Anyone live in Tampa? Need some travel advice.

[damo]

Hi Guys. I'm looking for some travel advice about Tampa. DS and I are going to be going to Universal arriving Sunday March 12 and checking out Thursday March 16. That day we are going to travel to Busch Gardens and then we have a flight out of the St. Petersburg airport on Friday at 11:00 am.

My question is where we should stay in Tampa. Should we stay near Busch Gardens and take a cab to the St. Pete's airport the next morning or should we take a cab to a hotel near the airport on Thursday night?

Also, we are thinking about taking the Busch Gardens Shuttle which goes from Universal to Busch Gardens. That would get us there in the morning and we would just store our stuff in a locker and head out to our accomodations after the park closes. Should we do that or just rent a car at Orlando. It looks like it will cost us about $220 just for an economy and not including gas.

Driving across those Bay bridges looks pretty scary to me!!!

Any advice from my Universal buddies would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Boater]

Well, the Busch Gardens area is kinda like Disneyland where it became surrounded by urban sprawl. Not the nicest areas, but not bad either. But unless you're staying on the beach Tampa/St Pete is all pretty much the same.
Taking a cab eiter way is going to be expensive, the St.Pete airport is a 45 minute cab ride and probably $50.00 or more.
You can do a mid-size from budget for about $112.00, so I'd do a car.
And the Bridges are very big, they won't fall down.

 

[damo]

Well, the Busch Gardens area is kinda like Disneyland where it became surrounded by urban sprawl. Not the nicest areas, but not bad either. But unless you're staying on the beach Tampa/St Pete is all pretty much the same.
Taking a cab eiter way is going to be expensive, the St.Pete airport is a 45 minute cab ride and probably $50.00 or more.
You can do a mid-size from budget for about $112.00, so I'd do a car.
And the Bridges are very big, they won't fall down.

I wish I could find a car for $112!!! The price Budget quotes me is $204. Do you have some secret codes or something! I need to pick up at MCO and drop off a PIE.

I'm not scared of the bridges falling down, just me falling over!

 

[Sylvester McBean]

And the Bridges are very big, they won't fall down.

except the selmon and the clearwater span. where are you checking for rental cars damo? you should be able to find one much cheaper than that. if you were flying out of TIA I'd suggest the shuttle and the cab. but like Boater said, the st. pete airport is haul from the BG area.

 

[damo]

except the selmon and the clearwater span. where are you checking for rental cars damo? you should be able to find one much cheaper than that. if you were flying out of TIA I'd suggest the shuttle and the cab. but like Boater said, the st. pete airport is haul from the BG area.

I've checked every rental car agency and have used every possible discount code I can find. The base price without discount (for economy) is about $198. With discount, I can get it down to about $175. Then there are the taxes which add about $30-$40 on top.

Then I will be adding a tank of gas as well.

 

[Boater]

I wish I could find a car for $112!!! The price Budget quotes me is $204. Do you have some secret codes or something! I need to pick up at MCO and drop off a PIE.

I'm not scared of the bridges falling down, just me falling over!

I just went on Expedia and typed in a one way from MCO to PIE and it came up with $45.00 a day, I figured you for 2 days.

 

[damo]

I just went on Expedia and typed in a one way from MCO to PIE and it came up with $45.00 a day, I figured you for 2 days.

We're getting into Orlando on Sunday and will be flying out of St. Pete's on Friday. I figured if I'm going to get a car, I would get it right away at the Orlando airport upon arrival.

Thanks for checking it out. I guess I will just keep on looking.

How is the traffic going from Busch Gardens area to St. Pete's airport first thing in the morning? Is it commuter crazy? About how long would it take at about 8 am?

 

[Sylvester McBean]

the first part of the drive should be the worst. South I-275 can be slow rolling right now. by the time you get close to the Howard Franklin bridge (the one that's going to take you over the bay) it'll clear up. I figure a half hour to there. maybe another half hour or less to the st pete airport.

 

[damo]

the first part of the drive should be the worst. South I-275 can be slow rolling right now. by the time you get close to the Howard Franklin bridge (the one that's going to take you over the bay) it'll clear up. I figure a half hour to there. maybe another half hour or less to the st pete airport.

What if we stayed at a hotel like the Staybridge Suites Tampa Westshore. It is on West Cypress Street, at 275 and 60. Would that cut out the first half of the morning commute?

 

[Sylvester McBean]

give me a link for that hotel damo, I work in the westshore area. I'm not familar with a staybridge on cypress. in that area, you're definately going to to miss that part of the traffic. you're less than a mile from the bay. it's also the same area as TIA, so there are a lot of hotels and choices in the westshore district. I just looked on the holiday inn site, and it told me there were no staybridges in the area.

 

[damo]

Sorry, it is Springhill Suites on Cypress. Here is a link to the map:http://marriott.com/property/mapandnearbyairports/default.mi?marshaCode=tpash&WT_Ref=mi_left

 

[Sylvester McBean]

there's also a nice doubletree, and sheraton next door to each other on cypress. there's a hampton inn right there on laurel drive. as you can see from that map, you're less than five minutes from the bridge over to St. Pete. the westshore area is nice, it's a business district. you're about five minutes away from 2 nice malls.

 

[Boater]

there's also a nice doubletree, and sheraton next door to each other on cypress. there's a hampton inn right there on laurel drive. as you can see from that map, you're less than five minutes from the bridge over to St. Pete. the westshore area is nice, it's a business district. you're about five minutes away from 2 nice malls.

Thats a great location, It's a 1/2 pop over the bridge to PIE

 

[Motherfletcher]

Damo,
You'll want to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa. Real cool!
DD12 and I spent the Christmas break looking for the best hotel in the Tampa area. We stayed at the Don Cesar in St. Pete Beach, the Renaissance Vinoy in St. Pete and the Grand Hyatt on Tampa Bay. The Hyatt was the best value and the closest to the airport.

 

[ChrisFL]

except the selmon and the clearwater span.

Yeah, we don't joke about bridges falling over in Tampa Bay...its a looong story.

 

[damo]

Damo,
You'll want to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa. Real cool!
DD12 and I spent the Christmas break looking for the best hotel in the Tampa area. We stayed at the Don Cesar in St. Pete Beach, the Renaissance Vinoy in St. Pete and the Grand Hyatt on Tampa Bay. The Hyatt was the best value and the closest to the airport.

We won't be getting to spend much time at the hotel. We want to stay as long as possible as Busch Gardens on the Thursday night and then we have to be at the St. Pete's airport pretty early on the Friday morning since our flight leaves at 11 am.

Sounds like this Cypress area will work. Should be pretty easy to take a cab from Busch Gardens to there on Thursday night and then from the hotel to PIE on Friday morning.

All in all, it sounds like it will be cheaper to taxi it than rent a car. I forgot that I'll have to add parking on at the RPH as well. Which will be another $40! It will be costing me about $300 in total to use a car.

 

[Boater]

Yeah, we don't joke about bridges falling over in Tampa Bay...its a looong story.

Too funny....lest we forget the skyway too

 

[Boater]

Damo,
You'll want to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa. Real cool!
DD12 and I spent the Christmas break looking for the best hotel in the Tampa area. We stayed at the Don Cesar in St. Pete Beach, the Renaissance Vinoy in St. Pete and the Grand Hyatt on Tampa Bay. The Hyatt was the best value and the closest to the airport.

So which did you like best?

 

[Sylvester McBean]

Too funny....lest we forget the skyway too

I left that one out on purpose.

 

[damo]

Now I'm really getting nervous.