Highlights:
-Check here to check requirements to travel: https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions
(used by CAA and Air Canada)
-Expect to wear masks indoors, but not outdoors
-When getting a covid test:
-Walgreens ID Now test seems to be quickest most reliable appointment
-Beeper MD works if you are flexible as they often move appointment times
Canada-USA Border
We drove across the Windsor Detroit border using Ambassador bridge on Friday December 3rd around 9am. We parked our car at Quik Park and took a shuttle to the airport.
There was no lineup at the border. The border agent asked us where we were from, where we were going, and if we were all fully vaccinated. He scanned our passports, and that was it. At our next stop (the Quik Park), there was a shuttle waiting for us, so there was no wait at all in their parking lot. We put the parking ticket in our sun visor, helped load up our luggage, and away we went to the airport.
Detroit Metro Airport(DTW) to Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Our experience at Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) was smooth as well. Masks were mandatory indoors. We took our checked bags to Spirit’s bag check kiosk and printed/attached our baggage tags. The kiosk also printed our boarding passes. After dropping off the bags we headed to security(TSA). In Detroit, the line for the TSA was very short. Within 5 minutes we made it past the TSA, and were looking for a place to get food. Since the flight was domestic (starts and ends inside the USA), the TSA agent didn’t ask us if we were vaccinated and didn’t ask if we had done a covid test.
Three hours later we landed at Orlando International Airport (MCO). The airport was very crowded, but we had no problem popping into the disney store and grabbing some magic bands – and then heading down to get our luggage. Masks were mandatory indoors. Since this was a domestic flight, we were out very quickly.
We scheduled a private car service to take us to our hotel. Since the limousine had a barrier between us and the driver, we were able to take our masks off in the car.
The Hard Rock Hotel – Universal Studios
- Masks were required indoors, but not enforced
- Never felt crowded despite being full
- Short check in line
- Elevators were never busy
Universal Studios Theme Parks
- No mask policy
- Very crowded
Disney Hotel (DoubleTree – Disney Springs)
- Masks were required indoors, but not enforced
- Never felt crowded despite being full
- Short check in line
- Only 2 elevators and one was usually out of order, creating lineups
Disney Theme Parks
- Masks were required indoors and enforced
- Very crowded
Getting Covid Tests:
Our flight home was Sunday December 12th at 4pm, so I scheduled my family tests on Friday December 10th. I had Beeper MD come to my room between 7-9am and then scheduled Walgreen ID Now tests for each family member at 9:45am, 10am, 10:15am, and 10:30am. Both websites required a lot of information up front while registering.
Beeper MD:
On Thursday December 9th (a day before the appointment) I got a text notifying me that the appointment was moved from a 7am-9am Window to – 10:50am. I had to reply to the message if I wanted to keep the appointment – which I did.
The representative texted at 10am on the morning of the appointment and confirmed he would be at our address on time at 10:50am. I texted him back with our room number – and he was on time. He took samples, double checked paper work and made a quick video call with his supervisor to confirm our identity. The entire process for the 4 of us took less than 15minutes.
Beeper MD Results:
On Saturday December 11th at 2:46pm we got a text that 2 of our 4 results were ready. The other 2 results were texted to us at 4:50pm. So it only took them 32 hours to turn around the results. The results show that the lab did not receive the paperwork until 10am on the 11th, so the lab turn around time was very quick.
Walgreens:
5180 W IRLO BRONSON MEMORIAL HWY Kissimmee, FL
Since Beeper MD changed the appointment time, we ended up going to Animal Kingdom on Friday morning; We then ordered an Uber at 9:30am to make a stop at Walgreens and then a stop at our hotel. The Walgreens was a 15min drive and then the hotel was another 15min drive from Walgreens. I explained to the uber driver that we were going to get a drive through covid test and he was very understanding and had no problem with it.
Walgreens had to do a lot of paperwork for each of us and each time a car came up behind us, we had to drive around the building and get in line again. We spent about 30minutes at Walgreens. The Walgreen’s worker was very nice and guided us along and our uber driver was very nice and moved the car forward and back to ensure the worker could see each of us swabbing our noses.
This uber costed $37.75. I tipped him $30 cash and added an online tip option which was another $60.
We got back to our hotel room just in time for Beeper MD to show up.
Walgreen Results:
We had all 4 Walgren results by noon on Friday, so it only took 2 hours to process.
Note: I feel bad getting 2 test results, but I didn’t want to only book one company and then have something happen with their staff – and be stuck in the USA.
Once we had the covid test results, my wife entered all our information into the ArriveCan app and we continued with our trip.
Orlando International Airport (MCO) to Detroit Metro Airport(DTW)
Our experience at Orlando International Airport (MCO) was fairly smooth. Masks were mandatory indoors. We arrived around 1:30pm and took our checked bags to Spirit’s bag check kiosk and printed/attached our baggage tags. The kiosk also printed our boarding passes. After dropping off the bags we headed to security(TSA). In Orlando, the line for the TSA was about 25minutes. Since the flight was domestic (starts and ends inside the USA), the TSA agent didn’t ask us if we were vaccinated and didn’t ask if we had done a covid test. Once we made it past the TSA, we noticed all the restaurants were full with long lines, so we just grabbed some snacks and ate them at our gate.
Three hours later we landed at Detroit Metro Airport(DTW). The airport was not crowded. We headed down to get our luggage and again, since this was a domestic flight, we were out very quickly.
There was a Quik Park shuttle bus waiting for us, so there was no waiting around. We hopped in and were back at our car in a few minutes. We exited the parking lot (paying the attendant $111) and drove back to Canada.
Detroit-Windsor Tunnel
We decided to take the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel across. We got to the border around 8pm and there was no lineup. The border agent scanned our passports, asked us a couple questions about our trip and then let us go. He didn’t ask about vaccinations, or covid test results (probably because that information was linked to our passports through the ArriveCAN app). We had all our paperwork ready to show, but none was ever actually needed.
