ORLANDO, Fla. — More than 1.9 million travelers are expected to pass through Orlando International Airport over the Thanksgiving holiday.
MCO says that’s the estimate over a 12-day period from this Friday, November 22 to December 3.
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But more people, means less parking spots.
“You start seeing the signs as soon as you enter the terminal. You know parking lot A is closed, B is closed. All short term parking lots are closed,” said a frequent flyer, Iggy Torres. He says he’s seeing more and more of that over the years at MCO.
Torres is also an Uber driver. He says he often hears travel nightmares from passengers.
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“They’ve gone to the airport and there’s no parking spots. They miss their flights because of the fact that they couldn’t park anywhere,” Torres said.
Torres says he’s can’t imagine how bad parking could get during the holidays.
Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), says they have more options this year compared to last.
You can now reserve your parking spot ahead of time on MCO Reserve. (https://parking.orlandoairports.net/book/MCO/Parking?parkingCmd=collectParkingDetails )
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Also, there are more than 2,000 extra parking spaces this year compared to last holiday season. The new spots are located in the overflow parking area and the three surface lots in front of the Train Station. The lots were recently named Atlantis, Endeavour, and Discovery.
GOAA says these lots are only available for E-Pass and SunPass Plus customers. SunPass customers must be enrolled with Easy Pay, and a transponder must be used to enter and exit the lots.
Even before the holiday travel season kicks off, some folks say they’ve struggled to find parking.
Thibault says as Orlando’s population continues to grow, there is higher demand for parking. However, he says the problem isn’t as much of the shortage of parking spots as it is people not knowing the different parking options available.
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“I think people get familiar with certain locations, right? Garage C, level three, row c, spot two, and someone else is in that spot. So we got to understand that there’s a lot more opportunities out here,” Thibault said.
GOAA says for the holiday travel season, all lots will be open in the garages, Terminal Top, and the North, South, West and Overflow lots. However, parking still may reach capacity.
Before you leave your home for your flight, GOAA says they encourage flyers to check parking availability on the airport’s website. (https://flymco.com/ )
If parking is full, GOAA said to consider using a rideshare program, taxi service or have someone drop them off.
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