okay so i just landed at mco and honestly after getting off the plane im literally so drained but i figured id share some thoughts and maybe save someone else the headache because navigating this place is kinda wild and its not like other airports where everything is just a quick walk you know and i dont want anyone else to feel as lost as i did for a hot second and honestly its pretty big and theres just a lot happening everywhere so you gotta kinda have a game plan or youll just be wandering around forever.
Navigating the maze
so basically mco is split into a few main parts and its kinda confusing at first but you have the main terminal building and thats where baggage claim is and rental cars and all that stuff and then you have what they call airside concourses and those are where your actual gates are and they are totally separate which is important to remember and honestly it took me a minute to grasp that because you think oh ill just walk to my gate but nope and the main terminal itself is basically divided into a north side and a south side or like terminal a and b on one side and then terminal c and d on the other side and youre gonna go through security in the main terminal and then take a people mover to your specific airside concourse and its kinda a whole thing and i recomended knowing which terminal and airside concourse your flight is out of before you even step foot in the door because it makes a huge difference and getting lost before security is one thing but getting to the wrong security line is just a time suck you dont need when youre trying to catch a flight and its literally one of those things where a little bit of planning goes a long way and saves you so much stress and like really just check your boarding pass twice man.
The long trek between gates
alright so this is where it gets interesting and honestly its not always a trek as much as its a forced ride because you cant just walk everywhere like you might at some other airports which is something i wish id known better before because i always like to walk if i can but here you cant always and its totally different from like jfk or dfw where you can criss-cross the whole thing if you really want to.
- you literally cannot walk from the main terminal building to any of the airside concourses like its just not an option and you are absolutely stuck waiting for that automated people mover system or as some call it the apm or just that little train thing which takes you from the main terminal building over to your specific airside concourse whether thats 1, 2, 3, or 4 and its a fixed route so you just get on and go.
- once you are within an airside concourse so say youre in airside 1 with gates 1-29, you can totally walk between those gates and its fine and sometimes its a decent walk but its all under one roof and post-security so thats pretty straightforward.
- but if you need to go from one airside concourse to another, for example, if you land in airside 1 and your connecting flight is in airside 3, well then you are basically out of luck if you think you can just stroll over because you absolutely have to take the apm back to the main terminal building then go through security again (yes, again, which sucks) and then take another apm to your new airside concourse and honestly its a real pain in the butt and makes for very tight connections if you dont have a lot of time between flights so just be warned man its not a simple gate change sometimes its a whole airport adventure.
so yeah basically thats the deal with mco its a big place and its got its own system that you gotta learn and remember those people movers are your best friend but also sometimes your biggest enemy if youre in a hurry and honestly just plan extra time for everything because its better to be early than sprinting through the airport and missing your flight because you didnt realize you needed to take a small train and go through security again because thats just a recipe for disaster and i hope this helps someone else avoid some of my initial confusion and have a smoother trip next time theyre flying through orlando.