MDE and 8am Flight

[valerie160]

We have an 8am flight out of MCO. I know this means a 5am MDE pick up. But because the transportation desk opens at 5am, am I out of luck in getting our boarding passes printed since the MDE pickup is AT 5am and the desk opens at 5am? Can I have them print this for me the night before? What about our checked bags being checked-in at the hotel so we don't have to check them in at the airport? How long does it take to get to the airport? I'm guessing 90 minutes like arrival (with other pick-ups?).

I'm just nervous about all the little things that can go wrong and trying to figure out if renting a car will help me avoid a fiasco on our check out day. Thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

I really doubt you'll be able to use RAC to get your boarding passes and check your bags. Yes, the RAC counter opens at 5, but you have to be completely finished and walking away no less than 3 hrs prior to flight departure. So, that's obviously not going to work. Your pick up time, for the DME bus, will be between 4:45 and 5:15, and you need to be at the bus stop, ready to go about 10 mins prior to the stated p/u time.
I always tell people that if they have a flight before 8:30am, they aren't going to be able to use RAC. And no, you can't check your bags the day before. The RAC counter closes at 1pm, and you can't check bags later than 12 hrs prior to your flight.
So, you're going to have to take your bags with you, on the DME bus, to the airport and check them. The actual ride to MCO is about 35 mins..the overall length of time it should take you, from your resort, will depend on how many stops your bus makes after you get picked up. I have never arrived at MCO less than 2 hrs prior to flight departure...others have though.

 

[valerie160]

Thank you so much for the quick info!

I think I'll just rent a car for our last week unless my stalking for southwest pays off and I can get a nonstop in the afternoon at a good price. The super early morning flight paired with a big family paired with lots of luggage and extras (playpen, stroller, car seat) and relying on transportation that could or could not get there prior to 2 hours has me worrying we could miss our plane or cut it really close and I'd rather not deal with that stress .

 

[tjmw2727]

You can get boarding passes printed at the resort via guest services at T24 with most airlines (nothing to do with RAC) but you won't be able to check your bags via RAC as posted above. If your flying SWA just use the EBCI and you won't even have to worry about the T24 check in SWA checks you in and you just print the BP at the airport.

For us taking the bags on the bus and checking in at the airport hasn't been a problem we just look at the inside lines and then the curbside and choose whatever is quicker. Although there is no denying RAC is an amazing service and time saver!

 

[Pembo]

Just wanted to add on a recent trip we did rent a car and gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport. The snag was when it came to return the car, the process took longer than usual and I had to go to the booth after the walk around guy was at our rental. It was a huge time waster. By the time we got to the gate, the plane was boarding. Just wanted to add the car rental can slow you down.

 

[ParrotBill]

Since you're taking your bags to the airport and must check those in you will just get your boarding passes at the airport... no reason to ask to print them at the hotel. Just check in online when your window opens (usually 24 hrs prior) without printing boarding passes.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

my only trips with rental car were my grandsons wish trips. had lots of help getting stuff to car but no help getting back to counter. waste of time dropping off stuff to check in then taking rental back to a lot of time plus you then have to meet up. we ended up close on boarding with second trip and we had no trouble with traffic getting to airport just took a lot of time at the airport. I would have loved to have been able to take DME even with all our stuff