Before you go... A "to-do" list
I only have a few weeks left before my arrival date and I am beginning to feel a little bit like Rapunzel over here.... So much to do and so little time! But over the past three months I have really been focusing on making this experience as enjoyable and seamless as possible which requires me to be on my A-game when it comes to accomplishing important things before leaving. There are quite a few things that had to be done before I leave for Florida so this post aims to highlight some of those things. However, as the number of days leading up to your arrival date dwindle down, I hope the number of things on your to-do list also become less and less (although at this point I feel like I keep adding things to mine! so much to do so little time). So here’s a list of some things you might want to do before you go!
Figure out how you’re getting to Orlando? Decide how you are getting to Orlando early so that you can purchase tickets early if you need to. Many people that I have been talking to are flying to Orlando. I am so so lucky because my parent’s have been kind enough to offer to drive me. Even though the drive to Orlando is a lot longer, it ends up saving me some money and I also can bring more stuff with me! For example, instead of having to purchase bedding while I am down there, I can bring some from home. I also am able to bring some “luxury” items that are totally unnecessary but I definitely want to have with me (like some extra kitchen items and my Christmas decorations). So not only should you figure out how you are getting there so that you can buy tickets early if you need to, but it will also inform you on how much stuff you can pack!
Think about housing? Disney provides you will housing while you are there (as an international participant you must stay in their housing), but they give you some options in regards to apartment complexes and types of apartments. You also may be able to request a roommate depending on your arrival group. This is something you should consider before you get the DORMS email asking you to register for housing so that when you do get the email you are able to register quickly and efficiently. For example, my (hopeful) roommate and I discussed our housing preferences prior to receiving the DORMS email so that when we got the email, whoever was available could register us as soon as possible. There are TONS of blogs out there about housing preferences so I probably won’t go too in depth into this topic but when I write my blog post about housing after I arrive, I will link some especially helpful ones.
Give two weeks notice? I'm sure it would be hard to keep Disney a secret all the way up to two weeks before you leave, so I assume your current employer will know you are leaving long before you do. However, it is still considered proper and professional to formally give two weeks notice prior to leaving. Some people who are going at the same time as me even opted to end work a few weeks before their arrival date so that they could focus on getting everything that they needed to do prior to leaving without being too too busy. I ultimately skipped this step because I ended my teaching contracts in June and only babysat occasionally throughout the summer, but it's still an important one for many people.
Make a doctor’s appointment? I made a doctor’s appointment just for a routine check up to ensure healthiness before I left the country and also to get my prescriptions refilled. I went to my doctor’s office and was pretty much there for a sum total of 15 minutes, enough time for my doctor to confirm that I was healthy and to give me some solid advice…. “So since you’re moving to Florida I guess I should remind you that the Zika virus is creeping up so don’t get pregnant while you are there.” (LOL) Even though I really didn’t need to see the doctor for anything other than a prescription refill, it was nice to confirm that I didn’t need any additional medical treatment (ie. vaccines) or have any health issues before leaving.
Get prescription refills? Your emergency medical travel insurance will not cover you for prescriptions prescribed to you in Canada that you can get in Canada. Therefore, if there is a prescription you need throughout your time in Florida, you should get a couple of refills (or even a year’s worth) before you leave. Warning: if you don’t have benefits this could be expensive… once again adulating sucks.
Taxes? Everyone has to file taxes so you might want to consider what you will do when tax season rolls around in the new year. Where will your T4’s from the previous year get sent to? Is your accountant familiar with filing mixed Canadian and American taxes? Will you have to come home at all during tax season? You might want to give your current accountant a call prior to leaving the country to get an idea of what might happen during this time.
Talk to your financial advisor? I had a meeting with my financial advisor a few weeks before I left to discuss what would happen with my accounts while I was gone. Basically I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be charged huge banking fees on accounts I wouldn’t really be using for a year. I also was contributing to an TSFA on a monthly basis but I decided to stop those payments while I am away. Banking will be discussed more in depth in a future blog post.
Let your bank know you are leaving the country? Everyone should do this. If you are going to the USA only for a day and use your card a couple of times, chances are you will still have access to your bank accounts. But if all of a sudden your bank notices you are only using the card in the US and that seems “uncharacteristic” of you according to your banking history, they could freeze your accounts without notifying you and then you have no access to money. Letting your bank know in advance that you are leaving the country will ensure you have continued access to your accounts. Make sure you call your bank/credit card provider directly to notify them because your bank teller or financial advisor won’t be able to do this for you.
Get your finances in order? Bill payments are not something that just magically disappear when you decide to go to the most magical place on earth (sad). For example, I will have to continue paying off my student loans while I am away and I also anticipate that I will have to pay some taxes in the new year. I really don’t want to have to worry about these things while I am away and I don’t want to have to pay into these things using my Disney pay checks because Lord knows they won’t be anything spectacular. Before leaving I also had to put out $1000 for medical insurance and I also know that I will have to bring some money with me to Orlando for the first couple weeks until I begin getting a steady pay check from Disney (approximately 21 days after I arrive). Therefore, I have been carefully watching my money and budgeting prior to leaving so that I was able to fully pay my travel insurance, I will have approximately $1000 to bring with me to Florida for my first couple of weeks, and I will also have enough money in my bank account for my monthly student loan payments and in anticipation for taxes in 2017.
Recalculate your student loans? Let’s all admit that student loans suck and if you don’t have student loans I am sincerely jealous of you. I was actually pretty lucky because I worked throughout my five years of university and so I was able to pay a good chunk of my yearly tuition on my own and only got a little bit of financial assistance. I mean, I still have quite a bit of student loans to pay off but it is less than many people end up having after 5 years. For the past year I had been paying more than the minimum payment in hopes of paying off my student loans as fast as possible, however once the Disney opportunity arose I decided to recalculate my student loans so that I was paying slightly less per month. This decision kind of sucked but it will help me financially throughout the next year. Once I come home from Disney I plan to up my monthly payment again to make up for it.
Extend your GHIP? You most likely have to contact your provincial health insurance provider prior to leaving. In Ontario you are only covered by OHIP for 212 days while you are out of the province. However, if you tell them that you are leaving and provide proof (ie. your Disney program acceptance letter), they will extend your health insurance for the full time while you are away. This is discussed more in my blog about travel insurance.
Change your address? If you are lucky like me, your current lease will end only 9 days before you leave the country (although some people may say it’s unlucky with the amount of packing I have to do in two weeks before I leave!). But this might also mean that you won’t be returning to this address when you return to Canada. Therefore you might want to change your address to an address of someone you know living in Canada that any important mail could be directed to while you are away. For example, I changed my address with Service Ontario (affecting my driver’s license and health card specifically) and with my bank/credit cards to my parent’s house for the time being while I am away.
Renew anything? If you have anything set to expire while you are away that you can’t just renew online, you might want to renew it before you leave (for example, your driver’s licence, licence plates, health card, credit cards, etc.).
Cancel your cellphone plan? This was discussed more in depth in my blog post about cell phones but you may need to either cancel your cell phone plan or suspend your plan prior to leaving. This is something I suggest you figure out a few weeks before you leave so there are no last minute surprises. I plan to cancel my cell phone right before my billing cycle renews on the 1st of September and will purchase a new US cell phone plan around the same time.
Decide what you are doing with your car? Maybe you will bring it to Florida, maybe you will put your car into storage, maybe you will sell it, or maybe you are like me and will take it to a junk yard (my car was SOOO crappy… for example, the turn signals didn’t even work – so just imagine me doing hand signals out the window of my little cavalier for the past 6 months). No matter what you decide, you will need to figure out what will happen with your car prior to you leaving because depending on your course of action there will be other side steps to take. For example, since I was throwing my car in the garbage, I also needed to cancel my car insurance and return my license plates to Service Ontario.
Consider purchasing tenant’s insurance? Tenant’s insurance (also referred to as renter’s insurance) is something that I learned about a year ago when my boyfriend and I decided to get our own place, because our landlord required us to have it. Basically you have it to protect yourself from anything that might happen to your belongings in your apartment in case of a disaster (ie. fire, flood) and it’s actually pretty cheap and it’s nice to have for peace of mind. Even though Disney doesn’t require you to have tenant’s, they do recommend that you have it. I pre-emptively looked into renter’s insurance through Geico and was given an online quote of approximately $15 per month. If you do decide to purchase tenant’s insurance, it’s something that you pretty much have to wait to do until you get to Orlando and know your address, but it is still something good to think about leading up to your arrival date.
It's super helpful to create your own personalized list prior to leaving (mine is in my phone and then I allocate tasks in my day planner on a week by week basis). You might even have some other things on your to-do list that I haven't even thought of! But whatever you may have to do, I hope you are able to do them with ease and these things aren't too time consuming to complete!
NOTE: This blog post was inspired by Morgan's similar blog titled "The things nobody tells you about" which can be found here: http://morgansdisneycrp.blogspot.ca/2016/08/the-things-nobody-tells-you.html
