Landing at MCO

Hi All,

Is landing at Orlando International still a real pain? Seems like every time I land there, I get stuck in 1 hr+ queue for immigration?

I vaguely remember seeing electronic gates mentioned somewhere? I presume that doesn't work for a 4 yr old?

Thanks, Steve

[buns]

I think it still remains a bit of a lottery based to the amount of arrivals (and where from) before you land.

I have heard of clear runs in 30 - 40 minutes or much like us back in November, nearly 2 hours due to processing flights in front of us.

As to whether this changes when the South Terminal eventaully opens, who knows.

buns

There are no machines in use at MCO any more so everyone has to wait in line at immigration. As said above, it is a total lottery and depends on how many flights land at the same time as yours and how many immigration officers are on duty. Be prepared for a long wait!

Thank you! Are the immigration officials and support staff as off with kids with tablets in the line as they are with adults with phones out? Just wondering how to best manage this with my 4 yr old!

[buns]

Thank you! Are the immigration officials and support staff as off with kids with tablets in the line as they are with adults with phones out? Just wondering how to best manage this with my 4 yr old!

My strong advice is NOT to use any device in the Immigration Hall. Remember there will be numerous nationalities there and irrespective of age, the electronic devices are a potential security threat

buns

Thank you! Are the immigration officials and support staff as off with kids with tablets in the line as they are with adults with phones out? Just wondering how to best manage this with my 4 yr old!

My strong advice is NOT to use any device in the Immigration Hall. Remember there will be numerous nationalities there and irrespective of age, the electronic devices are a potential security threat

buns

I would definitely agree with buns advise - tablets & phones are a no-no in the Immigration queue. There are signs aplenty from when you get off the plane and walk to the Immigration Hall that photography & mobile phones are forbidden. Plenty of signs in the Immigration & Customs Hall too. I just keep my phone in my pocket out of sight, but still in flight-safe mode. Can the OP not find a non-electronic puzzle / toy of some kind to help keep the 4yr old amused?

As to how long it takes to clear Immigration & Customs at MCO, it's a complete lottery as it depends on how many international flights arrive close together. If you get a clear-run, you can be landside car rental garage within half an hour. If a few international flights arrive close together and your's is last, expect a long wait (some of it possibly being held on the the plane).

Then there is the afternoon thunderstorm variable. You can land and clear Immigration quickly, but if there is a thunderstorm in the vicinity of the airport, then the ramp staff are not allowed outside due to lightning. So you can then spend ages waiting for the storm to clear before they can unload your bags.

The only way to pretty much guarantee very fast Immigration clearance at MCO (or most US airports) is to get Global Entry. You can be through in a couple of minutes with this and be out of the airport very fast if you've not got checked bags to collect. If you have checked bags, then you obviously have to wait for these (see the thunderstorm caveat above).

Thank you @buns and @kraken for your replies. I'd best try and think of something to bring in the queue, here's hoping that we get a bit of luck with the security line!

Thank you once again

Hi.
We flew LGW-MCO on 19/12/18 on the 16. Great flight and landed on time.
We were seated in ED so fairly quickly off the plane. (9 of us)
On entering the hall there must have been about 30 pax in-front of us however, there were only two agents working in the entire hall and with other flights arriving the queues soon built up right to the back of the hall.
I dread to think how long those pax at the back ended up waiting.
We were through in about 50-60 minutes.
Oh and very strict about the no phones policy.
Good luck.

What's the deal with the machines not being used anymore? I found the same in ATL.

Whilst it is against the rules, I always use my phone in the immigration hall and never had an issue. Granted, when I'm in the front line I put it away.

What's the deal with the machines not being used anymore? I found the same in ATL.

Whilst it is against the rules, I always use my phone in the immigration hall and never had an issue. Granted, when I'm in the front line I put it away.

A brave person using your mobile in the immigration / customs queue IMO. All you need to happen is to be spotted by a CBP officer and you can be in Secondary screening fast, if they got out of the wrong side of bed that day. Not a good start to a holiday.

Think the APC kiosks were abolished as MCO is one of the airports that is now using facial recognition - and even if you used the machine, everyone [even Global Entry people] still have to present themselves to an Immigration Officer. So in effect, the APC kiosks actually saved little time, as the Immigration Officer could just decide to take all your fingerprints & photo's again, should they so wish.

That said, the GE machines at MCO now are 100% facial recognition. As long as they match your face to their photo records & your API info, you get a receipt from the machine in seconds & no fingerprints taken - they already have them on file. The appearance in front of the Immigration Officer is literally a very quick formality. They did not even stamp my passport back in February - was just wished a nice vacation [all 3 days of it!].

When we went through ATL last November the APC kiosks were not being used. I went up to the CBP officer with my US citizen wife and we were both photographed (I was not fingerprinted) which at the time I thought a little strange, but I guess this supports the transition to facial recognition technology.
It will be interesting to see what the procedure will be when we next go in a few weeks.

I agree about the machines saving very little, if any time. The one and only time we used them at MCO, we did not have Xs on our pieces of paper but when we finally got to see the immigration officer, he repeated the entire procedure! I noticed that everyone who was in the ordinary queue had long gone by the time we finally got through!

[mitchja]

When we went through ATL last November the APC kiosks were not being used. I went up to the CBP officer with my US citizen wife and we were both photographed (I was not fingerprinted) which at the time I thought a little strange, but I guess this supports the transition to facial recognition technology.
It will be interesting to see what the procedure will be when we next go in a few weeks.

Yes, I believe that part of the facial recognition gate boarding system that is in use now at ATL when flying DL or VS.

When I departed ATL in February on a DL flight back to LHR when I arrived at the boarding gate, all I had to do was stand in front of one of the facial recognition stands and that issued me a receipt showing my seat number. No ID or scanning of a boarding pass was needed to board.

I *think* the system compared me against the photo the GE machine took of me on arrival at ATL, though I'm not 100% how the entire system actually works.

[honey lamb]

I was trying to remember whether there were long queues at Immigration when I flew into MCO last November but then I remembered I'd flown in from DUB and therefore had been through Pre-Clearance. It was straight from the plane to baggage claim.

Best option is to avoid MCO and fly to Tampa.

[mitchja]

Doesn’t pre-clearance just move the immigration line/queue to the start of the journey rather than the end though?

Was there any queuing at DUB for US immigration?

[honey lamb]

Doesn’t pre-clearance just move the immigration line/queue to the start of the journey rather than the end though?

Was there any queuing at DUB for US immigration?

Not really. For starters, it's not like arriving on a fully loaded plane where everyone is in the Immigration hall at the same time. People arrive at different times to check in or go to the gate which helps keep the numbers down. Also on my last trip, I noticed signs I hadn't seen before advising passengers as to when Pre-clearance would open for their flight. I don't know what would happen if you turned up before then but I suppose it puts a bit of a brake on the numbers going through. On the MCO trip, Pre-clearance was almost empty.

What happens at SNN with pre clearance was that there is a sign before entering the security hall saying which flights they were processing and then there was a minder or two checking BPs before the security desks (usually to find SSSS passengers) and I have seen them turning back people because it was 'too soon' for their flights.

it may be the same at DUB where I have seen reports that there are far fewer facilities post clearance than pre it e.g. coffee shops , bars, restaurants etc.

Of course the real benefit is on arrival where you aren't in a massive queue of passengers from everywhere and get caught behind a phalanx of passengers from an exotic destination that takes more time to clear immigration. The use of the APC machines and GE have reduced those queues but not everyone had GE.

Best option is to avoid MCO and fly to Tampa.

My experiences of Tampa aren't that much different to MCO, last time the automatic machine didn't like my son's passport (because there was less than 6 months remaining), we had to wait ages in the secondary queue, border officer was super though. The new car hire facility at Tampa only brings it into line with MCO.

I've been plane to car at MCO in 40 minutes and also in two hours, just your Donald Duck.

Try to book an earlier flight arrival if possible. The later flights have the longer waits since the building is full. If a thunderstorm or weather hits, be prepared for the worse. When flights are held or arrive simultaneously it becomes the perfect storm with multiple planes being processed simultaneously and the longest waits.