Late Flight: What to do at MCO airport to kill time?

[Stitch'sCousin]

Unfortunately Southwest is not part of the onboard check in.

I just copied the following from the Disney Cruise site where it discusses onboard check in.

"Available to Guests flying out of Orlando International Airport on domestic flights (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) on AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and US Airways."

 

[Capt_BJ]

find the escalator to the airport hotel and head up to the check-in desk

there is a LARGE lobby area which can give you a lot of room to stretch out on couches and the like .... off the traffic lanes. And then part of the group can roam the shops etc etc. Plenty of room to keep your luggage until you can check in.

You might even decide to ask about a day room . . .

 

[Haley]

I would try to get a cheap car rental and go to downtown Disney.

On one of our cruises we really dragged our feet leaving the ship in the morning and still got to the airport at like 10:30am.

On our last cruise we did a car rental and went to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours- it was expensive but we had my brother with me and he hadn't been there in over a decade.

 

[trimix]

I second the car suggestion. Disney charges what - $35 per person for one way transportation? Two people would be $70, three $105.
Search car rental firms for one-way, one-day rental prices. I just looked at Budget with a random date and found economy, compact, intermediate, standard, and full size all going for less than $75, plus about $10 in taxes. Add fuel and you are still going to save money by renting a full size car compared to Disney transport for three people.
With a car you can visit Downtown Disney, explore Port Canaveral or Orlando, visit the Wal Mart near WDW for cheap souveniers, or do any of a lot more things.

A car would be a great option.

 

[wums95]

Get a day-rate room at the Hyatt and go swimming!

You should call the hotel and ask for the day rate...

 

[tamis]

You can also find lots of car rental discount codes on the internet. Mousesavers posts quite a few, and you can usually pick up a one way from Port Canaveral to the Orlando Airport for $35-$50 (We used Budget and got a $36 rate plus tax for a full-size rental). It might be well worth it for your family. All the car rental places in Port Canaveral have shuttles at the cruise terminals and they transport you to their car locations when you disembark.

 

[Dec6]

Shop, Shop, Shop...Check out the Disney Store, they have great gifts and jewelry. They have alot of stores and food. The Hyatt hotel is actually in the airport also...

 

[trimix]

Come on, people! The Original Poster said, "Unable to rent a car, unable to spend money on a hotel room for the day, any other suggestions?"

I suggested a way to make car rental affordable, if money is the issue. But knowing that money is limited, suggesting shopping or a day room is way out of line!

 

[RedSox68]

If you have AAA, they may be able to get you an affordable car rate also.

 

[RedSox68]

Come on, people! The Original Poster said, "Unable to rent a car, unable to spend money on a hotel room for the day, any other suggestions?"

I suggested a way to make car rental affordable, if money is the issue. But knowing that money is limited, suggesting shopping or a day room is way out of line!

And many many people suggested lots of stuff to do at the airport, which would be their only option if they can't rent a car or get a day room at the Hyatt.

I think others were just trying to be helpful by posting suggestions for cheaper car rentals if it's feasible for the OP.

 

[blessedmomofboys]

We had a late flight also and did the onboard checkin. It was great not having to worry about our luggage until we got to our home airport! We also got a day rate at Hyatt and it was worth every penny IMO. I have 3 small kids so to have a place for them to nap was priceless. We did take our time getting to the airport and walked around and ate lunch but still had a few hours to kill.