US-Eh: What to Keep in Mind as a Canadian visiting Disney World

Believe it or not, there is an adjustment period. And I don't mean with the imperial system.

When a Canadian plans for a trip across the border, we usually have the same set of thoughts:

"I hope the exchange rate is in my favour."

"Why do US bills feel so fragile?"

"We should stop at Trader Joe's and Target before going home."

While all of these are valid, I have a few extra to throw into the mix when it comes to a visiting Disney World as a Canadian (or getting around Orlando in general). It's easy to forget about these things until you're driving to a park, enjoying the food, or recovering from the shock of using your Magicband to pay for everything without worrying about the math.

Sales Tax

Speaking of math - in general, we're used to doing the mental math to estimate the 13% HST on all our purchases (or if you're me, calculating 15% and then saying "yeah, somewhere around that"). You may also be like me when you walk past flyers and banners advertising a 15% sale and said "Oh yay, so essentially just the sticker price."

Despite the fact that the exchange rate between USD and CAD has almost never been in our favour, here's one thing that helps to balance the scales: Florida's state tax is 6%. That's less than half of our HST. That's less than Ontario's Provincial Sales Tax in 2010 before it became the Harmonized Sales Tax (I'm not old, YOU'RE old).

"Okay but how much does that MATTER, Rina?"

Well, let's do the math. Say you wanted to pick up this adorable Stitch T-shirt for your kid before heading to the parks. That T-shirt costs $8.99 USD ($12.49 CAD). If you somehow miraculously managed to buy that shirt for that price in Canada, your total purchase is $14.11 CAD. If you purchase that shirt in Florida, the total price is $9.53 USD, or $13.23 CAD.

"Wow Rina, that saved us less than a dollar. That's suuuuuch a great deal."

Listen, I'm not saying that this yields amazing discounts for us. But that difference in sales tax adds up quickly; I personally have never known anyone to buy a single item in Target. And this also applies to everything you buy in the state, like groceries, souvenirs, and meals. And who doesn't like saving even a little bit of money?

Banking Conversion Fees

Okay, last math-related one, I promise. This one is less fun. If you don't have a US Dollar credit card, like the BMO US Dollar Mastercard, all purchases that you make with your credit card will be subject to a conversion fee. For most major financial institutions, this is an additional 2.5% on top of whatever the conversion rate is at the time of purchase, on every purchase. Again, that's not a lot, but it adds up, and most of the time, you don't think about it until you check your bank statements after your trip. There are only two ways around this: cash, or specialty cards.

If you travel to the states often, there is an argument to be made for a US Dollar credit card. There's usually an annual fee ranging from $40 - $70 USD, but it allows transactions to be charged in USD, and the balance to be paid off in USD as well. This partners with a US Dollar chequing account to manage your USD transactions. While you still have to deal with currency conversions, you'll avoid the 2.5% markup on every transaction.

String Lights

It isn't everywhere in America, but look at the above photo. What. Why. Which one do I look at. On our first road trip across the border, we pulled up to the intersection, looked up at the lights twisting and swinging from the cables, and just thought "...is this why there are so many collisions here?"

If you're driving around Orlando, or doing a road trip to Disney, be aware that these are more common than expected, and they are always confusing. Most have a traffic light dedicated for each lane, and the lights for the left turn lane are inexplicably placed closer than the others, which means when you pull into the intersection, you can no longer see the light. These are, to this day, the worst part of any US road trip I take.

Maple Syrup

Ah, the endless debate; what's better, Canadian maple syrup or Vermont maple syrup? My answer should be obvious, but the more important point is: you cannot get either of these on Disney property.

Now I'm not sure about luxury restaurants like Le Cellier in the Canada pavilion of EPCOT, but those little maple syrup packets in the cafeteria? Maple-flavoured corn syrup. Now of course, there's nothing technically wrong with that, and we've all had Pearl Milling Company (previously Aunt Jemima's) maple syrup and gotten along just fine, but let me warn you that Disney's maple syrup makes Pearl Milling taste like the real thing. It's very cloying, with a weird chemical-y finish. Kind of like eating a Twinkie from a gas station (I will forever maintain that those taste way worse than the boxed ones from the grocery store, you cannot convince me otherwise).

Chances are, a good 90% of you will have rolled your eyes at this. For the other 10%, if you want to be as die hard about this as I am, and you have breakfast reservations in the parks, pack a small bottle of maple syrup. Yes, I am serious, yes, I have done this before. Make sure your bottle isn't glass, or else they won't let you bring it into the park. I did it once, and I'm sure those cast members will use it as a "wow Canadians are weird" story from how hard I begged them to not confiscate my maple syrup.

EPCOT

The World Showcase at EPCOT is a fun place to eat and drink around the world with your friends and family. The food and drinks are (usually) good, and it's fun to see the theming change with every featured country. Most people will say that each country's pavilion offers a small and interesting taste of what each country has to offer, almost like a mini tourism pitch to park-goers. Some are amazing, albeit a little stereotypical, like Japan and Mexico, while others are...confusing. Guess where Canada falls.

When other bloggers talk about the Canada pavilion, it's generally in connection to one of two things: the Le Cellier Steakhouse, home to the cheddar cheese soup, or the exclusive maple popcorn available from the popcorn cart. As a Canadian, whenever I stop by the pavilion, I always just...sigh. Canada in EPCOT is effectively reduced to a few key things:

• Parliament Building in Ottawa: Okay sure, this is a Canadian landmark, but it's also one of the most boring Canadian landmarks to choose from.

• Red telephone booths: Okay yes, we were originally a colony under British rule, but we don't actually have these. Not to mention these are much more commonly associated with the UK which also has their own pavilion.

• Our love of plaid and/or hockey: The Northwest Mercantile shop in Canada almost exclusively sells merchandise containing plaid, beavers and/or moose, or hockey; in some cases, it's a combination of all three. Are these incorrect? No. But fair warning, it will be jarring to see all the Canadian stereotypes quite succinctly boiled down to its key characteristics.

To be fair, there's also the Circle-Vision show Canada Far and Wide, featuring Canada's landscapes, narrated by national treasures Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy. It's beautiful, although a little long, but it feels a lot like an educational video you'd watch at the Ontario Science Centre; most people find it boring, and generally pass on the attraction entirely.

Now of course, I'm biased. Nothing they added to the pavilion is technically incorrect; but there definitely could have been more things added to really showcase (see what I did there?) Canada. Show off how beautiful Banff is, or have a feature attraction about the Alberta Badlands (aside from having an amazing name, it's home to the largest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world!). Change out Parliament for the CN Tower, replace the sad little creek running next to the pavilion with something inspired by Niagara Falls! Offer proper poutine, or butter tarts, or maple taffy on ice; something to really get people excited to visit, not just reach the end of World Showcase and go "oh...that's it?"

Queues

I am by no means saying that all Canadians are polite, or all Americans are rude. I'm just saying that we have different expectations in some social situations. For example, nothing irritates us faster than someone jumping a queue. From dirty looks to directly calling someone out, lining up properly is something we take pretty seriously, sometimes to almost comical lengths.

However, on some Disney rides, the queues are wide enough for three or four people to stand across, shoulder to shoulder. Cast members will generally tell people "all the way forward and all the way across". But what does that mean for the line? It means that you don't have a set space in the queue. Generally you'll be herded, en masse, to a secondary holding room, like in the queues for the Haunted Mansion. It's on these queues that people will try to move around others to move up the queue faster. Is this line jumping? ...Debatable. What it does do though is immediately raise my blood pressure and cause me to start trying to create a human wall with my husband to block people from doing that. Prepare yourselves, and just accept that queues generally won't be the same until you cross the border again.

Sorry Not Sorry

The only thing more stereotyped about Canadians than our use of "eh" is the frequency with which we apologize. And it's not wrong. I have walked into a door and proceeded to apologize automatically to the door. Multiple times. It's a natural (and national) reflex to respond to us inconveniencing someone, or experiencing something inconvenient, with "sorry". From accidentally bumping someone while walking past or interrupting someone's conversation, to apologizing to a person holding the door open for you because you've taken more than 2 seconds to reach said door, we will apologize for anything, even if we don't mean it or think about it.

What that means, however, is that we are generally unprepared to say "sorry" to someone and have the response be anything but "sorry" or "no worries". Which means that when you bump shoulders with someone in the parks and let out an immediate "oh sorry" and receive silence, or worse, an "mhmm" in return, it can almost feel like a social contract has been broken. Just remember, we're not on home turf, and it isn't rude to not return a "sorry" with a "sorry" of your own. Also, sorry for saying sorry so much.

Iced Tea

Wrapping this up on a lighthearted note; we all know the stereotypes about American food being loaded with sugar. Well, a note of fair warning to Canadian travellers, the major exception to this rule is their iced tea.

American iced tea is generally served unsweetened; I did not know this I ordered a glass in a restaurant, took a sip, and almost spat it everywhere in surprise. Iced tea in the US truly does taste like black tea that had been brewed and poured over ice, with no sugar. If you want your iced tea sweetened, you'll have to specify it with the waitress, and also request a wedge of lemon with it to have the taste you're used to.