MCO Spotting

[moose135]

I'll be heading down to Orlando in a couple of weeks, and was wondering about spotting down there. Plan is to arrive Wednesday, 10/25 and depart Sunday 10/29, would like to spend at least part of one day spotting. No definite plans, and I will have a car, so any advice is welcome.

[dlx737200]

Hey Moose! I live in Orlando. If anyone knows MCO, it's me. First off let me say, don't expect anything great. If anything, come here expecting hassle because MCO is one of America's most unfriendly airport towards photographers. I have a few locations but none are guaranteed not to bring you hassle. I hope you're not coming to MCO just to photograph, because you'll be greatly disappointed I think. The best help I can provide for you is a google earth file I created a while back with all my spots I've ever gone to displayed, with notes for each spot. I hope this helps you:


http://home.earthlink.net/~jtidle/siteb ... ospots.kmz (http://home.earthlink.net/~jtidle/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/mcospots.kmz)

If I were home the weekend you're coming down, I'd meet up with you but I'll be out of town my days off that week. Let me know how it goes!

-Justin

[Winglets747]

Earlier this year I was briefly at a spot at the north entrance to MCO (near a hotel and an artificial lake) to catch the Virgin departures from the 35s. I can't remember the exact location.

The spot was pretty good as the 74s took a while to climb, providing some interesting shots especially since they took off around sunset (I'm not sure what the sun will be like for your visit). My only problem was that my lens (200) was not big enough, but hopefully you should be fine.

Have a good time,
Will

[moose135]

Hey, Justin, thanks for the help. Sorry I'll miss you when I'm down there.

It's mostly an R&R trip. I have the week off, and I was looking for something different to do. It's been probably 15 years since I was down there (well, except for a one day in&out to the Orlando Sentinel about 5 years ago). I figure I'll do the Space Center, head over to Daytona for some Nascar stuff, maybe spend a day with the Mouse. I figure if I get a little spotting in, it will be a bonus.

Will, I think my hotel is just about in the spot you were at - I'll have to see how the spotting is from there.