MCO Customs

[Gurt]

Hi Guys,

Before I start I have tried searching the forum, I have Goggled and I know there is no definitive answer.

We are traveling from the UK I know on our last trip in 2013 we did some sort of pre-customs clearance thing to speed up clearing customs in the US, we had a lay over in Atlanta and I can't remember A. how long it took to clear customs in Atlanta or B. how long it took at MCO.

As I said I know there is no definitive answer and it all depends on how many flights arrive at the same time, how quick baggage is and all the rest, however can anyone give me some sort of idea in general how long it will take from tires on tarmac to Old Key West using DME? I know some people get really lucky and are in and out in 30mins but others are 3hrs plus, I am looking for more of an answer along the lines of 'the last 20 trips I would say average of 2hrs' If it is any help we are flying on the 19th September direct from Manchester to MCO we land at 14:30.

I am just in the early planning stages and now that they have extended F&W I am thinking the evening at Epcot would be a great start to the trip.

As always thank you for all your help and advice

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

There really is NO definite answer !!!

If you were first off your plane and therefore first in the line for US customs and there are no other planes landing at the same time as you and your luggage is first off the carousel and there is a monorail waiting to take you to the main terminal and the DME bus is waiting for you and it sets off as soon as you board and there is no traffic hold ups along the way and Old Key West is the first drop off point THEN you COULD be looking at little over 60 minutes.

However, change any or all of the above and I'd suggest that a 2 hour window is more likely

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

How long is a piece of string?
I used to travel to the States (Usually Houston but a few other cities as well) once or twice a month, always flew first or business class so normally off the plane first & sometimes I would be through immigration & customs in 20 minutes & other times it could take an hour to two hours, there really was no way of accurately estimating the time.
I'm going to hazard a guess that MCO would be exactly the same lottery, it all depends how quickly you get off the plane & how large the lines are at immigration.
I suspect that your going to be landing at roughly the same time as a few other flights from Europe so you could be lucky & your flight could be the first to land & so the lines are small or you could be really unlucky & your plane could be the last of 4 or 5 & you could find yourself at the back of a 5 plane line.
The last time we landed at MCO in 2014, we flew with Aer Lingus so had cleared immigration & customs before we left Dublin.
We flew business class so were first of the plane, we landed at around 7pm, our bags were first off at the baggage reclaim belt & we were at the DME area within 30 minutes of landing, we then waited 20 minutes for our bus to Old Key West, it was a Saturday night & the traffic was not too bad.
I seem to remember that we got to our room at just before 9pm.
If I had to guess, i would say that you'll have plenty of time to sample the delights of F & W from early evening on the day that you arrive.

 

[Gurt]

Thank you both, I know there is no actual answer it is the luck of the draw I just wanted peoples general opinion which both of you think as I did a couple of hours

 

[Tinkeroo]

Depends on the day of the week, and which flight you are on....taking it right down to absolute basics (ex UK) if you are midweek on the virgin manchester flight which lands around 2.30pm and the only other UK originating flights are the 2 gatwick flights BA2037 (usually arrives around 3.30) and the VS15 which arrives around 5pm then you have a good chance of getting through and on your way in under an hour,

move onto a Saturday, when you've 2 VS gatwick flights, 1 VS manchester flight, 1 VS Glasgow flight, a couple of TCX and a BA gatwick into the mix, then you are going to see a bottleneck at Immigration and could well be looking at 90-120 mins

As I say, that's taking things down to their very basic levels, and don't account for any other international arrivals, just an example of the factors which you should take into account when adjusting your expectations.

 

[patch553]

We flew virgin few weeks back and wer the first row as board the plane, going thru first part was quick but too quick for our luggage! Then had a little issue at the self serve Alamo desk and had to que there for bout 20 mins but by the time we actually left the airport it probably took around 1.30-1.45 hour

 

[YozhikRoth]

Last week we landed from NYC at 5pm, and didn't get to the CBR until 6:30. It took about 15 minutes to get from the gate to DME, once scanning the magic bands, we waited in a queue for about 15 minutes. Once we were assigned a bus, we were waiting about 20 minutes for it to fill, and another 30 minutes to the CBR.

 

[Gurt]

Thank you everyone, much appreciated.