Is It Possible To See Wdw From The Air??

[CaseyJr]

Every time we fly into (and out of...) Orlando, I'm craning my neck to get a glimpse of anything "DISNEY" from the airplane window (SpaceShipEarth, anything familiar).

Is it possible to actually see any part of the parks from the air? Has anyone done this? What can you see, where to look, etc., etc., etc.

We are leaving in a week -- I'll be the one crowding DS out of his window seat, with my nose to the glass (or plastic, or whatever the windows are made of)...

 

[safetymom]

I have never seen it from the air in many many flights.

 

[rkdahl]

Yes it is possible. We have seen it twice from the air on takeoff. Never on landing. It all hinges on your takeoff direction, usually would require South take off. Your initial turn and climb pattern, would require West turn. And of course cloud cover.

We have pictures from one of the fly overs I think it was on American at the time. You can clearly see EPCOT, Spaceship Earth, World Showcase, the Magic Kingdom and other Disney areas.

There is a 'no fly' zone over Disney but that would not effect commercial aircraft leaving from MCO since they would be well above the no fly zone by the time they flew over Disney. The no fly zone is te following:

"Unless pilots are granted specific exemptions from air traffic controllers, no flights are allowed within a 3-mile radius around the parks or below 3,000 feet."

 

[WillCAD]

Disney is 30 miles east of MCO, so there's no way that I can see any of it, since my plane from Baltimore comes in from the north.

Coming from LA, you might possibly see part of WDW, but I doubt it, because I never hear commercial airline flights anywhere at WDW.

 

[GoofyDisney]

LOLOL The last time we flew out of MCO, we had a FANTASTIC view of the parks. Once we saw the EPCOT ball, everything was completely recognizable from there. Of course, I said out loud, "Look honey, there is the ball, and the monorail and...." At this point, every single person within ear shot and then all of their friends leaned over our way to look out the windows. I swear that the plane leaned a little to the right....DH assures me it didn't. But I think it did!

Good luck on seeing it! And stay buckled in!

 

[davandflav]

In all my trips to WDW, I had never been able to see any of the parks. Then, on my once-in-a-lifetime trip with my Mom in March, her eagle eyes spotted it all on our approach to MCO. TOT and The Contemporary are the things she noticed first. By the way, we were coming from Cincinnati.

She also spotted the hidden Mickey in the Germany train display, too. Darn, she's good!!!

Chrissy

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I flew into Orlando at night once and yes you could see Epcot globe at night. It was awesome and a great way to start our WDW vacation!

 

[donmil723]

I saw it once shortly after taking off from MCO. I first spotted the Contemporary, then noticed Spaceship Earth. It was off in the distance. We didn't fly directly over WDW. I was on SWA going back to St. Louis.

Casey Jr--I know what you mean. I'm always leaning over someone in my family to look for WDW if I'm not in the window seat.

Donna

 

[ShuisFan584]

I've been to WDW quite a few times, always by plane, and of course I always look out the window and try to find something. But I haven't had any luck yet, maybe next time.

 

[Pluto4Pres]

The first thing I notice from way out is the Dolphin. It looks like a pyramid. I can then usually pick out landmarks from there.

 

[CaseyJr]

Well, I never give up, so we'll see what I can see next week! One problem is that the planes are going so fast that I don't have a chance to get oriented to anything on the ground before we're either turning or headed into clouds.

Some day perhaps......

Would it be approriate to say that my head's in the clouds?

 

[kona-kraft]

I've ridden then space needle-like ride at Sea World before, and been able to see the Epcot Ball very clearly.

 

[TnKrBeLlA012]

When we were flying in to MCO at night we could see the ball and the fireworks, it was so cool!

 

[ricktib]

Yes it is possible. We have seen it twice from the air on takeoff. Never on landing. It all hinges on your takeoff direction, usually would require South take off. Your initial turn and climb pattern, would require West turn. And of course cloud cover.

As an airline pilot, I agree. When MCO is in a south operation, you more than likely turn out to the right to head off toward the northwest. Most of the time it's on the left side of the aircraft, but depending on how soon that turn is made, other traffic, etc., you occasionally fly directly over it, making it difficult to see much.

But the best was about eight months ago, taking off right at 9:00 pm and watching a few minutes of illuminations from the air.

The most recognizable features from the air are the lakes and lagoons, and of course Spaceship Earth when the sun is shining on it. Here are a few poor-quality shots I've taken of MK & DTD (Note to FAA: these were taken while riding in the back as a passenger):

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

On approach one night, a pilot said on the PA that if you were on the left hand side of the plane, you could see the Epcot fireworks. Only problem was that this was at about 10:05pm on a night that Illuminations was at 9. I was on the left, looked out, and it was Wishes. (yes, I've seen both shows enough to know which show is which just based on a 2-second glimpse from an airplane window)

 

[KS Jeff]

When landing to the north you will fly over Lake Tohopekaliga on final. Look for the Greeneway just to the north of the lake, and look straight down the Greeneway to the west. You should be able to spot Spaceship Earth before your altitude gets too low.

 

[iwannabeminnie]

(Note to FAA: these were taken while riding in the back as a passenger):

 

[tubachick]

I'll have to keep my eyes open as we are due to land at MCO at 9:20pm next month!!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Wow, that's so cool! Note to self-look out when we take off. I'm one who's flown over 20 times, yet never seen WDW. Every trip I crane my neck and look out both windows (if it was allowed, I'd probably be running back and forth between the 2 sides of the airplane!). And since I always get an aisle seat, either window is a stretch. But since I'm not crazy about take-offs, I've always closed my eyes. The hope of a glimpse of WDW will really make me keep my eyes open and alert this next time.

 

[rkdahl]

This is funny. So I make my first reply to this thread while sitting at the kitchen table in Old Key West. Two days later (today 07/15) We fly out of of MCO at 08:23am and sure enough...take off to the South, gradual right turn to the Northwest and 'poof' we fly directly over the parks!!! My wife was at the window and she could clearly see Spaceship Earth, Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, then she even said "I can even see the monorails moving around Seven Seas Lagoon!"

She usually has trouble locating things from the air but she picked right up on it this morning. I fly a lot (hot air balloons) so I tend to have a different perspective in calculating distances and locations from the air and can locate things usually quicker than she does.

One trick I use is to find the major highways and orient myself from there. It's easy to see the Beeline and I-4 for instance and then follow it down to 192 to get in the area.

We had a wonderful WDW trip this past week. It was hot and pretty crowded but TourGuideMike helped greatly! Thanks Mike! We dodged Dennis, got some cloudy and rainy days for a couple of days, missed a day to to shuttle launch viewing attempt, but all in all a wonderful trip!!

Back home now....safe and sound in Minnesota! And it's even 93 here today!! Weird.....