That’s not really high season yet. Right now is high tourist season in FL
The times kaya mentioned are not high tourist season, which it is now in FL.
Actually, Feb and April vacations weeks, especially Feb, are bonkers in Orlando. How is February not high tourist season?
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Feb. is snowbird season but March is spring break and, IME, worse. Lets not forget the global population does not celebrate the same holidays but comes to Disney as well. So, its always a holiday for somebody.
Important note- the busiest time for the MCO TSA lines as well as getting into the airport (designed for 1990 traffic and loads) is 4:30-8;00AM, wait can be an hour+… 4;00- 7:00PM can also be challenging with numerous International departures. Then you got AM and PM rush hour traffic…suggest mid day arrival and departure if you can schedule it. Less of a PITA.
My experience with Orlando has been year-round. “High tourist season” or not. IME, the down-season is still ridiculous at Orlando airport.
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My experience with Orlando has been year-round as well. Not only rental car line (now have preferred status to avoid that) and security (looking into getting TSA Pre Check) but one year we spent over an hour in line to check luggage. But it is looking like Orlando will be my best option with numerous daily non-stop flights and best prices. Keep the tips coming! My trip is in April.
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If you fly much at all, it is totally, totally, totally worth it. It usually makes a huge difference, and unless the price has changed recently, I think it works out to less than $20 a year.
The only thing to be aware of is that sometimes the TSA lanes do not stay open as late as the other lanes. So you just need to make sure that will not affect the time that you need to arrive at the airport
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Travel to Orlando at least once a year so I figure anything will be worth avoiding that long wait! And I typically travel midday.
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I despise the Orlando airport. I usually fly SouthWest, and last year when I went to WEC for the Carl Hester clinic I made a mistake and flew through Orlando. Coming in wasn’t bad, but returning home was awful. The lines to get TO security were backed up the whole way through the main lobby, and the line to even get to the self-service kiosk was awful…
Every time I’ve flown through Tampa it’s super easy-in/easy-out. It’s definitely my airport of choice.
Tampa is estimated at 1 hour and 49 minutes from WEC, Orlando is estimated 1 hour and 27 minutes from WEC. I’ll go Tampa any day.
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When I flew out of Orlando in December, CLEAR was free. YOu download the app, make an appt when you approximate you will go through security, and then you go to a line that is very short in security. that was my experience anyway. I don’t know if CLEAR is always free or what it costs otherwise, but worth a look.
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CLEAR is not free, there is an annual membership fee, but they do have free trials so that is probably what you got. But you should check to make sure they aren’t going to charge your credit card at the end of a trial period if you don’t want the membership!
I’m in the camp with those who think the Orlando airport is chaos much of the year, I really don’t enjoy that airport and wouldn’t even think about it without CLEAR and Pre-Check to have options. Tampa is by far the easier airport and about 20 minutes difference in drive time. Tampa is one of my favorite airports in the country for business travel, it is so easy. You can obviously manage Orlando fine if those are the flights that work best, but if it is a close call I would always pick Tampa.
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I think there are also some credit cards that include Clear. I don’t know if the same applies to Pre-check.
April is not “high season” . Neither is November. High season is generally right after christmas until the end of March, with a couple of small lulls here and there. It slows down a bit in early Feb usually due to weather issues etc and people going skiing. Of course as someone else posted, the whole world goes to Disney year round so it’s always insane in O’town, but when they are coming along with all the snowbirds who don’t fly in to Miami, it’s extra bad. But hey i’ve only lived in FL my whole life as opposed to flying into it so what do i know about tourist season down here.
Same. I went in Feb through Orlando one year and there was about 6 different conferences and a Dance competition going on at the same time, and I waited in the airport security for over an hour, wrapped through the concourse. Even watching someone faint and get CPR. It was awful.
My biggest advice - if you fly Orland, check and see what’s going on around Orlando. Its a conference destination in the winter.
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And its a kid sport camp destination in the summer. You can’t win.
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