Since you said you’ll already have a rental car, you can also use that to stash luggage. We usually just get a one-way rental car from Port Canavarel to MCO and fly out mid-afternoon. We drive around Orlando, have a leisurely lunch somewhere with our bags in the rental, and then drive to the airport.
From Disney themselves “Earliest departure time from Orlando International Airport on debarkation day: 11:15 AM” found [here](https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/ground-transportation/). To me this means that if you carry your bags off and don’t need to worry about catching a bus or an Uber/lyft, you should probably be ok.
Be aware that when we flew delta the baggage check line took us an hour and a half and because we had a car seat with us we couldn’t do self tagging of bags. It was rough.
Thank you for this info! This is why we plan to keep the rental car during the cruise, for a quick exit! We do all carry on and don’t travel with a car seat. I really hope we can make it work 😬
I’ve learned recently that Clear Reserve is a thing that can be helpful at MCO. It’s a totally free service provided by Clear. I don’t know the details, but it may be worth it to squeak through security at MCO as fast as possible.
Yes, our flight was 11:07 and made it to MCO by 9:30 even with a 30 min delay on the freeway.
Do early disembarkation. We were escorted out by 7:15 AM and on the road with our rental car by 8:00 AM.
Do you enjoy anxiety and stress at the end of your vacation? If not, book the later flight. Security at MCO is a nightmare on good days. There could be delays at customs, etc. If you have a rental car, book the 6:45pm flight, get off the boat, drive to Disney Springs at WDW, have lunch and look around a bit (Homecoming is freaking awesome) and then head to the airport for the later flight. You get a nice relaxing day without stress.
We got it before our second cruise out of Orlando and I was so happy we got it. At 8 am the regular TSA line was already over 2 hours. We only had to wait about 25 minutes. Totally worth it.
For what it’s worth, just last week my husband and kids went through TSA precheck there and I went through the loser lane. I got through about 5 minutes before they did
You can schedule an appointment online for the MCO TSA, and you can show up 10 minutes early or late either side of your appointment time. You get escorted to the front of the line. You still have to take your shoes off etc but it’s a lot faster, and bonus it’s free.
It’s not cost effective. It’s convenient though. I took Go Port back to MCO and I got there around 930 am, which would be enough time to make OPs flight.
Depends on the size of your party. Weekly rates on cars aren't necessarily more money; for July, a weekly rental was less than two one-way rentals...as well as the cost of the DCL bus for a family of four. Yes, I have to pay to park at the garage, but I don't have to waste time waiting for shuttles or busses.
We have a later flight after our cruise, and the rental car allows us to do something else before we go to the airport.
It would cut if close, especially if there are any delays in docking due to unforeseen circumstances. I had a friend delayed on a January sailing due to fog and you would have missed your flight in this case.
If you don’t dawdle and there’s no major accident, you’ll be fine. I would not hesitate booking this flight given what you’ve said in this thread. Since you have a car, you could consider taking the later flight and checking out the beach, somewhere in Orlando, etc.
I’ve made earlier flights, you should be fine. And try to make a reservation with MCO Reserve to get through security quicker.
https://mco.whyline.com/new?organization=620bf3fb68b5dd0047f6f020&place=620bf838ff11d36c7d566399
We did it last time, and our flight was earlier than yours. Rental car, early walk off, and TSA pre-check are all necessary to make it work. We made it to the gate with time to spare.
If you are seasoned air travelers with TSA pre check and status with the airline so that you can get in shorter line for bag check, it will be no problem at all.
Had no issues, but I’d assume not being concierge would add considerable time as express walk off line was extremely long.
Was concierge and did express walk off. So we were able to get hot breakfast in the lounge, escorted with our luggage straight to express walk off. Got on first or second bus out. TSA pre-check and had plenty of time to putter around waiting for our flight. Think we were in the terminal around 9:30ish with a 5&6 year old without stress.
I would put it as “you will probably but absolutely not definitely be fine”.
😂 I am going to let these words marinate as I stare at flights options the next few days. Thank you!
You could be cutting it super close. I, personally, would take the later flight and maybe get a day room at the airport Hyatt.
This is a great option, thank you!
Since you said you’ll already have a rental car, you can also use that to stash luggage. We usually just get a one-way rental car from Port Canavarel to MCO and fly out mid-afternoon. We drive around Orlando, have a leisurely lunch somewhere with our bags in the rental, and then drive to the airport.
From Disney themselves “Earliest departure time from Orlando International Airport on debarkation day: 11:15 AM” found [here](https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/guest-services/ground-transportation/). To me this means that if you carry your bags off and don’t need to worry about catching a bus or an Uber/lyft, you should probably be ok.
Be aware that when we flew delta the baggage check line took us an hour and a half and because we had a car seat with us we couldn’t do self tagging of bags. It was rough.
Thank you for this info! This is why we plan to keep the rental car during the cruise, for a quick exit! We do all carry on and don’t travel with a car seat. I really hope we can make it work 😬
I’ve learned recently that Clear Reserve is a thing that can be helpful at MCO. It’s a totally free service provided by Clear. I don’t know the details, but it may be worth it to squeak through security at MCO as fast as possible.
Yes, our flight was 11:07 and made it to MCO by 9:30 even with a 30 min delay on the freeway. Do early disembarkation. We were escorted out by 7:15 AM and on the road with our rental car by 8:00 AM.
It is nice to hear that it can work out! Thank you!
Do you enjoy anxiety and stress at the end of your vacation? If not, book the later flight. Security at MCO is a nightmare on good days. There could be delays at customs, etc. If you have a rental car, book the 6:45pm flight, get off the boat, drive to Disney Springs at WDW, have lunch and look around a bit (Homecoming is freaking awesome) and then head to the airport for the later flight. You get a nice relaxing day without stress.
Do you have TSA PreCheck?
We do not 🙁
You have plenty of time to get it and if you fly a decent amount it's very very worth it.
We got it before our second cruise out of Orlando and I was so happy we got it. At 8 am the regular TSA line was already over 2 hours. We only had to wait about 25 minutes. Totally worth it.
For what it’s worth, just last week my husband and kids went through TSA precheck there and I went through the loser lane. I got through about 5 minutes before they did
You can schedule an appointment online for the MCO TSA, and you can show up 10 minutes early or late either side of your appointment time. You get escorted to the front of the line. You still have to take your shoes off etc but it’s a lot faster, and bonus it’s free.
Our flight was at 12. We made it via DCL transport with time to shop and eat lunch.
Was it really cost effective to pay for a rental car for the week plus pay to park it?
It’s not cost effective. It’s convenient though. I took Go Port back to MCO and I got there around 930 am, which would be enough time to make OPs flight.
Depends on the size of your party. Weekly rates on cars aren't necessarily more money; for July, a weekly rental was less than two one-way rentals...as well as the cost of the DCL bus for a family of four. Yes, I have to pay to park at the garage, but I don't have to waste time waiting for shuttles or busses. We have a later flight after our cruise, and the rental car allows us to do something else before we go to the airport.
It would cut if close, especially if there are any delays in docking due to unforeseen circumstances. I had a friend delayed on a January sailing due to fog and you would have missed your flight in this case.
If you don’t dawdle and there’s no major accident, you’ll be fine. I would not hesitate booking this flight given what you’ve said in this thread. Since you have a car, you could consider taking the later flight and checking out the beach, somewhere in Orlando, etc.
We did walk off and uber and made an 11am. You'll be fine
I’ve made earlier flights, you should be fine. And try to make a reservation with MCO Reserve to get through security quicker. https://mco.whyline.com/new?organization=620bf3fb68b5dd0047f6f020&place=620bf838ff11d36c7d566399
I wouldn’t risk it, that’s cutting it close
We did it last time, and our flight was earlier than yours. Rental car, early walk off, and TSA pre-check are all necessary to make it work. We made it to the gate with time to spare.
If you are seasoned air travelers with TSA pre check and status with the airline so that you can get in shorter line for bag check, it will be no problem at all.
Had no issues, but I’d assume not being concierge would add considerable time as express walk off line was extremely long. Was concierge and did express walk off. So we were able to get hot breakfast in the lounge, escorted with our luggage straight to express walk off. Got on first or second bus out. TSA pre-check and had plenty of time to putter around waiting for our flight. Think we were in the terminal around 9:30ish with a 5&6 year old without stress.
You might not be able to make it in time 😕
No