Orlando Travel Forum

My parents have a 6 hour layover in Orlando (flying from Puerto Rico to Austin). Any ideas about what to do? Is it possible in that amount of time to leave and visit anything in the area. They've done Disney many times, so that's not a necessity -- any suggestions would be welcome! Thanks, Carol

Unless their layover is at a off peak time, 6 hours would not be enough time to go anywhere of real interest. The traffic is so bad they would risk missing their flight. I have seen traffic jams on the airport access rd at 2 in the afternoon. I can imagine at morning or evening rush hour.

There is really not much near the airport to see without driving 30-60 minutes each way, with security and dealing with ground transportation that makes it kind of hard.

That being said, MCO is a decent airport. There are lots of restaurants and quite a bit of shopping. They have time to go outside of security (there are more retail and food options outside security.) The Hyatt hotel in the airport is very nice. They need to allow 45-60 minutes to clear security at MCO, plus time to get to the gate before boarding time. Half the time it only takes 15 minutes to clear security, but I have had it take over an hour.

DG

Thanks - I thought a 6 hour layover seemed a bit tight for leaving the airport, but thought I'd give it a shot and ask .... Carol

6 hours is enough time. It takes me 35 minutes tops to go from the airport to Dr. Phillips (near Universal). It's a layover, so they would only have to go through security and that's it. The deciding factor shouldn't be time, but value. The taxi ride to say...Mall At Millenia or Orlando Premium Outlets I'd imagine to be quite expensive. They have options, it's all up to them. I probally would because I've never found MCO to be an interesting airport.

Depending on how long they have been traveling they might want to check the Hyatt hotel, inside the terminal, for an hourly rental. That would be a great way to kick back, relax, watch TV, take a shower, etc.

Well, you would only be able to leave for a short while. So, riding the public bus wouldn't be an option. You would have to rent a car or get a taxi. Sometimes the lines in Orlando for security get really long, so I would recommend being back at the doors to the airport 3 hours before the flight leaves. I can't think of anything to do in just 3 hours unless you do something simple like mini-golf or mall shopping.

we were faced with a similar situation on our way from UK to Denver last year. The best option we came up with was a hotel on site which offered day rooms with use of pool and leisure facilities. As it turned out out first flight was delayed 2.5 hours and then we had a very lengthy wait for immigration and customs so we were glad we hadn't pre-arranged or booked anything. Suggest you wait and see what the situation is when you get there.

Florida Mall (270 stores)is less than 15 minutes away be taxi.
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If it is a late afternoon layover great all u can eat lobster near Florida mall
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