How Long Do You Normally Wait at MCO for your Baggage?

[famsen]

We arrive at MCO tomorrow at 11:55am. We are renting a car and not using ME so we will be picking up our 1 checked luggage bag.
How long does it normally take to get your bag?
Never done this before so I have no clue whatsoever.
Thanks!

 

[dudspizza]

We arrive at MCO tomorrow at 11:55am. We are renting a car and not using ME so we will be picking up our 1 checked luggage bag.
How long does it normally take to get your bag?
Never done this before so I have no clue whatsoever.
Thanks!

It can take a while to get to the baggage area and I have had times that the luggage is already on the belt.... other times it is a fairly short wait, but not long at all.

Some people have suggested the adult renting the car go to the counter to take care of that piece. I personally use National's Executive Aisle, so get to skip the counter.

Duds

 

[famsen]

Yeah, I am bypassing the rental count too because I used Alamo's online check in. I just walk across the street to the car lot and pick one.
So I guess DH and I will just wait for our bag.
You said it can take awhile to get to the baggage claim area. Why is that?

Thanks!

 

[deedeetoo]

You said it can take awhile to get to the baggage claim area. Why is that?

Thanks!

You have to walk from your gate to the train, take the train to the main terminal, walk through the crowded main terminal, go down stairs, someone in your party will probably need to use the restroom. It just takes awhile.

 

[famsen]

You have to walk from your gate to the train, take the train to the main terminal, walk through the crowded main terminal, go down stairs, someone in your party will probably need to use the restroom. It just takes awhile.

Thanks for the info! I didn't really know about the train from the gate.
What an edventure this will be!

 

[famsen]

Double post

 

[backyardponder]

I usually allow 30 to 40 minutes from the time the plane's engines shut down for the bags to show up at the baggage claim. After the engines shut down, it takes a while to get off the plane, stop at the bathroom, and travel to the baggage claim. I usually have to wait 5 minutes or less by the time I get there.

 

[clkelley]

Because of DME, I haven't stopped at baggage claim in years, but our very first trip in 97 they were waiting on us when we got down there, every other trip after that, we had at least a 30 minute wait after arriving at baggage claim.

 

[Brian Noble]

It can take a while to get to the baggage area and I have had times that the luggage is already on the belt.... other times it is a fairly short wait, but not long at all.

That's been my recent experience too. We normally want to grab a bite to eat from one of the fast food counters in the airport before heading where we are going, and I usually grab something that I can eat while I walk, and let the wife and kids sit down and eat. The bags are almost always out before they have joined me at baggage claim.

Because of DME, I haven't stopped at baggage claim in years, but our very first trip in 97 they were waiting on us when we got down there, every other trip after that, we had at least a 30 minute wait after arriving at baggage claim.

I've noticed that, since DME, the waits at baggage claim seem to have gone down---presumably because a good chunk of them are being handled entirely out-of-stream by DME.

 

[PSUGuy]

On more than one occasion we've rented from Alamo and another company whose name I can't recall. In both cases it was one of those deals in which all I had to do was go to the garage, hand my pre-printed paperwork to a guy in a kiosk and get my keys, no time at all, really. Both times, by the time I walked, quickly, back to the carousel my wife had our bags in hand and we were off. In short, we've never experienced much of a wait.

Bill From PA

 

[Lewisc]

Luggage handling on the tarmac stops during thunderstorms.

 

[goofy4tink]

I had to use baggage claim in August....from deplaning to resort checkin, it was just about an hour. I think baggage took about 10-15 mins to come down. It takes about 10 mins to get from the gate to baggage claim area..it's not bad at all. Then it was about 5 mins to our car service vehicle.

 

[Resseda]

Another to chime in and repated what PP posters have said. By the time you and your party hit a restroom, take the monorail to the main part of the airport and get to the baggage claim, we have waiting 5 minutes or less. I will say, the only exception was when our plane arrived freakishly early one time, and we had to wait to deplane, and that time, we waiting maybe 20 minutes for baggage.

Ress

 

[Tara]

Our waits have been short for years now. I remember one trip where our wait was long, but one of our bags was lost (flew US Air out of Philly, bags were priority tagged because we were first class, AND we arrived over 2 hours prior to our flight because it was the day after the Richard Reid "shoe bomber" arrest). Other than that, I can't remember the last time we had a wait longer than 10-15 minutes. On our last trip DH stayed at baggage claim and I went to use the kiosk downstairs at Alamo. It took under 10 minutes and when I returned, DH already had the bags and was waiting for us.

 

[n2mm]

We fly to WDW every other month and we always rent a car. I've never waited more than 10 minutes for my luggage. We generally can deboard the plane, pick up our luggage and pick up the rental car and drive to the resort within one hour. Our best record is 45 minutes (it's a game for us). We generally arrive at MCO before noon, but in August it was at 8:30PM and still within the 10-15 wait time. As other's have said, we deboard, catch the train, walk to the luggage claim and hit the bathrooms. By the time we come out it's generally about a 5 minute wait. It's just not a big deal. Keep in mind that sometimes larger things are located elsewhere (golf clubs, car seats) -- not always, just sometimes.