cost of travel insur-
ance varies widely, depending on the cost and length of your trip, your
age and health, and the type of trip you’re taking, but expect to pay
between 5 and 8 percent of the vacation itself. Here is my advice on all
three:
Trip-cancellation insurance helps you get your money back if you
have to back out of a trip, if you have to go home early, or if your
travel supplier goes bankrupt. Allowed reasons for cancellation can
range from sickness to natural disasters to the State Department
declaring your destination unsafe for travel. (Insurers usually won’t
cover vague fears, though, as many travelers discovered who tried
to cancel their trips in Oct 2001 because they were wary of flying.)
A good resource is Travel Guard Alerts, a list of companies consid-
ered high-risk by Travel Guard International (www.travelinsured.
com). Protect yourself further by paying for the insurance with a
credit card — by law, consumers can get their money back on
goods and services not received if they report the loss within
60 days after the charge is listed on their credit card statement.
Note: Many tour operators, particularly those offering trips to
remote or high-risk areas, include insurance in the cost of the trip
or can arrange insurance policies through a partnering provider, a
convenient and often cost-effective way for the traveler to obtain
insurance. Make sure the tour company is a reputable one, how-
ever, and avoid buying insurance from the tour or cruise company
you’re traveling with so you don’t put all your money in one place.
For domestic travel, buying medical insurance for your trip doesn’t
make sense for most travelers. Most existing health policies cover
you if you get sick away from home — but check before you go, par-
ticularly if you’re insured by an HMO.
Lost-luggage insurance isn’t necessary for most travelers. On
domestic flights, checked baggage is covered up to $2,500 per tick-
eted passenger. On international flights (including U.S. portions of
68Part II: Planning Your Trip to Walt Disney World & Orlando
international trips), baggage coverage is limited to approximately
$9 per pound, up to $635 per checked bag. If you plan to check
items more valuable than the standard liability, see whether your
valuables are covered by your homeowner’s policy, get baggage
insurance as part of your comprehensive travel-insurance package,
or buy Travel Guard’s “BagTrak” product. Don’t buy the over-
priced insurance at the airport. Be sure to take any valuables or
irreplaceable items with you in your carry-on luggage because
many valuables (including books, money and electronics) aren’t
covered by airline policies.
If your luggage is lost, immediately file a lost-luggage claim at the
airport, detailing the luggage contents. For most airlines, you must
report delayed, damaged, or lost baggage within four hours of
arrival. The airlines are required to deliver luggage, once found,
directly to your house or destination free of charge.
For more information, contact one of the following recommended insur-
ers: Access America (% 866-807-3982; www.accessamerica.com);
Travel Guard International (% 800-826-4919; www.travelguard.com);
Travel Insured International (% 800-243-3174; www.travelinsured.
com); and Travelex Insurance Services (% 888-457-4602; www.travelex-
insurance.com).
Staying Healthy When You Travel
Getting sick can ruin your vacation, so I strongly advise against it. (Of
course, last time I checked, the bugs weren’t listening to me any more
than they probably listen to you.)
If you have a serious or chronic illness, talk to your doctor before
leaving on a trip. For conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, or heart
problems, wear a MedicAlert identification tag (% 888-633-4298; www.
medicalert.org), which immediately alerts doctors to your condition
and gives them access to your records through Medic Alert’s 24-hour
hot line.
Preventing the easily preventable
The biggest health obstacle you’ll encounter in Orlando will be the strong
Florida sun. Limit your exposure, especially during the first few days of
your trip and, thereafter, during the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when the
sun is at its strongest. Use a sunscreen with at least a sun protection
factor (SPF) of 25 (especially for children) and apply it liberally and often.
If you have children under a year old, check with your pediatrician before
applying a sunscreen — some ingredients may not be appropriate for
infants. A hat and sunglasses are de rigueur fashion in Florida for a
reason and keep you from suffering sun glare or a painful sunburn.
Dehydration is another potential issue when touring Orlando. Be sure to
drink plenty of fluids and see that any children traveling with you do so
69Chapter 7: Taking Care of the Remaining Details
as well. Note that soft drinks loaded with caffeine, a diuretic, can cause
or make dehydration worse, so stick to water or decaffeinated drinks.
Finally, the bane of many a theme park walker who hasn’t hoofed it any-
where lately are blisters. If you have problematic feet, bring comfortable
walking shoes, lots of socks, and buy some protective moleskin. A change
of socks mid-day may keep you from hobbling by nightfall.
Knowing what to do should you get sick
All the major theme parks have first-aid stations; ask a park employee
or consult your park map for its location. Doctors on Call Service
(% 407-399-3627) is a group that makes house and room calls in most
of the Orlando area 24 hours a day.
To find a dentist, call Dental Referral Service (% 800-235-4111; www.
dentalreferral.com). They can refer you to the nearest dentist who
meets your needs. Phones are staffed weekdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If your ailment isn’t a life-threatening emergency, use a walk-in clinic
in Orlando. You may not get immediate attention, but you’ll probably
pay around $75 rather than the $300 minimum for just signing in at an
emergency-room counter. Centra-Care (www.centracare.org) has sev-
eral walk-in clinics listed in the Yellow Pages, including ones on Vineland
Road near Universal (% 407-351-6682) and at Lake Buena Vista near
Disney (% 407-934-2273) among others.
You can fill your prescriptions at dozens of pharmacies listed in the
Yellow Pages. Walgreen’s operates a 24-hour pharmacy at 7650 W. Sand
Lake Rd. (% 407-345-9497; www.walgreens.com); for other locations in
the area, check the company’s Web site.
Staying Connected by Cellphone or E-mail
Want to tell the folks back home that you arrived safe and sound? Or
e-mail them that digital snapshot of your meeting with Mickey? It’s
easier than ever to stay in touch with your friends, family, even the
office (unlucky for you), while you’re on the road.
Using a cellphone across the U.S.
Just because your cellphone works at home doesn’t mean it’ll work else-
where in the country (thanks to our nation’s fragmented cellphone
system). It’s a good bet that your phone will work in Orlando, however.
But take a look at your wireless company’s coverage map on its Web site
before heading out — T-Mobile, Sprint, and Nextel are particularly weak
in rural areas. If your wireless company doesn’t have good coverage in
the Orlando area, rent a phone that does from InTouch USA (% 800-
872-7626; www.intouchglobal.com) or a rental-car location, but beware
that you’ll pay $1 a minute or more for airtime.
70Part II: Planning Your Trip to Walt Disney World & Orlando
If you’re not from the U.S., you’ll be appalled at the poor reach of our
GSM (Global System for Mobiles) wireless network, which is used by
much of the rest of the world. Your phone will probably work in most
major U.S. cities; it definitely won’t work in many rural areas. (To see
where GSM phones work in the U.S., check out www.t-mobile.com/
coverage/national_popup.asp). And you may or may not be able to
send SMS (text messaging) home. Assume nothing — call your wireless
provider and get the full scoop. In a worst-case scenario, you can always
rent a phone; InTouch USA delivers to hotels.
Accessing the Internet away from home
Travelers have any number of ways to check their e-mail and access the
Internet on the road. Of course, using your own laptop — or even a PDA
(personal digital assistant) or electronic organizer with a modem —
gives you the most flexibility.
But even if you don’t have a computer, you can still access your e-mail
and even your office computer from cybercafes. It’s hard nowadays to
find a city that doesn’t have a few cybercafes. Although there’s no defini-
tive directory for cybercafes — these are independent businesses, after
all — two places to start looking are at www.cybercaptive.com and
www.cybercafe.com.
Inside Walt Disney World, you can find an Internet cafe inside
DisneyQuest, and you can also send e-mail at Innoventions in Epcot,
though you have to pay the park admission fees to use the Web termi-
nals. Payphones with touch-screen displays offering Internet access
have been installed at locations throughout Walt Disney World; you can
access your e-mail for 25¢ a minute with a 4-minute minimum.
Aside from formal cybercafes, most public libraries offer Internet access
free or for a small charge. Avoid hotel business centers unless you’re
willing to pay exorbitant rates.
Most major airports now have Internet kiosks scattered throughout their
gates. These kiosks, which you’ll also see in shopping malls, hotel lobbies,
and tourist information offices, give you basic Web access for a per-minute
fee that’s usually higher than cybercafe prices. The kiosks’ clunkiness and
high price mean they should be avoided whenever possible.
To retrieve your e-mail, ask your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
whether it has a Web-based interface tied to your existing e-mail account.
If your ISP doesn’t have such an interface, you can use the free mail2web
service (www.mail2web.com) to view and reply to your home e-mail. For
more flexibility, you may want to open a free, Web-based e-mail account
with Yahoo! Mail (http://mail.yahoo.com). (Microsoft’s Hotmail is
another popular option, but Hotmail has severe spam problems.) Your
home ISP may be able to forward your e-mail to the Web-based account
automatically.
71Chapter 7: Taking Care of the Remaining Details
If you are bringing your own computer, the buzzword in computer access
is Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity), where you can get high-speed connection with-
out cable wires, networking hardware, or a phone line, and more and
more hotels, cafes, and retailers are signing on as wireless “hotspots.”
You sign up for wireless-access service much as you do cellphone service,
through a plan offered by one of several commercial companies that have
made wireless service available in airports, hotel lobbies, and coffee
shops. T-Mobile Hotspot (www.t-mobile.com/hotspot) serves up wire-
less connections at more than 1,000 Starbucks coffee shops nationwide.
Boingo (www.boingo.com) and Wayport (www.wayport.com) have set up
networks in airports and high-class hotel lobbies. Best of all, you don’t
need to be staying at the Four Seasons to use the hotel’s network; just set
yourself up on a nice couch in the lobby. The companies’ pricing poli-
cies can be Byzantine, with a variety of monthly, per-connection, and
per-minute plans, but, in general, you pay around $30 a month for lim-
ited access — and as more and more companies jump on the wireless
bandwagon, prices are likely to get even more competitive.
You can also find a few free wireless networks. To locate these free
hotspots, go to www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/Wireless
Communities.
WDW offers Wi-Fi access and high-speed Internet connections to guests
at several of its resorts, and all Universal Orlando’s resorts offer high-
speed Internet access. Most business and higher-end hotels in Orlando
offer at least an in-room dataport and several offer Internet connections.
You can bring your own cables, but most hotels rent them for around
$10. Call your hotel in advance to see what your options are.
In addition, major Internet Service Providers (ISP) have local access
numbers in Orlando, allowing you to go online by simply placing a local
call. Check your ISP’s Web site or call its toll-free number and ask how
you can use your current account away from home and how much it
will cost.
Keeping Up with Airline Security
With the federalization of airport security, security procedures at U.S.
airports are more stable and consistent than ever. Generally, you’ll be
fine if you arrive at the airport one hour before a domestic flight and two
hours before an international flight; if you show up late, tell an airline
employee and he or she will probably whisk you to the front of the line.
Bring a current, government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license
or passport. Keep your ID at the ready to show at check-in, the security
checkpoint, and sometimes even the gate. (Children under 18 don’t need
government-issued photo IDs for domestic flights, but they do for inter-
national flights to most countries.)
72Part II: Planning Your Trip to Walt Disney World & Orlando
In 2003, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) phased out
gate check-in at all U.S. airports. And E-tickets have made paper tickets
nearly obsolete. Passengers with E-tickets can beat the ticket-counter
lines by using airport electronic kiosks or even online check-in from
your home computer. To check-in online, log on to your airlines’ Web
site, access your reservation, and print out your boarding pass — the
airline may even offer you bonus miles to do so! If you’re using a kiosk
at the airport, bring the credit card you used to book the ticket or your
frequent-flier card. Print out your boarding pass from the kiosk and
simply proceed to the security checkpoint with your pass and a photo
ID. If you’re checking bags or looking to snag an exit-row seat, you can
do so using most airline kiosks. Even the smaller airlines are employing
the kiosk system, but always call your airline to make sure these alterna-
tives are available. Curbside check-in is also a good way to avoid lines,
although a few airlines still ban curbside check-in; call before you go.
Security checkpoint lines are getting shorter than they were during 2001
and 2002, but some doozies remain. If you have trouble standing for long
periods of time, tell an airline employee; the airline will provide a wheel-
chair. Speed up security by not wearing metal objects such as big belt
buckles. If you’ve got metallic body parts, a note from your doctor can
prevent a long chat with the security screeners. Keep in mind that only
ticketed passengers are allowed past security, except for folks escorting
disabled passengers or unaccompanied children.
Federalization has stabilized what you can carry on and what you can’t.
The general rule is that sharp things are out, nail clippers are okay, and
food and beverages must be passed through the X-ray machine — but
security screeners can’t make you drink from your coffee cup. Bring food
in your carryon rather than checking it, as explosive-detection machines
used on checked luggage have been known to mistake food (especially
chocolate, for some reason) for bombs. Travelers in the U.S. are allowed
one carry-on bag, plus a personal item such as a purse, briefcase, or laptop
bag. You can stuff all sorts of things into a laptop bag; as long as it has a
laptop in it, it’s still considered a personal item. The TSA has issued a list
of restricted items; check its Web site (www.tsa.gov/public/index.jsp)
for details.
Airport screeners may decide that your checked luggage needs to be
searched by hand. You can now purchase luggage locks that allow
screeners to open and re-lock a checked bag if hand-searching is neces-
sary. Look for Travel Sentry certified locks at luggage or travel shops
and Brookstone stores (you can buy them online at www.brookstone.
com). These locks, approved by the TSA, can be opened by luggage
inspectors with a special code or key. For more information on the locks,
visit www.travelsentry.org. If you use something other than TSA-
approved locks, your lock will be cut off your suitcase if a TSA agent
needs to hand-search your luggage.
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