Booked My Flight!

[tlenzendorf]

Edit: Well we booked our flights! $1,439.50 from Milwaukee to Tampa for the 5 of us. With my frequent flier miles our rental car is $114. Then I got a $25 Giordano's gift certificate from restaurants.com for only $4, so while we land in Tampa during peak rush hour(5:35pm on a Friday night), we now can stop for a cheap-ish dinner and wait it out before driving to Animal Kingdom Lodge after the roads have quieted down. Yay!!

Original post: With SW flights being pretty high into MCO for October, it looks like it will be cheaper to fly into Tampa and rent a car. We found a full size rental for $201 for 10 days!

Is Tampa a big airport, or can we expect a quick in and out? We will be checking some luggage.

Is the car rentals right on site or do we have to shuttle(we are going to rent on hotwire, so not sure which car company yet)?

Can anyone tell me about this drive? Is it fairly quick and easy? Are there any tolls along the way?

We are staying at AKL if that makes any differences.

 

[pattyw]

We've flown into Tampa before and we plan to do so this Aug. Like you we found cheaper fares out of Tampa. The car rentals are reached via a shuttle. They are very regular and it only takes a few minutes to get there. The airport is much smaller than Orlando, so it was just a quick walk from our gate to the luggage retrieval and then a short walk out to the curb to wait for our car rental shuttle. You go right onto I-4 I think and it's only about an hour and a half to Disney!! No tolls on the trip. I-4 can be challenging during rush hour, though. We got stuck in traffic when we were returing, so if your flight times are on weekdays and during rush hour, plan accordingly.

 

[tlenzendorf]

Thanks! Does only the driver ride the shuttle to the car and then come back, or does everyone go? We will be arriving at 5:35pm, so I'm thinking by the time we get our bags and car and are situated it will be around 6:15? Maybe avoid rush hour? We are getting in on a Friday, though, not sure if that makes a difference?

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Thanks! Does only the driver ride the shuttle to the car and then come back, or does everyone go? We will be arriving at 5:35pm, so I'm thinking by the time we get our bags and car and are situated it will be around 6:15? Maybe avoid rush hour? We are getting in on a Friday, though, not sure if that makes a difference?

You won't be avoiding the heavy traffic on I-4 between Tampa and Orlando, especially on a Friday night.

 

[tlenzendorf]

You won't be avoiding the heavy traffic on I-4 between Tampa and Orlando, especially on a Friday night.

Bummer, but after I thought about the times and it being Friday I figured we wouldn't be. Any place good to eat in Tampa then that is relatively close to in between the airport and the interstate? We will be ready for dinner around that time, so we can spend some time waiting for traffic to die down doing something productive

Extra points if it is for someplace we can use a certificate from restaurants.com!

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Bummer. Any place good to eat in Tampa then that is relatively close to in between the airport and the interstate? We will be ready for dinner around that time, so we can spend some time waiting for traffic to die down doing something productive

Extra points if it is for someplace we can use a certificate from restaurants.com!

La Teresita on Columbus Ave east of Himes Ave for authentic Cuban/Spanish.

For certificates from restaurants.com you will probably have to stick to chains, of which there are many within five miles of the airport. They are listed in Westshore, check out Kona Grill, Lee Roy Selmons, or walk over to the international plaza and check out Capital Grill, Bar Louie, Gallery Bistro, Brio Tuscan Grill and many more, including Applebee's 15090 North Dale Mabry Highway
Tampa, FL 33618

 

[tlenzendorf]

Thanks much!

 

[pattyw]

You all go on the shuttle bus over to the rental building. We are saving about $50 per person each way($400 for the four of us), so the little bit of hassle with traffic, etc. is worth it to us. We're renting for a couple of days, returning the car at the Dolphin, then we have a free day we're using for our return trip. They don't charge you alot extra for returning in another city like other places do.

 

[tlenzendorf]

I found a certificate for Giordano's of Tampa. I've seen Giordano's mentioned in other places around here saying they have great pizza. Any experiences? Do they take reservations? If it's a good place, I can imagine they'd be pretty busy on a Friday night.

 

[tlenzendorf]

You all go on the shuttle bus over to the rental building. We are saving about $50 per person each way($400 for the four of us), so the little bit of hassle with traffic, etc. is worth it to us. We're renting for a couple of days, returning the car at the Dolphin, then we have a free day we're using for our return trip. They don't charge you alot extra for returning in another city like other places do.

Where do you find the code for a Dolphin drop off? I'm thinking that may be even better than keeping the car for the whole time. Although we can't complain at all for $200!

Edit: I found it! Nevermind!

 

[pattyw]

You don't need a special code. Just list Orlando as the drop off location. You should get a list of drop off points. We rent from National- they have Alamo and National at the Dolphin(also at the Disney Car Care Center by the Magic Kingdom). We use Disney buses to get to the Dolphin- the Car Care Center has a free shuttle bus that will come to your Disney resort as well. I know that there are other companies at the Downtown Disney hotels - I just don't know which.

 

[tlenzendorf]

I just realized that I have enough FF miles to get a car for the whole time for only $100. Yay!