therewillbetravelling

I will be travelling to the US from India soon, mainly for work and a bit of tourism as well. During one stretch of my journey I shall be at Fort Myers, Florida. I am going from Fort Myers to Houston, via Orlando. I am taking the Amtrak Thruway bus from Ft. Myers to Orlando. It reaches the Orlando Amtrak station at 2 PM. My flight from Orlando MCO to Houston is next morning, at 6 AM. So, I have approximately 16 hours to spend in Orlando. Please tell me if I can spend it safely on the landside lounge of MCO, without security throwing me out. Any other suggestions as to where and how I can spend this time, or how to navigate through MCO, are most welcome. I have luggage (2 wheelie bags; it's a 6-months work trip to the US) and I am on a tight, tight budget. So no side-trips in and around the city, or renting accommodation with airport transfer, are possible for me. I don't mind getting bored sitting and waiting if it saves me money.

Thanks.

Mary2e

I know you said you're on a tight budget, but I wanted to mention there is a Hyatt right in the middle of the terminal that is not that expensive. The hotel is very nice, some rooms over look the runway (they have special noise blocking windows), and the pool area is also very good.

You wouldn't have to deal with an airport shuttle, and are right in the terminal for your flight the next morning.

zombietooth

You will need to get from the Amtrak, Orlando Station to MCO, and that is a good distance of 10 miles. I would recommend Uber to get to the airport. Alternatively, you can walk (10 min.) to S. Orange Ave. and E. Copeland Dr. and take the 11 Bus to the airport for $2-, which takes approx. 1 hour. This bus only runs once per hour, but there are other options if your train is late, etc. You should check google maps the night before your arrival to see how your train schedule lines up with the buses.

Everything landside in the airport closes before 10 PM, as far as restaurants and bars go, except Starbucks and McDonalds, which are 24 hours. Also, you can go up the escalator (near the security checkpoints for gates 70-129) to the Hyatt lobby and sit in the lobby bar area. IME, they stay open pretty late. They won't make you buy anything to sit there, and there are TVs to watch. Just tell them that you are supposed to meet a friend on a late flight, if they ask you. However, you can't stay all night in the Hyatt lobby, you will eventually have to go back down to the terminal.

You can sleep in the terminal on the floor or chairs, but there are no sleeping loungers like in Changi. Security will let you stay landside all night.

Good Luck!

Doc Savage

You can certainly stay in the airport overnight, but there are relatively cheap motels with shuttle buses to and from the airport that might not strain your budget too much. I see the La Quinta on Daetwyler for $64/night, it is a very pleasant place with a McDonalds next to it and free breakfast and a free shuttle. Decent pool, too. I used to stay there when I flew out for space shuttle launches. Use the discount code bjs on the website.

bacchus85

How about picking up a cheap one way rental and drive to Orlando yourself?

You'd have plenty of time to get there and there are lots of reasonable priced Hotels along the way.

duchy

Reading some of the sleeping at the airport sites - I think I'd spend $60 on a cheap motel with a free shuttle with hotwire - I see someone suggested La Quinta -with free shuttle , free breakfast the total cost isn't likely to be much more than sleeping on the floor and paying airport prices for food and drink. I've stayed at La Quintas - it's a very acceptable budget brand.

Whilst some airports are quite user friendly for overnight sleeping MCO doesn't appear to be one of them.

amw3000

This page should be helpful.
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/usa/orlando.htm

As for sleeping in the airport, It's a large airport with lots of weird corners to sleep in without someone really noticing. MCO is one of the nicest airports (IMO) that offers a lot landside and is very open to the public. I've done it a few times...

Dump your luggage if you can. Some airlines will allow you to check your bags 24 hours in advance. There is NO luggage storage at MCO.

Stay in the Hyatt hotel lobby as much as you can. There is lots of seating on the lobby level, make a left as soon as you get off the elevators. Theres a few convention rooms so theres a lot of chairs/tables.

Try to sneak up to the other floors of the Hyatt, once you on the room floors, you can get to the pool which has an AMAZING view. Also a lot less staff wondering around.

Once you get kicked out of the Hyatt (they will ask you nicely to leave), head to level 3. This is the main area with food courts, shops and also the most seating. Food court has a lot to eat, few shops to browse and lots of seating all over the place. There's two sets of walking escalators on each side of the food court/shops, just beside the walking escalators theres a few 2 person chairs with a table and padding. This spot is decent for sleeping depending how tall you are.

If you want something more remote, check out level 1-2, theres a lot of odd hallways that lead to some offices (nexus office) and the lost and found. These areas are always empty but your sleeping on the floor.

With the above being said, if you really need a full nights sleep, check into a hotel. You can go as low as $60 with a free shuttle bus. Theres lots in the area and if you dont want to rely on a shuttle bus, you can take an uber and it will be under $10.