Flying in and out of Tampa

[princessx2]

We are going to be flying into Tampa on 2/4 and out again on 2/10. These were the only tickets available with our frequent flyer miles. We are planning to rent a car and drive to WDW. Anybody have any suggestions about the time we should expect to get to and from WDW back to Tampa International ? What about traffic in the airport area heading out of Tampa and back in that next Sunday morning? We flew into Orlando last year and it took us over an hour to get to WL due to heavy traffic so we'd like to be prepared. Thanks!

 

[travelcoupons]

Allow 1 and a half hours drive time (usually takes me less than this), plus the time you would normally need for checkin at the airport. Traffic is usually light on weekends going to Tampa.

 

[d.kurz]

We did this in late August. The ride from TPA to WDW is practically effortless. We agreed that we prefer flying into TPA! Who is your rental car company?

 

[dreamer]

We will also be flying in/out of TPA in February. We have reserved EA at National. Any thoughts?

 

[d.kurz]

Here's how our experience went in late August:

Nation Car Rental’s Emerald Isle * Tampa

Tampa's EA wonderful. Even sometimes hard-to-impress DH was impressed!
Easy to find. Walked in and were immediately greeted with "Good Morning!
What do you have reserved?" We had a full size reservation. He says "How about a
minivan...same price?"!!!!!! We chose a Chevy Venture. 3000
miles on it. There were about 4 other minivans, and about 8-9 full size cars, and some
others. I was so excited about the minivan, I really didn't see what else was there. The
woman in the booth was really impressed about our organization. In other words we
handed her our ressie, coupon, credit card, EA cards, and licenses all at once. We drove
away 3 minutes later. Total time between landing and driving away: 30 minutes.

Joe handled the return. He dropped us curbside, we checked our
bags and went to the gate. 10 minutes later he was there. He said the
return took less than 2 minutes.

We were charged exactly what was quoted, plus $8.00 for fuel. I can't
find my receipt right now to tell you how much per gallon ($1.45...I found the receipt!),
but we were a little more that a quarter tank short of full.

The drive to WDW was effortless. About 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Just one other thought....I scoped out WHERE the EA garage was while DH waited for the
luggage. I think we got the best choice because we beat alot of other folks over to the
aisle. At least 7-8 cars were lined up behind us when we got to the kiosk.

Good luck and have fun!

Hardly used Disney transportation at all. It was SOOOOO hot. I was
thankful not to have to wait for busses!
Would do the exact same thing again in a heartbeat.

 

[DisneyMim]

Just another thumbs up for Tampa airport. We do this often when the airfare is better. Never had a problem. I think you will find it very easy. Don't think twice especially if the price is right and you are planning on renting a car anyway.

Good Luck and Have a Wonderful Trip!!!

 

[princessx2]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. We haven't rented a car yet. Can anyone tell me what EA is?We are sure glad we went ahead and booked the Tampa flights. Certainly sounds like it won't be so bad to have the extra commute.