MCO or Tampa?

[Shelebeen]

Anyone have good or bad things to say about flying into either one? It is about 800 or so less to fly into Tampa... rental cars for one day are pretty cheap (approx 40)...

Thoughts?

Thanks! Our great deal with Frontier went kaput this morning since Frontier isnt going to fly out of Calgary anymore...

 

[yxe dad]

I would fly into Tampa to save that much. What time does the flight arrive in Tampa? It seems like a short drive, about 90 minutes max, that's shorter than my 3 ME trips.

 

[tribus121]

Tampa is about 1 hr farther than MCO and altthough it has been a few years since i have flown through tampa it was a positive experance it would be well worth a $ 700 savings

 

[blizzard]

We have flown into Tampa before and rented a car. The airport is a little smaller than Orlando, and is located on the east side of the city, so the city traffic is minimal. It is a nice hour to hour and a half drive to WDW, especially if it is daytime. I certainly would fly into Tampa for the savings you are getting.

(IIR there are no car rentals on site, so you have to take a bus. That may have changed though--they were renovating last time we were through ~5 or 6 years ago)

 

[busterblue]

I would like to hear anyones experience with the check in and security screening at Tampa. We flew out of Orlando Feb 12 and it was 25 minutes to check our bags with South West (already had boarding passes) and almost an hour to clear security (Threat level was orange).

SW and security had everything open and staffed but it just doesn't seem up to the volume. This was at noon on a slow season Tuesday so I would hate to see it when its really busy.

If Tampa gets a good review for clearing security etc. I would take the savings and run. Only downside would be not having the rental car right on site. We did a budget rental in Orlando and it was easy and fast. No hauling bags on to shuttle buses, just walk across the street to the garage and hop in the car.

 

[drag n' fly]

We are flying into Tampa from Calgary instead of Orlando in December because it saved us almost 50% on flight costs. We are spending 4 days there before we go to our home resort. The savings alone is worth the car rental hassle.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We usually try to fly into Tampa instead of MCO - we find the airport not as busy, smaller and we always rent a car anyway b/c dh has control issues and doesn't like to use magic express anyway . There are several rental car agency's on site plus several that are just a short van ride away.
Security was fast the 3 times we tried it - never any issues or waiting.
It usually takes us about 1 hr 15 mins to get to Disney - we always take our GPS but you can go to mapquest and get a map that will tell you how long it 'should' take!
Tampa is typically cheaper to fly into too!! For the extra driving time (which really isn't that much extra when you consider traffic to get from MCO to Disney) I'd rather save!

 

[Shelebeen]

Thanks everyone! We booked with united today... it was 1886 rather then the 2700 for flying into Orlando. We were not planning on using ME anyways, so that cost is probably the same either way.... we will have a longer drive coming from Port Canaveral when we go home, but we have built in time to do it...


I'm glad to hear Tampa is not quite as busy as Orlando...

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

(IIR there are no car rentals on site, so you have to take a bus. That may have changed though--they were renovating last time we were through ~5 or 6 years ago)

There are a few rental car location onsite in Tampa International Airport, so here is a link to their website which lists them. http://www.tampaairport.com/ground_transportation/rental_car_services.asp

 

[drag n' fly]

There are a few rental car location onsite in Tampa International Airport, so here is a link to their website which lists them. http://www.tampaairport.com/ground_transportation/rental_car_services.asp

for the info much appreciated!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

for the info much appreciated!

You're welcome.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Tampa is a very easy drive over to Disney; if you can save that kind of money you'd be foolish not to. Tampa and Orlando airfares are often quite comparable however Orlando cheap seats will sell out much sooner, thus leaving the more expensive fares.

Canadians should also be aware that Air Transat and Sunwing fly from Canada to St. Petersburg Clearwater International Airport (PIE), directly across the bay from TPA. This is Tampa Bay's second airport, much like Sanford is Orlando's second airport. If there is a good fare there, it should be considered as it's only about 15-minutes farther than TPA.

BobK/Orlando