UPDATE
Well this week has been a big week for changes to international travel. The new variant has caused the Governments to re introduce restrictions and change requirements.
USA Changes For International Travel
The first thing at the start of the week was the news that the USA Government would be changing entry requirements. This caused a huge amount of stress and uncertainty especially for UK and Irish people travelling this week to Florida. There were all sorts of rumours , mostly from people in the media and on social media who do not understand the separation of Federal and State Law in America.
On Thursday stress levels started to ease and then when we watched the press conference and heard the words spoken by Biden, there was a huge sigh of relief from everyone with trips planned to USA in December and January.
The main thing that Biden announced on Thursday that affects us as international travelers to USA is that we now have to have either a LFT / Antigen test or a PCR test 1 calendar day before our flight to USA. Currently it is 3 calendar days. The change will come into affect Monday 6 December.
This change this does not affect me. I had already planned to book a LFT / Antigen test the day before my flight in January. I fly on a Sunday and will be working right up to the Friday before, so Saturday would be the only day I could take the test anyway.
For people travelling next week when the changes take place, it is causing a lot more stress, as many people had booked tests in the 3 day window and have to cancel and rebook 1 day before their flights.
UK Changes For International Travel
The second thing that happened was that The UK Government changed the requirements for people arriving back into The UK. Before November 30 the requirements were for either a LFT / Antigen test or a PCR test before the end of day 2 after arrival. On November 30 this changed to a PCR test before the end of day 2 after arrival and self isolation / quarantine until a negative result. This is causing a lot of stress for UK families travelling to Florida, as many people had booked LFT / Antigen tests and now have to cancel and book a PCR test. Also many people are worried about the self isolation / quarantine until a negative result due to returning to work and school after their holidays.
This new UK requirement does not affect me for my Christmas trip to England to visit my sister. Ireland and The UK have a Common Travel Agreement and The UK Government are not requiring people who travel from Ireland to The UK to test or quarantine on arrival.
Ireland Changes For International Travel
The third thing that happened was that The Irish Government changed the requirements for people arriving back into Ireland. From Monday 6 December anyone travelling to Ireland needs to have a LFT / Antigen test 48 hours before the flight or a PCR test 72 hours before the flight. This is a huge change as before now, The Irish Government only required proof of vaccine or proof of recovery to enter Ireland. This new requirement also applies to anyone travelling from The UK to Ireland, even though we have a Common Travel Agreement.
This new requirement by The Irish Government is supposed to get reviewed on December 17 but everyone is expending it to be extended. This new requirement does affect me for my Christmas trip to England to visit my sister. I have booked LFT / Antigen tests for both me and my mom at a place near where my sister lives for the day before our flights back to Ireland.
I decided it is better to be prepared and book the tests, as its Christmas and a lot of people will be traveling that week. We can always cancel the tests if the requirement is not extended after December 17.
This new change for entry requirements also affects my trip to California at the end of January. Thanks to all the Canadians here on Disboards I have lots of information about testing places in Anaheim and at LAX. I have booked a hotel at LAX for the day before my flight back to Ireland and I will book a test at the center at LAX airport.
Yes there is a risk I might not get a negative result but I just have to cross that bridge if it happens. There is also a chance that by the time of my trip the Irish Government have removed the requirement about testing before arrival.
I have to prepare for every eventuality and just be hopeful that I don't need my contingency plans. I know I am in a very privileged position, I am a solo traveler and I work from home. The cost of travel and covid testing and having contingency plans is far less for me than it is for a family with kids.
Dining Reservations
On a happier, more positive note, I made my ADR this week.
Thank you to everyone here on Disboards for all the tips and hints. The 3am PT opening of reservations is 11am for me, so I set an alarm for 10.45am just to make sure that I didn't get lost in my work and forget the time.
Last weekend I made draft plans for my 3 Park days and my 1 non park day. I looked at menus and put together a draft touring plan for each day, with the times and locations of the restaurants and snacks. I than wrote down a list of each day, the restaurant I wanted a reservation for and the time I wanted the reservation for and put this list on my pinboard at my work desk.
I also double checked the payment card on my Disney account. For some reason, my prepaid currency card would not be accepted by Disney's system, so I added my normal Irish credit card.
The first day for making reservations and I start to go through the process. I log into my Disney account right at 11am Irish time / 3am PT and everything goes smoothly and I make my first reservation.
I then repeat the process and make my second reservation for the same day. Uh Oh, card declined. Then I get a notification on my banking App to authorize a transaction. I authorize the transaction, then go back onto Disney and repeat the process and whew, my second reservation goes through.
I get the confirmation emails and continue on with my working day.
After lunch, around 3pm I get a call from the fraud department of my bank. They have noticed some unusual activity on my account and want to make sure its me. Yep, I haven't been to America since 2019, so Disney Dining reservations is unusual in my life right now
So I go through the process and confirm, yes thats me doing the transactions. The guy is very professional but I can hear in his voice that he is envious of me booking Disney in America
Anyways he puts a note on my account and confirms that when I make more reservations my card wont be blocked. He also reminded me to make sure to fill in the section for international travel on my online banking the day before my flights, so that my cards wont be blocked by the fraud department when I use them in America.
Phew , thats all sorted. So over the next few days, as each new day opens, I do my dining reservations. I guess because I will be in
Disneyland in January during a low crowd time, theres not that much demand for reservations at 60 days out. I was able to get the exact restaurants at the exact times on the exact days I wanted, right at 11am Irish Time / 3am PT 60 days in advance.
The only change I made to my plans is to switch out Blue Bayou for Cafe Orleans. With all the news of the new variant and the possibility of having to test before return to Ireland, I am really being conscious of not doing indoor dining. I have made 2 reservations for Ogas Cantina. I just had to make the reservations, knowing how difficult they can be to get. Most likely I will cancel them the week before my trip, but I just wanted to have them just in case I am comfortable going there.
OOPs this is turned into an epic update but there has been a lot going on this week
This is part of the reason I am doing a pre trip report, to help other UK and Irish returning to USA. If there is anything you are unsure about or need more information about, just ask.
at VGC
