Fly to Orlando or Tampa - Which has less tolls?

kilarney

Esteemed Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
I am trying to weigh the advantages of flying to Orlando versus Tampa.
One thing that annoyed me last year, was the number of tolls between the Orlando airport and Disney World. Are there any tolls between the Tampa airport and Disney World? (Please no arguments about extra gas costs, etc! I am assuming that I can find a cheaper rental car at Tampa to make up for that difference.)
 
The past 3 years I have flown into Tampa, my buddy lives there and we just take his car into Orlando. I have found Tampa to be the best airport there is. It is large, but controllable.
The world smooth comes to mind. You get to see the ocean coming in. It takes about 1 hour 15 minutes to get to Orlando, and about 1/2 hour to get from Orlando airport to near disney area.
I usually use the driving time from Tampa to catch up with my buddy. There is no toll, but I-4 is THE artery between Orlando and Tampa.
 
I don't remember any tolls between Tampa and Orlando, just a ton of traffic. We thought the 2.50 we spent on tolls on the greenway was worth the pleasent drive. We found that the car rental rates were the same at both airports. We have flown through Tampa 3 times only because of better airfare rates.
 
no tolls but many more miles and much more traffic and time. Unless you are getting an excellent airfare into Tampa, I would opt for MCO and the $2.50 in tolls on the Greenway each way. But it is your decision and time.
 


I used to live in orlando many years ago and at that time the only road with tolls was the Beeline Expressway. You don`t have to use it to get to the world, but the tolls aren`t that much and it is probably faster. Anyone with recent experience on this? I will be watching for their reply.

 
Take north airport exit and follow signs for Semoran Blvd. Cross over 528 (Bee Line Expressway) and left at first light (Frontage Rd). You are now facing west. Follow generally straight bearing to left as needed about a mile to next light. Left here and then immediately another left through median onto cloverleaf for 528 Bee Line west (without going under anything). You are facing west again and just skipped a toll booth. Stay on 528, just one 50 cent toll, to Route 4 west. Now you are facing southwest. To get to All Stars, stay on 4 until 192, exit to 192 West. Go one stop and take main gate ramp (World Drive) of Disney World. You are now facing north. One stop to Animal Kingdom exit cloverleaf. You are now facing west. Then one stop to Buena Vista Dr. ramp, left at bottom, now facing south, enter All Stars.

Returning to airport via I-4 east, exit right to 528 (Bee Line) east. Get off Bee Line at Exit 9. Left at bottom of ramp, get in middle lane, cross under 528, right at next light onto Frontage Road. You are facing east again. At next light (Semoran Blvd) turn left to get to some car rental lots or turn right to reach airport north entrance. Be careful not to take 528 west from here, that will land you in the toll booth. You can get back on 528 east from here to Cape Canaveral or Alamo Car Rental if you wish.

More Disney tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

9/65 Disneyland
3/75 (World Inn* off I4 near DD)
4/85 (Kon-Tiki* on 192)
'80s Disneyland once or twice
7/94 DxL (PO Riverside)
9/97 ASMu
11/98 ASMu
12/98 (Knights Inn on 192)
9/99 ASMo
12/00 ASSp
11/01 ASSp planned
*no longer exists
 
Are these driving directions to and from MCO Orlando Airport still good?

I think we used them a few years ago and they worked great but things change!

I assume the tolls have gone up a bit!

Take north airport exit and follow signs for Semoran Blvd. Cross over 528 (Bee Line Expressway) and left at first light (Frontage Rd). You are now facing west. Follow generally straight bearing to left as needed about a mile to next light. Left here and then immediately another left through median onto cloverleaf for 528 Bee Line west (without going under anything). You are facing west again and just skipped a toll booth. Stay on 528, just one 50 cent toll, to Route 4 west. Now you are facing southwest. To get to All Stars, stay on 4 until 192, exit to 192 West. Go one stop and take main gate ramp (World Drive) of Disney World. You are now facing north. One stop to Animal Kingdom exit cloverleaf. You are now facing west. Then one stop to Buena Vista Dr. ramp, left at bottom, now facing south, enter All Stars.

Returning to airport via I-4 east, exit right to 528 (Bee Line) east. Get off Bee Line at Exit 9. Left at bottom of ramp, get in middle lane, cross under 528, right at next light onto Frontage Road. You are facing east again. At next light (Semoran Blvd) turn left to get to some car rental lots or turn right to reach airport north entrance. Be careful not to take 528 west from here, that will land you in the toll booth. You can get back on 528 east from here to Cape Canaveral or Alamo Car Rental if you wish.
 


It is not worth it to drive in from Tampa! I live here and I would not want to make that trip after a flight. Yes, you have traffic and often the entrance to I4 is a mess that will add on extra hours. I would not even consider this unless you are planning to visit the beaches or something else down this way first.
 
Take north airport exit and follow signs for Semoran Blvd. Cross over 528 (Bee Line Expressway) and left at first light (Frontage Rd). You are now facing west. Follow generally straight bearing to left as needed about a mile to next light. Left here and then immediately another left through median onto cloverleaf for 528 Bee Line west (without going under anything). You are facing west again and just skipped a toll booth. Stay on 528, just one 50 cent toll, to Route 4 west. Now you are facing southwest. To get to All Stars, stay on 4 until 192, exit to 192 West. Go one stop and take main gate ramp (World Drive) of Disney World. You are now facing north. One stop to Animal Kingdom exit cloverleaf. You are now facing west. Then one stop to Buena Vista Dr. ramp, left at bottom, now facing south, enter All Stars.

Returning to airport via I-4 east, exit right to 528 (Bee Line) east. Get off Bee Line at Exit 9. Left at bottom of ramp, get in middle lane, cross under 528, right at next light onto Frontage Road. You are facing east again. At next light (Semoran Blvd) turn left to get to some car rental lots or turn right to reach airport north entrance. Be careful not to take 528 west from here, that will land you in the toll booth. You can get back on 528 east from here to Cape Canaveral or Alamo Car Rental if you wish.

These directions are good... I think the toll is 75 cents now, but being local I have sunpass (pre-paid tolls) so I don't pay attention to the cash lanes.

Only thing I wanted to add was that they changed the name of the road, it is no longer the "Bee"Line, it is now the "Beach"line, so you will be looking for signs that say 528 (Beachline Expressway).
 
We've flown into both and I don't think you can say gas doesn't play into it because of the price of the rental car. I've always gotten my rental car cheaper at MCO. The traffic can be a real bear, and I can't imagine flying into Tampa, if I could fly into Orlando, unless I was going to Tampa. The tolls are cheap compared to the gas..even if you don't want to hear that. We take the toll road, because it's faster.
 
I am sorry but this is too funny.

The OP is willing to SPEND more on gas to avoid $2.50 in tolls!!!!! (The "assumption" on car rentals is probably WRONG, I have always paid about the same in both cities!)
 
So how bad IS the traffic from Tampa to WDW? I mean my DH commutes to DC area everyday (69 miles one way)..with traffic. Can it be worse than that? We'll spend the night at Tampa (have a later flight) and then leave for WDW in the a.m. We got $29 DING fare from IAD to TPA so that's worth it for us. Rentals Cars: When I reserved mine at Alamo (a Std. SUV-Trailblazer) it was cheaper at TPA, but recently it's been cheaper at MCO.
 
So how bad IS the traffic from Tampa to WDW? I mean my DH commutes to DC area everyday (69 miles one way)..with traffic. Can it be worse than that? We'll spend the night at Tampa (have a later flight) and then leave for WDW in the a.m. We got $29 DING fare from IAD to TPA so that's worth it for us. Rentals Cars: When I reserved mine at Alamo (a Std. SUV-Trailblazer) it was cheaper at TPA, but recently it's been cheaper at MCO.

I live in Lakeland and commute 48 miles one way to work in Tampa. I spend my weekends at Disney ;)

The traffic on I-4 really sucks the most in Tampa. Once you get to about exit 17 on I-4 it's better. Rush "hour" lasts from about 3:30 pm - 7 pm and from 7 am - 10 am. If you're travelling during those hours, you *will* run into nasty traffic -- similar to DC around the beltway. If there is an accident on 75 it will *trash* the I-4/75 interchange and add much time to your trip.

I'd pay the $2.50 toll from MCO and count it as well spent $$ for the time/hassle of driving from Tampa.

That said, the Tampa airport is *much* faster to get in/out of. From the time your plane lands it's *maybe* 15 minutes by the time you grab your luggage from the baggage claim and are in your car on your way.
 
You're spending how much on your vacation? Honestly, it's not worth going way out of your way to dodge the cost of a Happy Meal's worth of tolls. (Or a latte's worth, if you're a Starbuck's kind of person.) The Greenway (417) is the fastest and easiest route, and it is worth paying the small toll to use it and save time and hassle after a travel day.

If tolls bother you on principle, try to get over it. The natives put up with a lot of traffic and excessive wear on tear on roads that would not be nearly so bad were it not for the presence of so many tourist drivers. It's really pretty reasonable that we should help them pay for the upkeep of the roads.
 
For a $29 fair I would do it we are looking at both airports when making our decision as well.
 
I just filled the tank for $2.84 here in Orlando. You can't be saving that much with this price of gas to avoid the tolls. The trip from MCO is much shorter. I meet my Mom occasionally in Brandon and have to drive down I4 and I don't care how much you could be saving, it's a long drive.I used to work at the airport area and also I-Drive at one time. I used to take Sand Lake Road down to the airport. Lots of lights and you have the traffic around the Florida Mall and now I would say to save the wear and tear on the brakes etc, I would take the beachline and pay the tolls. You only have what, 1 or 2 exits to WDW. Just doesn't make sense. Just my .02
 
I agree I-4 can be a nightmare. I would have to be saving a considerable amount to fly into Tampa rather than Orlando. There have been times when it's taken HOURS to go from Orlando to Tampa and it was moving at max 2-3 miles an hour. One snarl up and it can really slow things down and since there isn't another "easy" way to the parks from Tampa there is no detour of sorts where as in Orlando there are many options to get to the parks from MCO.
 
I live in Miami and if I wanted to get up to Disney taking the turnpike the whole way it's like $17-$18 in tolls.I can get up there without paying a cent in tolls but there's times you know you have to pay it to avoid traffic and to get there faster.The tolls from MCO to Disney are just a couple of bucks and in my opinion isn't something to make you change your airport.And I know you said not to bring gas up but from Tampa to Orlando and back has to be like $12 -$18.If you were visiting Busch Gardens then I would understand but to avoid a couple of bucks? Us in Florida also now have Sunpass where we just load up the transponder with money,go through the tolls saving 25% and forget about it until you get low in balance.
 
These directions are good... I think the toll is 75 cents now, but being local I have sunpass (pre-paid tolls) so I don't pay attention to the cash lanes.

Only thing I wanted to add was that they changed the name of the road, it is no longer the "Bee"Line, it is now the "Beach"line, so you will be looking for signs that say 528 (Beachline Expressway).


Thank you so much for the updated information on the tolls and the road name change! I really appreciate it!:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
 

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