Ah yes, I never thought of that! More hassle than it's worth I would think. I'll try get it done here before I go. Thanks
That's probably not early enough. It takes a while before the CAA will have added your NR to the licence, and only once that's done can you initiate the 61.75 process. Which in itself might take a week or two.
I'd plan on at least four weeks between finishing the practical requirements for the EASA NR, and your flight to Florida to pick up the FAA 61.75 PPL and start hour-building.
As I said a check ride to me is an hour with an instructor.
Actually there's a bit more to it than that. It's formally called a BFR - Biennial Flight Review. It's a rolling currency requirement: You have to have done a BFR in the last two years otherwise your licence is not valid today. This applies to both 61.75 PPLs and standalone PPLs.
BFRs are conducted by regular instructors - you don't need an examiner and it's not an exam which you can fail. It consists of an hour ground school and an hour in the air minimum, and as such is typically a bit more involved than what we Europeans understand to be a "check ride". Only once the instructor is satisfied with your performance he/she will annotate your logbook, and you're good to go.
So once you've picked up your shiny new 61.75 PPL, don't expect to just fly a few circuits before you're being let loose. The rules require a full BFR (two hours total).
It's probably wise to think about what *you* want to achieve in these two hours. There are some marked differences between the US and Europe, and you may want to focus on these specifically. Especially R/T procedures ("flight following" vs. "basic service", "unicom"/"CTAF" frequencies at uncontrolled fields) are different, but you may also want to read up on stuff like "0800-WX-BRIEF" and maybe the FAA flight plan form.