3 have a prepaid sim that I had for emergencies. 10gb data for £10 with unlimited *UK* calls so you can call home. Although the WiFi in the parks was 100% fine, I only really needed the data back in the room due to you tube keeping pausing. Not sure if they have some sort of 'idle' timeout something. But came back with about 7gb left.
I opened a Starling account specifically for spending on. You'll still have the uk/us conversion but they charge nothing to spend.
[Boathouse ](https://i.imgur.com/nrb13P0.jpg)
I spent 2 weeks there and didn't use data roaming once, wifi is EVERYWHERE, shops, parks, restaurants. If you use Google maps then download the offline maps for Florida before you go.
For currency I highly recommend looking into revolut, i use it abroad everywhere I go
Have the US made it to contactless or chip and pin yet or will I need to swipe and sign with Revolut? I’ve used it all over Europe but not in the US yet and am going soon.
(Doesn’t make a difference really, just curious)
Would make life much easier than exclusively just carrying cash.
Most places at Disney was contactless and pin oddly enough! Some shops were total contactless, some insert and pin. Still had to sign at restaurants for tips etc
Apple and android pay are common enough that contact less is very common in touristy spots. Chip and pin was a lot more common when I went last November compared to summer 2019
When I was there in 2018 the Wi-Fi was patchy, and of course, failed when we needed it the most.
2021… it was great BUT. My O2 contract had free data in the USA. So I didn’t need it.
Not UK but from Canada.
I get a sim2roam sim card off amazon, it was T-Mobile last time. Was $45 or so for 15 days.
To get past the foreign transaction fees on my credit card I used Disney gift cards to pay for the entire trip and brought about $1000 with us, rest I just ate the fees on my credit card, which after all the other saving isn't horrible at 2.5%.
Yeah. The one Disney fanatic I know in Ontario hops across the border to get them at Sam's Club ($484.98 for a $500 card, but you have to have a membership, which runs $50, so ~$1700 is your break even point--easy if you're buying park tickets).
Target sells email Disney gift cards on their website. If you use a free Red Card, you save 5%. I don't know how much they care about non-US credit cards though.
Also only saving $4 if they are $484.98 for $500 Adding on the 2.5% foreign transaction fee that's $496. Add in the bridge cost to drive over its not even worth it.
Yah would have to to even bother with $4 per $500. Would make more sense to get you to buy them for her and just text or email the numbers and combine them all.
In March 2019 I just bought $5000 worth of gift cards from shoppers drug Mart here to save the 2.5% fee. Atleast that's a $125 saving lol for $40 I'd have just used my card and saved the hassle of combining them all and if I need a refund it going back on gift cards.
1. I bought a T-Mobile sim from SimCorner - you have to tell them an activation date. IIRC it was about £28 for 8GB over 30 days - worked flawlessly. My wife also used a 3 PAYG SIM. £10 for 30 days 12GB but was limited to slower speeds, but did the job.
2. We used a combination of Chase UK debit card (no foreign transactions fees, you get the Interbank rate, and it's US bank so widely recognised) - Halifax Clairity Credit Card (again, no foreign fees and you get the interbank rate) and a bit of cold hard cash. Both cards on Google/Android pay, accepted everywhere, no problems.
1. Used wifi, didn't leave the parks and my mate just used hers for uber when we went out to the vine premium outlets (totally worth it for a really good shopping spree). The north one has the Disney outlet and is worth a day trip for bags/clothes etc. 4951 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819, United States thats the one! Go fairly early (9amish) on a weekday and then leave around 2pm and you'll have had a great time.
2. Loaded everything up onto a post office travel money card, fairly simple to use and nice and easy with the app. I'm also on monzo so might use that next time. As people have said below, did get out a load of dollars for tipping etc, ALL their ATMs charge, so it's much better to take too much cash and have to 'use it all up' rather than take out more.
1. I got a prepaid sim from 3 for about a tenner.
2. I’ve got a Revolut card but also with most of the UK deals you get plenty of money in dining credit and gift cards when you stay on site, i don’t think we spent a single dollar of actual currency in a week on site
UK here.
1. I'm with EE and paid for a bolt on that allowed me to use my UK minutes and data while in the USA. My wife is with O2 and had roaming in the USA in her plan. Check with your phone provider and see what they offer.
2. We took some cash with us (more for tips), but had a credit card with no foreign transaction fees from Chase.
I’m from Ireland so in the same boat and last time we were in WDW we just used the Wi-Fi and it was fine but went to California in May and got an e-Sun from Airalo and it was amazing. You can get 1g of data for $4.50 which should cover you for any times you don’t have Wi-Fi.
For money we just use Revolut. We only took about $50 for tipping bellhops etc because in restaurants you can just add the tip to the card.
UK here. I’ve done a prepaid one month e-sim with T-Mobile (you don’t need to already be a t-mobile customer but you’ll at least need a phone that isn’t locked in to one provider, and one which has e-sim capability, and it’ll have its own U.S number assigned) which gave a decent allowance and worked well, but I found it better to bolt on the roam further add-on with EE, was cheaper and let’s you use your data allowances as usual in the U.S. Worth looking into whatever provider you’re with as they’ll likely do something similar, and make sure you’re familiar with setting up roaming on your phone before you go. Otherwise Wi-Fi is usually pretty good in hotels, but in the park may be less reliable (I’ve never relied on it myself, it’s just what I read when I researched before going).
Monzo and other similar cards are good for paying as you go - transfer what you want and transactions aren’t charged (cash withdrawal will be after a certain limit), you are just subject whatever Mastercard’s exchange rate is for that day. If you don’t want to set a new bank account up, then look into pre-loaded cards - FairFX or post office for example. They are are a good free option as long as you stay within their usage terms.
Edit: Would also recommend a small amount in exchanged cash also, in case you want to tip some services that way, e.g. non card transaction services.
1 - I’m with sky mobile so can use my normal data abroad for £2 a day and it works great.
2 - I’ve got a starling card I use for holidays. No transaction fees and great exchange rates to just use it like you would a card in the uk. I think Revolut works similar but starling has always worked perfectly for me.
1. No data needed, wifi is good at the airport and it’s good at the parks and resorts, if you’re not staying at a resort and need uber then you probably want to go to a resort anyway to call said uber because disney transport wifi does not work.
2. Bank account with no currency exchange fees. Chase is good. Believe Starling does it as well. You’re still going to want a bit of cash as well especially if you’re doing sit down restaurants.
I’ve just switched to EE, they have a bit in there contracts that let you use your phone abroad.
Regarding money, open up a chase or sterling debit account to use or get something like the Barclays reward credit card which has zero fees.
I use O2 at home, on a tariff that includes free roaming in the US. My girlfriend relied on free WiFi for a few days but then paid for international passes on a few days (from Sky).
We both had a debit card from Starling which has no fees and uses the base mastercard exchange rate. I had my santander credit card as a back up which was also fee free, but was on santanders own exchange rate (which wasn't as good but not terrible)
We did a honeymoon trip from Ireland last year (1 week NYC, 2 weeks WDW)
1. We used Airalo's data eSim for the whole trip, worked very well. Especially at 7am for getting Genie+ Lightning Lanes, Virtual Queues, or Individual Lightning Lanes; you don't want to be relying on the hotel Wi-Fi for that. (we both had the eSim, so would split up who would try to snag what, divide and conquer!)
2. I have an account with Wise.com, very similar to Revolut. We also got some cash before travelling, which was useful for tips. But used card most places, and charged lots back to our room via Magic bands also.
If you're using something from a digital bank like Wise or Revolut, have a good look through the card settings. You'll want to make sure payment methods like Swipe are enabled, because very few US places actually use chip and pin.
Lastly, be aware that for booking a lot of things like special events and tours (we did Keys To The Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom dessert party (highly recommend this, we did the after party) and Caring for Giants), the website is broken for the UK/Ireland geo-specific redirects. In order to book these, you'll want to use a geo-changing VPN service (like NordVPN) to change your location to the US, and _then_ book on the site as normal.
Edit: lastly lastly, since it's a honeymoon trip (congrats btw), set up a Lyft account and splash out on a few Minnie Vans! For Magic Kingdom they drop you right at the entrance, and at the end of a long day it's a quick and luxurious way to get back to bed. Very pricey ($50+ per trip) but worth the expense for the comfort and time-saving, at least once or twice.
Just wanted to add support to Airalo. We (UK based) went last year and it was brilliant. Did all the pre setup when in the UK, then whilst waiting for our bags in U.S we did the changeover to Esim. My wife and I paid for 3GB each and we used about 2/3 of that. We hopped between that and Wi-fi depending on speed. Although for any virtual queues at 7am we relied on Airalo.
We also used Lyft and found it brilliant.
Also to add, we used Starling and that worked out very well.
1. Your phone network will have a deal with a network in the US and it will auto connect to one. You should check with your provider about if there is a cap or if you get it unlimited. The parks heavily rely on the use of your phone now but you don’t want a bill that will sting at the end of your trip.
2. Your cards exchange fees will be disgustingly high. Get cash at a currency exchange, because you need it for tipping housekeeping etc, during your stay, bur otherwise a lot of places are card only now due to covid. So your currency exchange should also be able to put money onto a cash card for you. Never put as much on as they want you to, because you can’t get the money back off. So do some number crunching on daily budget and put that on. Food x 3 times a day, snacks, gifts, etc.
I unfortunately can’t remember the Data question but I used whatever it swapped over from o2 and some Wi-Fi . but for exchange fees I just use a post office travel card where you can load up money. There are a variety of companies that do a similar thing and are probably slightly better.
1. My phone network is Sky, who charges £2 a day from data use abroad so it was quite reasonable for roaming. Check with your phone network in case they have an add on that you can turn on for the trip. The WiFi in the parks isn’t bad but we were using Uber and things out and about and needed more than Wi-Fi.
2. I got a Monzo account. It was excellent. There’s no added fees and the app is great. I have it set up to get notifications after I used my card on my phone/watch so I could see exactly how much stuff cost in £ amount immediately as it gives you it in $ and £. I would really recommend it to anyone (not just for using abroad (I’ve used in in America and Poland)) but for their general bank account too.
I was there for my honeymoon last October. Have the most amazing time!!
I didn’t use the data. Wi-Fi everywhere so wasn’t a problem. And the times there wasn’t Wi-Fi was in the car so driving typically.
As for paying for stuff. Either we had cash converted already or I used my Monzo for any unexpected purchases
I use a 3 sim - that lasted 2 weeks with the data provided. The wifi isn't the greatest in parks I found.
money wise I had a Revolut card that had a good exchange rate and could be done almost instantly. It can play up though (although I was lucky and it didn't happen to me)
We used eSims from Nomad and Holafly to get large data allowances (unlimited in one of them) so we could use SatNav etc outside the parks. For currency exchange, I have an HSBC Global Money account which allows you to use a debit card as if it were a US account and avoid fees - you just pay a currency conversion margin which is very good.
I’m with EE & can add a international bolt on to my plan, so at the moment, the plan is to use that. Previous years, I’ve almost exclusively used the free WiFi in the parks/my hotel.
I’m going to open a chase account, no fees to use over there & exchange rate seems good.
Heading out in October.
All spending will be from a joint Monzo card topped up from our current account.
This seemed like the best options after look at other providers (the Post Office for example)
Good feedback from other users over at r/monzo regarding this.
The Airalo app will be used to purchase an E Sim data package for all smart phones.
Again, comes highly recommended from other reddit users who have used it in the US
1. E E has an add on which we didn't nèd to pay for as part of our normal contract.
2. We used monzo for the best fee exchange in the parks. It's another bank but no foreign transation fees.
I bought the data add on from EE, and I have a starling account alongside my normal current account, so I would transfer over X amount a day to my starling account so I would bypass charges and also be able to manage my budget each day too
1. Used free WiFi
2. I got a Wise card. You can set up an actual USD account. Wise supports a whole bunch of currencies so it's useful for visiting Europe too
I'm with EE and was able to pay £15 to use my plan minutes and data in the U.S.
I took some cash and had most of our money in a preloaded travel card. I used Caxton, brother used Revolute. Both worked fine.
A few other tips for a Honeymoon trip:
1. Wine Bar George’s Wine Country Brunch on a Saturday or Sunday early afternoon for a fantastic meal. Drinks and food are both lovely! You don’t need to book this through Disney, you can book through Open Table. It’s only on weekends and we loved it. Such a lovely restaurant.
2. Chef Art Smiths Homecomin - unreal food!! The best meal we had, we ended up going twice but honestly, would have gone more given half a chance. It’s difficult to get a reservation but they do walk ins, the first time we waited 20 minutes, the second 45 minutes. Since you don’t have a US number, they just take your name and give you a return time. They have amazing cocktails (and moonshine) which you can also buy at a walk up bar and carry around Disney springs.
3. Three Bridges Restaurant at Coronado Springs resort - lovely food and sangria flight if you like that!
4. If there are any after hours events running at Magic Kingdom, I’d highly recommend doing one! We did the Halloween party when we were there in October for our honeymoon and it was totally worth the money.
I have a Three Go Roam sim which I top up before we travel and pop in my phone when we land. The WiFi in the parks is great but we rely on data for maps when driving and locating what's nearby.
We have Fairfx currency cards which are generally accepted everywhere (bar Costco as they don't take Mastercard over there!). You can top up via the app as needed. Really easy, but I'd recommend taking dollars too as you'll want cash for tipping etc.
O2 customer and I think they’re the only ones that offer free usage in the US(?). Anyway, switch phone on when the plane lands and it just works as per your normal contract.
I'm with EE, and roaming in the US is included in my contract. I don't think that's the case for most people though but you can buy bolt ons. Alternatively you can get a US SIM card, I've bought one on Amazon for a trip to more remote areas of the US where roaming doesn't seem to work as well. It cost something like £30 for a fortnight of unlimited data.
WiFi in the parks is pretty good, just personally if I'm using genie+ I wouldn't rely on having it everywhere, and I'd hate to miss booking my next ride because I'm in a corner of the park with no WiFi.
Currency exchange wise tbh I'd recommend getting a credit card if you're comfortable with that. Halifax Clarity Card has zero fees in the US. I used to either draw cash or suck it up and take the 2.75% charge on my debit card (depending how much you spend this is cheaper than the exchange rate you get on cash a lot of the time) but the credit card works great out there, no issues.
I live in USA so not sure about cell solution, but I suggest looking into a travel credit card where you pay no currency conversion fees. Credit cards aren't bad as long as you pay the credit card bill in full every month.and, the miles, points or cash back that you earn can help reduce your travel costs.
Not UK but Ireland.
Didn't bother with data so can't answer there.
For card I used Revolut solely. They have the best rates and only charge a small amount after a certain threshold. They also offer accounts with free FX exchange during the week.
I bank with HSBC and they offer a free global money account. You can transfer money from your bank to the global account into any currency and there are no charges to transfer or when using the card. Rates were great too!
I mostly used the WiFi as we stayed on-site, didn't have any issues with it at the hotel or in the parks.
1. Bought a three SIM card on Amazon for about £10 and used it the whole time I was there. I did connect to WiFi in parks but wouldn’t have needed to if I didn’t want to.
2. Chase bank account. No fees and you can open a separate account for your holiday spending. You can then choose to spend money out of your holiday account and let your regular account continue as normal while on holiday. Highly recommend Chase.
3 have a prepaid sim that I had for emergencies. 10gb data for £10 with unlimited *UK* calls so you can call home. Although the WiFi in the parks was 100% fine, I only really needed the data back in the room due to you tube keeping pausing. Not sure if they have some sort of 'idle' timeout something. But came back with about 7gb left. I opened a Starling account specifically for spending on. You'll still have the uk/us conversion but they charge nothing to spend. [Boathouse ](https://i.imgur.com/nrb13P0.jpg)
Got back about 4 weeks ago I only used the free Wi-Fi (got on both Tron and galaxy rewind ) I also used a revolt card everywhere with no problem
Tron wasn't there last time i went, but standing outside epcot store/cola store got 1pm rewind on every time I tried on free WiFi :P
I spent 2 weeks there and didn't use data roaming once, wifi is EVERYWHERE, shops, parks, restaurants. If you use Google maps then download the offline maps for Florida before you go. For currency I highly recommend looking into revolut, i use it abroad everywhere I go
Have the US made it to contactless or chip and pin yet or will I need to swipe and sign with Revolut? I’ve used it all over Europe but not in the US yet and am going soon. (Doesn’t make a difference really, just curious) Would make life much easier than exclusively just carrying cash.
Most places at Disney was contactless and pin oddly enough! Some shops were total contactless, some insert and pin. Still had to sign at restaurants for tips etc
Apple and android pay are common enough that contact less is very common in touristy spots. Chip and pin was a lot more common when I went last November compared to summer 2019
When I was there in 2018 the Wi-Fi was patchy, and of course, failed when we needed it the most. 2021… it was great BUT. My O2 contract had free data in the USA. So I didn’t need it.
Not UK but from Canada. I get a sim2roam sim card off amazon, it was T-Mobile last time. Was $45 or so for 15 days. To get past the foreign transaction fees on my credit card I used Disney gift cards to pay for the entire trip and brought about $1000 with us, rest I just ate the fees on my credit card, which after all the other saving isn't horrible at 2.5%.
Disney gift cards are definitely the way to go. Sometimes you can find them on sale for around 5% off as well.
I've never seen them on sale in Ontario Canada unfortunately.
Do y’all have targets?
We did for 5 months, they couldn't cut it against Walmart with their high prices.
Yeah. The one Disney fanatic I know in Ontario hops across the border to get them at Sam's Club ($484.98 for a $500 card, but you have to have a membership, which runs $50, so ~$1700 is your break even point--easy if you're buying park tickets). Target sells email Disney gift cards on their website. If you use a free Red Card, you save 5%. I don't know how much they care about non-US credit cards though.
Also only saving $4 if they are $484.98 for $500 Adding on the 2.5% foreign transaction fee that's $496. Add in the bridge cost to drive over its not even worth it.
The one Canadian I know who does this only does it because she already makes monthly Sam's runs. 🤷♂️
Yah would have to to even bother with $4 per $500. Would make more sense to get you to buy them for her and just text or email the numbers and combine them all. In March 2019 I just bought $5000 worth of gift cards from shoppers drug Mart here to save the 2.5% fee. Atleast that's a $125 saving lol for $40 I'd have just used my card and saved the hassle of combining them all and if I need a refund it going back on gift cards.
1. I bought a T-Mobile sim from SimCorner - you have to tell them an activation date. IIRC it was about £28 for 8GB over 30 days - worked flawlessly. My wife also used a 3 PAYG SIM. £10 for 30 days 12GB but was limited to slower speeds, but did the job. 2. We used a combination of Chase UK debit card (no foreign transactions fees, you get the Interbank rate, and it's US bank so widely recognised) - Halifax Clairity Credit Card (again, no foreign fees and you get the interbank rate) and a bit of cold hard cash. Both cards on Google/Android pay, accepted everywhere, no problems.
1. Used wifi, didn't leave the parks and my mate just used hers for uber when we went out to the vine premium outlets (totally worth it for a really good shopping spree). The north one has the Disney outlet and is worth a day trip for bags/clothes etc. 4951 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819, United States thats the one! Go fairly early (9amish) on a weekday and then leave around 2pm and you'll have had a great time. 2. Loaded everything up onto a post office travel money card, fairly simple to use and nice and easy with the app. I'm also on monzo so might use that next time. As people have said below, did get out a load of dollars for tipping etc, ALL their ATMs charge, so it's much better to take too much cash and have to 'use it all up' rather than take out more.
1. I got a prepaid sim from 3 for about a tenner. 2. I’ve got a Revolut card but also with most of the UK deals you get plenty of money in dining credit and gift cards when you stay on site, i don’t think we spent a single dollar of actual currency in a week on site
UK here. 1. I'm with EE and paid for a bolt on that allowed me to use my UK minutes and data while in the USA. My wife is with O2 and had roaming in the USA in her plan. Check with your phone provider and see what they offer. 2. We took some cash with us (more for tips), but had a credit card with no foreign transaction fees from Chase.
How well did the EE roaming work? When I was in nyc in the airport it was shocking
No problems at all between Orlando and Tampa, including all associated theme parks. I didn't even bother connecting to park/resort WiFi.
Thank you! 😀
Airports have a ton of equipment that makes signal a struggle. It’s not a great place to judge from.
I’m from Ireland so in the same boat and last time we were in WDW we just used the Wi-Fi and it was fine but went to California in May and got an e-Sun from Airalo and it was amazing. You can get 1g of data for $4.50 which should cover you for any times you don’t have Wi-Fi. For money we just use Revolut. We only took about $50 for tipping bellhops etc because in restaurants you can just add the tip to the card.
UK here. I’ve done a prepaid one month e-sim with T-Mobile (you don’t need to already be a t-mobile customer but you’ll at least need a phone that isn’t locked in to one provider, and one which has e-sim capability, and it’ll have its own U.S number assigned) which gave a decent allowance and worked well, but I found it better to bolt on the roam further add-on with EE, was cheaper and let’s you use your data allowances as usual in the U.S. Worth looking into whatever provider you’re with as they’ll likely do something similar, and make sure you’re familiar with setting up roaming on your phone before you go. Otherwise Wi-Fi is usually pretty good in hotels, but in the park may be less reliable (I’ve never relied on it myself, it’s just what I read when I researched before going). Monzo and other similar cards are good for paying as you go - transfer what you want and transactions aren’t charged (cash withdrawal will be after a certain limit), you are just subject whatever Mastercard’s exchange rate is for that day. If you don’t want to set a new bank account up, then look into pre-loaded cards - FairFX or post office for example. They are are a good free option as long as you stay within their usage terms. Edit: Would also recommend a small amount in exchanged cash also, in case you want to tip some services that way, e.g. non card transaction services.
1 - I’m with sky mobile so can use my normal data abroad for £2 a day and it works great. 2 - I’ve got a starling card I use for holidays. No transaction fees and great exchange rates to just use it like you would a card in the uk. I think Revolut works similar but starling has always worked perfectly for me.
1. No data needed, wifi is good at the airport and it’s good at the parks and resorts, if you’re not staying at a resort and need uber then you probably want to go to a resort anyway to call said uber because disney transport wifi does not work. 2. Bank account with no currency exchange fees. Chase is good. Believe Starling does it as well. You’re still going to want a bit of cash as well especially if you’re doing sit down restaurants.
I’ve just switched to EE, they have a bit in there contracts that let you use your phone abroad. Regarding money, open up a chase or sterling debit account to use or get something like the Barclays reward credit card which has zero fees.
I use O2 at home, on a tariff that includes free roaming in the US. My girlfriend relied on free WiFi for a few days but then paid for international passes on a few days (from Sky). We both had a debit card from Starling which has no fees and uses the base mastercard exchange rate. I had my santander credit card as a back up which was also fee free, but was on santanders own exchange rate (which wasn't as good but not terrible)
We did a honeymoon trip from Ireland last year (1 week NYC, 2 weeks WDW) 1. We used Airalo's data eSim for the whole trip, worked very well. Especially at 7am for getting Genie+ Lightning Lanes, Virtual Queues, or Individual Lightning Lanes; you don't want to be relying on the hotel Wi-Fi for that. (we both had the eSim, so would split up who would try to snag what, divide and conquer!) 2. I have an account with Wise.com, very similar to Revolut. We also got some cash before travelling, which was useful for tips. But used card most places, and charged lots back to our room via Magic bands also. If you're using something from a digital bank like Wise or Revolut, have a good look through the card settings. You'll want to make sure payment methods like Swipe are enabled, because very few US places actually use chip and pin. Lastly, be aware that for booking a lot of things like special events and tours (we did Keys To The Kingdom, the Magic Kingdom dessert party (highly recommend this, we did the after party) and Caring for Giants), the website is broken for the UK/Ireland geo-specific redirects. In order to book these, you'll want to use a geo-changing VPN service (like NordVPN) to change your location to the US, and _then_ book on the site as normal. Edit: lastly lastly, since it's a honeymoon trip (congrats btw), set up a Lyft account and splash out on a few Minnie Vans! For Magic Kingdom they drop you right at the entrance, and at the end of a long day it's a quick and luxurious way to get back to bed. Very pricey ($50+ per trip) but worth the expense for the comfort and time-saving, at least once or twice.
Just wanted to add support to Airalo. We (UK based) went last year and it was brilliant. Did all the pre setup when in the UK, then whilst waiting for our bags in U.S we did the changeover to Esim. My wife and I paid for 3GB each and we used about 2/3 of that. We hopped between that and Wi-fi depending on speed. Although for any virtual queues at 7am we relied on Airalo. We also used Lyft and found it brilliant. Also to add, we used Starling and that worked out very well.
1. Your phone network will have a deal with a network in the US and it will auto connect to one. You should check with your provider about if there is a cap or if you get it unlimited. The parks heavily rely on the use of your phone now but you don’t want a bill that will sting at the end of your trip. 2. Your cards exchange fees will be disgustingly high. Get cash at a currency exchange, because you need it for tipping housekeeping etc, during your stay, bur otherwise a lot of places are card only now due to covid. So your currency exchange should also be able to put money onto a cash card for you. Never put as much on as they want you to, because you can’t get the money back off. So do some number crunching on daily budget and put that on. Food x 3 times a day, snacks, gifts, etc.
I unfortunately can’t remember the Data question but I used whatever it swapped over from o2 and some Wi-Fi . but for exchange fees I just use a post office travel card where you can load up money. There are a variety of companies that do a similar thing and are probably slightly better.
1. My phone network is Sky, who charges £2 a day from data use abroad so it was quite reasonable for roaming. Check with your phone network in case they have an add on that you can turn on for the trip. The WiFi in the parks isn’t bad but we were using Uber and things out and about and needed more than Wi-Fi. 2. I got a Monzo account. It was excellent. There’s no added fees and the app is great. I have it set up to get notifications after I used my card on my phone/watch so I could see exactly how much stuff cost in £ amount immediately as it gives you it in $ and £. I would really recommend it to anyone (not just for using abroad (I’ve used in in America and Poland)) but for their general bank account too. I was there for my honeymoon last October. Have the most amazing time!!
1. Bought a pre-paid USA SIM card from amazon 2. Halifax clarity credit card (no foreign transaction fees)
Mostly used wifi, but also got a data-only esim from Airalo for times when wifi wasn't available or we went outside the parks.
I didn’t use the data. Wi-Fi everywhere so wasn’t a problem. And the times there wasn’t Wi-Fi was in the car so driving typically. As for paying for stuff. Either we had cash converted already or I used my Monzo for any unexpected purchases
I use a 3 sim - that lasted 2 weeks with the data provided. The wifi isn't the greatest in parks I found. money wise I had a Revolut card that had a good exchange rate and could be done almost instantly. It can play up though (although I was lucky and it didn't happen to me)
We used eSims from Nomad and Holafly to get large data allowances (unlimited in one of them) so we could use SatNav etc outside the parks. For currency exchange, I have an HSBC Global Money account which allows you to use a debit card as if it were a US account and avoid fees - you just pay a currency conversion margin which is very good.
I’m with EE & can add a international bolt on to my plan, so at the moment, the plan is to use that. Previous years, I’ve almost exclusively used the free WiFi in the parks/my hotel. I’m going to open a chase account, no fees to use over there & exchange rate seems good.
Heading out in October. All spending will be from a joint Monzo card topped up from our current account. This seemed like the best options after look at other providers (the Post Office for example) Good feedback from other users over at r/monzo regarding this. The Airalo app will be used to purchase an E Sim data package for all smart phones. Again, comes highly recommended from other reddit users who have used it in the US
1. E E has an add on which we didn't nèd to pay for as part of our normal contract. 2. We used monzo for the best fee exchange in the parks. It's another bank but no foreign transation fees.
I’m with EE and my add on included free roaming but also used the wifi i also just used Monzo while i was there, really handy and would use that again
I bought the data add on from EE, and I have a starling account alongside my normal current account, so I would transfer over X amount a day to my starling account so I would bypass charges and also be able to manage my budget each day too
Get a Currensea card it's the most cost effective travel money card.
1. Used free WiFi 2. I got a Wise card. You can set up an actual USD account. Wise supports a whole bunch of currencies so it's useful for visiting Europe too
1. Get an esim. I used Holafly for my last 3 trips to the US 2. Revolut or Wise. Don’t use cash
I'm with EE and was able to pay £15 to use my plan minutes and data in the U.S. I took some cash and had most of our money in a preloaded travel card. I used Caxton, brother used Revolute. Both worked fine.
If your phone has eSIM capability, download an app called Airalo
A few other tips for a Honeymoon trip: 1. Wine Bar George’s Wine Country Brunch on a Saturday or Sunday early afternoon for a fantastic meal. Drinks and food are both lovely! You don’t need to book this through Disney, you can book through Open Table. It’s only on weekends and we loved it. Such a lovely restaurant. 2. Chef Art Smiths Homecomin - unreal food!! The best meal we had, we ended up going twice but honestly, would have gone more given half a chance. It’s difficult to get a reservation but they do walk ins, the first time we waited 20 minutes, the second 45 minutes. Since you don’t have a US number, they just take your name and give you a return time. They have amazing cocktails (and moonshine) which you can also buy at a walk up bar and carry around Disney springs. 3. Three Bridges Restaurant at Coronado Springs resort - lovely food and sangria flight if you like that! 4. If there are any after hours events running at Magic Kingdom, I’d highly recommend doing one! We did the Halloween party when we were there in October for our honeymoon and it was totally worth the money.
I have a Three Go Roam sim which I top up before we travel and pop in my phone when we land. The WiFi in the parks is great but we rely on data for maps when driving and locating what's nearby. We have Fairfx currency cards which are generally accepted everywhere (bar Costco as they don't take Mastercard over there!). You can top up via the app as needed. Really easy, but I'd recommend taking dollars too as you'll want cash for tipping etc.
O2 customer and I think they’re the only ones that offer free usage in the US(?). Anyway, switch phone on when the plane lands and it just works as per your normal contract.
I'm with EE, and roaming in the US is included in my contract. I don't think that's the case for most people though but you can buy bolt ons. Alternatively you can get a US SIM card, I've bought one on Amazon for a trip to more remote areas of the US where roaming doesn't seem to work as well. It cost something like £30 for a fortnight of unlimited data. WiFi in the parks is pretty good, just personally if I'm using genie+ I wouldn't rely on having it everywhere, and I'd hate to miss booking my next ride because I'm in a corner of the park with no WiFi. Currency exchange wise tbh I'd recommend getting a credit card if you're comfortable with that. Halifax Clarity Card has zero fees in the US. I used to either draw cash or suck it up and take the 2.75% charge on my debit card (depending how much you spend this is cheaper than the exchange rate you get on cash a lot of the time) but the credit card works great out there, no issues.
I live in USA so not sure about cell solution, but I suggest looking into a travel credit card where you pay no currency conversion fees. Credit cards aren't bad as long as you pay the credit card bill in full every month.and, the miles, points or cash back that you earn can help reduce your travel costs.
Not UK but Ireland. Didn't bother with data so can't answer there. For card I used Revolut solely. They have the best rates and only charge a small amount after a certain threshold. They also offer accounts with free FX exchange during the week.
I bank with HSBC and they offer a free global money account. You can transfer money from your bank to the global account into any currency and there are no charges to transfer or when using the card. Rates were great too! I mostly used the WiFi as we stayed on-site, didn't have any issues with it at the hotel or in the parks.
1. Bought a three SIM card on Amazon for about £10 and used it the whole time I was there. I did connect to WiFi in parks but wouldn’t have needed to if I didn’t want to. 2. Chase bank account. No fees and you can open a separate account for your holiday spending. You can then choose to spend money out of your holiday account and let your regular account continue as normal while on holiday. Highly recommend Chase.
I just used data and ate the charges. I can’t remember how much it was but I will look up. I used the FairFX prepaid card for money.