Brightline Orlando extension

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I had an opportunity to visit MCO (OIA) yesterday and wandered around Terminal C to get a feel for the new terminal - both the Airports and Brightline's. I took some pics that I'll post later.

I parked in the regular tower parking lot that is situated between the Brightline & Airport People Mover (APM, or Terminal Link) and the main terminal.

My first impression is that it is huge. It is gorgeous. But it is also SUPER confusing, not intuitive, and a real hassle. I'm an experienced traveler with no bags or kids in tow and I was able to take my time to figure things out. Can't imagine international travelers whose first language isn't English (or may not know ANY), on a time crunch with suitcases and kids would be going through.

I parked on the 3rd level which is actually at a transfer level between the trains and the planes. You can park on Level 3 and walk to either.

First, the train terminal. You approach quite quickly upon entering indoors to the APM platform. Well, one of them. To get to the other side, you have to take an escalator or elevator up a level, walk across and repeat down to the platform. For now, all APMs are using the near platform, so it's not an issue, but when they start using both, it can be a pain.

To get to Brightline from Deck 3 of Parking in C, you must also go up and over. This space is HUGE but with relatively little seating. Lots of open space.

The APM from Terminal C to Terminals A&B takes almost exactly 3 minutes. Not bad! It's really great if you are going to gates 60+. To get to Gates 1-59, you have to walk the entire width of the terminal to get to those TSA queues. Terminal B (Gates 30-59) are slightly closer than Terminal A (Gates 1-29), but the TSA screening is shared so not a big deal to get to either gate APM after screening. The big issue here is if you need to go to a ticket counter for an airline using gates 30-59 in Terminal A which is the furthest point from the APM platform. This is super relevant if you plan to take Brightline to MCO and you have to check in at Breeze, Spirit (int'l), Miami Air, etc. You may want to invest in a rideable carry-on suitcase.

So now, let's about coming in on Brightline and departing out of "C". You will go up to level 5 upon leaving the Brightline platform. From there, you will walk across to the parking lot, then OUTSIDE in the parking lot (it's covered, but it's not airconditioned!). This takes you to an elevator. Elevator says go to floor 4 to take an accessible ramp to the walkway to C or to just go to 3 to walk across. Well, if you get off at 3, you'll take an escalator back up to 4, so might as well just get off at 4. IDK why they tell people to go to 3. Now, if you're coming off the APM, walk across the parking garage on 3 then go up to 4. When you get to the terminal, there is nothing on 4. You have to go to 6 for arrivals or 3 for departures.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks that thinks that the transfers from the train station to terminal C is super inconvenient. I came across this article by WFTV 9 this morning about $46M MORE to make things slightly more convenient.

Ahh, bureaucracy is a wonderful thing when it's not your money to spend.
Wait. United is in Terminal B and uses gates 40-49. Are you sure you haven’t got gates and terminals mixed up?
 
Wait. United is in Terminal B and uses gates 40-49. Are you sure you haven’t got gates and terminals mixed up?

I was basing the details on MCO's website vs my memory. But per their website, it appears United uses B-1, Gates 30-59, which is the Southwest quadrant of the four gate clusters. It's consistent with United using gates 40-49. So not as far as A-1 which use Gates 1-29 in the Northwest set of gates, which is further from the Terminal C APM.

It's an EXTREMELY confusing airport - particularly for those who are not travel savvy.
 
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A picture is worth a thousand words.

Roughly speaking remote pods 1and 2 are Terminal A and remote pods 3 and 4 are Terminal B. The Terminal C APM is closest to pod 4 APM, that would be gates 70–99.

What is indeed confusing is that the airside secure space is shared between pods 1 and 3 on the one hand and 2 and 4 on the other hand. But that does place consecutive gates in the same secure space.

1678299306837.png
 
Since I've been a regular at the HR at OIA for quite some time (in no small part because McCoy's is a decent - if now a bit steeply-priced - hotel restaurant) and my airline of preference is Delta (it was previously Virgin America, which used the same side of the terminal) this all works fairly well. The one thing that was a PITA was a few years back when I did a connection from JetBlue to Delta one time (there was a wacky fare situation, so I flew RIC-MCO on B6 and then the rest of my itinerary on DL). Man, that was annoying.

[This will actually be hyper-convenient when basing in Orlando but visiting my parents in Boca...]
 
A picture is worth a thousand words.

Roughly speaking remote pods 1and 2 are Terminal A and remote pods 3 and 4 are Terminal B. The Terminal C APM is closest to pod 4 APM, that would be gates 70–99.

What is indeed confusing is that the airside secure space is shared between pods 1 and 3 on the one hand and 2 and 4 on the other hand. But that does place consecutive gates in the same secure space.

View attachment 31622
has this been changed recently?

I vaguely remember that when last using Orlando airport (may have been 2009 or thereabouts) that I was able to walk across that concourse without passing security. I assumed the entire concourse must have been airside.
 
On my recent trip I parked in the garage adjacent to terminal A for my outbound flight. I returned to terminal C on Jet Blue. What an ordeal!

The Orlando papers are full of complaints about the long walks required in that new terminal. For budget reasons moving sidewalks were eliminated (now to be retrofitted). Also the new passageway from the terminal to the shuttle tram (and soon Brightline) was left out. Thankfully it too will soon be built thanks to the infrastructure funding. In the meantime you get to walk through the garage for the terminal to access the tram- which was swift and pleasant as it passed over Brightline tracks.

The tram took me back to terminal B so I could retrieve my car. When I got to the place I parked there was no car! After a half hour of walking in circles I realized i was in the look alike garage for terminal B, not A where i parked. So, pay attention to where you’re going if having to go between C and A/B and put on your hiking shoes.
 
has this been changed recently?

I vaguely remember that when last using Orlando airport (may have been 2009 or thereabouts) that I was able to walk across that concourse without passing security. I assumed the entire concourse must have been airside.
It has been this way since the beginning AFAIK, but definitely since 2010 when I started traveling to Orlando quite regularly. In MCO most of the big business establishments, including the Hyatt, are on the ground side of the main terminal building. Air side there are smaller establishments in the middle of each remote pod. There are no business establishments air side in the main terminal building. All the APMs to the remote pods are air side. There are two security check points, one for air side 1 and 3, and the other for air side 2 and 4. The APM to Terminal C is ground side.
 
Seems like construction has been "90% complete" for quite some time, now. ;)
Basic construction has been complete for over six months. We visited it last year and had a good close look at the new sets for a couple of hours. It was an FECRS members exclusive visit.
 
I had a professor in college who taught us, "Double all cost estimates. Triple all time estimates."
Not least because of a tendency of folks to approach stuff like this from the POV of "If we can hook you in far enough that the sunk cost fallacy attaches, you'll keep pushing through regardless of how bad it gets."
 
On my recent trip I parked in the garage adjacent to terminal A for my outbound flight. I returned to terminal C on Jet Blue. What an ordeal!

The Orlando papers are full of complaints about the long walks required in that new terminal. For budget reasons moving sidewalks were eliminated (now to be retrofitted). Also the new passageway from the terminal to the shuttle tram (and soon Brightline) was left out. Thankfully it too will soon be built thanks to the infrastructure funding. In the meantime you get to walk through the garage for the terminal to access the tram- which was swift and pleasant as it passed over Brightline tracks.

The tram took me back to terminal B so I could retrieve my car. When I got to the place I parked there was no car! After a half hour of walking in circles I realized i was in the look alike garage for terminal B, not A where i parked. So, pay attention to where you’re going if having to go between C and A/B and put on your hiking shoes.
Honestly, I think I'd rather park at C and tram to A/B. But, yes, I realized all you mentioned last time I was there.

It's always cheaper to build it right the first time rather than try to add it later. Don't know who was paid off to "retrofit" the moving sidewalks and a covered walkway. MILLIONS wasted! And people wonder why we don't trust politicians with OUR money.

At least the tram trip itself is literally 3 minutes.
 
Honestly, I think I'd rather park at C and tram to A/B. But, yes, I realized all you mentioned last time I was there.

It's always cheaper to build it right the first time rather than try to add it later. Don't know who was paid off to "retrofit" the moving sidewalks and a covered walkway. MILLIONS wasted! And people wonder why we don't trust politicians with OUR money.

At least the tram trip itself is literally 3 minutes.
The bridge to the Multimodal Center is not a retrofit;; it was in the design but postponed. The lack of moving sidewalks was indeed a stupid design decision -- apparently a case of aesthetics over functionality.
 
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The bridge to the Multimodal Center is not a retrofit;; it was in the design but postponed. The lack of moving sidewalks was indeed a stupid design decision -- apparently a case of esthetics over functionality.
It is worth remembering that only a third of Terminal C has been built so far too.
 
The bridge to the Multimodal Center is not a retrofit;; it was in the design but postponed. The lack of moving sidewalks was indeed a stupid design decision -- apparently a case of aesthetics over functionality.
I'm not sure it was aesthetics. IIRC a couple of airports pulled out moving sidewalks because the stores were complaining about slowing business (which in turn was affecting the airport's revenue).
 
I'm not sure it was aesthetics. IIRC a couple of airports pulled out moving sidewalks because the stores were complaining about slowing business (which in turn was affecting the airport's revenue).
I find them frustrating personally . There are always people getting in the way and not understanding the concept of standing to one side so people in a hurry can get by .
 
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I find them frustrating personally . There are always people getting in the way and not understanding the concept of standing to one side so people in a hurry can get by .
Well, and some of those that are narrower aren't really wide enough for folks to pass. I'm thinking of one of the ones further back at JFK T4 vs the ones towards the front.
 
So it does look like they are laying a second main or a long siding already. Rails were being laid along the 528 to I-95 spur (technically still 528, but where it splits from the NB I-95 ramp)
 
Brightline Orlando Station unveiling today at around 3PM(?):

Interesting they have a greater presence on Facebook than their own website. Any murmurings on when they plan to start revenue service to MCO? Official channels are still pretty quiet on a start date.
 
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