Please bring a second set of eyeglasses

[phamton]

Just a reminder for those who wear glasses: please bring a second set with you when you travel to Orlando. Twice this week, guests from the UK have lost or broken their glasses on rides and didn't have a second pair. One was on Dec. 24 and the other was today (Christmas Day). Although there are several places that will make glasses within the hour, they all require a doctor's prescription for the glasses. This means you have to have an eye exam from an optometrist or an opthalmologist before you can get your glasses. This takes time and over the Christmas holidays, there were no eye doctors available as they were closed for the holidays. Both guests had driven rental cars to the parks and were not able to drive after losing their glasses. We were willing to call a taxi but then the car would be left in the parking area overnight.

So if you can't see without your glasses or contacts, please bring a second set with you. An eye exam usually runs around $100 (U.S.) and glasses run around the same price. So not only will you lose a day travelling to the eye doctor and getting glassses made, you will be out around $200.

 

[Miffy2003]

That is very good advice! Not sure I would ever have thought to take a spare set but I will in future.

Thank you

 

[Scottish-Helen]

Thanks for the reminder. We had a car accident on holiday a few years ago and the lens came out of DH's glasses, luckily he was able to pop it back in but it would just be easier to have a spare pair.

 

[florida sun]

Thank you for the advice, I wear glasses and Contact lenses, but have never thought to bring a spare pair of glasses and would not like to wear my lenses for the remainder of the holiday the whole time.


Thank You


Sue

 

[NotUrsula]

If you have a spare pr., by all means bring them (and if you wear contacts and have a backup pr. of glasses, bring those), but if you don't, the second-best thing to do is to bring an official copy of your prescription with you.

Ask your eye dr. to write up an extra copy of the prescription and carry it with you; this will at least allow you to avoid the time and expense of an examination. Lense prescriptions are written the same way in most of the world, and as long as you paying up front (not asking the optical dispensary to bill an insurance company for the cost), should not have any hesitation in filling a scrip from overseas, as long as it is written in standard medical latin.

This is always a good idea when travelling, even domestically, especially if you positively NEED to be able to drive.

Of course, if at all possible, you want to avoid losing glasses in the first place. A good quality sports eyeglass retainer is a worthwhile investment, especially if you love the more thrill-oriented rides, or especially, water slides. "Croakie" brand neoprene retainers are excellent quality, and are sold throughout Florida at genl. mdse. stores, chemists, convenience stores, etc. Another good idea is a zippered eyeglass case that can be worn securely clipped to a belt loop; especially useful for those who alternate between Rx sunglasses and regular eyeglasses.

 

[Cyrano]

Good advice as I would only have thought to bring prescription sunglasses as well as normal glasses

 

[Laurafoster]

Also if you wear prescription sunglasses too, my fiance lost a pair whilst on holiday last year and had to wear normal glasses all holiday, and it was september so still really sunny lol.At least if you have the prescription they can get you a pair done in a few hours!

 

[jax100]

it's not always possible to get a new pair with your own prescription, depends on your prescription. we took my dh prescription for glasses with us on hol and the optician couldnt do anything for him. it has something to do with our system is different from the us and in some cases a pair of glasses here are illegal in the states. so what a uk optician can do a us one cant. it had something to do with the thinning of the lenses. so the best bet is take spare glasses with you too.

 

[dean colly]

I know they can have issues if you have a difficult prescription.

I have bad eyesight and they were having trouble thinning lenses. Something to do with their rules.

 

[magicgirl]

I need glasse and can not imagine going on holiday without a spare pair. I also have an old pair just in case. Mind you I can not see a thing without them so I am carefull

 

[SimonV]

That's great advice, Phamton. Thanks for popping over from the Universal Boards!!

 

[disneyholic family]

we always take spares for everyone, especially given that DH is blind as a bat without them.

He kind of learned his lesson back when we were in University (centuries ago).
He (stupidly) wore (and lost) his glasses riding a roller coaster. It was the hardest day of his life getting back to where his spare pair were.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

I always take my prescription with me, whilst the syatem used is different, the opticians seem to be happy with understanding the differences.
Also, if this is a problem, many of the stores like sears etc.. have a optician in house.

 

[disneyholic family]

I always take my prescription with me, whilst the syatem used is different, the opticians seem to be happy with understanding the differences.
Also, if this is a problem, many of the stores like sears etc.. have a optician in house.

all of the major chains do as well. And they'll make glasses for you in practically no time at all. It's good in an emergency, but not for real quality glasses. But in an emergency, it's ok.

Still a spare pair is a better bet....although, if something happens to the spare, then you're stuck getting a new pair there....

 

[phamton]

Also, if this is a problem, many of the stores like sears etc.. have a optician in house.

That is true but unfortunately, there weren't any opticians available on Christmas eve and Christmas Day. One person lost his glasses on Dec. 24th around noon and we couldn't find an optician available until Dec. 26th. That meant he couldn't drive his rental car back to the hotel for 2 days--- Not to mention, that was 2 days lost from his vacation as he couldn't see at all without his glasses.

 

[Olaf]

Lenscrafters is the place to go. They have a huge selection and the service is great. They're in all the malls. They aren't cheap by our standards, but you get what you pay for. The lady at my local Lenscrafters has told me that they frequently get Europeans in with their doctor's prescriptions, and they buy several pairs of glasses.

Here's the link.

Lenscrafters

 

[disneyholic family]

Lenscrafters is the place to go. They have a huge selection and the service is great. They're in all the malls. They aren't cheap by our standards, but you get what you pay for. The lady at my local Lenscrafters has told me that they frequently get Europeans in with their doctor's prescriptions, and they buy several pairs of glasses.

Here's the link.

Lenscrafters

can't imagine why europeans would want to buy glasses in the states...
anything from europe is typically going to be much more expensive in the states....
for example, the frameless plastic ones (Zeiss?) come from europe and are generally quite expensive in the states....

 

[kazzie]

That is great advice,thanks for taking the time to post

 

[Frances999]

can't imagine why europeans would want to buy glasses in the states...
anything from europe is typically going to be much more expensive in the states....
for example, the frameless plastic ones (Zeiss?) come from europe and are generally quite expensive in the states....

I'm not so sure about that Beth. Many things are considerably cheaper in the USA compared to our prices. I purchase my contact lenses from the USA and I also bought a pair of glasses on our last trip, simply because the particular pair I wanted was cheaper over there by about 20%. I guess some of the European models may cost more, but I believe most are cheaper by comparison to our prices.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'm not so sure about that Beth. Many things are considerably cheaper in the USA compared to our prices. I purchase my contact lenses from the USA and I also bought a pair of glasses on our last trip, simply because the particular pair I wanted was cheaper over there by about 20%. I guess some of the European models may cost more, but I believe most are cheaper by comparison to our prices.

the lower quality ones are probably cheaper in the states...which i suppose are good as a spare pair...but i wouldn't use them as my main pair of glasses...
the higher quality swiss glasses are more expensive in the states.......

all four of us wear swiss made glasses and they are much more expensive in the states than in Europe (and usually aren't sold in the big chains in the states)...perhaps they're more expensive in the UK (makes sense since just about everything is wildly overpriced in the UK)....