LisaDKG
A little obsessed...
- Joined
- May 6, 2006
- Messages
- 567
First things first - Beeper MD was amazing!
Next thing, sorry this is so long but I read ALL the posts here about testing for Canadians and so wanted to let others know about our experience - and our experience is that math is REALLY important especially when you need to calculate WHEN to start booking your return PCR test.
For some reason, my fabulous Disney vacation lulled me into forgetting that reservations for the free PCR testing services done at Walgreen etc. opened up 3 days in advance. For some reason, I was more fixated on the bubble of 72 hours before our flight in which we had to have the test done, rather than think too much about when to book the test and how long it would take then to get the results. Not my finest moment as the vacation planner and manager of all things travel in my little family of 4.
Our flights back to Calgary were on Sunday Sept 5 and I only started checking online on the morning of Thursday Sept 2 - I should have started looking days before and so obviously there was nothing available for the 4 of us except 3:15pm slots way across Orlando on Saturday 4th! I started to seriously panic!
I started looking for other options online and remembered reading here about Beeper MD. I got through most of their application online but something went wrong when I sent it and I got 2 appointments x4 for the four of us. When I called the number for help, the lady removed one of the bookings but said that even though I chose an open and available time slot, the appointment could only be considered confirmed if I received a text that evening with more details. Her baby was crying in the background as well and I just thought it all seemed really unreliable and too good to be true.
I needed a backup plan.
Before completely melting down I found a website for a company called Covid Clinic which offered a drive-thru PCR at Florida Mall that charged $150 pp and offered 24 hour results and open slots at 4:30 and 4:45 that day Thursday. It sucked having to pay that much but it would be worth it if I could still enjoy the last 3 days of our trip. It took all morning to get the online questionnaires filled out for the 4 of us and I was still shaking and panicky realizing all my efforts to research and plan a perfect vacation AND return home were completely unravelling with no one but myself to blame.
We had plans to hit Hollywood Studios that afternoon to try to secure a 1 pm Boarding group for Rise of the Resistance so I thought the timing would probably work out ok. If we didn't ride before we had to leave for our test, we'd just return that night. Well, wouldn't you know it, our time to ride came up at 3:45. The line was long just to get in, it was 38 degrees plus wicked humidity and a massive thunderstorm was building in the distance. We probably should have bailed but we were so excited to finally ride RofR after practising on our phones all week.
We rode, exited and headed right for our car at about 4:05 just as the clouds broke and a torrential rain started pouring down. That Hollywood Studios parking lot is merciless but somehow we were able to locate our rental and get on the road, completely soaked to the skin. The GPS kept warning about traffic and took us on a fairly roundabout route to avoid it but we still looked good to arrive at least 5 minutes before our appointments.
We pulled up at 4:30, and located the Covid Clinic trailer in a far corner of the parking lot at Florida Mall. There were pylons set up and I could see a car in a queue along with a healthcare practitioner in scrubs at the car's window. We pulled into the line behind that car and I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that all was going to be well. You can imagine our horror when the practitioner finished with that car, turned and grabbed a briefcase, got into their car parked beside the trailer and drove away! We actually sat in silence for about 5 minutes trying to process what was happening - we had been early for our appointment! We had paid a total of $600 US! We left our vacation! I might have started to cry at this point.
Still in the lineup with another car now behind us, I found the Contact Us number and waited on hold for 10 minutes (no exaggeration) until someone answered. A nice lady told me she was really sorry and they had already brought up the issue with their manager but it turned out that the clinic actually closed for the day at 4pm and so any appointments made after that time weren't valid and she would mention the issue to her manager again. She would refund the $600 and once again, she was sorry.
I've got to wrap this up so I'll spare you the details of our trip back to Disney property where we took many detours as I kept searching the internet for other testing companies and locales. We found ourselves in some pretty dodgy places in Orlando and I might have even thrown myself at the mercy of a Walgreen's pharmacist on Vineland Dr. asking him to PLEASE, PLEASE swab our nostrils, to no avail.
We got back to the Beach Club and got ready for our dinner at Topolino's vowing to look more into booking at Walgreen's as soon as there were openings even if it meant rescheduling our flight.
On the Skyliner over, I received a text from Beeper MD! - Tabitha would be arriving between 9:20 and 11:20 the next morning to our room at BCV to administer our tests and could we confirm - YES! YES! YES! I tried not to think about the ADR at 10:00am the next morning for Oga's that I would have to cancel (it took so long to get such a perfect time for our plans!) and enjoyed the rest of my evening.
The next morning at 8:30 I got a text from Tabitha telling me she'd be at our room at about 10:00am and asked for our room number. At 10 we heard a knock at the door, and we were all done being swabbed by 10:15. She gave us confirmation cards and told us to expect the results by email in 24-36 hours. We received both a text and emails with our negative results at about the 28th hour mark and I can't thank Beeper MD and the Canadians on the Disboards enough!
I am still in shock that it all worked out, that Beeper MD was legit AND free AND they came to our hotel AND did I mention they were free??
I'm still waiting on the charges to reverse for Covid Clinic...
Next thing, sorry this is so long but I read ALL the posts here about testing for Canadians and so wanted to let others know about our experience - and our experience is that math is REALLY important especially when you need to calculate WHEN to start booking your return PCR test.
For some reason, my fabulous Disney vacation lulled me into forgetting that reservations for the free PCR testing services done at Walgreen etc. opened up 3 days in advance. For some reason, I was more fixated on the bubble of 72 hours before our flight in which we had to have the test done, rather than think too much about when to book the test and how long it would take then to get the results. Not my finest moment as the vacation planner and manager of all things travel in my little family of 4.
Our flights back to Calgary were on Sunday Sept 5 and I only started checking online on the morning of Thursday Sept 2 - I should have started looking days before and so obviously there was nothing available for the 4 of us except 3:15pm slots way across Orlando on Saturday 4th! I started to seriously panic!
I started looking for other options online and remembered reading here about Beeper MD. I got through most of their application online but something went wrong when I sent it and I got 2 appointments x4 for the four of us. When I called the number for help, the lady removed one of the bookings but said that even though I chose an open and available time slot, the appointment could only be considered confirmed if I received a text that evening with more details. Her baby was crying in the background as well and I just thought it all seemed really unreliable and too good to be true.
I needed a backup plan.
Before completely melting down I found a website for a company called Covid Clinic which offered a drive-thru PCR at Florida Mall that charged $150 pp and offered 24 hour results and open slots at 4:30 and 4:45 that day Thursday. It sucked having to pay that much but it would be worth it if I could still enjoy the last 3 days of our trip. It took all morning to get the online questionnaires filled out for the 4 of us and I was still shaking and panicky realizing all my efforts to research and plan a perfect vacation AND return home were completely unravelling with no one but myself to blame.
We had plans to hit Hollywood Studios that afternoon to try to secure a 1 pm Boarding group for Rise of the Resistance so I thought the timing would probably work out ok. If we didn't ride before we had to leave for our test, we'd just return that night. Well, wouldn't you know it, our time to ride came up at 3:45. The line was long just to get in, it was 38 degrees plus wicked humidity and a massive thunderstorm was building in the distance. We probably should have bailed but we were so excited to finally ride RofR after practising on our phones all week.
We rode, exited and headed right for our car at about 4:05 just as the clouds broke and a torrential rain started pouring down. That Hollywood Studios parking lot is merciless but somehow we were able to locate our rental and get on the road, completely soaked to the skin. The GPS kept warning about traffic and took us on a fairly roundabout route to avoid it but we still looked good to arrive at least 5 minutes before our appointments.
We pulled up at 4:30, and located the Covid Clinic trailer in a far corner of the parking lot at Florida Mall. There were pylons set up and I could see a car in a queue along with a healthcare practitioner in scrubs at the car's window. We pulled into the line behind that car and I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that all was going to be well. You can imagine our horror when the practitioner finished with that car, turned and grabbed a briefcase, got into their car parked beside the trailer and drove away! We actually sat in silence for about 5 minutes trying to process what was happening - we had been early for our appointment! We had paid a total of $600 US! We left our vacation! I might have started to cry at this point.
Still in the lineup with another car now behind us, I found the Contact Us number and waited on hold for 10 minutes (no exaggeration) until someone answered. A nice lady told me she was really sorry and they had already brought up the issue with their manager but it turned out that the clinic actually closed for the day at 4pm and so any appointments made after that time weren't valid and she would mention the issue to her manager again. She would refund the $600 and once again, she was sorry.
I've got to wrap this up so I'll spare you the details of our trip back to Disney property where we took many detours as I kept searching the internet for other testing companies and locales. We found ourselves in some pretty dodgy places in Orlando and I might have even thrown myself at the mercy of a Walgreen's pharmacist on Vineland Dr. asking him to PLEASE, PLEASE swab our nostrils, to no avail.
We got back to the Beach Club and got ready for our dinner at Topolino's vowing to look more into booking at Walgreen's as soon as there were openings even if it meant rescheduling our flight.
On the Skyliner over, I received a text from Beeper MD! - Tabitha would be arriving between 9:20 and 11:20 the next morning to our room at BCV to administer our tests and could we confirm - YES! YES! YES! I tried not to think about the ADR at 10:00am the next morning for Oga's that I would have to cancel (it took so long to get such a perfect time for our plans!) and enjoyed the rest of my evening.
The next morning at 8:30 I got a text from Tabitha telling me she'd be at our room at about 10:00am and asked for our room number. At 10 we heard a knock at the door, and we were all done being swabbed by 10:15. She gave us confirmation cards and told us to expect the results by email in 24-36 hours. We received both a text and emails with our negative results at about the 28th hour mark and I can't thank Beeper MD and the Canadians on the Disboards enough!
I am still in shock that it all worked out, that Beeper MD was legit AND free AND they came to our hotel AND did I mention they were free??
I'm still waiting on the charges to reverse for Covid Clinic...
