Waitin’ on a friend

[Lady Hiss]

Meeting my BFF for a long overdue girls weekend at WDW in August. We’re arriving the same day, coming from different cities. BFF’s flight is scheduled to land 90 minutes after mine. Our plan is to share a town car that’ll take us to our resort. Advice needed for what I can do while waiting for her at MCO. I’ll have one checked bag so will need to get that from baggage claim before doing anything else. Are there shops/restaurants that would be easy to get to after baggage is picked up?

Thanks for any suggestions~~

 

[Lewisc]

Are there shops/restaurants that would be easy to get to after baggage is picked up?

DISNEY STORES, you'll havs to go back up to level 3.
What will you do if your friends flight is delayed?

 

[georgina]

Meeting my BFF for a long overdue girls weekend at WDW in August. We’re arriving the same day, coming from different cities. BFF’s flight is scheduled to land 90 minutes after mine. Our plan is to share a town car that’ll take us to our resort. Advice needed for what I can do while waiting for her at MCO. I’ll have one checked bag so will need to get that from baggage claim before doing anything else. Are there shops/restaurants that would be easy to get to after baggage is picked up?

Thanks for any suggestions~~

There are restaurants in the main area that you could sit down at and have a bite to eat. Once you get your bag go back up to the level where the security is and wander around until,you see something you like. Or better yet, check out a map ahead of time.

 

[Minnie1222]

Which Terminal will you be arriving at?

 

[EACarlson]

Everything in the main terminal is between the east and west checkpoints on level 3. There are a number of sit down restaurants along with the Disney Store, Sea World, Universal gift shops. I'm always a fan of Ron Jon Surf Shop and there are quite a few other shops. If you're in C than I have no idea if anything is available outside security.

 

[Minnie1222]

There's only a small coffee shop at Terminal C outside of security. You can always take the Terminal Link (monorail??) to A/B.

 

[cedricandsophie]

There are comfortable chairs and lots of places to shop and eat assuming you are in the main terminal. But definitely have a plan if her flight is delayed beyond a certain point. For me, 90 minutes would probably be too long. I’d just take an Uber or cab and meet her at the resort with a drink in hand, of course your plane could be late too!

 

[_19disnA]

Might be a better option to plan to meet with your friend at the hotel. Once you claim your luggage, it is a pain to pull it around with you at the airport. Doubt you want to go back through security, so your choices of where to eat are somewhat limited. Either of you might encounter flight delays due to weather or mechanical issues, so you might end up waiting a long time.

If you were renting a car you plan to share, then I can see the value in waiting for the other party to arrive. If taking some other form of transportation, seems like less of a benefit to doing that.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

As the pp expressed...If it was me I'd plan to make my own way Uber) to hotel if the flight is on time. If it's delayed you can always ride with your friend. But you could land 30m early and her 90m flight late.

MCO to WDW is quick. Id personally rather kill any time waiting at my hotel vs MCO

 

[Mle8308]

If you are both comfortable with rideshares, it would be less expensive for you each to take separate ones than to wait the 90 minutes and book a Town Car. Lyft is generally less expensive than Uber. I'd rather wait at the resort (if you are staying on Disney property) than at the airport. There are things to do at MCO if you decide to wait, terminal C has the least, but if you do decide to wait, it's not the worst place to be.

 

[Akck]

Realistically, the time from leaving the plane, traveling to baggage claim and going back to level 3 will take 30-40 minutes. If you add the time to get a bite to eat or coffee, that will be another 10-15 minutes. That leaves 35-50 minutes waiting around. Granted, you’ll have to wait around for her to clear the secure area, but for me, waiting after a plane has landed seems shorter than waiting for it to land.

For a sit down restaurant, there’s McCoys on level 4 at the Hyatt. There’s also a food court in the middle of the terminals.

 

[Lady Hiss]

Which Terminal will you be arriving at?

Not sure - domestic, flying United. Friend is flying American.

 

[Lady Hiss]

There are comfortable chairs and lots of places to shop and eat assuming you are in the main terminal. But definitely have a plan if her flight is delayed beyond a certain point. For me, 90 minutes would probably be too long. I’d just take an Uber or cab and meet her at the resort with a drink in hand, of course your plane could be late too!

If I’m delayed I told her to use the town car and go to the resort. My plan is to use Lyft if things don’t go according to plan.

 

[Minnie1222]

Not sure - domestic, flying United. Friend is flying American.

You both will be at A/B, where the many shops and restaurants are located. There's also a nice bar/restaurant inside the Hyatt that's connected to the terminal.

 

[Lady Hiss]

You both will be at A/B, where the many shops and restaurants are located. There's also a nice bar/restaurant inside the Hyatt that's connected to the terminal.

Thanks! I was worried that there wouldn’t be any shops or restaurants available unless I went back through security with my suitcase.
Very much appreciate your helpful reply.

 

[hrhdhd]

Thanks! I was worried that there wouldn’t be any shops or restaurants available unless I went back through security with my suitcase.
Very much appreciate your helpful reply.

You wouldn't be able to go through security without a booked flight. But yes, there are plenty of places to sit, eat, shop, people watch.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sometimes your luggage can come out quick sometimes not. So even if your friend's flight lands 90 mins after yours depending on the luggage situation you may not actually have all that much time to kill before hers lands. If you have maybe 30 mins or less before hers lands TBH I would probably just stay put in the luggage pick up area instead of walking away.

Since you've got a plan in place if her flight is delayed maybe have her message you when she's on the plane. Even if you're only getting it when you land you can at least know that her flight left or her flight was delayed and take it from there.

 

[Lewisc]

As soon as you land check your friends flight using a site like https://www.flightaware.com/

Is her flight going to arrive early. Great. Is the flight running late? Maybe it didn't even take off. Go to plan B and meet her at your hotel. Sites like flightaware are more accurate then airport screens.

 

[jec6613]

You wouldn't be able to go through security without a booked flight. But yes, there are plenty of places to sit, eat, shop, people watch.

Aside, this was hack-able pre-COVID, if you were an AA Admiral's Club member they would issue you a fake ticket to access the AC. I'm very sad this went away, I'd use it to meet people at the gate.