MCO during peak weeks

[jbish]

Can anyone provide me some insight as to how MCO has been in peak weeks, particularly Christmas-New Years? We're traveling down the week leading up to Easter, arguably one of the busiest weeks of the year. Thanks to the info here, I'm looking at booking a car service for the ride from MCO to the resort. But I'm considering a ride share on the way back so that I'm not completely beholden to leaving property 3 hours in advance. We're leaving on a Saturday night 8:30 pm, so I'm hoping it won't be the most insane time (but I've seen MCO so I know it will be busy). We have pre-check, too, so I expect that to help us get through the lines a little faster. Appreciate the insight!

 

[sam_gordon]

With a car service, you tell them what time you want to leave (or what time you want to arrive). I believe in walking through the doors of MCO at about the 2 hour mark. Now, you can possibly cut that down to 90 minutes with pre-check, and maybe another 15-30 minutes if you're not checking luggage. BUT, even with precheck and no checked luggage, I can't image getting to a major airport less than 90 minutes before the flight. Of course, I don't mind sitting and waiting in the gate area. I'd rather have to kill an hour at the gate then miss the flight by 1 minute (once they close the doors, they're not opening them, even if the plane is still at the gate).

 

[MrKnight]

I agree with the pp, I would strongly recommend arriving to MCO at least two hours prior to your flight departure time (even if you have pre-check), ESPECIALLY during peak periods like the period you will be traveling in.. The fact that you have a late flight may help, but I still wouldn't risk it, I have seen MCO busy at all times of day..

 

[jbish]

With a car service, you tell them what time you want to leave (or what time you want to arrive). I believe in walking through the doors of MCO at about the 2 hour mark. Now, you can possibly cut that down to 90 minutes with pre-check, and maybe another 15-30 minutes if you're not checking luggage. BUT, even with precheck and no checked luggage, I can't image getting to a major airport less than 90 minutes before the flight. Of course, I don't mind sitting and waiting in the gate area. I'd rather have to kill an hour at the gate then miss the flight by 1 minute (once they close the doors, they're not opening them, even if the plane is still at the gate).

I agree with the pp, I would strongly recommend arriving to MCO at least two hours prior to your flight departure time (even if you have pre-check), ESPECIALLY during peak periods like the period you will be traveling in.. The fact that you have a late flight may help, but I still wouldn't risk it, I have seen MCO busy at all times of day..

Yeah, I was thinking of trying to arrive at the 90 minute mark - but I hear you on the 2 hours. I know how busy that airport gets. I am probably scarred from last summer when we ended up just hanging out in a very crowded airport to wait out weather delays. But summer is a different animal, I know.

 

[sam_gordon]

Yeah, I was thinking of trying to arrive at the 90 minute mark - but I hear you on the 2 hours. I know how busy that airport gets. I am probably scarred from last summer when we ended up just hanging out in a very crowded airport to wait out weather delays. But summer is a different animal, I know.

And you might be in a very crowded airport waiting out mechanical or crew delays.

 

[jbish]

And you might be in a very crowded airport waiting out mechanical or crew delays.

True.....

 

[mickmom728]

We were just there the first week of November and MCO was a horrible mess! we arrived about 2.5 hours ahead of flight back home to return rental car and lines for security were not moving at all! Once we got past the ID check all the people directing lines were fighting with each other and redirecting lines so you didn’t even know where they wanted you to go. I can’t understand how an international airport can be so unorganized!

 

[_19disnA]

MCO tends to have a LOT of families with small children likely visiting Universal/Disney so it seems to always be busy regardless of the time of year. The general layout somewhat contributes to the congestion and many travelers seem to not be familiar with airport layout or how to get around. Typically, you will get someone on here traveling alone, with no checked baggage and TSA-precheck who makes it sound like getting through the airport is no big deal. That clearly is NOT the norm. Even with precheck, I would plan to get to the airport at least 2 hrs before your departure.

I agree with others who said it is preferable to get to your gate early and perhaps have time to shop/eat before departing. Regardless of why you are late, they are not going to hold the plane for you because you decided to cut it too close on your timing. Even if you are very adept at getting around, there could be congestion in various parts of the airport that you just can't predict ahead of time. If you have already been at Disney for several days on vacation, 1 more hour @ Disney isn't going to let you accomplish that much more anyway.