Cell Phones, Bank, and Health Insurance - OH MY!

Well, Disney is getting closer and closer so I've been trying to sort out banking, phones, and health insurance before I go down. Here's what I've found!

Cell Phone
A lot of people go with the "Pay As You Go" plans from Walmart. You can buy a phone really cheaply and just fill it up with the prepaid cards. I have 3 concerns with this: 1. You'll go through cards like mad, and it could end up costing you a fortune. 2. You can't get a text message plan, and most of your money is probably going to go to text messages. 3. It doesn't have voice-mail, and my parents really want to be able to call my cell and leave a message if I'm not in my apartment.

I looked into getting a plan from one of the major telephone companies, Sprint, Telus, etc. but all of them require 2 year contracts with huge fees for canceling early. Definitely not worth it! Then I found Virgin Mobile!

Virgin Mobile (http://www.virginmobileusa.com/) allows you to have a cell phone plan without an annual contract! You buy your phone and activate it online and you can choose a regular pay as you go option, or you can have a monthly plan! Give them a credit card or debit card and they will withdraw the amount of the plan at the beginning of the month! You can cancel or switch plans at any time! Best of all it comes with great text messaging plans and free voice-mail!

Bank
When talking to people there seems to be two main choices: Partners Federal Credit Union (the Disney bank) or Sun Trust, the bank in the plaza across from the housing complexes. I checked out their web pages and decided on Partners (http://www.vistafcu.org/). Partners has cheap rates, free debit (or check) card, free cash withdrawal from Partners bank machines (located at each park and in the various housing complexes). Plus, they will come and do a presentation to the CRP's during orientation and you can sign up then. They'll even arrange direct deposit for your paycheck. It sounds like the easiest option to me.

Health Insurance
Disney requires that you have 4 months of health insurance when you arrive. Then you can go on the Disney plan which will be directly withdrawn from your pay (I'm not sure the details of this plan). My dad and I were looking at it, though, and it seems cheap and easy to just extend the travelers insurance for the entire year.

To do this in Ontario you need to get approval from the government to extend your OHIP during your absence from Ontario. It's fairly simple. Just find your local OHIP office that handles absences. Bring your birth certificate, drivers license, and another card with your name and signature (such as a credit card, passport, or social security card). You also need a letter from your employer that is written on letterhead and contains confirmation of the job you've been offered and the dates of employment. Some people just took their visa, and apparently that was good. They'll process it the same day, and take your picture (not sure what for, I haven't extended mine yet but the very nice lady on the phone said that they'll take your picture... it might be because I still have my old red and white health card). After that you're good to go and can buy your extended insurance :).

So that's what I've learned about getting prepared for Disney... hope it helps!