How long is from MCO to WDW?

[coronationday]

Does anyone know how much time it takes from the plane landing to arriving at our resort? We are traveling southwest and the plane is scheduled to land at 1:00pm, we have to pick up our luggage, and we are thinking of hiring private transportation. I think that we should be arriving at the Poly at 2:30 pm. An 1 hour and a half from landing to the resort, is that too little time or too much time?

Also I don't know if it matters but we are arriving Saturday December 31st

 

[npatellye]

It depends on the crowds. When we flew there in late December 2021 (we flew out on the 28th), it took us almost an hour from landing until we actually had our luggage. But we didn’t fly Southwest and we also have two kids so we stopped for the girls to use the bathroom before boarding the terminal shuttle. That was a flight that landed after morning traffic but before lunch.

Last time we flew Southwest (May 2021), our luggage took a long time to come out. We waited at least 20 minutes after finally arriving at baggage claim for the luggage to start coming through that time. We always allow two hours from landing at MCO to arriving at the resort, more if our flight lands during the morning or afternoon/evening rush.

I would allow more time for heavy traffic to WDW on 12/31.

 

[coronationday]

Okay, thank you so much for the information!! I didn't know luggage took so long; that's good to know.

 

[sam_gordon]

I think 90 minutes is a decent budget. But, answer this... why do you want to know? Just curious? Yea, 90 minutes would be about right. It's ~30 minutes from MCO to WDW, luggage should be out about 30-45 minutes after you get off the plane. Add 15 minutes "just in case" and you're at 90.

Do you want to make a dining reservation? Don't. If you absolutely must, allow at least 3 hours, 4 would be better.

 

[npatellye]

Okay, thank you so much for the information!! I didn't know luggage took so long; that's good to know.

I’ve never had luggage come out earlier than 40 minutes after landing at MCO. That may just be my bad luck, though. We allow extra time because we always stop at the bathroom with the kids after landing. If you don’t have young children with you, your time will probably be much less than ours.

 

[StageTek]

Does anyone know how much time it takes from the plane landing to arriving at our resort? We are traveling southwest and the plane is scheduled to land at 1:00pm, we have to pick up our luggage, and we are thinking of hiring private transportation. I think that we should be arriving at the Poly at 2:30 pm. An 1 hour and a half from landing to the resort, is that too little time or too much time?

Also I don't know if it matters but we are arriving Saturday December 31st

A lot of variables - especially on a Saturday AND New Years Eve. A very busy travel day. Departure delays are very common on NYE which would change arrival time. Luggage could easily take 40/50 minutes after the plane lands.

I think you will be arriving at Poly closer to 3PM. I, too, always allow at least 2 hours from landing to resort arrival - but on New Years Eve I would allow three hours.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We just flew in MCO on the 8th. Baggage was on the carousel when we walked up to it, no stops on the way. Ride to Universal was 25 minutes. I'm guessing to WDW maybe 35 minutes at most. We did fly Delta and had Sky Priority which may have been a factor on our luggage arriving so fast. I would recommend private transportation. It was not much more than the bus and our driver was at baggage claim waiting on us.

 

[Ross Kratter]

We just flew in MCO on the 8th. Baggage was on the carousel when we walked up to it, no stops on the way. Ride to Universal was 25 minutes. I'm guessing to WDW maybe 35 minutes at most. We did fly Delta and had Sky Priority which may have been a factor on our luggage arriving so fast. I would recommend private transportation. It was not much more than the bus and our driver was at baggage claim waiting on us.

Delta always has luggage out more quickly than other airlines, especially in Orlando.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I’ve never had luggage come out earlier than 40 minutes after landing at MCO. That may just be my bad luck, though. We allow extra time because we always stop at the bathroom with the kids after landing. If you don’t have young children with you, your time will probably be much less than ours.

What airlines?
Southwest, yeah, they are slower, because they can be.
First, more check bags since they do 2 free for all
Second, they don't offer any type of guarantee that they'll be quick

Delta, they rarely, if ever, take that long. 99.99% of the time, my bags are at the carousel when we arrive after deplaning and a bathroom stop. They offer an incentive to get them there quick, I forget the exact offer, they've never not met their goal at any airport we've used. But it's way less than 40 min.

American is about as quick. Since both charge for bags for many customers they have fewer checked bags than Southwest.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We are usually on Southwest into MCO. When Magical Express was still around, we either used that (so didn’t need to retrieve our luggage) or luggage came out in 20 to 30 minutes after we had deplaned at the gate. We would then pick up bags and head to the rental car garage to pick up a car. Now, SW seems to take longer and we’re always using a rental car, so 40 minutes would be more typical in our recent experience. Perhaps the Magical Express luggage services had reduced the number of bags arriving at the luggage carousel to such an extent that it was previously quicker.

 

[georgina]

Even if there is good weather where you are, bad weather elsewhere can cause your flight to be delayed. Very hard to predict when you will actually arrive at MCO.

 

[coronationday]

Thank you all, I will give ourselves three ours from landing to the resort just to account for flight delays, waiting for the luggage, traffic and any other mishap. That would put me arriving at 4pm to the hotel, so I can make my dinner ADR after 5:30 pm.

 

[coronationday]

I think 90 minutes is a decent budget. But, answer this... why do you want to know? Just curious? Yea, 90 minutes would be about right. It's ~30 minutes from MCO to WDW, luggage should be out about 30-45 minutes after you get off the plane. Add 15 minutes "just in case" and you're at 90.

Do you want to make a dining reservation? Don't. If you absolutely must, allow at least 3 hours, 4 would be better.

Yeah, I'm trying to plan an ADR for our last meal of the year. I'm thinking then 5:30 -6:00 for the reservation.

 

[coronationday]

I would recommend private transportation.

We are trying to find a good company to do this. So far I'm beteween Tiffany Towncar , Panda car service, and FL tours. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We are trying to find a good company to do this. So far I'm beteween Tiffany Towncar , Panda car service, and FL tours. Do you have any recommendations?

We used Mears. The picked us up in a black Yukon XL.

 

[coronationday]

We used Mears. The picked us up in a black Yukon XL.

Okay, thank you!

 

[EACarlson]

Delta, they rarely, if ever, take that long. 99.99% of the time, my bags are at the carousel when we arrive after deplaning and a bathroom stop. They offer an incentive to get them there quick, I forget the exact offer, they've never not met their goal at any airport we've used. But it's way less than 40 min.

5,000 Skymiles if bags aren't coming out on the carousel within 20 minutes of the door opening.

 

[sam_gordon]

Thank you all, I will give ourselves three ours from landing to the resort just to account for flight delays, waiting for the luggage, traffic and any other mishap. That would put me arriving at 4pm to the hotel, so I can make my dinner ADR after 5:30 pm.

If it's an ADR that you lose money on if you don't show, I would HIGHLY suggest not booking it. The delay between the airport and WDW isn't what would concern me. It's the potential for an airline delay. If you happen to have a connecting flight, that doubles your chances of an issue.

Just my opinion.

 

[coronationday]

If it's an ADR that you lose money on if you don't show, I would HIGHLY suggest not booking it. The delay between the airport and WDW isn't what would concern me. It's the potential for an airline delay. If you happen to have a connecting flight, that doubles your chances of an issue.

Just my opinion.

Our flight is direct, thankfully. I guess I would have to talk it out with the family and see if they are alright with maybe losing $40 bucks if we get delayed. Do you have any recommendations for a good place to eat that doesn't require reservations?

 

[sam_gordon]

Our flight is direct, thankfully. I guess I would have to talk it out with the family and see if they are alright with maybe losing $40 bucks if we get delayed. Do you have any recommendations for a good place to eat that doesn't require reservations?

On NYE? I personally would check with the concierge when we checked in to see if any sit down restaurant was available (doubtful) and if not, just plan on QS. Are you hoping for a park that day?