Immigration/Customs at MCO?

[FairestOfThemAll37]

hello! I’m hoping somebody from this fine board can give me the rundown of what immigration and customs is like coming into mco.

I’ve been trying to find some info but everything can comes up is really outdated. Any and all info is appreciated!

 

[jdisnut]

What information exactly are you looking for? It's usually not too crowded, at least compared to places like JFK or LAX.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Are you flying into MCO as your final destination or changing planes there to another destination?

 

[charmed59]

We flew in from London the end of August.

They do have global entry, which we used and got us through immigration in seconds. There were lines for those both with international and US passports. I’m not sure how fast they moved.

Luggage does take awhile to come in. There was a flight from the Caribbean, and they were checking those passengers’ luggage for duty compliance. Since our bags came from London they just waved us through. After that point you can then turn the luggage back in and pick it up on at regular baggage claim, or bring it on the monorail back to the main terminal. We chose the later. Perhaps if you are going to Disney on the ME you can then tag your bags and send them off to the baggage claim and the ME fairies pick them up, but I’m not sure.

It took us less than 30 minutes from gate to curb.

 

[nursejackie]

We've had some terrible experiences at MCO. We fly in from Manchester with Virgin Atlantic, and the queues some years at immigration have been very long, taking an hour to get through. Last year they installed automated passport control machines, and if I remember rightly, if you've been to the US within the last year you can use them. We had, so used them, but then got told to go to normal immigration anyway, so ended up queuing twice! The only good part was by the time we cleared it all, our luggage was waiting for us on the carousel.

Then you have to ride the train/monorail to the main terminal to exit, another pain when you have lots of luggage, a buggy and a child to contend with. They have a system by where you can put your luggage on a carousel for the airport to transport to the terminal for you but we had to wait 45 minutes for it at the other side, so didn't do that again! We always expect the worst, then anything less is a bonus.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

We flew in from London the end of August.

They do have global entry, which we used and got us through immigration in seconds. There were lines for those both with international and US passports. I’m not sure how fast they moved.

Luggage does take awhile to come in. There was a flight from the Caribbean, and they were checking those passengers’ luggage for duty compliance. Since our bags came from London they just waved us through. After that point you can then turn the luggage back in and pick it up on at regular baggage claim, or bring it on the monorail back to the main terminal. We chose the later. Perhaps if you are going to Disney on the ME you can then tag your bags and send them off to the baggage claim and the ME fairies pick them up, but I’m not sure.

It took us less than 30 minutes from gate to curb.

Thanks. We’re actually coming from London as well (though are US Citizens). It’s good to know they have the global entry kiosks. Hopefully that will save time!

We've had some terrible experiences at MCO. We fly in from Manchester with Virgin Atlantic, and the queues some years at immigration have been very long, taking an hour to get through. Last year they installed automated passport control machines, and if I remember rightly, if you've been to the US within the last year you can use them. We had, so used them, but then got told to go to normal immigration anyway, so ended up queuing twice! The only good part was by the time we cleared it all, our luggage was waiting for us on the carousel.

Then you have to ride the train/monorail to the main terminal to exit, another pain when you have lots of luggage, a buggy and a child to contend with. They have a system by where you can put your luggage on a carousel for the airport to transport to the terminal for you but we had to wait 45 minutes for it at the other side, so didn't do that again! We always expect the worst, then anything less is a bonus.

This is what I’m dreading but, it it what it is. MCO takes an unreasonable time for baggage anyway so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s a wait to do the second luggage pickup.

What information exactly are you looking for? It's usually not too crowded, at least compared to places like JFK or LAX.

Just looking for experiences, how long people have waited, how the bagge works, tips, etc.

Are you flying into MCO as your final destination or changing planes there to another destination?

Final destination. Despite being my home airport, I never have been through immigration at the airport. Either I’ve flown in somewhere else for a night and cleared there or had a connecting flight from a pre-clearance airport.