What to do at Orlando Intl Airport while waiting (6 hours) for our flight?

[wideeyedwonder]

Well, it looks like we won't be flying back home out of Orlando Intl Airport (MCO) until late afternoon (6pm or so). This happened during our last cruise, and since the cruise ends in the morning, the kids got really really REALLY fidgety waiting for the flight, and even more so ON the flight (5 hours back to Los Angeles).

So, my question is, what fun, interesting, or active things can be done at or near MCO while we are waiting 6 hours for our flight?

Is there any way to check in baggage that early so that we can leave the airport for a few hours, or any way of storing our baggage so that we can leave the airport premises without lugging it around? If so, where can we go that is fun, and within 15 minutes of MCO?

If we have to keep our hold of our bags, what should we do at the airport that will keep both the adults and the kids occupied?

The kids are fine reading, playing Nintendo DS, or coloring/activity books, but not for 6 hours + 5 hours straight! (And the same goes for us adults!)

Thanks for any help!

 

[momof2minnies]

Do you have a rental car?

 

[kcashner]

Instead of taking the DCL shuttle back to the port, rent a car one way (Budget, Hertz, Avis, and Thrifty are nearby). We paid $46 and $40 for a small car on our last trip. That way, you can go to Downtown Disney, the Fl Mall, Disney discount store, just out for lunch, or whatever. DD wanted free internet, so we hit Panera bread on our last return....

Return of car at the airport is very easy--takes about 10 minutes. No, there is no way to store your luggage or check it in early (those lovely homeland security rules....)

You could also hit the Kennedy Space Center, but it's a lot of money for a short time. In season, some people do one of the Disney water parks.

 

[shancan911]

Do you have a rental car? If not, check and see if you can have your bags sent directly from the ship. That's something offered on RCCL, and would free up your worries about that. We are sailing the Magic in October, and have a later flight. We are planning on going to Downtown Disney for lunch and then to the airport. Just a thought. Hope you find something that works for you. Enjoy your trip!

 

[kaseyC]

Have you considered doing a 1-day rental. Picking up at the port and returning to the airport. That would give you the freedom to do many things like DTD, the Boardwalk area or have lunch and hang out at one of the resorts.

 

[PizzieDuster]

We were exhausted after our cruise and had the same late flight to L.A.

We rented a day room at the Hyatt at the airport. All we needed was two beds and after a quick lunch we napped. It was great !

 

[xangav]

On all our other cruises we took DCL transportation. This time we are sailing on RCCL's Freedom of the Seas. Thanks to the DIS board we are trying something different and renting a car at MCO to get to the port. When we return we are renting again at Cape Canaveral and going to the parks for a few days.

Our last day we also leave at 7:00 p.m. so we were thinking of going to Down Town Disney for some shopping and lunch before we have to be back at the airport and return the car.

I found Budget to be the cheapest and most convenient. Enjoy your cruise.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We rented a car and went to the Kennedy Space Center for most of the day. It was very cool. Our flight was at 5:30 PM.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We were exhausted after our cruise and had the same late flight to L.A.

We rented a day room at the Hyatt at the airport. All we needed was two beds and after a quick lunch we napped. It was great !

We did this also since we had an evening flight also (which ended up getting delayed so it was even BETTER for us that we had that room!).

We spent the day relaxing, swimming in the pool, napping, got all showered/bathed and fresh before the flight, ate, watched tv- we basically continued our "cruise" (without a ship and Disney service though- unfortunately LOL) by keeping with the relaxed feeling of it and let me tell you it was worth every penny! We got there from the port about 9:30- our flight was supposed to be 5pm and was delayed until 8pm. I'm SOOO glad we had that room. Sure we could have went and did stuff but we would have ended up still having to get to the airport around 3pm only to end up sitting in hard chairs and dealing with 3 kids (ages then 12, 8, 6) for hours -not my idea of fun! The pool got a lot of energy out of the kids- I'm basically the one that napped (having had a hard time sleeping the last night fo the cruise) while they swam, watched tv, etc. and we had a noneventful flight after that too. To me this is ideal especially since apparently our flights from MCO to Dallas get delayed often. We were able to keep the room until we needed to go check in for our flight and the tv had the info to let us know of the delays of our flight. worked out great! I just went down to the foodcourt and got us food though because the room service or call in food to the room was a major sticker shocker after getting off the cruise with all that "free" food. LOL

 

[TiaMaria]

I echo the suggestion for the day room at the Hyatt MCO. It's actually located right in the terminal. You can relax, swim at the outdoor pool, have a leisurely lunch, shower, change, nap and be refreshed for your flight.

They have reasonable rates for day rooms and you don't have to worry about leaving your luggage in a hot car or watching the clock to make sure you have enough time to return a rental car, and get to the airport and struggle with bags on a shuttle. You will be right there at the terminal and can check your bags and get on the tram to your gate.

 

[wideeyedwonder]

Wow, GREAT suggestions (rent a car instead of taking Disney transfer to the airport, booking a day room at the airport Hyatt)!

I think booking a dayroom at the Hyatt is just what the doctor ordered...let the kids swim and burn off some energy, relax in the room, food from the food court, and not have to worry about making it back to the airport to catch a flight, and having a place to relax if our flight gets delayed.

SU-WEET!

We are staying at the Hyatt the night before the cruise, time to call them about day room rates...

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

It was sweet. We went with the suggestion of others on this board and we were so glad we did!
Check around for discounts- we got a really big room (executive suite I think they called it) with lots of room and a little balcony (the view was nothing great though- basically parking lot and highways? LOL). I don't think we could have asked for a more relaxing/enjoyable way to spend that day waiting for our flight and then ofcourse like I said- ended up our flight was delayed and it really came in handy then. I HATE sitting around in the waiting areas for hours. Hate hate hate it. (even without kids LOL)

(ps. it was years ago but back then if I'm remembering correctly the price was very reasonable and I think we had to book a room for 4 even though our family is 5. I had no qualms about doing that- we weren't sleeping in there and really all 5 of us weren't really in the room all at once hardly ever anyway LOL I just wasn't about to rent two rooms just for the day. Just FYI- don't know how big your family is)

 

[Princess Row]

Last saturday we actully waited 7 hours at the airport. We ate, sat around and shopped a little. Luckily DD 14 met two other teens who had the same departure as us and was able to hang out with them it was actully very nice. My other DD 5 was able to catch up on homework. Then she played Nintendo Ds and me and my mom read. It was relaxing for awhile after about 4 hours we were ready to leave, then had to look forward to a 7 hour flight home. With a 2 hour layover and it turned out to be delayed for 2 hours. Needless to say we finally made it home after a LONNG day!

 

[Carriemel]

dangit!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

whatever you do, don't go from gate 100-125 over to 66-99 for food!!!

Monday I was flying back and we were at the airport early. We were hungry and all the stores in 100-125 were closed. So I left my wife with the bags and took the tram over to 66-99 where there was food. get the food, and on my way back, they had closed the link between the two areas. They told me I had to leave security and go back in. Only problem is I left my ID and wallet with my wife....

she had to drag the bags back out to bring me my ID and I had to throw away the drinks.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

dangit!

Let me guess, started to reply to a zombie thread ?

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

If we have 6 or more hours wait, we rent a car and go to Disney Springs.

AKK

 

[lucky1]

I echo the suggestion for the day room at the Hyatt MCO. It's actually located right in the terminal. You can relax, swim at the outdoor pool, have a leisurely lunch, shower, change, nap and be refreshed for your flight.

I like this idea, that way you can stay up late on your last night of the cruise and partake in the activities and not worry about being well rested. Then crash at the hotel at the airport. Of course if you don't make it to florida that often you might want to visit some of the sites around before heading home.

 

[Iamaplanner]

We paid $99 for the day room at Hyatt MCO. Definitely reasonable. We had a great experience too.

 

[bumbershoot]

The post is from 2009, guys. I think she figured out what to do.