Tips/suggestions for flying in and out of Orlando MCO
 

Anything helpful you'd like to share please?

Is there a reliable shuttle from TV to MCO?

Any highway tips to/from TV to MCO. Exits to avoid? Tangled intersections of highway where you might miss an important turn off?

Park and fly lots. Any that you recommend? Are they safe or is it worth it to park at the airport? Any tips or suggestions for parking?

Anything else you'd like to recommend for a trip to MCO?

Thanks!!

I've flown in and out of MCO at least 50 times in the past 12 years, probably more.

Depending on how long of a trip you will be gone, short trips, I'd just park at MCO. The break even comes about day 4 and for me, anything 6 days or less, I just drive and park in the daily.

7 days or more, I get a car service, door to door both directions. There are a number of them, I use Wheels up. I've tried the other services(Groome, Village airport van, etc.) and they will all get you there, but the hassle and cost savings isn't enough of an advantage as far as I'm concerned.

As far as getting to the airport in a car, use Waze(my choice) or google maps. Either will get you there and route you around traffic if possible.

Essentially you take 301, 27/441 or Meggison to the turnpike, some miles to 528 and follow the signs to Jeff Fuqua blvd into the terminals.

Groome shuttle service is reliable and relatively ($45 one way, I think) inexpensive. Plus it saves you the hassle of driving and fighting traffic on the expressway, and parking spots/fees once you get to MCO. They're doing a lot of construction on the expressway (widening it) so traffic is often backed up because of that. Groome picks up at LSL and Brownwood at scheduled intervals. You can arrange for pickup at your home ($15) on a Groome feeder shuttle which will take you to LSL or Brownwood pickup points. For spur-of-the-moment trips there are private shuttles but they are spendy; $100 - $125 one way though if there are two of you the second person usually rides for maybe 20% or so of the single ticket. I'd recommend Joe Byers (Blue Line Services); quick and reliable. Either Groome or Joe will drop you off at the appropriate terminal.

In general I'd recommend getting to MCO earlier rather than later. Considering the traffic and possible delays I'd plan on leaving so that in normal traffic you'd get to MCO about 3 hours before your flight. That gives you time to weather traffic snarls and sometimes-impossibly long lines at Security.

I’ve logged hundreds of flights in and out of MCO over the years and I’ll say it’s really not a bad experience. If you aren’t comfortable in traffic, parking, maybe a shuttle or even a tram….etc, then don’t do it. I taken a few shuttles over there, but drive myself 99% of the time. It’s not a bad drive and I prefer to be on my own schedule.

The security lines at MCO can be insane some days due to the tourists. TSA PreCheck is absolutely worth the cost (CLEAR used to be a great option, but not anymore).

If you’re going to eat, there are plenty of options but some concourses have much better options than others, so you may want to do your research before taking the tram out to your gates. Check out Eating and drinking | Orlando NON OFFICIAL.

You can sometimes avoid congestion during busy season by coming in from the south side.

We prefer flying from Terminal C at MCO when possible (JetBlue, + ???).

Tampa is another option, nicer, than MCO (A/B), a little bit longer drive but much less families/crowded so faster/easier to get to your gate.

For us, a lot of the decision on how we get to Orlando's airport is based on how long we will be gone. For a 3 week or longer trip, we are taking a shuttle such as Villages Airport Vans or a private car service. For 2 weeks or less, we are typically driving ourselves. It is an easy drive to the airport if you use a navigation app on your phone. Villages Airport Vans is about $180 roundtrip for the two of us. A private car service is about $280, YMMV. Parking when we drive ourselves is typically $10 per day and tolls are about $12 round trip. We use the off-site Park and Go lot and it is perfectly safe with frequent buses back and forth to the terminals. We typically arrange to be at the airport pretty early and go to one of the airport lounges. As mentioned already, I would invest in TSA Pre-Check. If you travel outside the country then you may want to look at Global Entry (which includes TSA Pre-Check).

It's a little of topic (I know, no chance I'd stray from the OPs topic).

Has anyone tried Gainesville? Orlando and Tampa are pretty congested and I prefer the little regional type airports.

We've been flying out of Tampa lately. A 20 min extra drive, but way less hastle and fewer screaming kids.

This link will take you to the webpage that explains all of MCO's on-site parking. NOTE... that there are little green & red tags that tell you which parking facitities are presently "Open" or "Full".

Click here...

We have used Groome lately IF it's just one of us. They are convenient and reasonable for the trip to MCO. The rub is the return trip.

If your plane is delayed and you miss your scheduled bus to TV they will not move your reservation to the next available bus.

So, if it's only one of us we take Groome there and use our car for the pick up and return trip. If we are traveling together we drive and park. BTW, MCO had jacked up their onsite parking rates. A car service may be cheaper for a long (think 2 weeks or more) trip.

Regional Airports
 

Have not tried Gainesville. A few years ago I took a glance at Gainesville but couldn’t get to Illinois from there without transferring too much. However, Sanford has been useful using Allegiant Airlines. We still like to drive by taking our time 6 - 8 hours a day and a nice place for overnight and dinner. Sometimes do a little site seeing along the way too.

Tampa would always be first choice. Easy parking, easy to navigate airport.
Fair warning NEVER fly into Tampa last day of January February March, and if there is a storm evac, get off of I75 parking lot. We even flew in at 10pm on 3/31. Took us 4 hours and 48 minutes to get to TV.

I looked at Gainesville for the reasons you cited, but the cost of the flights were high compared to Orlando & Tampa. You should check & see if you see any you would like to take.

St Pete has Allegent also.

If flight is delayed and missed scheduled Groome connection, what do they expect you to do walk home?