jis
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Wait. United is in Terminal B and uses gates 40-49. Are you sure you haven’t got gates and terminals mixed up?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.