9pm flight out of MCO - what time pickup from Dolphin?

[Annie78]

I will be using Tiffany Towncar to get to MCO from the Dolphin. My flight leaves at 9pm and Tiffany's reservation confirmation (from the online system) listed a 7pm pickup. I don't know anything about MCO, but this sounds like cutting things very close.
We won't have luggage to check, we will check in and print boarding passes from the hotel, no kids to wrangle, and we are pretty familiar with how to get our stuff through security. This will be mid-week in early March, if that makes any difference for MCO security wait times. Oh, and it's AirTran.
Based on this, what pick-up time would you MCO veterans recommend? 6pm? 6:30pm? Is 7pm actually reasonable?

Thanks!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I would say, no, that is way to close. MCO is approx 25-30 minute drive without any traffic. More often than not there is a wait at security. In my experience it's about 15-20 minutes in the later hours of the day....sometimes longer. You should be at your gate by 8:30 at the very latest. So with a 7pm pick up that will leave you with only about a 30-40 minute cushion. Personally, with that kind of timeline I would be stressed about missing my flight.

I still go by the 2 hour rule....I like to arrive at the airport 2hrs before my flight. MCO is a very busy airport even on a slow day.

 

[TaraPA]

I'm a bit of a risk taker - - when traveling without the kids or bags to check, I leave the hotel 2 hours prior to the flight, as Tiffany has suggested. I've used Tiffany twice, and they also picked up 2 hours prior. If you're anxious about the time, make it 6:30 pick up. No need to really be there earlier mid-week at that time. Being AT the gate 2 hours prior is just a waste of time in my opinion, and most airlines recommend that for international flights, not domestic ones.

 

[Brian Noble]

MCO is one airport where I prefer not to take chances. I've breezed through on some trips, and encountered serious backups at both check-in and security on others.

If you'll be checking a bag, I'd go with 6:30. I wouldn't push to 7 unless you are carrying on. Also, with that departure schedule, you could consider eating dinner in the airport, which softens the blow if you arrive and find you have plenty of time.

 

[Traveliz]

Honestly I am one that typically likes to be there super early but my daughter uses a towncar service to get to and from the airport from Windermere regularly and they always do the 2 hour in advance pick up.

Liz

 

[mischief32]

We had a 8:50pm flight in November and Tiffany picked us up at 6:50pm. We were fine but we were coming from the Royal Pacific at Univeral which I think was closer to the airport(I could be wrong). Dropped us right of at the curb to drop off out baggage, that we has paid for when we checked in online, and off we were to security. They were not that busy and we still waited about 30min/45 min til flight boarded.

 

[Annie78]

We're not checking luggage, but I don't want to gamble too much as we're booked on the last flight of the day - a night at the airport would be a pretty unmagical end to our trip!
Dinner at the airport is a good idea.

 

[NancyIL]

I would say, no, that is way to close. MCO is approx 25-30 minute drive without any traffic. More often than not there is a wait at security. In my experience it's about 15-20 minutes in the later hours of the day....sometimes longer. You should be at your gate by 6:30 at the very latest. So with a 7pm pick up that will leave you with only about a 30-40 minute cushion. Personally, with that kind of timeline I would be stressed about missing my flight.

I still go by the 2 hour rule....I like to arrive at the airport 2hrs before my flight. MCO is a very busy airport even on a slow day.

The OP doesn't need to be at the gate at 6:30 for a 9:00 flight. A 6:30 pick-up from the Dolphin with 7:00 arrival at the airport should be sufficient.

 

[dancin Disney style]

The OP doesn't need to be at the gate at 6:30 for a 9:00 flight. A 6:30 pick-up from the Dolphin with 7:00 arrival at the airport should be sufficient.

Sorry...typo. Should read 8:30.

I totally agree....arrival at the airport for about 7pm allows plenty of time to get through security and over to the gate.