MCO Gate Link Access Opens October 1 For Gates 100

Greater Orlando Aviation Authority put the first upgraded Gate Link track into passenger service on October 1, 2026, carrying travelers between Orlando International Airport’s North Terminal and Gates 100-129. The airport’s own media desk calls it the first major service milestone in a $253 million Gate Link Replacement Project inside the $6.9 billion Capital Improvement Program. New cars, new running surfaces, new controls, and platform screen doors are now on that one track. Each set of cars can carry up to 240 passengers.

WDW News Today reported the same launch on October 2, describing it as the first of four new Gate Link trams. For a traveler connecting through MCO this week, the decision is simple: Gates 100-129 now use the new vehicles, while a second track on that same airside is still being rebuilt. Start with the terminal map on Deep Arrival’s Orlando International Airport MCO guide before you pick a parking garage or a ride-share curb.

New Track Serves Gates 100 To 129

Gate Link is MCO’s automated people mover between the landside North Terminal (Terminals A and B) and the airside gate buildings. It is not Terminal C’s system and it is not the hotel shuttle. If your boarding pass shows a gate in the 100s, you ride this link after security, or you ride it inbound after you deplane.

GOAA says passengers on the first upgraded track now get new vehicles and modernized infrastructure. The package includes new running surfaces, power distribution equipment, vehicle controls, communications and operating systems, and platform screen doors. Those doors matter on a family trip: stay behind the screen until the cars stop and the doors open, the same way a metro platform gate works.

Lance Lyttle, chief executive officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, said the $6.9 billion program is building an airport for the future and that this Gate Link milestone is meant to deliver a smoother, more dependable ride. That is an operator claim about reliability, not a promise that every connection will run on time. Build a longer connection buffer on a park day, not a shorter one, until the second track is also in service.

Second Track Work Continues During Service

The October 1 launch is also the start of the next construction phase. Crews are upgrading the second track that also serves Gates 100-129 while the finished track carries passengers. GOAA’s point is continuity: one track open, one track in the shop, so the airside stays reachable.

Expect the usual construction tells. Signs may shift. A door you used last trip may be a wall this trip. The cars you board are new, but the station you walk through can still be a work zone. If you are meeting a family member at the gate, text the gate number, not “the tram stop,” because the parallel platform may be the one behind fencing.

WDW News Today frames the launch as the first of four new tram sets. That matches GOAA’s sequence of one track now, a second track on the same gates next, then both tracks at Gates 70-99. Four physical tram replacements is the traveler’s way to count remaining disruption. Do not assume the entire Gate Link system is new. Only the first upgraded 100-129 track is in passenger service as of October 1.

Gates 70 To 99 Come Next

Once the second 100-129 track is finished, GOAA says the project moves to Gates 70-99. Both tracks there, their trams, and supporting systems will be replaced and upgraded. The press desk does not print a calendar day for that shift. Treat 70-99 as the next construction airside, not as a finished ride.

Project details live on FlyMCO’s Elevating MCO page. That hub is the public construction board for current and future work across the airport. Check it the week you fly if your ticket is on a 70s gate. A 100s gate this month is the one with the new cars.

MCO also operates Terminal C, the Intermodal Terminal Facility, and Orlando Executive Airport. None of those is this Gate Link. Mixing Terminal C’s automated screening story with North Terminal tram work is how travelers walk to the wrong train. Stay on Terminals A and B for Gates 70-129. Deep Arrival’s MCO Terminal B guide is the recovery page if your airline still banks that side.

How To Move Through MCO This Month

Fly as you booked. The airport did not close Gates 100-129. It swapped the cars and the track under your feet. Arrive at the usual domestic or international checkpoint, clear TSA, then follow Gate Link signs for 100-129. If an agent says the other track is closed, that is the construction track. Use the open one.

Connection time is the planning lever. A 45-minute MCO connection that already felt tight stays tight while one of two tracks is down. A family with strollers should budget extra minutes at the platform screen doors. A traveler with a tight Disney bus or cruise transfer should not cut the airport pad because the tram looks new.

Earlier coverage of MCO’s airfield money, including Deep Arrival’s report on a $36 million FAA grant for airfield upgrades, is a different stream. That grant is pavement and airfield work. This story is the landside-to-airside people mover. Keep them separate when you brief a travel party. GOAA public affairs is at 407-825-2055 or [email protected] if a day-of sign conflicts with your boarding pass.