Florida Health & Safety Tips & Tricks - Orlando / Florida Guide
Add your own review about this subject to share with other viewers.
Florida is one of the safest places you can visit as everything is geared upfor tourism for your visit. So here's a few tips and tricks to keep you andyour family safe. You'd probably take some of the measures at home anyway sothey won't necessarily come as much of a surprise, but there are a fewparticularly Floridian only ones to look out for. Airport Security Checks As you can imagine, these are pretty comprehensive these days but for yourown good. Remember not to pack in your hand luggage any sharp objects (knives,scissors, tweezers, knitting needles, etc) as these will be confiscated beforeyou get on the plane. In the USA, there are very thorough security checks before you enter theDeparture Lounge area and these can cause slight delays. You will be asked toplace your hand luggage on the conveyor for x-ray, remove your laptop from itscase and send it through separately, your jacket or coat and perhaps even yourshoes. The walk through security archway is set to a much higher sensitivitylevel than it used to be so you may need to remove your belt, coins from yourpockets, etc. ALWAYS make sure that you send one of your party to go throughfirst so that they can collect up and keep an eye on your luggage when it comesoff the conveyor belt - make sure that everyone has collected everything. Don't make any jokes to security staff about the checks as they take a verydim view of this type of behaviour and they take security very seriously. Youmay find yourself missing that flight. Driving This is pretty relaxed in Florida so, if you haven't driven there before,don't worry. Make sure that you understand the car controls before you driveaway from the car rental garage and, if you don't, ASK! Some cars have selflocking doors - when you reach a particular speed, the doors lock. If your cardoesn't do this for you, lock the doors yourself. Always keep your windowsclosed - this helps the air conditioning to work better and also stops bugs frombeing sucked into the car. Remember that you should be driving on the right side of the road -concentrate when you're tired, have started after parking somewhere and alsowhen you're turning left. Delegate one of your passengers to navigate for you(or read out the driving directions). If you do happen to get lost, drive to awell lit and populated area (a garage or gas station is ideal) to ask directionsor use the phone. Carry your driving licence and car rental documents with you at all times. Always put your headlights on when you switch on your windscreen wipers and beltup (it's the law). Never drink and drive - not only are the US drink drivinglimits much lower than in the UK, it will also keep everyone else on the roadsafe. If a yellow school bus stops in front of you with its lights flashing,you MUST stop until the flashing lights have been turned off. If someone bumpsyour car from behind in a dark area, motion to the driver to follow you to awell lit and populated area. When you park, make sure that any valuables and maps are left out of sight inthe boot/trunk but note that the heat in your car may well ruin your film inyour camera or even your camera itself. Note that it is illegal to leavechildren alone in a car that is locked, even with the windows open. Never park on a sidewalk/pavement as this is an offence - as is parking in adisabled parking bay. There are very strict speed limits and lots of Highway Patrol cars with radarguns. Always keep within the speed limits and note that some major roads haveminimum speed limits too. On Holiday We hope you won't need them but, for the emergency services, dial 911. You may need to obtain permission from your travel insurance company beforeseeking treatment for non-life threatening illnesses or accidents - check yourinsurance policy documents. If you should be unfortunate enough to be involvedin a car accident, remember to contact the police as well as the car rentalcompany. Florida has a lot of wildlife that may not be commonly seen elsewhere. Please enjoy the wildlife from a distance and remember not to feed any wildcreatures, even if they do look cute! Be particularly careful with ants,spiders, snakes and alligators (although you may not see any of these duringyour trip). Look out for small sandy mounds in grass and don't tread on these (make surethat you and your children always wear shoes when walking on grass). These areinhabited by fire ants which are very small red coloured ants. If you're bittenby these, the stings can be very painful, come up in blisters which last severaldays and sometimes become infected (you can buy ant bite treatment from anysupermarket or pharmacy). Some spiders can be spiteful too if they're disturbed so treat these withcaution. Some snakes, as in the UK, are venomous and, as you're unlikely toknow the difference, keep away from these if you spot any. Alligators should be self explanatory! Never get anywhere near these and onno account feed them. Note that it is illegal to feed some types of birds too for which there is afine if you're reported by a local. Make it a rule never to feed, chase,harass or get near any wildlife. At The Theme Parks The car parks at these are absolutely vast - remember that you left your carat Mickey Row 36 (or whatever) as you could spend hours looking for it when youcome out of the theme park. No-one ever makes this mistake twice! There are water fountains dotted around so make sure that everyone drinksplenty of fluids and doesn't get dehydrated. This is particularly important forthe little and elderly ones in your group. Wear comfortable shoes as you'll be walking and standing a lot and don't wearjeans if you're going on a water ride where you're likely to get wet - they takehours to dry out and you'll feel very uncomfortable! Make sure that kids arewell covered in high factor sun block - even when it looks cloudy, you can stillget sunburn and no-one wants their holiday ruined with this or worse,sunstroke. Make sure that kids preferably wear a hat with some neck protectionand a top with sleeves to protect them from the sun. If anyone feels ill or has any medical problems in the theme parks, most ofthem have a medical center (check your park map) for you to go to for treatmentor just reassurance that all is well. General Security Wherever you're staying, make sure that you lock the door when you go out orat night. If there's a security alarm, make sure that you set it each time youleave. Always go through a fire plan with the rest of your party, make sure you knowwhere the emergency exits are and pick a meeting place well away from thebuilding where you can join up again. If you're shopping, then keep tight hold of your bag (the same as you woulddo at home) and don't take all your money and jewellery out with you. If youraccommodation has a safe, then make sure that you use it! Unfortunately,whilst crime rates are low, not everyone is on holiday. Before letting anyone into your accommodation, make sure you know who theyare. Hotel or management company employees should have identification to showto you or telephone before they arrive. Beware of door to door sellers (who often have 'bargain' meat, fish, etc'left over' from someone else's order). These are nearly always scams. As at home, always ensure that your rental car is locked each time you leaveit. Don't leave valuables or shopping lying around inside so that it can beseen. It's a good idea to take photocopies of your passports, insurance documents,etc and leave these at home with someone you can contact easily in anemergency. Take the originals on holiday with you. Pool & Sun Safety Read our separate topic on pool safety. Sun safety is very important if you don't want to ruin your holiday withpainful sunburn or sunstroke. Even if it's cloudy, you can still get sunburntso use an appropriate sun protection and cover up. Take particular care of thelittle and elderly ones in your party. Floridians tend to be very modest and public nudity is against the law. Theywon't hesitate to report you if they think you're showing too much. It isillegal in Florida for females to be topless in any public area (which includesyour villa pool area) and the wearing of swim thongs is also a problem. Thisalso applies to small children who should wear pants/nappies/diapers at alltimes whilst outside in public view. Page added on: 21 July 2004
Author: Irene Stephenson & Carol Hall (Villa link: www.orlandovillas.com /florida-vacation-rental-150.aspx) We aim to provide acccurate and useful information, but if you feel anything provided here is not accurate or out of date, please email us with the address of the page concerned and any commments so we can amend as necessary.
Bookmark This Article
These sites allow you to store and share links over the internet. You can share the links with other users or just use them to access your links from any computer you are using. More information is available here.
Add Your Own Review
|
Delicious
Facebook
StumbleUpon
reddit
Yahoo MyWeb