Best Covid Test Sites in Anaheim for Results to allow you back into Canada

[steveandjen]

Title says it all. I have done some research, and have found 4 providers/locations that all say they will do the Covid Testing with results within 2-3 days. CVS, Walgreens, Covid Clinic (City Hall) and Carbon Health. I think we are ALL paranoid about going for a test and the results not coming back in time! Lets post honest results to help all of us with the best decision.

PS: Wife and I will be at Disney from Oct 8-15, 2021 so we want to make sure we have all the options covered and help a few others along the way!

PSS: Both Walgreens and CVS require a vehicle for drive thru appointments.

 

[steveandjen]

If anyone has other provider suggestions, please let me know and I can add to the poll. Walgreens allows bookings 2 days in advance, CVS allows bookings up to 10 days or so in advance, and both Covid Clinic and Carbon Health allow booking several months in advance. (Covid Clinic takes your $$ now, while Carbon will take it day of). We just want the best provider to choose!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Even though I am still banned from entering USA, I have been following all the posts by Canadians, as when I eventually get back to USA, I will need to test 72 hours before returning to Ireland, same as what you have to do.

I found this website, Anaheim .Net Get Tested which lists a lot more places.

Anaheim City Hall
Brookhurst Community Center
Artic Train Station
East Anaheim Gymnasium
Rite Aid at Magnolia Avenue
CVS at Beach Boulevard
CVS at Katella Avenue
CVS at Brookhurst Street

 

[steveandjen]

We saw that as well, and this is how we found Covid Clinic @ City Hall. Thank you for sharing that site.

 

[Lollipop's Mom]

I thought CVS was free? I thought this was the one we just use hotel address!?! I guess I had it and Walgreens mixed up??

 

[steveandjen]

Yes, CVS is free for a test, sort of. If you want the PCR test required for travel, and say it’s for travel, and do not have US health insurance, it’s $135. Again, I am paranoid if booked/paid for, we won’t get our results in time.

 

[clarker99]

DW and I just returned y’day from Anaheim. We used Covid Clinic @ City Hall. We took a lyft each way and chose the 1hr results and both our results came back within 45mins or so. Expensive but we wanted the results so we could enjoy our trip.

We had 2 x 4day Cdn ticket deal w/ Hopper and Max Pass purchased in Feb 2020. We visited the ticket booth and cast member returned the Max Pass value in form of a gift card which we used at the parks.

Overall, the trip was pretty amazing with low wait times and we rode RotR and Web Slingers each day with no issues. We even randomly/luckily grabbed a Trade Sam’s reso!

Social distancing is not happening but indoor mask wearing is enforced. Besides the indoor masks, it felt very very 2019.

 

[clarker99]

Yes, CVS is free for a test, sort of. If you want the PCR test required for travel, and say it’s for travel, and do not have US health insurance, it’s $135. Again, I am paranoid if booked/paid for, we won’t get our results in time.

Similiar to CVS, You can get $0 PCR Covid tests at Covid clinic by saying you are a close contact. They call it a diagnostic test. Results are 2-3 days… but like you, we are not prepared to scramble around on the last day of our trip if results are not back yet. But if you are a risk taker and want to try save a lot of money you could play that game.

LAX also offers $139USD PCR testing with 2-3hrs turn around time. For me, waiting almost 3 extra days to be tested is an added risk of exposure plus you have to be at the Airport extra early and hope it all works out.

In the end, I think the 24hr PCR from Covid Clinic is the sweet spot here. You will get your results and save $50/person vs the NAAT. CVS seemed unreliable to us and feel the $10 extra for 24hrs results is worth it.

 

[BlancheNeige7]

We did the $199 test last week at City Hall. We chose this option because :

• We wanted quick results to enjoy the rest of our trip (dh was a bit nervous)
• We prefered the less invasive NAAT... they don't dig into your brain like the PCR
• We could wait in place for our test in case anything went wrong... as mentioned in a previous post they ended up coding the wrong test (coded rapid test instead of naat). They had to redo the paperwork, but were super nice!

We initially had booked the free pcr at CVS on Harbour but canceled because :

• No guarantee of results in 72h and no recent reports from the Dis.
• Added stress on the last few days (mostly dh...)
• We have had inconclusive tests in the past in Canada... did not want to have to scramble at the last minute.

 

[22Tink]

We’re heading to California on Thursday, coming home Sept 4th. DD and I plan to test at City Hall as close to the 72 hour mark as we can. I was planning to do the 24h PCR but might switch to the 1 hour NAAT for quicker results and maybe a less invasive test. DH is only joining us for the San Diego portion of our trip Aug 26-31 so I have him booked at a CVS in San Diego for his test.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

We did the $199 test last week at City Hall. We chose this option because :

• We wanted quick results to enjoy the rest of our trip (dh was a bit nervous)
• We prefered the less invasive NAAT... they don't dig into your brain like the PCR
• We could wait in place for our test in case anything went wrong... as mentioned in a previous post they ended up coding the wrong test (coded rapid test instead of naat). They had to redo the paperwork, but were super nice!

We initially had booked the free pcr at CVS on Harbour but canceled because :

• No guarantee of results in 72h and no recent reports from the Dis.
• Added stress on the last few days (mostly dh...)
• We have had inconclusive tests in the past in Canada... did not want to have to scramble at the last minute.

We are in Anaheim for a couple more days and did our 1 hr NAAT test at city hall yesterday morning. We have made this choice for the exact same reasons at you We also have DS12 with us who would have lost it if it was the way up your nose PCR test. The covid clinic was super easy, we wanted to use the same email for our results so had to book appts at 3 different time spots, but in the end showed up together and had it done at the same time. We got our results emailed in less than 1 hr, thanks to your advise we checked to make sure it didn’t say antigen Thankfully ours all say: molecular testing - nucleic acid amplification of sars cov2 rna. We also took a Lyft $8 each way from the Disneyland hotel.
We also walked to a CVS and bought antigen tests to use upon return to Canada - mainly to test DS before we send him back to playing team sports. These tests are 2 for $25.
2 more days left now - well tomorrow our flight is at 10:45 pm, yikes

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Title says it all. I have done some research, and have found 4 providers/locations that all say they will do the Covid Testing with results within 2-3 days. CVS, Walgreens, Covid Clinic (City Hall) and Carbon Health. I think we are ALL paranoid about going for a test and the results not coming back in time! Lets post honest results to help all of us with the best decision.

PS: Wife and I will be at Disney from Oct 8-15, 2021 so we want to make sure we have all the options covered and help a few others along the way!

This is a great helpful post!
I would just add that for Walgreens or CVS you need a vehicle as they are Drive-thru locations.

 

[22Tink]

We also walked to a CVS and bought antigen tests to use upon return to Canada - mainly to test DS before we send him back to playing team sports. These tests are 2 for $25.

This is our plan as well. Did they have lots of stock when you went? I think Walgreens has them too so hopefully between the two locations we can find some.

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

This is our plan as well. Did they have lots of stock when you went? I think Walgreens has them too so hopefully between the two locations we can find some.

Yes it appears they had plenty. They had them behind the cash and the pharmacy also.

 

[22Tink]

Yes it appears they had plenty. They had them behind the cash and the pharmacy also.

Thank you!

 

[steveandjen]

I added a “PSS” at the bottom of the original post as suggested. Good call.

 

[BlancheNeige7]

This is our plan as well. Did they have lots of stock when you went? I think Walgreens has them too so hopefully between the two locations we can find some.

We used Instacart and had 8 delivered to our room!

 

[DLgal]

I live in OC and myself and 2 kids got tested at a Covid Clinic Friday afternoon at 3pm and had results 23.5 hours later. These were not even the rapid/paid tests, just the regular "1-3 day results" test.

I can recommend this place highly. They are super efficient, appointment are easy to get and you'll be done in under 5 minutes. There are plenty of locations available also.

 

[Safari23]

We did the $199 test last week at City Hall. We chose this option because :

• We wanted quick results to enjoy the rest of our trip (dh was a bit nervous)
• We prefered the less invasive NAAT... they don't dig into your brain like the PCR
• We could wait in place for our test in case anything went wrong... as mentioned in a previous post they ended up coding the wrong test (coded rapid test instead of naat). They had to redo the paperwork, but were super nice!

We initially had booked the free pcr at CVS on Harbour but canceled because :

• No guarantee of results in 72h and no recent reports from the Dis.
• Added stress on the last few days (mostly dh...)
• We have had inconclusive tests in the past in Canada... did not want to have to scramble at the last minute.

Is this test you did a NAAT test? How long of a drive is it to city hall from the DL area? Also, what is the NAAT test like to have done? It's less invasive than the PCR? So was it not uncomfortable/painful at all or just less so? I haven't had to take a PCR yet (knock on wood) and to be honest I am not really wanting to. If there's an easier, more comfortable route, I'd happily pay for it.

 

[Safari23]

We are in Anaheim for a couple more days and did our 1 hr NAAT test at city hall yesterday morning. We have made this choice for the exact same reasons at you We also have DS12 with us who would have lost it if it was the way up your nose PCR test. The covid clinic was super easy, we wanted to use the same email for our results so had to book appts at 3 different time spots, but in the end showed up together and had it done at the same time. We got our results emailed in less than 1 hr, thanks to your advise we checked to make sure it didn’t say antigen Thankfully ours all say: molecular testing - nucleic acid amplification of sars cov2 rna. We also took a Lyft $8 each way from the Disneyland hotel.
We also walked to a CVS and bought antigen tests to use upon return to Canada - mainly to test DS before we send him back to playing team sports. These tests are 2 for $25.
2 more days left now - well tomorrow our flight is at 10:45 pm, yikes

Sorry, I guess I should have kept reading before replying to BN7. This is great info! Thank you both for sharing. We don't have a trip planned, but I'm itching to go. Our DD is only 9 years old though, so that is a huge concern.

Can one of you verify what the NAAT actually is / feels like? Is it just the lower nostril they swab? And same for antigen test? What does it entail? TIA