SquarePeg

I'll be dropping off my mom at MCO for a flight home to BOS on WN. She'll be flying alone and she is not a seasoned traveler - she rarely travels without me or one of her grandchildren along but we're not flying back for another week. She has no inner compass so she is very easily turned around and she tends to get a bit discombobulated when she feels any stress so I want to get her to the right security gate with plenty of time to spare. I want to stress that she is only 73 and she is fine physically and mentally, just not very confident about travelling alone.

I'd like to park and help her check in her luggage and walk her to the gate so I know she gets to the right place.

Is there available parking at MCO? Does WN have curbside check in? Do we really need to arrive 2 hours prior like it says on the website? It's a Thursday flight that leaves at 645pm. Anything else I need to know about flying out of MCO on WN? (shuttles to the gate, confusing signage etc.)

I got her EBCI and we're flying WN together on the way down so she'll be familiar with the boarding process (I hope).

TIA for any input you can provide.

djk7

If you want to park, I recommend following the signs to rooftop parking for easier access to the terminal. The elevator from this lot puts you right in the middle of the terminal. If you park in the other garages, you have to take the elevator down to the basement, ride a moving walkway, and take another elevator up.

Yes there is curbside check in. Security is not too far from the check in (either curbside or ticket counter). From there she will ride a tram to the concourse. As long as she knows her gate number and follows the signs, she should end up at the right place. I usually plan for getting to the airport 1 hour beforehand and have never had a problem.

When you arrive, point out the tram and other landmarks to help her recognize them going the other way.

SquarePeg

Thanks for the parking info. I was hoping she wouldn't have to take a tram. We won't really be able to use that last suggestion, thought it's a good one, we're flying into FLL

SpeedyDelivery

If your mother gets selected for pre-check, definitely use those lanes. When busy, the general security line turns into a big blob of humanity between the id check and the scanners. There is a serious lack of structure and organization there and can certainly be a stress point.

After the scanners she'll need to choose the correct tram from two. For Southwest flights it's always the one on the left (labeled as gates 100-129).

SquarePeg

Thank you! I'll have to tie a string on her finger, lol as she is constantly mixing up her left and right. She's a self diagnosed dyslexic. When we were younger she would get us lost every time we drove anywhere. As the oldest I quickly learned how to read a map and once I could drive she handed over the keys for all vacation driving.

Yes my few experiences with the security checkpoint at MCO have been that it's chaotic and insanely crowded. Strollers, wheelchairs, tired cranky people: misery. I wish I could take her all the way to the gate, I would feel much better about it then. I purposely booked her on a nonstop so that she would not have to deal with changing planes at ATL so I only have to worry about MCO!

SpeedyDelivery

You should be able to take her all the way to the gate if you can get a pass as a non passenger escort.

And to be a bit more clear on the tram situation -- I should have said there are two stations each containing two trains and she should choose the leftmost station.

joshua362

You can!

Option #1 ask for a gate pass at check-in, they give them out to escort minors to the gate, I can't see why they wouldn't give them out to assist the elderly. Ask first though.

#2 Buy a fully refundable ticket on your Mother's or any other departing flight, do the escort and cancel when on the other side (or later, it doesn't matter but is nice to do as early as possible)

Another option is to ask for a wheel chair who will escort the entire way (its good to tip them). Your Mom, like mine, would probably be too proud to use them even if really needed, but given what I see today, its become a joke of much younger, overweight people who has figured out the free, line cutting ride. And the otherwise "disabled" who sprint off the plane once it lands at destination. MCO known for its large share of "miracle flight" jokes by the FA's.

SquarePeg

I'll have my 12 year old with me so not sure how the non passenger escort would work. I'll look into it, thanks. I'm not willing to go so far as to buy a ticket that I have no intention of using and Mom would totally not go for the wheelchair idea.

lougord99

My experiences in getting gate passes for UM's is that they will only give 1, so I believe it unlikely that you will get 1 for both yourself and your 12 year old.

However, most 12 year olds are mature enough to sit by themselves for an hour in the ticketing area while you escort mom.

SquarePeg

That's not going to happen.

traveller001

You should be good with any boarding pass to access any checkpoint. But a gate pass will ensure it. Just ask!

SquarePeg

Just to clarify, we are all 3 flying in to FLL from BOS at the start of our trip. A week later, Mom will be flying out of MCO on her return. DD and I will not be flying out of MCO until a week later.

Thanks all for the input and suggestions. The information was very helpful.

toomanybooks

I would go for the 2 hours minimum, maybe 3.

MCO security is HORRIBLE; worst in the US for me. Kids running everywhere, parcels, people who rarely fly, TSA goofs who don't take charge, line cutting, etc.

I have been there at 5 am and almost not made a 7 am flight.

Danski

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 8_2 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/600.1.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/8.0 Mobile/12D508 Safari/600.1.4)

How bad is it with A List/A+? Is there a substantial difference in wait time, or is it still pretty miserable?

FL M5

Fwiw, I'm A+ and MCO is my home airport. It usually takes me longer to get from the parking lot than through ticketing/security, 15 mins. tops. I'm always TSAPre so that does shorten the time some.