MCO advice?

[flyboy 28]

Hey all,

Looking to take the day to spot tomorrow at MCO with a buddy of mine and was curious about the situation there. I've been checking around a few websites and they all say that it's a pretty hostile environment, but those posts were from a few years ago and I was wondering if things had changed since then. Any advice would be great, locations, etc... or even if we should go at all.

Thanks!
-James

[Dabbey]

Dear Flyboy, I don't have any experience spotting at MCO except last week when I was fortunate enough to get bumped from a Delta flight and have to spend the night at the Hyatt at the airport. My room had a balcony where you could spot from. As you may know the physical piece of property that encompasses MCO is huge so I don't know where good spotting spots would be around the perimeter. One thing you might want to try is going to the Pool floor (not sure what floor #) at the Hyatt Regency MCO and their outdoor pool has a deck with a nice view of the some runways. I hate hearing stories of hostile environments. Can't officials go to the internet and see that planespotting is a HOBBY and we pose no threat to anybody!!

You could probably get to the pool area without a room key, but if you had all of your photography equipment with you I don't know how long the hotel staff would let you hang up there shooting planes.

Good luck and please report back on the forum James.

David Abbey
Queens Village, NY

[threeholerglory]

i always thought i heard many things about a famous "red lot" down there...unless that was ATL....joey collura has done a bunch of shots down in MCO to the best of my recollection

[Winglet Photography]

Red lot was closed a couple of years ago if I remember right. Beyond that I have no insights...sorry...

[steve1840]

Ive heard many times that if you go to the operations office inside the main "landside" terminal you can fill out a form and be granted permission to photograph from the parking garage. Nit sure how good the shots would be from there though.

[flyboy 28]

Well, we wound up getting there just before sunup on Saturday morning and pulled over in a swampy area on the south side of the field. We were standing out for about 10 minutes when an airport cop rolled up and told us to be on our way. Even at EWR the fuzz wait until you get at least one heavy!