fly into Tampa to save $ or Orlando to save time

[jayally]

I seem to find better fares flying into Tampa. They are not much, maybe $20 per person- 3 of us. Do you think it would be better to fly to Tampa, stay at a local hotel and then drive to orlando in the morning to start our Poly stay or fly into Orlando and stay at a local Disney area hotel the first night so we can start our vacation. We are flying from CA so flights all get us in pretty late. How long does it take from Tampa airport to Disney world?

Thank you.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Roughly about an hour or so, depending on traffic.

Not a bad drive at all for the most part. Save the money.

 

[Disney Crazy Family]

You will save TIME by flying into orlando TIME (more) TIME to spend in DISNEY. TIME IS IMPORTANT when visiting Disney, the earlier you get there
the better, if your room is not ready, you can check your baggage at the resort
and go off to the parks or downtown DISNEY but keeep in mind TIME is the
important thing (more TIME more enjoyment)

 

[MichaelsMickey]

With the price of gas how much money do you think you will really save? I say fly into Orlando stay at a Budget Hotel (Pop Century or something in that range) and have the extra time in Disney

 

[Vickie46]

I have in laws in Tampa... we have to fly into there sometimes to visit first then to Disney.... I would skip Tampa and go right to Disney! Don't waste the time... construction can be so terrible sometime!

 

[surfgirl]

We've flown in and out of Tampa to save $$ -- I use $50/pp as my break-even point. For $20/pp ($60 total), I would go for Orlando.

 

[WDWorBUST]

The one time I was looking at doing this I found that I couldn't get as good of a rate on a rental in Tampa as I could in Orlando either - so you might want to take that possibility into consideration as well. Orlando has such high rental car traffic I have always seemed to have found a good deal there.

 

[ceecee]

Time is money. It would not be worth the hassle for $60.00 to me. You could hit traffic, accident, etc. and it could take a lot longer. Rental car lines are sometimes long too.

 

[pearlieq]

I wouldn't bother for $20 a person. It would have to be close to $60 or $75 per person before I'd consider it.

The drive's not bad though.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

For that little, I would save time and fly into Orlando.

 

[momrek06]

I seem to find better fares flying into Tampa. They are not much, maybe $20 per person- 3 of us. Do you think it would be better to fly to Tampa, stay at a local hotel and then drive to orlando in the morning to start our Poly stay or fly into Orlando and stay at a local Disney area hotel the first night so we can start our vacation. We are flying from CA so flights all get us in pretty late. How long does it take from Tampa airport to Disney world?

Thank you.

I do it ALL THE TIME. My parents live in Tampa in the winter. We fly JET BLUE from Boston and rent a car from the airport. We spend a week with M&D, drive to Orlando (so easy) and drop the rental off at the Disney Car Care Center. No need for a car to SIT all week in Disney when you know you will not need it.
After Disney, we pick up another rented car either at the Car Care Center or MCO and drive back to Tampa to spend another week with M&D!

Last October I was able to get $39.00 pp ow to Tampa ($78.00rt) AWESOME on Jet Blue.
Then between Mousesavers and the Budget Board and the Transportation Board on the DIS (coupon codes) I was able to get rental cars all reserved at unbelievable rates.

Easy and Easy

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

May I add my 2cents here too. We (3 of us) have flown into Tampa many times....The flights are usually cheaper, and so is the rental car. The flights and car are my DH's only responsabilty for each trip. He has never saved less than a total of $300 for each trip. So, it has been worth the extra travel time for us.

But, I wouldn't do this if my total saving was less than $200.....You may want to check and see if there are any other airports near you that may have even cheaper flights..Also, it is ALWAYS cheaper to fly out on Tue- Thurs.

Good Luck with your planning

 

[westcliffemom]

When you fly into Tampa, you can't use Magical Express. If you were planning on renting a car anyway, then it would make sense (we did this once before ME). Now, we usually don't rent a car, so it wouldn't be a savings for us.

 

[disneyfanfamily]

I never thought about flying into Tampa. However, we have 5 people in our family. We would save $100.00 using your math. For $100 I would fly into Orlando just for a headache saver. However, if I were to save over $300, then I would consider it. An hour drive is a lot with 3 anxious kids - and I have to admit - me being just as excited. Save time, not money is my vote!

 

[Schachteles]

Fly into Orlando...the drive from Tampa is not a bad one, but the road construction STINKS...we did that one time because we couldn't get a flight into Orlando using out frequent flier miles so we flew to Tampa...you will save some time in their airport and getting a car but it is much easier to just pay the $20 and go to Orlando...

Think about it...you will be excited but tired when you get there so that isn't as big of a deal, but think about the way home...if you are running late it is bad enough to get to the Orlando airport much less Tampa!