Departure out of MCO

[Gondingl]

Wondering how far in advance of my departure flight out of MCO, I should leave from AoA? My flight is at 8:20 am. I was planning on pulling out of the AoA parking lot at 7, wondering if this will be enough time or not.

 

[Alesia]

Wondering how far in advance of my departure flight out of MCO, I should leave from AoA? My flight is at 8:20 am. I was planning on pulling out of the AoA parking lot at 7, wondering if this will be enough time or not.

You really need to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight - security lines can be very long (45 to 60 minutes is not unheard of.) I would be pulling out of the parking lot by 5:45 at the very latest. Leaving at 7:00 would be crazy.

 

[MissDisneyDora]

Agreed. I feel nervous just thinking about a 1.20 minute turn around. I would agree with the 5.45 start time. If you were taking Magical Express, they would be doing something comparable.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

NO way would I leave at 7:00. Its a 35 minute drive to the airport. You need to stop for gas, turn in a rental car. Check your bags if you have to at the ticket counter. Your plane will start boarding anywhere from 7:50 to 8:00. Security the last two time in the past month that I have been there was almost an hour wait and my one flight was at 8:35 a.m.

 

[bumbershoot]

If it is your intention to miss your flight, leave at 7.

Otherwise, leave at 5:30 if you are my family. Leaving property, getting to the highway, toll roads, gas station, return the car, get bags to the airport itself, check in bags, get through often-horrendous security lines, get to the monorail thing, get to your gate.... It's also nice to have a chance to get a little food or coffee once through security, perhaps visit the bathroom...

 

[Gondingl]

And this is why I love the DIS. Thank you all for the help and thanks for not letting me miss my flight.... I think.

 

[cigar95]

If you have PreCheck and you have already checked your bags at the resort before you leave, you can get from AoA to the gate in about 85 minutes pretty easily. Your flight will likely begin boarding at about 0740, and you want to be there at least at that time. So you ought to be OK if you're out of the resort and on Victory Way at 0610 in this case, but no later.

A coupe caveats - while Osceola Parkway is a more direct route, exiting the property via Buena Vista / Epcot Center Drive / 536 will take you right past a couple of convenient gas stations to refill the rental, both just past where 536 crosses 535. (Street view in Google maps is incredibly convenient for checking these out ahead of time.) Also, I would allow an extra 15-20 minutes if you are not familiar with the roads in the airport, as missing a turn may require you to take another loop around. Finally, you will not move as quickly as I do if you have smaller kids in tow. Figure to add another 15 minutes in that case.

With all these tidbits, as the saying goes - "you do the math".

And one thing you might not think about - be sure you know ahead of time where the gas fill-up is on your car, and how to open the latch. You'd be amazed how often people get flummoxed by that.

 

[Jillpie]

You just gave us planners, a freaking heart attack. Oh a big HECK NO to leaving at 7:00 am!! Everyone has explained, you need at least 2 hours at the airport. Much better early to the gate than missing that flight. You do not want to be "that family" who's running up at the last minute (and we've all seen them haven't we..they give us heart attacks too, do not know how they manage their daily lives living on the edge)

 

[disney world dreamer]

definitely not!
you are supposed to arrive at the airport 2hrs prior to a domestic flight and 3hrs prior to an international flight.
at MCO security can take a while so you really truly do need to get there as advised.

plus it takes about 35 minutes to get to MCO.

not to mention it sounds like you need to return a rental car.

i'd probably leave no later than 5:30am myself.

 

[kj2mom]

I was a nervous nelly when it came to returning the car, checking our bags, getting through security and making it to the gate on time (it was my first time traveling alone with my children and first time renting a car). I used the 3 hours that Magical Express plans as a guideline. Sure, I know ME can possibly make additional stops after picking up I figured it would at least give me a ball park. We were leaving in the evening and had the day at Disney Springs and the outlets. We were done everything we wanted to do so we just decided to head to the airport. We were traveling with another family but they were on property so they were taking ME. We were taking the exit for the airport and they were panicking because ME had not picked them up yet. They did end up making it to the gate in time to board but not with enough time to get something to eat, they used the facilities real quick and then it was time to go. Anyway, all of that to say I am glad I used 3 hours as my target and it worked out fine. Security lines were really, really, long (especially since we left from a small airport with no line at all so the rows and rows were a bit of a shock) but we were able to get through without any worries. I am a time crazy person and stressing about things like if we would make it through security in time would make me soo stressed out. Since I know this I try to avoid time crunches at all costs!!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Keep in mind if you are renting from Dollar they request that you fill the car up at a station within 10 miles of the airport. They have a big sign at the exit booth stating this and it is printed on the rental contract. Other Disers have reported on occasion of being asked to show the gas receipt when turning the car in. We use the Race Trac gas station at the Landstar Blvd exit off of 417 it is 7 miles from the airport. It is also 1/4 of a mile from 417.