What Is the Closest Airport to Disney World?

Sit back and lower those tray tables, it’s time to talk about flying to Disney World.

Magic Kingdom

The vast majority of travelers going to Walt Disney World in the modern day are going to be flying into the Orlando metropolitan area to access the “Most Magical Place on Earth.” For those of you outside the immediate area, it can be hard to determine the best airport to fly into Orlando. Fear not though, we’re going to try and answer every question you might have about which airport best suits your needs.

First and foremost, since this question gets asked a lot: No, Walt Disney World doesn’t have its own airport. In the initial Florida Project/E.P.C.O.T. planning stages of the resort, there are plans for a full airport. However, they never came to pass. For a brief period following the report’s opening, there was a small runway known as the STOLport (Short Take-Off and Landing Airport) which served a runway for small plane flights from nearby larger airports. However, the service ended in the early 1980s.

The Walt Disney World STOLport during its days of operation in the 1970s. [D23]

So, now that we’ve established that there’s no airport on Disney World property, let’s look at the closest airports to the “Vacation Kingdom.”

The closest, and largest, is Orlando International Airport (MCO). MCO is one of the busiest airports in the world, with over 35 airlines including American, Southwest, JetBlue, Spirit, United, Frontier, Delta, and major international carriers offering nonstop flights to over 150 domestic and international.

Orlando International Airport

The airport is located approximately 20 miles from Walt Disney World property, which should roughly be a 20-25 minute drive. MCO offers several transportation options to the resort, including a full of rental car dealers, rideshare options like Uber and Lyft, shuttle bus service from companies including Mears (though, much to our continued chagrin, the dearly departed Disney Magical Express, traditional taxi and car services, and public transportation options including LYNX local bus service.

A Lynx bus

The next closest airport to Walt Disney World is Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB). The airport, which originally opened in 1942 as a Naval Air Station, is located approximately 43 miles from the resort, which is approximately a 45-60 minute drive. The airport offers rental car, rideshare like Uber and Lyft, and taxi/private shuttle transportation options.

Orlando Sanford Airport

In addition, there are three further major airports Daytona Beach International Airport (DAB), Tampa International Airport (TPA), and Melbourne International Airport (MLB) located within 75 miles of the Walt Disney World Resort.

While flying into MCO is technically the closest option to Walt Disney World, SFB is well within a reasonable distance to the resort. Stay tuned to AllEars for further coverage of travel options to Disney World.