ORLANDO, Fla. — As the holiday weekend winds down, many are packing their bags and heading home after vacations and family gatherings, some right here in Florida.

Sunday is expected to be the busiest travel day of the holiday season at Orlando International Airport, with 45,000 expected passengers.

Despite CDC warnings, millions of Americans decided to travel this holiday season during the pandemic. Those crowds have created lines at the airport that travelers aren’t used to seeing.

Up early and at the airport hours ahead of her flight to Philadelphia, Yvette Thomas was greeted by long lines.

“I’m so glad I got up and came early! Because if I’d have waited to the last minute, I’d miss my flight,” she said.

Despite around a 50 percent drop in air travel at OIA, TSA says millions of Americans chose to pack a bag and visit family and friends for the holidays across the nation- despite CDC warnings to stay home.

Experts now warn that case spikes are coming and that we could be dealing with the impact and surges from holiday travel for weeks.

"We could be rolling into February with the events of Christmas still impacting us, even with this vaccine coming out," explained Erin Bromage, associate professor of biology at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Thomas said she’s been taking precautions since her journey started at home before the holiday weekend.

“Got a COVID test, all of us did, made sure we were negative before we traveled. So no, I wasn’t worried,” Thomas explained.

After her family vacation, she’s ready to get home to Philadelphia.

If you did travel over Christmas or New Year’s, the CDC recommends COVID-19 testing three to five days after you traveled and staying home for seven days.