So, it's been a couple of weeks since we returned from our first return visit to Disneyland since the 60th in 2015. I had planned to start this report shortly after our return but things have been very busy and I'm only finding some time to get started now.
To bring you up to speed, Kelly and I were sitting around one day in mid-August daydreaming about some type of Disney trip and when we might finally be able to get back to the parks after what has felt like an eternity thanks to COVID. Well, it turned out that the daydreams became a reality in very little time and we ended up booking a trip back towards the end of August.
Without re-hashing the entire story, feel free to review the PRE-TRIP report which includes a lot of focus on the new COVID measure for Canadian travelers and a few live trip posts. Big thank you to all of those who provided suggestions leading up to the trip and for following along as we tried to bring you along with our Instagram stories.
Without further ado, let's dive right in, shall we?
THE LEAD-UP
Ok, I know much of this is included in the pre-trip report but I think it's worth touching on really quickly for any other Canadians who might read this. As we know, there are several new requirements in order to travel into the States and back home to Canada. As we only had a couple of weeks to get everything in order, we needed to move pretty quickly to bring ourselves up to speed on what was needed in order for us to cross the border without any issues.
The main thing was, of course, to be COVID negative! I'd say we were pretty cautious leading up to the trip with the exception of a wedding we attended the week before. We were both paranoid that our trip might not get off the ground if somehow we needed up getting sick so we played things pretty close to the house until it came time for our pre-travel tests. Thankfully mainland entry to the US only requires a negative antigen test which we were able to do at a local drugstore for $40/each. The results came back negative within 15 minutes and we at least knew we'd be able to make it to Disney!
Aside from the testing, there were several forms and health questionnaires we needed to fill out, one from the CDC, one from LAX, and we wanted to ensure we had our proof of vaccination with us at all times. Our province is one of the only in Canada that is not moving towards a vaccine passport so we had to print our records and try to rely on an app that was seemingly not accessible at all times when outside the country. Thankfully everything that we did prepare in advance was more than what we required, but not knowing what to expect leading up to the first cross-border trip in this COVID era, did cause a little extra stress.
If you are a Canadian and thinking of taking a trip, feel free to DM us if you have any questions. Happy to share our experience with you.
Now to the good stuff!
AUGUST 26 - TRAVEL DAY AND DCA!
We knew this was going to be odd traveling without the girls, especially to a Disney destination. Somehow they seemed ok with us going away but deep down we knew it would be tough on all of us not being able to share in this experience. Yes, we did travel to WDW for the 2020 Marathon Weekend without the kids but that likely did them a favour given the crazy early wake-up calls and time spent in running corrals!
Anyways, with the kids shipped off to the grandparents the night before, our alarm was buzzing shortly after 4 am local time to get us up and moving for the airport. With the lack of flights, we had no direct to LAX options for this trip so we were to fly from Edmonton to Vancouver before making our way to LA.
Not knowing what to expect at the airport we made sure to arrive early just to be safe. We walked into the ticketing terminal shortly after 530, dropped off our bags, and zipped through security. The only noticeable change was the fact everyone was wearing masks. We didn't get many questions about vaccines or COVID outside of producing the negative test results.
First stop was to find a bite to eat while we waited for our first flight. The airport was pretty busy which kinda caught me off guard but it was nice to see people traveling again.
We found a table at one of the airport restaurants and order some breakfast to fuel up for what was going to be a long day.
it has been so long since I've had an airport beer...I just couldn't resist!
Our breakfast was about as good as you can get at the airport. Nothing fancy but it hit the spot. Even if it was super early, there seemed to be a bit of a buzz in the airport. Maybe it was just us but it created some excitement for an otherwise mundane task of flying for several hours.
By the time we finished, our flight was nearing it's boarding time. We wandered to our gate to find what we thought was a very welcome sight
In all our years of flying to Disney destinations, we've never been on one of the Disney planes that WestJet operates. It was definitely a sign!
The boarding process was fairly straightforward. People made their way to their seats and we were ready to get this journey started!
Never have we been more excited to feel those wheels leave the ground!
The trip was officially underway and so is this report! I'm very much looking forward to sharing what ended up being a jammed-packed few days with you all!
Thanks in advance for following along!
To bring you up to speed, Kelly and I were sitting around one day in mid-August daydreaming about some type of Disney trip and when we might finally be able to get back to the parks after what has felt like an eternity thanks to COVID. Well, it turned out that the daydreams became a reality in very little time and we ended up booking a trip back towards the end of August.
Without re-hashing the entire story, feel free to review the PRE-TRIP report which includes a lot of focus on the new COVID measure for Canadian travelers and a few live trip posts. Big thank you to all of those who provided suggestions leading up to the trip and for following along as we tried to bring you along with our Instagram stories.
Without further ado, let's dive right in, shall we?
THE LEAD-UP
Ok, I know much of this is included in the pre-trip report but I think it's worth touching on really quickly for any other Canadians who might read this. As we know, there are several new requirements in order to travel into the States and back home to Canada. As we only had a couple of weeks to get everything in order, we needed to move pretty quickly to bring ourselves up to speed on what was needed in order for us to cross the border without any issues.
The main thing was, of course, to be COVID negative! I'd say we were pretty cautious leading up to the trip with the exception of a wedding we attended the week before. We were both paranoid that our trip might not get off the ground if somehow we needed up getting sick so we played things pretty close to the house until it came time for our pre-travel tests. Thankfully mainland entry to the US only requires a negative antigen test which we were able to do at a local drugstore for $40/each. The results came back negative within 15 minutes and we at least knew we'd be able to make it to Disney!
Aside from the testing, there were several forms and health questionnaires we needed to fill out, one from the CDC, one from LAX, and we wanted to ensure we had our proof of vaccination with us at all times. Our province is one of the only in Canada that is not moving towards a vaccine passport so we had to print our records and try to rely on an app that was seemingly not accessible at all times when outside the country. Thankfully everything that we did prepare in advance was more than what we required, but not knowing what to expect leading up to the first cross-border trip in this COVID era, did cause a little extra stress.
If you are a Canadian and thinking of taking a trip, feel free to DM us if you have any questions. Happy to share our experience with you.
Now to the good stuff!
AUGUST 26 - TRAVEL DAY AND DCA!
We knew this was going to be odd traveling without the girls, especially to a Disney destination. Somehow they seemed ok with us going away but deep down we knew it would be tough on all of us not being able to share in this experience. Yes, we did travel to WDW for the 2020 Marathon Weekend without the kids but that likely did them a favour given the crazy early wake-up calls and time spent in running corrals!
Anyways, with the kids shipped off to the grandparents the night before, our alarm was buzzing shortly after 4 am local time to get us up and moving for the airport. With the lack of flights, we had no direct to LAX options for this trip so we were to fly from Edmonton to Vancouver before making our way to LA.
Not knowing what to expect at the airport we made sure to arrive early just to be safe. We walked into the ticketing terminal shortly after 530, dropped off our bags, and zipped through security. The only noticeable change was the fact everyone was wearing masks. We didn't get many questions about vaccines or COVID outside of producing the negative test results.
First stop was to find a bite to eat while we waited for our first flight. The airport was pretty busy which kinda caught me off guard but it was nice to see people traveling again.
We found a table at one of the airport restaurants and order some breakfast to fuel up for what was going to be a long day.
it has been so long since I've had an airport beer...I just couldn't resist!
Our breakfast was about as good as you can get at the airport. Nothing fancy but it hit the spot. Even if it was super early, there seemed to be a bit of a buzz in the airport. Maybe it was just us but it created some excitement for an otherwise mundane task of flying for several hours.
By the time we finished, our flight was nearing it's boarding time. We wandered to our gate to find what we thought was a very welcome sight
In all our years of flying to Disney destinations, we've never been on one of the Disney planes that WestJet operates. It was definitely a sign!
The boarding process was fairly straightforward. People made their way to their seats and we were ready to get this journey started!
Never have we been more excited to feel those wheels leave the ground!
The trip was officially underway and so is this report! I'm very much looking forward to sharing what ended up being a jammed-packed few days with you all!
Thanks in advance for following along!
