ORLANDO, Fla. – Saturday at Orlando International Airport was expected to be the busiest day for traveling during the holiday season this year and airport officials said the crowds showed up in droves.
“Obviously, everyone is heading home now,” said passenger William Geshna.
After a quick, fun-filled holiday trip to the Sunshine State, Geshna and his basketball team were flying back home to Ohio.
“We got down here Tuesday. We played in two basketball games, we went to Universal Studios yesterday and tried to create a nice experience for our basketball team,” he said.
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Thousands were doing the same: heading back home and getting to Orlando International Airport early Saturday to be met with long lines.
“I’m a little nervous, I’ll be honest, but God-willing we’ll get on our plane and get home,” Geshna said.
Many of the baggage drop lines were seemingly the longest wait Saturday morning, followed by long security lines with wait times averaging between 30 to 40 minutes.
“Look around and you can see. We figured it would be a busy travel day for sure,” said Kate from Viera.
Over 187,000 passengers were expected at MCO on Saturday. Many of those passengers were also Floridians heading out for the new year holiday.
“I was not expecting this. I was expecting security lines to be really busy but not expecting the bag drop,” Kate said.
Airport officials urge flyers to get to the airport three hours before their scheduled flight throughout the rest of the weekend, as well.
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