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Published NOVEMBER 6, 2003
Stuck at the Airport: Orlando
MCO: Airport fun for the young at heart
By Harriet Baskas
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Is this a mall or an airport? With 31 shops, 32 restaurants, eight bars, a tropical atmosphere with lots of sunshine, and a full-service hotel complete with fitness center and outdoor pool all within the Main Terminal, Orlando International Airport (airport code: MCO) works hard to make your trip through the airport as entertaining as the surrounding tourist destinations.
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Get oriented
Taking its designator code from McCoy Air Force Base, which once occupied the airport property, MCO has a Main Terminal and four concourse areas reached by elevated passenger trains. Concourses are referred to by their "gate cluster" and position in relation to the Main Terminal. Gates 1–29 and 100–129 are on the A side of the Main Terminal, while gates 30–59 and 60–99 are located on the B side of the terminal.
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Baggage note |
Luggage carts can be rented for US$2 throughout the terminal. The cart machines make change, take credit cards, and give you a 25¢ refund when you return a cart.
There are no lockers at MCO. |
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The two-sided Main Terminal has shop-lined corridors and a lush foliage-filled atrium complete with a fountain and plenty of comfortable seating, including clusters of upholstered wicker chairs and low chairs for kids. If the shops don't sidetrack you, it should take no more than 15 minutes to walk through the terminal and onto one of the shuttle trams that take passengers out to the gates.
Gates 1–29 serve mostly American, ATA, Alaska Airlines, Air Jamaica, Mexicana, America West, Continental, and several other airlines. Gates 30–59 are used by Air Canada, Frontier, Northwest, United, and US Airways. Delta Air Lines, Comair, Song, Midwest, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and several other carriers pull up at gates 60–69. The newest concourse, containing gates 100–129, serves Southwest, Spirit Airlines, AirTran Airways, and JetBlue.
To get your bearings, pick up a terminal map, a colorful guide to the airport's art collection, and a brochure listing all the shops and services. These handy guides are available from the Information Centers located at the gate entrances in the Main Terminal.
Take care of yourself
Eat: MCO has been busy opening new and improved restaurants and food concessions in the Main Terminal and out in the concourses. The new Main Terminal food court bends around a giant aquarium (no fishing, please) and includes Big Apple Deli, Burger King, Carvel, Chick-Fil-A, Cinnabon, Krispy Kreme, and Fresh Attractions. Macaroni Grill and a Fox Sports Bar are due to open by summer 2004.
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Food note |
Best bet for a carry-on meal: Sandwiches and snacks from Chick-Fil-A or Sbarros in the main food court.
Best sinful snack: Just-made doughnuts from Krispy Kreme or ice cream from Carvel, in the food court in the main terminal. |
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For table service, options in the Main Terminal include Chili’s Too Restaurant and Bar (level 4, near the security checkpoint for gates 1–59) and the restaurants in the on-site Hyatt Regency Hotel. These include the informal McCoy’s on the lobby level and the more formal ninth-floor Hemispheres, which offers great views of airfield activity and the occasional NASA space shuttle launch.
Relax and refresh: Clusters of upholstered wicker chairs, including smaller seats for young travelers, are scattered throughout the Main Terminal and out by the gates. The eight-story atrium on the east side of the terminal has a park-like setting with plenty of comfortable seating, lots of lush foliage, and a stress-busting fountain that invites lingering. When you look up you’ll see balconies: The atrium doubles as the "outside" of the 446-room Hyatt Regency Hotel, which offers a reasonable day rate starting at $60 that includes access to the hotel's fitness club and outdoor pool. Even if you’re not checking in, take a ride up the escalators to the hotel lobby, which has a lounge and plenty of comfortable and quiet seating areas.
If a massage or a haircut might help you relax, stop by the D_parture Spa (in the middle of the A side of the mall corridor). It's a full-service, unisex salon offering hair styling, pedicures, and a wide range of massage therapy treatments.
If you’d rather relax with a movie, InMotion Video, which rents portable DVD players and movies, has kiosks airside by gates 30–59 and 60–99. They’ve got a drop-off box in the Main Terminal by the bank and post office in the middle of the A side of the mall corridor.
Per state law, smoking is not permitted at this airport.
Take care of business
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Business note |
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For serious business tasks, visit the staffed business center in the on-site Hyatt Regency Hotel. |
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Airline club members will find clubrooms for Delta Airlines by gates 60–99, for American Airlines by gates 1–29, and for US Airways by gates 30–59. An International Club is located out by gates 60–99. All rooms are located post-security.
There’s a full-service bank, Sun Trust, located mid-way along the A side of the mall corridor. It’s open Monday through Thursday, 8 AM to 5 PM; Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM; and Saturday, 9 AM to noon. Self-serve postal machines (stamps, scale, etc.) are located across the hall, along with the drop box for InMotion Video.
Two self-serve “business centers,” with credit card Internet kiosks, drop boxes, and telephone workstations with data ports, electrical outlets, and work space, are located to the far left and right of the security checkpoint to gates 60–129. The wooden desk areas near the Starbucks are especially comfortable and surprisingly quiet spots to conduct an important phone call or get some work done.
Internet kiosks are located in the main terminal and out in the airside concourses. In addition, the counter at McCoys, on the lobby level of the on-site Hyatt Regency Hotel also has Internet kiosks by some seats.
Explore the airport
Shop: Each end of the terminal and both connecting corridors are dotted with 31 enticing shops, including two bookstores, a Kennedy Space Center shop, Orlando Harley Davidson, Bow Wow Meow, Flag Word, and double doses of the Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios shops filled with all manner of branded items and souvenirs. Other shops offer jewelry, vitamins and healthy snacks, sunglasses, and pretty much anything you’d find in a "regular" mall.
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Shopping note |
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Best souvenir under $10: Package of 120 space-theme stickers ($3.95) at the Kennedy Space Center store. |
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"Street-pricing" is in effect here, which means souvenirs cost no more (or less) than at the theme parks and area malls. Even folks who aren't buying find the shops entertaining: Statues of Cinderella, Spiderman, Goofy, and other well-known characters are scattered about, offering fun photo opportunities, and there’s a sliver of a Mars meteorite on display at the Kennedy Space Center shop.
In addition, Altitunes lets you sample CDs on headphones. WH Smith Books has a vending machine that dispenses bestsellers. The Body Shop has samples of all their products out for testing and, when time allows, offers complimentary make-up applications. And a chocolate shop named Schakolad (under construction beginning October 2003) promises demonstrations of the chocolate-making process and samples for anyone who stops by.
Sightsee: Orlando International Airport's extensive public-art collection features works from such renowned artists as Jacob Lawrence, Miriam Schapiro, and Edward Campos. The newest concourse area for gates 100–129 has stained glass windows on the ends of the gate concourses and three huge inlaid marble and glass floor mosaics imbedded with images of Florida's native flora and fauna.
In the Main Terminal, be sure to look just past the Starbucks café, near the security checkpoint for gates 60–129, for Duane Hanson’s realistic life-size bronze, The Traveler. The sculpture is of a stereotypical tourist who's fallen asleep.
For a peek at other art in the airport’s fine collection, take a self-guided tour with the free art brochure available from the Information Booth. Be sure you don't skip the parking garage, where sculptures of armadillos, pelicans, eagles, and other Florida critters animals help folks remember they’ve parked.
For a great view of airplanes taking off and landing, head to the 10th floor of the terminal-top parking garage. On a clear day this spot also offers views of the Orlando skyline, Epcot Center's Spaceship Earth, and the numerous nightly fireworks displays at the theme parks.
Play around: Kids will enjoy inspecting the slice of Mars meteorite and NASA-related items on display in the Kennedy Space Center store, near the fountain in the atrium, or watching a diver feed the fish in the Food Court Aquarium.
Browsing in the the theme park stores is also fun, especially if everyone enjoys posing for a picture with Cinderella, Goofy, Spiderman, or one of the other character statues hanging inside and around the shop entrances.
For additional entertainment, there’s a game arcade on the B side of the corridor and plenty of kid-oriented books and tapes at Borders Books and WH Smiths Books. And don’t forget to seek out the airport art, especially the “critters” located on each level of the parking garage and the very real-looking Duane Hanson sculpture just beyond the Starbucks café.
Go into town
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More information |
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For more information about the airport, call 1 (407) 825-2001. |
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A taxi ride to downtown Orlando takes about 30 minutes and costs approximately $30–33, while a taxi ride to Walt Disney World, about 40 minutes away, costs about $37–50. Shuttle vans (call Mears at 1 [407] 423-5566) can get you downtown for $14 and to Disney World for about $16. You can also catch a public bus (Lynx) on the first level of the A side of the Main Terminal.
Taxi vans can take up to nine people for the same fee as a single rider. Shuttle vans are priced per person. So if you’ve got a family or group, a taxi will be the more economical choice.
Bus fare to the downtown (Pine Street) bus terminal, the International Drive resort area and the popular Florida Mall is $1.25, and the ride can take up to 60 minutes.
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