Travel Time to Airport with TSA Pre-Check?

[Ann-CA]

I'll be flying Delta out on a January trip. The flight is a 7:40pm flight on a Thursday evening. I won't have any bags to check.

How long would a ride-service drive typically take from the park to MCO (it'll probably be during peak traffic times)?

How are TSA Pre-Check lines for Delta terminal? I only found a post about Terminal C.

 

[Ross Kratter]

Even with PreCheck, Orlando Airport is so deeply unpredictable. While without traffic it only takes 35-45 minutes from the resorts/parks to the airport, at certain hours it can take cars half an hour just to reach the terminals from the main entrances.

 

[Jimsig]

I request my rideshare 3 hour before my flight and I am usually checking bags.

What you can do is check traffic using Google Maps with the traffic layer every Thur night for a few weeks to a month before your trip. It should give you an idea of how traffic is at that time.

You can also do something similar for security wait times through the MCO website, wait time are in the upper right hand corner
https://www.orlandoairports.net/

 

[EACarlson]

How are TSA Pre-Check lines for Delta terminal? I only found a post about Terminal C.

I've never spent more than 15 minutes in the Pre line at MCO. The last time I flew out late afternoon it was more like 5.

 

[sam_gordon]

Given your circumstances (no checked bags, TSA pre-check), I would target walking through the doors of MCO between 90 minutes and 2 hours before the flight. So that would be between 5:40p-6:10p. I'd probably say 6p.

Budget 45 minutes of travel time and 15 minutes waiting on the ride, so I'd be calling for the ride at 5p.

Now, I'm conservative when it comes to making flights. I know there are people who think any minute waiting on a flight to board is "wasted" time. But I'd rather be waiting at my gate for hours than be 5 minutes late. I'd rather budget "slop" time than be stressed wondering if I'll miss my flight.

 

[Ann-CA]

Given your circumstances (no checked bags, TSA pre-check), I would target walking through the doors of MCO between 90 minutes and 2 hours before the flight. So that would be between 5:40p-6:10p. I'd probably say 6p.

Budget 45 minutes of travel time and 15 minutes waiting on the ride, so I'd be calling for the ride at 5p.

Now, I'm conservative when it comes to making flights. I know there are people who think any minute waiting on a flight to board is "wasted" time. But I'd rather be waiting at my gate for hours than be 5 minutes late. I'd rather budget "slop" time than be stressed wondering if I'll miss my flight.

I’m somewhere in between. I love not waiting and would hate waiting for hours (unless there’s a lounge), but having to run to a gate would stress me out. I’ve never missed a flight due to my lateness.

But flying out of LAX, I wouldn’t have any issues arriving only 60 min early if I didn’t have checked bags and had pre-check. Even at 60, I feel like I’d be waiting at the gate. I wonder how much busier MCO is than LAX.

Thanks for your suggestion! I’d hate to miss my flight so since MCO is unknown to me, probably best to play it safe.

 

[sam_gordon]

I’m somewhere in between. I love not waiting and would hate waiting for hours (unless there’s a lounge), but having to run to a gate would stress me out. I’ve never missed a flight due to my lateness.

But flying out of LAX, I wouldn’t have any issues arriving only 60 min early if I didn’t have checked bags and had pre-check. Even at 60, I feel like I’d be waiting at the gate. I wonder how much busier MCO is than LAX.

Thanks for your suggestion! I’d hate to miss my flight so since MCO is unknown to me, probably best to play it safe.

Just to clarify, I don't purposely wait for hours. But if the choice is waiting for hours vs being 5 minutes late, I'll take the hours.

Let's say everything is PERFECT... there's a ride share within minutes of you, no traffic, 5 minute wait at security, etc. You'd be at the gate by 6p... so probably a little over an hour wait before boarding.

BUT, if everything goes WRONG... 15-20 minute wait for the ride, slow traffic, 15-20 minute wait at security (even with pre-check), you're probably at the gate around 6:30-6:45, so just over a 30 minute wait before boarding.

Like I said, I'm conservative when it comes to making my flight, so I'd assume the WRONG would happen (which still provides some "slop" time) more so than the PERFECT.

 

[CarolynFH]

I wonder how much busier MCO is than LAX.

It’s not necessarily busier but tends to have a higher percentage of inexperienced travelers, small children, etc.

 

[EACarlson]

I wonder how much busier MCO is than LAX.

A couple of things that play into this. LAX had 25% more passenger boardings in 2022 than MCO did, but that includes connecting traffic, 12% of LAX is connecting traffic. LAX has 9 TSA checkpoints vs the 2 that MCO had for the vast majority of 2022. As @CarolynFH pointed out, many more inexperienced flyers at MCO than LAX. And once you're through TSA at LAX it's generally a short walk to your gate, at MCO you still have to get on the APM to get to your pod and then walk to your gate. All of these things add up to needing more time to get to your gate once you get to MCO than you would need at LAX.

 

[Ann-CA]

A couple of things that play into this. LAX had 25% more passenger boardings in 2022 than MCO did, but that includes connecting traffic, 12% of LAX is connecting traffic. LAX has 9 TSA checkpoints vs the 2 that MCO had for the vast majority of 2022. As @CarolynFH pointed out, many more inexperienced flyers at MCO than LAX. And once you're through TSA at LAX it's generally a short walk to your gate, at MCO you still have to get on the APM to get to your pod and then walk to your gate. All of these things add up to needing more time to get to your gate once you get to MCO than you would need at LAX.

Thanks, that’s super helpful, particularly in knowing how many fewer checkpoints there are. Crazy how different all the airports are!

Sounds like I will lean on sam_gordon’s advice above and try to leave WDW no later than 5.

 

[RedHead0186]

I have Pre-Check, and typically plan to arrive at the airport about 90 minutes before my flight if I'm not checking bags. With MCO, sometimes it pad that a little bit, just because I have sometimes had longer Pre-Check lines than usual.

 

[Akck]

We had an early morning flight, so we opted to spend the night at the airport Hyatt. I was going to drop off our luggage at the hotel and then return the rental, but traffic was backed up that I just pulled into the rental return lane and we hauled our luggage through the airport. I figure getting to arrivals/departures might have taken another 5-20 minutes with the traffic. This was around 6 pm, so plan accordingly

 

[_19disnA]

My experience is that MCO tends to be more congested due to large numbers of infrequent travelers with small children. Universal & Disney are a big draw and it seems many aren't frequent flyers. Knowing the general layout of the terminal and what you need to do at the airport helps to move things along. I would always err on the side of getting there early even with TSA-precheck since you just never know how long things will take. Rather wait at the gate then miss my flight because I didn't allow enough time.

There are places to shop & eat which can help pass the time. I always eat prior to boarding since most flights don't offer much in the way of food and you can find far greater variety in the terminal.