Is the MCO Security Line Usually That Bad?

[YozhikRoth]

Came back from WDW President's week, and really the only negative was the utter disaster at the MCO security line Friday evening. DME dropped me and the kids off at 3:30 for a 6pm flight, luggage already checked and boarding passes in hand. From there it was 30 minutes just to get to the ID check, then utter chaos of an amoeba like line to the TSA scanners. There was no order to the line, plenty of business travelers annoyed that a family may want to stay together on line, no cooperation from the TSA. All in all, we arrived at the gate just as the flight was boarding at 5:30. I usually judge all airports against the sheer torture of Laguardia, but MCO, it took talent to out-crap Laguardia.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Came back from WDW President's week, and really the only negative was the utter disaster at the MCO security line Friday evening. DME dropped me and the kids off at 3:30 for a 6pm flight, luggage already checked and boarding passes in hand. From there it was 30 minutes just to get to the ID check, then utter chaos of an amoeba like line to the TSA scanners. There was no order to the line, plenty of business travelers annoyed that a family may want to stay together on line, no cooperation from the TSA. All in all, we arrived at the gate just as the flight was boarding at 5:30. I usually judge all airports against the sheer torture of Laguardia, but MCO, it took talent to out-crap Laguardia.

My past few trips have been as you described. Oh and as a side note - it's not just LGA. I spent 2 and a half hours on the security line at JFK going to Las Vegas one year. Thankfully we weren't waiting on line with kids.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

MCO was my "home" airport for about three years and it had two speeds. Complete cluster, like you described, or completely deserted. I don't think I ever flew in or out of that place with normal, reasonable waits and crowd levels.

 

[Monty]

Best investment I ever made was a NEXUS card. Primarily intended to bypass Customs lines traveling between Canada and the US, it also gets me TSA PreCheck and the equivalent at Canadian airports. Security is never a long process any more.

 

[kap91]

Normally, at least when I've been there, MCO security is amazing compared to most other airports. Most times when I've been there because of crowds they do an expedited screening - don't have to take any clothes off, don't have to remove laptops, etc and it's 20 minutes tops.

 

[DisneyJunkie217]

MCO has been a massive hassle for us. When we flew through there on 1/2/16 it was literally almost 2 hours of chaos through TSA. I have never experienced such a disorganized airport in my life. I fly frequently each year through a large west coast hub (Seattle) so I am pretty used to larger lines and longer wait times, but MCO just seemed like nobody had their stuff together. Very frustrating. Learning experience for sure.

 

[mickhyperion]

MCO has been a disaster every time I've gone through there for the past 14+ years. I've never seen another airport even remotely that bad. They completely mismanage their security. The TSA agents are always stressed out, always condescending, always unhelpful. They're supposed to be in control of the situation, yet they blame the travelers. Saw one agent this past February allowing people to choose which of several lines they'd like to get into, then loudly berating them for their choice if he thought they should have chosen differently. Loud public mockery, putting on a real show for the crowd. So, gird your loins and plan on a long, frustrating experience.

 

[YozhikRoth]

As a point of reference, recently at Salt Lake City, I went from the curb to the gate in 15 minutes. Newark was 30 minutes, I always write off Laguardia, but heading to Disney, we were through in a little over 30 minutes. At Orlando, people on line told me it was partly due to the business travelers heading home for the weekend, but I'm not buying it.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

The last few times I've flown back to Syracuse from Orlando, I feel that the lines haven't been too bad.

 

[dreamfinder]

It's always been chaos. I think partially due to the volume of non frequent travelers, and the number of families. Most other airports get a mix of business and pleasure travelers, with a handful of families. But MCO always seems to have alot more pleasure travelers than other locations, and tons of families. And those types of travelers just take longer. Not ready to take out their 3/1/1 bags, wearing shoes that need to be untied/unlaced, have to be stopped because they didn't take off their belt, still have stuff in their pockets, etc.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I always try and make sure I'm ready. Once in 2012, I was flying back to Syracuse and my watch set off the metal detector. Oops. Now I make sure to take it off before heading into the security lines.

 

[YozhikRoth]

It's always been chaos. I think partially due to the volume of non frequent travelers, and the number of families. Most other airports get a mix of business and pleasure travelers, with a handful of families. But MCO always seems to have alot more pleasure travelers than other locations, and tons of families. And those types of travelers just take longer. Not ready to take out their 3/1/1 bags, wearing shoes that need to be untied/unlaced, have to be stopped because they didn't take off their belt, still have stuff in their pockets, etc.

It's no excuse, the staff should be ready to expedite all passengers. I admit that families are nowhere as organized about getting through security as business travelers, but there should be staff to help and expedite the travelers as they begin to fill the bins. For example, at Newark, there was a staff member reminding people to take out their laptops, put all keys, watches, coins in a carry-on bag.

 

[dreamfinder]

It's no excuse, the staff should be ready to expedite all passengers. I admit that families are nowhere as organized about getting through security as business travelers, but there should be staff to help and expedite the travelers as they begin to fill the bins. For example, at Newark, there was a staff member reminding people to take out their laptops, put all keys, watches, coins in a carry-on bag.

And MCO usually has staff saying something similar. Granted they are usually about as friendly as a rabid racoon, but I usually see them in the middle of the queue, before the point where all the break offs for the scanners occur. There is only so much they can do confined by their available space at MCO, with the x-ray/intrusive body scanners serving as the choke point. Even if a parent is ready, trying to tell Susy that their stuffed animal needs to go through the x-ray, or that both Mom and Dad can't come with you at once, or heck, even just having to wait an extra 30 seconds for a 3 year to helpfully put their own bag on the belt without help from anyone adds up.

 

[Jahona]

In past years MCO was fine. There was the standard wait to get through security but nothing out of the ordinary. Last year though was a different story. Middle of July on a Tuesday afternoon MCO was a complete disaster. Their layout for, at least the checkpoint we went through, was set up in such a way that it created a terrible bottle neck. They had 4 or 5 people checking tickets and ids. The problem was that after you checked you all filed into a single line. (see Figure 1 below) After your checked the line flowed from the left to right before it snaked around to the scanners those in lane on the right side would get through and block the flow from any of the other lanes to the left. Even once I made it through the id and ticket check I had to force my way through those on the right lane in order to make it around the bend. It's an utterly stupid layout.

Once you made it around that bend though there was pretty much no wait for the scanners and x-ray machines.

Figure 1

 

[Tiggerish]

In past years MCO was fine. There was the standard wait to get through security but nothing out of the ordinary. Last year though was a different story. Middle of July on a Tuesday afternoon MCO was a complete disaster. Their layout for, at least the checkpoint we went through, was set up in such a way that it created a terrible bottle neck. They had 4 or 5 people checking tickets and ids. The problem was that after you checked you all filed into a single line. (see Figure 1 below) After your checked the line flowed from the left to right before it snaked around to the scanners those in lane on the right side would get through and block the flow from any of the other lanes to the left. Even once I made it through the id and ticket check I had to force my way through those on the right lane in order to make it around the bend. It's an utterly stupid layout.

Once you made it around that bend though there was pretty much no wait for the scanners and x-ray machines.

View attachment 134383
Figure 1

The new configuration is definitely to blame for the problem. I remember years ago thinking that MCO was a model of TSA efficiency. The layout was changed after they implemented the CLEAR and PreCheck services. In order for those to go straight to a scanner/xray, everyone else had to be shunted to the center scanners. It's a mess now.

 

[Bob]

The new configuration is definitely to blame for the problem. I remember years ago thinking that MCO was a model of TSA efficiency. The layout was changed after they implemented the CLEAR and PreCheck services. In order for those to go straight to a scanner/xray, everyone else had to be shunted to the center scanners. It's a mess now.

I blame @Monty .

 

[Tiggerish]

I blame @Monty .

I've taken a page out of @Monty's book--just scheduled my interview for Global Entry. . I'll be part of the problem from now on

 

[mousehockey37]

We always leave in the morning out of MCO (we have to pick up the dog by a certain time and DGF has a severe peanut allergy, so the earlier the plane, the hopefully cleaner it is). Early in the morning isn't too bad for security. We haven't had to wait in massively long lines and everything went relatively smooth.

 

[Monty]

I've taken a page out of @Monty's book--just scheduled my interview for Global Entry. . I'll be part of the problem from now on

Just remember... You have to come across as "trustworthy".

 

[patch553]

used MCO last 9 years to fly back to uk and was normally 10-15 minute wait , but this time (end of Feb) was 1hour 15 of chaos!