Anyone live in Tampa? Need some travel advice.

[Sylvester McBean]

the drive over the howard franklin is nice, damo. with a little luck you'll see dolphins break the surface. and Boater can zip over and pluck you guys out of the bay if anything happens.

 

[Slacking]

I'm coming into this conversation a bit late, and I'm sure most questions have been answered, and I may have missed some things, but here are my suggestions

1- Definitely Rent a Car. I would think the cost of the BGT Tram thing and then the possible taxi rides would come pretty close to the total of the car.

2- It may be best to stay closer to the St. Pete Airport. The area near BGT isn't the greatest (but its not terrible either), but I think the biggest concern would probably be traffic. I usually don't have to take it, but I-275 is a pain in the butt!

3- I may not have lived in Tampa very long, so I don't get most of the bridge jokes, lol. traffic can suck on the bridges sometimes, but other than that, nothing to worry about.

Damo, have you and your son done Sheikra yet(or BGT in general?), or will this be the first time?

 

[damo]

I'm coming into this conversation a bit late, and I'm sure most questions have been answered, and I may have missed some things, but here are my suggestions

1- Definitely Rent a Car. I would think the cost of the BGT Tram thing and then the possible taxi rides would come pretty close to the total of the car.

2- It may be best to stay closer to the St. Pete Airport. The area near BGT isn't the greatest (but its not terrible either), but I think the biggest concern would probably be traffic. I usually don't have to take it, but I-275 is a pain in the butt!

3- I may not have lived in Tampa very long, so I don't get most of the bridge jokes, lol. traffic can suck on the bridges sometimes, but other than that, nothing to worry about.

Damo, have you and your son done Sheikra yet(or BGT in general?), or will this be the first time?

We haven't done BGT yet and we are really looking forward to Sheikra. In 2007 we are going to do a European Coaster Tour and we really needed to do Sheikra before we do Oblivion at Alton Towers.

The Busch Gardens tram cost $10.

Without car rental:
My total costs would be:
taxi from MCO to RPH $40
cab fare to mall $20,
shuttle to Busch gardens $10,
taxi to PIE $60
... totalling $130

Car Rental:
car rental: $210
parking at RHR: $40
parking at Busch Gardens: $5
tank of gas: $30?
... totalling $285

 

[Sylvester McBean]

the shuttle and cab fare is still winning....which mall are you going to Damo?

 

[damo]

the shuttle and cab fare is still winning....which mall are you going to Damo?

Mall at Millenia -- we have to eat at PF Changs

 

[Slacking]

Ah, didn't realize the Tram Shuttle thing was so cheap.

I *believe* there is a PF Changs located at a Mall in Tampa right off of I-275 on the way to St. Pete. Can't remember the name, but its not International Plaza. I would recommend that just in case its easier for you to do that then the one in Orlando.

BGT is fantastic. They have 3 world-class B&M coasters. SheiKra is great, but Kumba is one of my all-time favorite coasters, I love it! The other coasters (minus Python, lol) are fun too!

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I so need to hit the coasters in Europe and Asia one of these days, but I doubt it'll ever happen (I need Bev's lottery luck!) Oblivion is supposed to be good (But I really wanna ride Nemesis!). but from what I heard since its a first generation, SheiKra takes the idea behind Oblivion and improves it.

Edited to Add: There is a P.F. Changs in Tampa, the mall's name is West Shore Plaza. I've always wanted to try it, maybe I'll head over there one of these days.,

 

[damo]

Edited to Add: There is a P.F. Changs in Tampa, the mall's name is West Shore Plaza. I've always wanted to try it, maybe I'll head over there one of these days.,

Thanks!!! We might just have to try that one too!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

PF Changs is fantastic. I wasn't sure if you were hitting the malls over here or in Orlando, Damo. I was going to recommend International Plaza over Westshore. ride Kumba in the back, it'll blow your head off. and it just got freshly painted, looks great.

 

[Slacking]

Kumba looks fantastic, practically brand new!

 

[Motherfletcher]

So which did you like best?

They all were nice in their own way.
The Don ($224 AARP rate) started off on the wrong foot by not letting us in our room until after 7 when check in should have been 4. They made up for it by giving us a free dinner. We received a suite because of our Loew's 1st Platinum and it was real nice and spacious. If you craned your neck just right you could see the Gulf. We had fun on the beach.
The Vinoy ($179 Priceline) had the best view of the St. Pete Pier, the hotel's waterfall and pool in the foreground. The room was huge and the bathroom had nice amenities and a separate room for the toilet. It appeared as if they had remodeled and used 2 rooms to make one.
The Hyatt was $79 through Hotwire and we upgraded to the Regency Club for $50. The Club was small but had a good selection in their offerings. We had a great upper floor bay view and watched sunset every night.
My favorite was the Vinoy since I had gone there with my parents when I was my daughter's age.
I think my daughter liked the Don because of our beach activities and their ice cream shop.
The best value was the Hyatt and I would definately return there.

 

[damo]

They all were nice in their own way.
The Don ($224 AARP rate) started off on the wrong foot by not letting us in our room until after 7 when check in should have been 4. They made up for it by giving us a free dinner. We received a suite because of our Loew's 1st Platinum and it was real nice and spacious. If you craned your neck just right you could see the Gulf. We had fun on the beach.
The Vinoy ($179 Priceline) had the best view of the St. Pete Pier, the hotel's waterfall and pool in the foreground. The room was huge and the bathroom had nice amenities and a separate room for the toilet. It appeared as if they had remodeled and used 2 rooms to make one.
The Hyatt was $79 through Hotwire and we upgraded to the Regency Club for $50. The Club was small but had a good selection in their offerings. We had a great upper floor bay view and watched sunset every night.
My favorite was the Vinoy since I had gone there with my parents when I was my daughter's age.
I think my daughter liked the Don because of our beach activities and their ice cream shop.
The best value was the Hyatt and I would definately return there.

I'll have to check out hotwire and see what I can find. I booked some hotels last year for California through them and got some excellent deals. I have a feeling that pickings will be slim in March though for Tampa.