MCO Visitor Pass Program looks for ‘eat local’ audience
It was perhaps one of their strangest day dates ever, Frankie Huff surmised in a social media post about Orlando International Airport.
“But we had a blast!” said Huff’s wife, Debbie Kleinberg, as she recapped several hours spent exploring the retail, dining and entertainment options at MCO’s year-old Terminal C.
“I like hanging out at the airport, anyway,” the Oviedo resident said, “but I might be unusual.”
Folks at MCO are guessing she’s not — and hoping the program will be as popular as the hard-to-get, MCO-themed socks staffers give away, and fans clamor for.
Back in September, the airport debuted the Experience MCO Visitor Pass Program, which allows the non-traveling public to pass through TSA checkpoints and check out the offerings on the other side.
The idea for a visitor program isn’t new, says Kevin Thibault, chief executive officer for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, “but I’m a big fan of copying great things that others have done.”
More than a few airports have similar day pass options, including Ontario International Airport in California, Detroit Metropolitan Airport and New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, where the MSY Guest Pass allows non-ticketed visitors to enjoy more than 40 concessions post-security.
The big difference, though, is volume. MSY serves 5-15 million passengers each year. MCO saw more than 50 million in 2022, though still slightly shy of its pre-pandemic numbers.
“Because of our size, we had to focus a bit, but I challenged the team to figure out how we could do it,” Thibault says. “Because we’ve been able to develop and implement concepts there that really have local flavor, Terminal C was a good place to start.”
Local interest in the new terminal, too, was high.
“In the spirit of getting everything done to have a seamless opening … we missed an opportunity to give the community a chance to experience the terminal and its offerings.”
These include names many locals know: Olde Hearth Bread Company, Cask + Larder, featuring Southern comfort fare from James Beard Award nominees James and Julie Petrakis, Sunshine Diner by Chef Art Smith and wine and small plates from Wine Bar George.
“I have regulars [at our Disney Springs location] who, just for fun, have gotten the day pass to go get a drink at Wine Bar George,” says the brand’s namesake, master sommelier George Miliotes. “They’ll also go to some of the other places and, for lack of a better phrase, make it like ‘Drinking Around the World,” at Epcot, but instead, they’re drinking around the locals at the airport.”
So far, September’s debut was the program’s biggest month, with 1,275 people applying for the Experience MCO pass. October saw 823 guests. November, 517.
Right now, there’s no way to track no-shows, but I made it for my visit a few days before Thanksgiving and practically flew through security – even though I could not use my TSA Precheck as a day pass user. (Plan your wardrobe accordingly if you go.)
I figured that was worth celebrating with a beer at Orlando Brewing, where a server told me he’d met more than a few Experience MCO guests since the program started.
Kleinberg and Huff were among the pioneers.
“I jumped on it the moment they announced it,” she says. Kleinberg, a volunteer greeter for Give Kids the World, had heard good things about Terminal C’s offerings from airport personnel. “My wife thought I was crazy, but it was a really good time.”
Among their favorites: time spent watching the dragons fly on the video wall inside the two-story Universal Store, which boasts a photo-op with Hagrid’s motorbike on Level 1.
Other video features figure big in the mix, as well.
“Windows on Orlando” showcases a variety of panoramas around Central Florida on three 32-foot LED screens.
“We watched several of them and then discovered another in the main area,” says Kleinberg. “It took some time before we realized they were interactive, and then we had to play with that for a while.”
The Moment Vault uses cameras and three double-sided LED walls to create an immersive experience.
Nearby, the SeaWorld Store’s aquarium beckoned, as did lunch at the Sunshine Diner by Chef Art Smith.
“It was good! Not what you expect airport food to be!”
Miliotes, who says guests are telling him once or twice a week that they’ve gotten a pass to visit, wonders if MCO might be onto something.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” he says. “I think that part of it is that C is new, but I also feel that from the late ‘90s to now, we’ve done a lot of really good food things in Orlando … I don’t know what the next generation of airport food is, but you’ve got several forward-thinking people who are the genesis of these places at the airport.”
Terminal C is also the northern terminus of the new Brightline, which Thibault speculates draws guests from South Florida on pre-flight recon. Overall, though, he’s hoping that the program will introduce locals to this new hub and prepare them for more. Soon, Terminal C will add another 16-24 gates.
“All our continued growth as an airport will be in the South Terminal Complex,” he notes. “By exposing people to the logistics – How do I drive in? How do I park? What amenities are in Terminal C? – they will get a sense of how they’re going to travel. The [visitor pass] gives them an opportunity to get used to it.
“We have amazing concepts at Terminal C, and many people have told me they’ve wanted to experience it as travel hasn’t been able to get them there yet.”
Experience MCO, he says, is a way to do so in a relaxed way, with no flight-related time crunch.
On the Sentinel’s Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook page, there were naysayers, citing parking costs and other potential impediments to opting in, but more seemed intrigued than not, noting its potential appeal for everything from the many bar options to space that allows young children to comfortably roam or the chance to watch planes on the runway.
“We got some coffee and a cinnabon and did that,” Kleinberg said, laughing. “Now, if only we could find some of those airport socks!”
To request a pass for the Experience MCO Program, visit experiencemco.orlandoairports.net.
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
