TSA PreCheck Touchless is Pointless at Orlando Airport
Walt Disney World’s home airport is my least favorite in the world. We’ve flown through many crowded airports–Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. None of them, not even ORD or LAX, are as challenging as MCO on a bad day. (Note: we do not fly through NYC or Newark.)
Earlier this month, we flew through CDG and LAX, and both were easier than MCO. Actually, I fly through LAX often–about once per month. It’s not my favorite airport and I’d never recommend it to first-timers (there’s a reason it makes our list of things to NOT do at Disneyland), but it’s efficient. (If only SNA/LGB had more nonstop flights to MCO!)
That is not the case at Orlando International Airport. Of all airports we’ve flown, MCO is consistently the most chaotic for departures. This is due to a confluence of circumstances: long lines for check-in counters and security, storms delaying flights, significantly higher traveler volume without infrastructure keeping pace, overcrowded seating areas, and the fact that this is only the second flight many families have ever flown (the first being the one to Walt Disney World).
There’s a lot I like about MCO and the personality of the airport, but the actual guest experience has a lot of potential friction points. We’ve been “warning” readers about Orlando International Airport for the better part of the last decade. Those are air quotes around warning because there’s no reasonable alternative.
Sure, there’s Sanford or Tampa, but that adds extra time to the commute…although maybe that could be offset by shorter waits at the airport? Suffice to say, I’m very much looking forward to Orlando International Airport’s Big $6 Billion Expansion & Enhancement Plan coming to fruition. It’s badly needed, and long overdue.
Our warnings with regard to MCO have more been about adjusting expectations and helping readers prepare accordingly. Most importantly, arriving sufficiently early. There are plenty of seasoned travelers who might arrive an hour before their flights elsewhere, but that’s a recipe for disaster at MCO in certain circumstances. Those who subscribe to “Airport Theory” are playing with fire. (If you’ve never heard of it, consider yourself lucky–it’s a dumb TikTok thing.)
One of the problems at MCO is the lines for security. This is often the biggest sticking point, and posted wait times can sometimes exceed 45 minutes during peak travel times. There are several reasons for the longer lines, including the above points about visitor volume and it being only the second flight many travelers have ever flown.
Given the traveler demographics, there are also a lot more strollers and small children. As someone with a toddler, I think it’s probably okay for me to state the obvious here, which is that young families with kids generally take more time to get through security. That’s just reality, not a value judgment. It doesn’t help that travelers are incentivized to fly with carry-ons as opposed to checking bags.
It’s also completely chaotic, thanks to about a half-dozen different lines for ID check, including but not limited to MCO Reserve, TSA PreCheck, Clear, Clear with TSA PreCheck, etc. It also doesn’t help that TSA is perpetually understaffed, so it’s often the case that all of the screening lines aren’t open once you get passed the ID verification checkpoint.
In the last few months, TSA PreCheck Touchless ID has debuted at Orlando International Airport, adding another line to the mix. I’ve used this a few times elsewhere, and when it works seamlessly, it’s like magic. I wanted to wait until having a flawless experience with it at MCO before covering and recommending it, but alas. (More on that in a minute.)
For those who are unfamiliar with it, TSA PreCheck Touchless ID enhances the security screening process with facial comparison technology for faster, more efficient identity verification. Enrolled travelers with participating airlines can move through dedicated lanes with ease, enjoying a smoother and more convenient airport experience—an effortless way to start your travels.
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID requires:
- Active airline profile with a participating airline
- Current TSA PreCheck traveler
- Valid passport information uploaded to your airline profile
TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is now available at 65 airports. Here’s a video from TSA explaining how it works:
Interested passengers must opt in with participating airlines. Check with your airline for TSA PreCheck Touchless ID locations.
Add the following information to your profile with a valid participating airline:
- Enter Known Traveler Number (KTN)
- Enter valid passport number and country
- Select “OPT IN” on your profile or at airline check-in
Opting in is pretty simply and took me all of ~2 minutes in my Delta and Southwest profiles. I assume that TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is optional because of passenger privacy, photo and data concerns. On its website, TSA offers an assurance about its commitment to passenger privacy, deletion of data and photos, so take that for whatever it’s worth to you.
My perspective is that airports are already using facial recognition technology and doing who knows what else. If something nefarious or dystopian is going to happen with privacy and data, it’s going to happen either way. I might as well benefit while they’re at it.
In order to use the service, the TSA PreCheck Touchless ID indicator must appear on your mobile boarding pass to enter the dedicated TSA PreCheck Touchless ID lane. It’ll look something like this:
As noted above, TSA PreCheck Touchless ID is now available at 65 participating airports serving dozens of major metro areas. Here’s a list of the airports that now support TSA PreCheck Touchless ID as of Spring 2026:
- Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) – Albuquerque, NM
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) – Baltimore, MD
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) – Boston, MA
- Bradley International Airport (BDL) – Hartford, CT
- Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) – Buffalo, NY
- Charleston International Airport (CHS) – Charleston, SC
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) – Charlotte, NC
- Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) – Chicago, IL
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) – Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) – Cincinnati, OH
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) – Cleveland, OH
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- Dallas Love Field (DAL) – Dallas, TX
- Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) – Honolulu, HI
- Denver International Airport (DEN) – Denver, CO
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) – Detroit, MI
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) – Fort Lauderdale, FL
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – Houston, TX
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) – Las Vegas, NV
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) – Atlanta, GA
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND) – Indianapolis, IN
- Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) – Jacksonville, FL
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) – New York, NY
- John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) – Columbus, OH
- John Wayne Airport (SNA) – Orange County, CA
- Kansas City International Airport (MCI) – Kansas City, MO
- LaGuardia Airport (LGA) – New York, NY
- Long Beach Airport (LGB) – Long Beach, CA
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – Los Angeles, CA
- Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) – San Juan, PR
- Miami International Airport (MIA) – Miami, FL
- Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) – Milwaukee, WI
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) – Minneapolis, MN
- Nashville International Airport (BNA) – Nashville, TN
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) – New Orleans, LA
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) – Newark, NJ
- Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK) – Oakland, CA
- Orlando International Airport (MCO) – Orlando, FL
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) – West Palm Beach, FL
- Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) – Palm Springs, CA
- Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) – Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) – Phoenix, AZ
- Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) – Pittsburgh, PA
- Portland International Airport (PDX) – Portland, OR
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) – Raleigh, NC
- Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) – Providence, RI
- Sacramento International Airport (SMF) – Sacramento, CA
- Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) – Salt Lake City, UT
- San Antonio International Airport (SAT) – San Antonio, TX
- San Diego International Airport (SAN) – San Diego, CA
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – San Francisco, CA
- San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC) – San Jose, CA
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) – Seattle, WA
- St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) – St. Louis, MO
- Tampa International Airport (TPA) – Tampa, FL
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) – Anchorage, AK
- Tulsa International Airport (TUL) – Tulsa, OK
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) – Arlington, VA
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) – Dulles, VA
- Austin–Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) – Austin, TX
- Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) – Birmingham, AL
- Boise Airport (BOI) – Boise, ID
- Westchester County Airport (HPN) – White Plains, NY
- William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) – Houston, TX
On that list are all of the home airports that service Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Since TSA PreCheck Touchless ID started rolling out, I’ve seen the signs for it, but never a dedicated lane at SNA or LGB.
Maybe it’s just the time of day I fly out of both (almost exclusively early mornings or red-eyes when the already slow airports are even slower), but it seems like there’s very little space at either airport to add another screening line.
Orlando International Airport, on the other hand, has almost the exact opposite problem. An entire section of its screening is dedicated to TSA PreCheck (and Clear), and there’s definitely a dedicated lane for TSA PreCheck Touchless ID.
It’s been there since at least Winter 2026; maybe even last Christmas, but I don’t recall seeing it then. The problem is that it’s absolute chaos leading to those lines, and the signage is small and confusing.
I’ve yet to see any TSA or airport staff at the end of the lines verifying eligibility for TSA PreCheck Touchless ID before allowing travelers to enter. The end result is that it’s a free for all, with TSA PreCheck passengers (understandably) just getting in whichever line.
None of them are materially shorter, and to the extent that any move faster, it’s really just about avoiding the ones where Clear cuts in front of. (Note that I pretty much only use the Gates 70-129 checkpoint; it could be different at the others, especially Terminal C.)
There’s also the reality, at least in my experience, that the speed of the ID verification portion of the process at MCO is often dictated by backups in baggage screening. It’s very common for TSA officers to hold the lines at ID check because the lanes behind them are so long that there’s nowhere for anyone to go. The end result is that, at least in my experience with it thus far, TSA Touchless is pointless at MCO.
This isn’t anyone’s fault. TSA has been understaffed for years, and that’s only gotten worse in the last ~6 months for reasons that are probably obvious if you’ve followed the news. Even if fully staffed, the infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with MCO’s growth, so that’s also an issue.
If anything, the MCO experience is still usually better than it has any right to be despite all of the above. The airport manages to overcome a lot of “baked-in” issues and be pretty good. Travelers all do a surprisingly good job of holding things together in spite of it all, shrugging off the slowdowns and chaos. TSA officers are friendly despite being battle hardened. MCO is an impressive organism, even if it can be frustrating and time-consuming for all involved.
If you fly out on one of those exceedingly rare occasions when it’s not busy, the process is shockingly smooth–underscoring just how many of the problems are due to infrastructure not keeping pace with traveler volume. There have been times when I’ve gone from the curb to the Delta terminal in ~10 minutes. (Really! I swear!) So even adherents to Airport Theory would be fine some of the time.
As for TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, I’m skeptical that it’ll be a big win to streamline the security screening process at MCO until infrastructure upgrades are made, but it can be fantastic at other airports where the circumstances are different. Or perhaps even at MCO when the lines are being managed and are shorter. I’ve yet to fly out during any slower times since it’s been available, so perhaps other travelers have had completely different experiences.
I will say that I’m optimistic about the potential of TSA PreCheck Touchless ID as a whole (beyond just MCO or at smaller airports). This and other facial recognition technology that’s been introduced in the last few years at airports is really, really impressive. When everything is working smoothly, it’s an absolute breeze! We recently had a similar experience with Global Entry Touchless Portals when reentering the United States, and that was pure magic. We barely even had to stop for a photo.
If you’re looking for a takeaway, it’s that we recommend opting in to TSA PreCheck Touchless ID, but tempering your expectations about where it might be useful. I’m sure others have had better luck with it at MCO during slower or less chaotic times, and I’m also sure it’ll get better over time, especially once things normalize with TSA pay.
At the same time, the layout of the lines coupled with the backups behind ID verification at the actual screening points are the typical cause of delay and will probably prevent TSA PreCheck Touchless ID from reaching its full potential in eliminating friction at MCO security.
TSA PreCheck Touchless may not be pointless in the long term at MCO, but it won’t be seamless until the airport overhaul is completed. At other airports with the right mix of infrastructure and crowds (LAX being a prime example), TSA PreCheck Touchless ID has the potential to speed up the security process.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you used TSA PreCheck Touchless ID? What was your experience with the process? Did it speed up security for you, or not have much of an impact? Think this technology has the potential to streamline security and increase efficiency at MCO or other airports? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
The consolation prize for having to fly American (home airport is PHL – can confirm David’s point that the touchless lines are separate there and have not seen them busy) is that we usually fly out of the lower gate numbers and for whatever reason the TSA Pre seems to always have a bit of a shorter line there than for our Delta-flying NYC friends, but I have not been around MCO for recent peak travel weeks. Cosign global entry being great! It also gets brownie points for being my smoothest “official” name change experience when I got married.
I really appreciate how this post breaks down the gap between “innovative” airport tech and real-world usability at busy hubs like MCO. The idea of Touchless ID sounds great on paper, but it’s a good reminder that technology alone can’t fix underlying issues like congestion, staffing, and infrastructure limits. Sometimes the bottleneck just moves elsewhere rather than disappearing.
For my family, we stay away from flying out of the old terminal and fly only into Term C. I fly JetBlue from JFK as I have The option of delta also but only fly JetBlue. Reason-no matter what the day/time, I get Through security , with only precheck in 5-10 minutes. The terminal is so much more organized and new. I am mosaic 4 with JB and Platinum with Delta so choice is either but chooses JB to stay away from that chaos.
I’m actually surprised that MCO isn’t an airport that opt’d into the private security option (like they have at SFO). At minimum that allows them to staff the sorting process properly. One thing I’ve noticed at DTW (my home airport) that in the Delta terminal (McNamera), Delta will frequently have some of their counter staff help the Pre-check line sorting process during busy times so that TSA personnel are actually working the security lines and scanners. Not sure if that’s a gentleman’s agreement between Delta and TSA there locally, but it works. As to touchless, I haven’t opt’d in yet- I fly a lot into DCA and the difference there between TSA and TSA Touchless can be significant during your typical workday commuter times.
When I fly into MCO (if you remember, I fly into MCO for work a lot now), I try my hardest to fly in / out at times that are less favorable for theme park vacationers (i.e., mid week at middle of day times or Saturday afternoons). I’m a Delta guy, so it’s MCO for me, unless I can justify flying into Tampa for whatever reason. I’ve only really had one REALLY bad experience at MCO recently, but it paled in comparison to my recent experience in San Juan PR two weeks ago for spring break (literally 3.5 hour wait for Pre-Check line– I heard 4+ hr stories for non-Precheck)!
Thanks, Tom. I didn’t realize I had.to opt in to this separately for each airline. I agree with you wholeheartedly on Global entry. Its especially great because I’m almost always tired and frazzled after a international flight and it “Just Works”.
Yes, facial recognition has been used for years at all ports but by the carriers, not the ports themselves. That is why TSA is just now introducing their own version, the terminal tenants do not share proprietary data with the government. Even us native Central Floridians dislike MCO. I know TPA is a trek but their port CEO, Lopano did an excellent job securing grant money ($5b for MCO is just a vision plan draft, there isn’t really any money behind it yet) and going to the extreme to design for efficiency and design. TPA is so easy. No one here likes MCO, it is almost as bad as ATL.
I’m glad to hear you’ve had a positive experience with touchless precheck even if it hasn’t added a ton of value at MCO. I’ve alluded to my work in this space before, but it’s all in the prescreening space (trying to improve what happens before you get to an airport so the overall airport experience is more seamless). I hope/think you’ll be happy with some of the work coming to fruition in the next year or so. For what it’s worth, I can assure you that the privacy aspects of how this all works are a lot less dystopian than you might think.
The latest iteration of Global Entry, in particular, is pure magic. The speed and precision is incredible, and it probably helps that there’s nothing “behind” that except baggage claim. If you had anything to do with that, massive kudos.
I’m still optimistic about TSA Touchless, including at MCO; maybe it’ll eventually help alleviate those staffing shortages.
Hi Horace, thanks for sharing your experience. Our backup plan is a car rental reservation at the airport for an hour and change after our departure time.
I’ve used the Touchless TSA Precheck at RDU and twice at IAD over the past month – worked fine in both locations, though in both cases, the lines weren’t long enough that it made a difference that day.
My home airport (SYR) is probably not high on the list of airports to get Touchless PreCheck – I was shocked when they opened a PreCheck lane there back in 2018 (after reconfiguring their security lines to be less convenient).
We have a fair amount of experience with Newark and JFK and I feel they easier to deal with than MCO (using Pre TSA at least). Of course LAX sucks and I have been putting it out in the universe to make more direct and somewhat affordable flight from John Wayne and Long Beach for a while and though it hasn’t happened yet, I continue to wish!
Flew out of MCO in February with TSA Precheck. They had one lane dedicated to Touchless ID, but it was VERY poorly signed. I stood in the adjacent line and watched the agent turn away more than half of the people who came through, sending them to the back of the other Precheck lines. It was an absolute mess.
Also, while talking about MCO woes, don’t forget the insanity of the bag check and customer service lines. MCO is the only place I’ve seen families hold up the bag check line, somehow with 18 suitcases on the same itinerary, with at least half of them open for some reason while talking endlessly to the airline representative.
Agreed! A tip if you fly Delta – use the outdoor kiosk for bag check, located right in front of the Delta counters. They are so fast and efficient, never a line. It is a 3rd party service, so tips are encouraged (and yes, for us, it’s totally worth a $10 tip to not stand in a bag check line at MCO!).
I fly weekly for business and I’ve never seen any airport that can compete with MCO in terms of chaos and crowds. Of course, I’m usually there during traditional “break” periods such as spring break, etc. Absolutely insane whenever I’ve been there; that airport is completely under-built.
George Carlin said there’s a reason they’re called terminals.
Terminal C is less crowded but the walk to/from the gate is ridiculously long and the convoluted up one level, down one level, back up is crazy. And the traffic signage has not yet been updated so basically just stay to the right! A question, if we are signed up on SWA, will it also work for other airlines?
No, you must enroll with each airline.
If you like the new modern Communicore, you’ll love Terminal C. Modern, full of glass, and no design decisions that might offend anyone’s sense of taste.
As you can tell I’m not a fan of the hype. But then I love the design of the Central concourse and Delta terminal and think they’re full of personality (they’re Odyssey or Wonders of Life, for the purposes of my tortured comparison).
To the point of this article however, security at C is consistently far better. This is helped by the fact that it offers TSA Pre, but far fewer are eligible for it due to the number of international flights.
1) Only LCC offer nonstop flights into MCO from our current home airport, so no Touchless TSA precheck for us.
2) Our former home airports were the NYC area airports and I can say with confidence that EWR and JFK are part of Dante’s 9 circles of H*ll. MCO is light years better.
3) Our main source of friction at MCO isn’t the security line. It’s the line to check luggage since the airline we fly doesn’t offer self-bag check. Are you listening, Disney? Bring back Resort Airline Check-in ASAP!
4) Since we can’t use Touchless TSA precheck we are signed up for a trial membership for Clear+. If we like it we will probably pay for it going forward.
5) If checking a bag turns out to be a nightmare on our flight from MCO we may start shipping luggage instead of bringing it on the plane.
6) We flew out of TPA last year due to sky high airfare from MCO and can confirm that it is a much more chill airport than MCO. We really liked TPA. But, you have to budget a lot of time to get there to account for possible traffic backups getting there. I’m looking forward to the Brightline extension to Tampa. I think that would make flying from TPA more attractive, especially if there’s a Brightline station at TPA.
I was flying Breeze to Provo a few years ago and for whatever reason my Precheck was not on my pass. I have Clear and while I had to get into the regular security line, Clear took me to the front of the line which saved me from missing my flight.
Breeze is a real crapshoot. If nothing goes wrong, it is great. Just be warned, all the employees are contractors. They can’t do anything for you. On the way back Breeze stranded us in SNA and I could not get even a meal voucher out of them, they could/would do nothing….
You ever end up at Terminal C. It seems to have far fewer issues?
I’ve heard nothing but great things about Terminal C. Unfortunately, neither Delta nor Southwest (the airlines we fly out of MCO) use it.
If I ever see a cheap enough flight on JetBlue, I’m just going to book it to see what all the hype is about.
Tom is missing out. Terminal C is the best. Our first Disney trip we flew Delta, second JetBlue. Now our family is literally willing to pay (at least) $100 more per ticket for a family of four to get JetBlue out of Terminal C. Plus we joined their frequent flyer program and family points pooling is the best.
It didn’t help me leaving there on Monday, as the buttheads had the entire Pre/Clear area closed and I had to wait in line with the commoners. And of course no sign, just a queue with no entrance. It sucked but luckily was only about 20 minutes and neither of my bags got pulled for hand check so all in all not the worst MCO experience. They did at least shuffle us to one line and ran us through the normal metal detectors.
20 minutes with PreCheck being closed? I’d take that as a win!
We exclusively fly JetBlue BDL-MCO and it’s AWESOME. Terminal C, when it first opened, was downright creepy it was so dead and quiet. It really felt like the zombie apocalypse had happened. Totally no signs of life anywhere! I do think there’s a little bit of a lack of clear signage, too, but maybe that’s just me.
The terminal is growing with Starbucks, Chick Fil A, Summer House, Bagel Brothers, Homecoming, and a bunch of other food/drink kiosks/restaurants. It’s so airy and easy to breeze through there. My only quibble is there’s only one TSA PreCheck lane, if I recall correctly? It’s not usually super busy, but when a flight crew came on, they are able to cut in front of you (understandable,) but it really did slow things down.
The distance between the ID cheek and the security area is the issue. It’s the same issue at most airports. They need to move the ID check further from the machines and add more switchbacks for people to feed into.
Maybe Disney can create a more entertaining queue for them while we are at it.
I agree with you that the distance is why the line is so frequently paused, but increasing that distance wouldn’t alone solve the problem. If they don’t add capacity at the actual screening, throughput remains the same. It’s the same reason why Disney saying “fill in all available space” is pointless. That doesn’t actually accomplish anything in terms of efficiency.
The airport badly needs more lanes or better infrastructure. Even updating to the modern machines/belts would be a big win.
I’m with you on airports and the government already using facial recognition technology on us anyway, so I opted in also. As of now the lines for it in PHL have been separate and thankfully empty.
However, Major league baseball has this as well for entering into ballparks administered by a third-party company, and there is no chance I will ever opt into that.
Good to hear it works well at PHL! I assume the sweet spot for TSA Touchless is airports that typically have long lines, but adequate infrastructure and staffing. MCO has the former but not the latter; SNA and LGB have the latter, but not the former (so it’s not really necessary at those airports, anyway).
Haven’t used it at them, but I’m guessing hubs like Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Salt Lake, etc. would also do pretty well with it.