RetiredChipmunk
DISBride
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2021
Hi everyone! Just wanted to give you some insight into our most recent experience flying down to Orlando last week:
Pre-Departure Testing:
-We found out from you wonderful folks here on this forum that cheaper Asymptomatic travel testing was a thing at Walmart, and immediately went on their website to book. Selected the option:
"Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing – Private Rapid Antigen Test
Click here to schedule your asymptomatic COVID-19 test at a Walmart Pharmacy"
$19.97
It only allowed you to book one at a time, at these intervals - 9:30 - 11:30 - 1:30 - 2:30 - 4:30 - 6:30. So I ended up booking my husband and I one day after the other at the same time and figured we could just pop by Walmart on the way home after work each time instead of trying to shop for two hours waiting for each other on one day. As it turns out - when we arrived for the first day, we just asked nicely if we could do it together and the staff said it was ok! We arrived about 10 minutes before the actual time but were promptly seated in a little room together, and tested one right after the other. She let us know that this would be ok for travel to Orlando, but she always recommends everyone to double-check with their airline. She also said that in the event that we tested Positive, we would have to do a PCR test and have that negative before we could fly. Swabbed both nostrils, not very deeply and then told us to come back in about 15 minutes - after browsing the appliance section for a bit we came back and we got it all printed out and signed - overall just a quick half-hour visit to Walmart! We rewarded ourselves by searching for fun plane-ride snacks to bring.
Word of advice, keep checking around midnight a week before to see when they release new dates/times, this worked for us! But apparently they book out superquick.
Departure and Test-Checking at the Airport
-Arriving at Pearson (Terminal 1), we showed our boarding passes on our phone and were directed to "Lounge 15" I think it was called. Essentially an overflow 'holding area' as a means of crowd control so there wouldn't be a massive line for security. There was an assortment of seating options scattered around - definitely something hastily put together to manage flow in the terminal. There were signed telling everyone to wait until their flight was called, then you'd be directed to another line which would take you to... the security line, which would ultimately lead to the customs/immigration line. Even though we arrived 3+ hours ahead of our flight, we waited in the holding lounge for about an hour before our flight was called.
And....not one person checked our test results, or even asked for them. Nobody at all! (Not sure if anyone's had the same experience)
Customs/Immigration
They had two dogs come through - one (a beagle) seemed to be sniffing out food and rewarded each time, which made for a bit of tense entertainment while waiting in line. Naturally everytime the dog would stop and sit by someone, everyone would turn and look while they person furtively reaches into their bag and pulls out some kind of food item (usually). Another, scarier dog came a few minutes afterward presumably searching for non-food contraband.
"Where are you going? Where will you be staying? Do you have anything to declare?"
And we were off!
Flight YYZ - MCO
Flight was meh, no in-flight entertainment and food for purchase. But it went by so quickly, it didn't matter!
Test-Checking / Vaccination Status at the Airport
Nothing to show or check on arrival.
(FREE) Beeper MD Testing right at our Hotel!
So we arrived around 1:30 pm, and when we booked Beeper MD through the website we were confirmed with a window between 1:00 - 3:00. We emailed them to let them know when we had a room number (since we didn't know it yet at time of booking) and they got back to us quickly saying they would let their staff member know. She texted us directly saying she was running behind and for us to relax. She didn't show up until after 4:30pm right at our room - but she was super nice, said A LOT of Canadians were using the service - but also a lot of people were booking them to "test it out" and not showing up or cancelling it beforehand which wastes their time, she explained they're dispatched like pizza delivery drivers and if they don't arrive in the timeframe the app that they use on their devices won't confirm the patient. She said not to worry, that we'll still get our results. Got them at 8:00pm the next night!
Getting the test results:
Got the results texted to us just about 27 hours afterwards.
Race Weekend and Jersey Week:
Oh it was busy, but not as bad as we had anticipated. The weather was awful though - cold and wet. Not the typical Florida passing rain shower, like hours and hours of rain and wetness and chilly winds. Merch made a lot of sales on sweaters for sure!
Note: WDW definitely exists in its own bubble-reality of mask wearing because as soon as we were off property, Floridians seemed completely like "NBD!" about masking, or distancing, or sanitizing. We did see pop up vaccine locations just in random places and shopping plazas, and in the airport and almost considered getting a 3rd booster shot.
The Marathon DID close off a number of access points to the highway so it took us an additional 30-40 minutes to just off Disney property on the way to the airport, so that was annoying.
The flight back to Canada MCO-YYZ:
We completed our ArriveCan the morning of our flight, and on arrival at the airport when we showed out digital boarding passes, they just printed off new ones for us. Quickly glanced at our Beeper MD tests and we were good to go.
Arrival into Pearson Airport, Customs / Immigration:
Seriously, no complaints we just breezed off the plane, and breezed right through to customs, I think we caught a lucky dead time. Oh BUT husband was "randomly selected for testing".
On Arrival testing at Pearson:
When you're "randomly selected" to be tested you get a little round pink sticker on your passport and a sheet of paper to hold to present on the way out. Just after baggage claim entering into the terminal is when they stop everyone to check their passports - little Green circle sticker on your passport means you're good to go home. Since my husband still had his little green sticker from our previous trip to LA, AND also his pink sticker they asked him which one he got today. He told the truth but really, might've been able to get away with it.
Also, the people who separate the crowd to be tested and not were REALLY intense. Like separating families and couples, a lot of passengers protesting. They chased after one guy, yelling that they thought had slipped away but he turned out to have a green sticker on his passport. The testing location is near the now-closed Goodlife Fitness; you're required to scan a QR code, Register for Switch Health, and continue for your test and they really try to move everyone along. Kinda super rushed and again, very intense people doing this.
The test was quick and easy and the results came back the next afternoon. Negative!
Pre-Departure Testing:
-We found out from you wonderful folks here on this forum that cheaper Asymptomatic travel testing was a thing at Walmart, and immediately went on their website to book. Selected the option:
"Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing – Private Rapid Antigen Test
Click here to schedule your asymptomatic COVID-19 test at a Walmart Pharmacy"
$19.97
It only allowed you to book one at a time, at these intervals - 9:30 - 11:30 - 1:30 - 2:30 - 4:30 - 6:30. So I ended up booking my husband and I one day after the other at the same time and figured we could just pop by Walmart on the way home after work each time instead of trying to shop for two hours waiting for each other on one day. As it turns out - when we arrived for the first day, we just asked nicely if we could do it together and the staff said it was ok! We arrived about 10 minutes before the actual time but were promptly seated in a little room together, and tested one right after the other. She let us know that this would be ok for travel to Orlando, but she always recommends everyone to double-check with their airline. She also said that in the event that we tested Positive, we would have to do a PCR test and have that negative before we could fly. Swabbed both nostrils, not very deeply and then told us to come back in about 15 minutes - after browsing the appliance section for a bit we came back and we got it all printed out and signed - overall just a quick half-hour visit to Walmart! We rewarded ourselves by searching for fun plane-ride snacks to bring.
Word of advice, keep checking around midnight a week before to see when they release new dates/times, this worked for us! But apparently they book out superquick.
Departure and Test-Checking at the Airport
-Arriving at Pearson (Terminal 1), we showed our boarding passes on our phone and were directed to "Lounge 15" I think it was called. Essentially an overflow 'holding area' as a means of crowd control so there wouldn't be a massive line for security. There was an assortment of seating options scattered around - definitely something hastily put together to manage flow in the terminal. There were signed telling everyone to wait until their flight was called, then you'd be directed to another line which would take you to... the security line, which would ultimately lead to the customs/immigration line. Even though we arrived 3+ hours ahead of our flight, we waited in the holding lounge for about an hour before our flight was called.
And....not one person checked our test results, or even asked for them. Nobody at all! (Not sure if anyone's had the same experience)
Customs/Immigration
They had two dogs come through - one (a beagle) seemed to be sniffing out food and rewarded each time, which made for a bit of tense entertainment while waiting in line. Naturally everytime the dog would stop and sit by someone, everyone would turn and look while they person furtively reaches into their bag and pulls out some kind of food item (usually). Another, scarier dog came a few minutes afterward presumably searching for non-food contraband.
"Where are you going? Where will you be staying? Do you have anything to declare?"
And we were off!
Flight YYZ - MCO
Flight was meh, no in-flight entertainment and food for purchase. But it went by so quickly, it didn't matter!
Test-Checking / Vaccination Status at the Airport
Nothing to show or check on arrival.
(FREE) Beeper MD Testing right at our Hotel!
So we arrived around 1:30 pm, and when we booked Beeper MD through the website we were confirmed with a window between 1:00 - 3:00. We emailed them to let them know when we had a room number (since we didn't know it yet at time of booking) and they got back to us quickly saying they would let their staff member know. She texted us directly saying she was running behind and for us to relax. She didn't show up until after 4:30pm right at our room - but she was super nice, said A LOT of Canadians were using the service - but also a lot of people were booking them to "test it out" and not showing up or cancelling it beforehand which wastes their time, she explained they're dispatched like pizza delivery drivers and if they don't arrive in the timeframe the app that they use on their devices won't confirm the patient. She said not to worry, that we'll still get our results. Got them at 8:00pm the next night!
Getting the test results:
Got the results texted to us just about 27 hours afterwards.
Race Weekend and Jersey Week:
Oh it was busy, but not as bad as we had anticipated. The weather was awful though - cold and wet. Not the typical Florida passing rain shower, like hours and hours of rain and wetness and chilly winds. Merch made a lot of sales on sweaters for sure!
Note: WDW definitely exists in its own bubble-reality of mask wearing because as soon as we were off property, Floridians seemed completely like "NBD!" about masking, or distancing, or sanitizing. We did see pop up vaccine locations just in random places and shopping plazas, and in the airport and almost considered getting a 3rd booster shot.
The Marathon DID close off a number of access points to the highway so it took us an additional 30-40 minutes to just off Disney property on the way to the airport, so that was annoying.
The flight back to Canada MCO-YYZ:
We completed our ArriveCan the morning of our flight, and on arrival at the airport when we showed out digital boarding passes, they just printed off new ones for us. Quickly glanced at our Beeper MD tests and we were good to go.
Arrival into Pearson Airport, Customs / Immigration:
Seriously, no complaints we just breezed off the plane, and breezed right through to customs, I think we caught a lucky dead time. Oh BUT husband was "randomly selected for testing".
On Arrival testing at Pearson:
When you're "randomly selected" to be tested you get a little round pink sticker on your passport and a sheet of paper to hold to present on the way out. Just after baggage claim entering into the terminal is when they stop everyone to check their passports - little Green circle sticker on your passport means you're good to go home. Since my husband still had his little green sticker from our previous trip to LA, AND also his pink sticker they asked him which one he got today. He told the truth but really, might've been able to get away with it.
Also, the people who separate the crowd to be tested and not were REALLY intense. Like separating families and couples, a lot of passengers protesting. They chased after one guy, yelling that they thought had slipped away but he turned out to have a green sticker on his passport. The testing location is near the now-closed Goodlife Fitness; you're required to scan a QR code, Register for Switch Health, and continue for your test and they really try to move everyone along. Kinda super rushed and again, very intense people doing this.
The test was quick and easy and the results came back the next afternoon. Negative!
