Why You Might Want to AVOID Orlando Airport This Weekend

It’s the unofficial last weekend of summer. Yes, Labor Day weekend is here, and you know what that means.

Orlando International Airport

It means people are going to spend some time traveling this weekend. That means we expect to see some crowds in Disney World, but before that, we also expect to see some crowds in Orlando International Airport. Well, we’ve already given you a look at what days you should avoid flying over this holiday weekend, but now we’ve got an even better idea of just how busy things are going to be during Labor Day weekend.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, Orlando is one of the top five U.S. destinations for Labor Day weekend this year. The six-day period that comprises the Labor Day travel weekend (August 31st through September 5th) will see approximately 919,000 people going through Orlando International Airport. That’s 14% more than what the airport saw last year.

Southwest at Orlando International Airport

Here’s how that breaks down by day just to give you an idea of how busy the airport is going to be each day throughout the long weekend:

August 31st: 154,300 travelers
September 1st: 156,800 travelers
September 2nd: 170,600 travelers
September 3rd: 149,100 travelers
September 4th: 153,900 travelers
September 5th: 134,300 travelers

Whew! That is a LOT of people.

Orlando International Airport

Although a lot of those travelers will be visiting Disney World, there’s a lot more going on in Orlando this weekend, too. According to ClickOrlando.com, this weekend also brings a huge college football game, Disney on Ice, and the beginning of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida (which is also a huge draw for the city).

Universal Orlando

According to the Associated Press, the Federal Aviation Administration has predicted that this weekend is the third busiest holiday weekend of 2023 so far. So airports pretty much everywhere are going to be busy. So, if you ARE traveling this weekend, be sure to bring your patience. You’ll also want to make sure to get to the airport as early as you can so you: TSA security lines are also bound to be long (although if you have TSA Precheck, you can bypass the longest lines).

Orlando International Airport is VERY busy

Also, remember that if you’re flying out of Orlando International Airport, you can sign up for MCO Reserve, which lets you set a time to go through a much shorter security line — and it’s totally free!

We’ll keep an eye on crowds this weekend at Disney World, too, so be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more!