Race to the airport

@TheRustyScupper, I defer to the awesomeness of your travels. As someone once said, "Impressive. Most impressive."

Guys & gals, this is great. Most helpful points so far:
- Valet parking at the contemporary could save time. If not, the ferry is better than monorail.
- Traffic is a risk (I'm leaving March 1st, a Sunday)
- Duration of A&E could be longer than I thought
- There's a shuttle at the airport that adds delay
- I need to reassess my life priorities. Is A&E worth the risk of getting stuck in Orlando? I'm thinking so....
 
Does the place you rented the car from have a site in WDW (maybe DTD)? A thought (which may not be a good one, but anyway) is to return the car the night before and take a cab from the Contemporary to the airport on Sunday. Just a thought - skips the car rental return (and shuttle) at the airport.
 
- I need to reassess my life priorities. Is A&E worth the risk of getting stuck in Orlando? I'm thinking so....

Even if you are stuck there hours and hours, possibly overnight? Why not just add a day on to your vacation ahead of time?
 
Even if you are stuck there hours and hours, possibly overnight? Why not just add a day on to your vacation ahead of time?

The $200 change fee (x3) is what's keeping me from doing that! I'd definitely prefer to just move to a later flight.

So far there are enough tips to make me feel some degree of confidence / control. I'll definitely think about an early rental car return on-site and taking a cab.

But if we do miss our flight, well, life's an adventure. No big deal.
 

I've managed to grab an Anna & Elsa FP+ for my daughter 4 hours before our flight leaves MCO.

Congratulations. You are smart to know that it will take some planning.

See Anna & Elsa with FP+: 1hr
Monorail to Polynesian & get in rental car: 30 mins
Drive to airport: 45 mins
Drop off car and go through security: 45 mins
--------------------
TOTAL time spent: 2hr 45 min
Remaining time before takeoff: 50 mins

As already noted in this thread, those numbers don't quite add up. But the basic plan is sound -- if you do everything you can to avoid delays of 15 minutes here and there, which can add up quickly.

A few thoughts:

Although it's worth reading all the ideas and advice in this thread, I think some of the ideas are better than others.

When you rent your car, make sure you get a car with a real trunk, not a hatchback, minivan, or SUV.

Unless you use Resort Airline Check-in (RAC), you'll have to allow for time at your airline's counter at the airport (or with a skycap at the airport). So use RAC by all means.

You are staying at the Poly. Before going to the MK, vacate your room so that you won't have to stop at your room before driving to the airport. Hide your carry-on and personal items in the trunk. Move your car to the end of the Poly parking lot closest to the TTC.

Figure out a "must leave" time for the MK and an exit strategy for the Anna & Elsa line. If, despite your FastPass+, you find yourself waiting for too long, be prepared to leave before reaching Anna & Elsa.

After leaving the MK, plan on taking the Express Monorail to the TTC. But if there is a line that will prevent you from being on the next monorail, head to the ferry instead.

[I understand the logic behind the idea of using valet parking at the Contemporary, but by the time you walk to the Contemporary and wait for your car to be retrieved, it's unlikely that you will really save any time compared to heading to the Poly parking lot via the TTC, and you'll pay the valet parking fee and a tip. It also takes a few minutes longer to drive from the Contemporary than from the Poly, erasing more of any time you might have saved.]

Take 417 to the airport, not I-4 and 528. Traffic slowdowns on 417 are rare (unless there's a serious accident), while the slightly shorter I-4+528 route can have serious traffic slowdowns, especially on the I-4 segment, just because of heavy use.

You can return your rental car without stopping for gas if you find yourself running behind schedule. You'll pay more to the rental company, but you can make up some valuable time.

The advice to "skip the long security line using TSA pre-check" only works if you make arrangements well ahead of time and pay for the service. Even then, I've been at MCO when TSA pre-check has been closed and I had to wait in the regular line. And I've been "randomly selected" for extra screening, even when using TSA pre-check.

Remember that flights normally begin boarding 30 minutes before scheduled departure.
 
@TheRustyScupper, I defer to the awesomeness of your travels. As someone once said, "Impressive. Most impressive."

Guys & gals, this is great. Most helpful points so far:
- Valet parking at the contemporary could save time. If not, the ferry is better than monorail.
- Traffic is a risk (I'm leaving March 1st, a Sunday)
- Duration of A&E could be longer than I thought
- There's a shuttle at the airport that adds delay
- I need to reassess my life priorities. Is A&E worth the risk of getting stuck in Orlando? I'm thinking so....
Most major rental cars are on site at MCO. There's no shuttle.
 
WARNING . . . DANGER WILL ROBINSON . . . WARNING
1) I also have travels (4½-million air miles), and free TSA-Pre-Check.
2) And, I think you are cutting things too close.
. . . A&E could, and frequently does, take longer than 1-hr, even with FP
. . . my guess is 45-min to Poly and car retrieval is more realistic
. . . any traffic at all, and the 45-min airport journey is 1¼-hrs
. . . you need to add 15-20 minutes monorail time for the air terminal shuttle
3) Any other hiccups, and you are left watching your plane taxi away.
WARNING . . . DANGER WILL ROBINSON . . . WARNING

You don't need to allow 15-20 minutes for the tram from the main terminal to the gate area. You don't need to allow any time. MCO suggests passengers checking luggage arrive 2 hours before flight time. Passengers not checking luggage can cut that down to 1.5 to 1.75 hours. Security wait times and wait times for the tram are inclusive of that.

OP should be getting to the airport almost 2 hours before flight time.

I'd gas up the rental car the night before. Some agencies might ding you for a few dollars if you don't gas up within 5 miles of the airport.
 
The $200 change fee (x3) is what's keeping me from doing that! I'd definitely prefer to just move to a later flight.

So far there are enough tips to make me feel some degree of confidence / control. I'll definitely think about an early rental car return on-site and taking a cab.

But if we do miss our flight, well, life's an adventure. No big deal.

:thumbsup2
 
good luck! Just wanted to ask what airlines you are flying on? I think Delta only charges $50 to change flights within a 24 hour window... might be an option.

Also, we have made it through security in 10 min in Orlando and have had times its taken us an hour- all depends on the time of day, year, day of the week!

Hope it all works out!
 
I think it all depends on what you want your stress level to be..... I personally have cut things too close at the end of a vacay,and I dislike running thru the airport,worrying we will miss our flight,as flights usually start boarding 30 mins before departure at least, and many,many airlines overbook flights as a routine,and anyone showing up later gets bumped without question.... You must be checked in /at gate or they will strat bumping people....that's standard,esp. Orlando flights which tend to be full- that is too much stress for me. but OP, you may not be the worrying type. I would never ever do that to myself for a character meet.
 
I used RAC in October and my companion, whose same flight was booked at the same time, couldn't use it because they couldn't find his reservation in their system. He showed them his info and even his boarding pass on his phone, but it still meant he couldn't use the resort airline checkin. The additional time at RAC plus the extra time at the airport equaled over an hour. Luckily, we were checking in our bags at 11AM for a 5PM flight.

My point is, you never know what glitch will happen.
 
On our way back to the airport there was a car crash and we were delayed 45 minutes. I also do not think that 45 minutes for security is reasonable. In addition they travel to the gate, they start loading so early. I wouldn't even plan on it. You could get in the FP line and find your time is slipping away and have to leave. They spend a lot of time with each guest at two with pictures and chatting. I would hope for a time during the week that the line was not so long and see them then.
 
You can gain an extra five minutes by scanning five minutes before your fastpass return time :)
 












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