{"id":285162,"date":"2026-05-26T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/285162\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T20:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:28:17","slug":"i-thought-i-experienced-everything-at-orlando-airport-then-this-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/285162\/","title":{"rendered":"I Thought I Experienced Everything at Orlando Airport \u2014 Then This Happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no secret that, like many travelers who visit Disney World, Universal, and other Central Florida theme parks, I travel through Orlando International Airport (MCO) a lot.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Orlando International Airport<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve made my way through MCO to travel domestically<\/a> and internationally<\/a> over the years, I\u2019ve seen a great many things. Long security lines, new stores and eateries, boarding procedures, you name it. However, recently I encountered something I\u2019d NEVER seen before.<\/p>\n

\"Disney<\/a><\/p>\n

My party arrived at MCO two hours before my flight, as one should, only to find that nearly ALL of the airport\u2019s parking lots were full, even the valet!<\/p>\n

We parked in the economy lot, which is about a 15-minute shuttle ride from the airport. While this wasn\u2019t a huge issue for us, thanks to \u2014 stressing again \u2014 arriving two hours early, it could definitely have been a problem for travelers who cut things a bit closer.<\/p>\n

\"\"What was going on here MCO?<\/p>\n

The strangest part was that the shuttles didn\u2019t seem overly packed, and nothing at the airport itself seemed out of the ordinary, leaving me befuddled by the whole situation.<\/p>\n

Perhaps issues like this will become a distant memory once the parking aspects of MCO\u2019s ongoing litany of refurbishment projects are completed. Currently, the airport is adding a new $13.9 million Parking Guidance System that will provide real-time information on approximately 11,000 spaces across MCO\u2019s four parking garages, as well as 8,000 new spaces.<\/p>\n

\"\"Orlando International Airport<\/p>\n

In addition, a further $1.2 billion parking and rental car expansion program scheduled to see completion by 2030 will:<\/p>\n

Make customer service areas bigger, better, and easier to use.
\nAdd Premium Reserved and Valet parking spots for faster, more convenient parking.
\nImprove behind-the-scenes baggage screening to help bags move more quickly and reliably.
\nCreate more space for rental car pick-up and drop-off inside the airport\u2019s parking garages.
\nUpgrade rental car service areas so vehicles can be cleaned, fueled, and ready for customers more efficiently.
\nOffer a more seamless rental car return process that allows travelers to drop off both their car and checked luggage in one easy step.<\/p>\n

\"\"Orlando Airport security<\/p>\n

Recently, I had an\u2026 interesting day at MCO that just verified to me that arriving two hours early for domestic flights \u2013 and three hours for international flights \u2013 is the way to do it. Stay tuned to AllEars for more travel stories!<\/p>\n

\u00a0I Learned My Lesson the HARD Way: \u201cOne Last Ride\u201d at Disney World Nearly Cost Me My Flight<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the strangest airport experiment you\u2019ve had lately? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Post a Comment <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s no secret that, like many travelers who visit Disney World, Universal, and other Central Florida theme parks,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-285162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}