Just flew into TPA a week ago. I love this airport. And a big plus, for me anyway, is that there are usually a lot fewer children in the flights.....compared with flights into MCO.
It's an easy drive to WDW....takes about 70 or so mins.
It's kind of a mess along I-275 through Tampa and it's not supposed to wrap-up until next year. Very slow moving if you are travelling during the rush hours. Actually very slow is probably an understatement, our flight landed at 4pm when we arrived in January and I-275 was more like a parking lot than an Interstate. It took almost an hour from the picking up the car at the airport until we merged onto I-4 and headed out of Tampa , this is usually about a 15 minute run at 60mph (I-275 to I-4 was total gridlock on this Friday rush hour). The outskirts of Tampa to WDW was about a 50 minute drive, lots of traffic but moving along at 65-70mph.How is the construction at Tampa airport? I heard there was a big renovation project taking place.
How is the construction at Tampa airport? I heard there was a big renovation project taking place.
I landed at 7:15 and was on the road by 8. Using that time frame, I would have been in WDW around 9:15. So, a bit longer than 90 mins from landing. When using DME I'm usually at my resort about 75 mins after going through the gate. I find luggage claim to be faster at TPA than MCO. But if you're renting a car anyway, it might be worthwhile to fly into TPA.I have a question for you, since you have extensive experience with DME...
Would you say that landing-to-resort time using DME is almost equivalent to flying into TPA and renting a car, assuming you use a "bypass-the-counter" method?
We landed, got our car and drove to AKV and we were there in about 90 minutes. Maybe we haven't been too lucky with DME because we typically wait at least 30 minutes before we even leave the airport. Then another 20 minutes to the WDW property, and another 20 minutes before we get to AKV, which has always been the last stop.
For the right price, the extra time spent coming in from TPA is not as bad as it would seem, would you agree?