The Orlando International Airport, better known as MCO, opened its new Gate Link trams to Gates 100-129 on Thursday, October 1.
New vehicles. Rebuilt track. 240 passengers per set.
Disney fans have called these things the airport monorails for about thirty years, which is technically wrong and emotionally perfect.
Some context.
This is the first real milestone in a $253 million project, part of MCO's $6.9 billion Capital Improvement Program. One of two tracks serving Gates 100-129 is done. Crews are already tearing into the second one.
Three new trams entered service on February 27 and have been undergoing testing ever since.
Lance Lyttle, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, called it “a smoother, more dependable experience for passengers.”
The Best Part Is a Set of Glass Doors
Seriously.
Platform screen doors. The glass barriers between the platform edge and the tram, the ones that only open when a vehicle actually shows up.
Three reasons they matter. You physically cannot fall or wander onto the guideway, which is the number one safety problem in automated transit. The air conditioning stays in the station instead of leaking out into Orlando in July. And dwell times get tighter, because the system is not sitting there waiting on whatever boarding chaos is happening.
The rest of the money went to new running surfaces, power distribution, vehicle controls, communications, and operating systems. MCO lists reliability, capacity, safety controls, and energy efficiency as the points.
🚆✨ That new Gate Link smell! ✨🚆
— Orlando International Airport (@MCO) October 1, 2026
A brand-new Gate Link tram is now in service, transporting travelers to and from Gates 100-129. This is the first of four scheduled tram replacements as part of the Gate Link Replacement Project for Airsides 2 and 4, serving Gates 70-129. pic.twitter.com/pU0a0uO7E0
Why They Were Overdue
Gates 100-129 sit on Airside 2. Original system, installed in 2000.
Gates 70-99 sit on Airside 4. The system dates to 1990. Vehicles were swapped in 2008.
Do that math. Eighteen-year-old trams running on a thirty-six-year-old guideway.
Both are dual-lane shuttles, about 2,000 feet per lane. The ride is a minute thirty, with 40 seconds of dwell time at each stop.
And here is the funny part. The oldest system is going last.
A 2017 project already handled the trams at Gates 1-29 and Gates 30-59. The Aviation Authority approved this round in October 2023, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America on design, build, operate, and maintain.
The Schedule, Because 2027 Trips Should Know
- Gates 100-129, track one: December 3, 2025, to July 2026
- Gates 100-129, track two: July 2026 to December 2026
- Gates 70-99, track one: December 2026 to June 2027
- Gates 70-99, track two: June 2027 to October 2027
So Gates 100-129 wrap up around the end of this year. Then Gates 70-99 are torn up from December 2026 straight through October 2027.
Got a Disney trip in 2027? That is your block. Dates are from MCO's project page and could shift.
Also, actually check your gate number. Assignments change by airline and by flight, and that is the only way to know if any of this touches you.
How Bad Is It Right Now
Not bad, honestly.
MCO says “only a few extra minutes,” even at peak. One Gate Link keeps running during the day unless something forces a shutdown. Shuttle buses cover overnight and maintenance windows.
Two ADA-accessible shuttle buses run around the clock between gate areas. One to two-minute waits. Under five minutes between Gates 70-99 and Gates 100-129.
And the airport says it tries to keep travel parties together, holding a group for the next bus if capacity is tight. If you are hauling kids, that is the line that matters.
Guest service ambassadors and extra wayfinding signs are out there. Guest Relations is 407-825-3177.
Write Down This Number
Thirty minutes.
That is MCO's own recommendation if you are renting a car or using ground transportation, and it is the single most useful part of this entire announcement.
Mears Connect, rideshare pickup, rental counters, all of it sits on the far side of that tram ride.
Put the buffer on the arrival day. Not departure day. Arrival day is when people blow a dining reservation they booked sixty days out.
Why Anybody Should Care
An airport tram upgrade is deeply unglamorous. It also touches basically every single person flying into Orlando for Disney or Universal.
And this is a real improvement, not a cost cut dressed up as one. New trams, more capacity, safer platforms, better reliability, on a ride nobody gets to skip.
For the families who have always treated that tram as the actual start of the trip, the first ride just got better.
Source: Orlando International Airport and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.
