Flying into Tampa before Disney Dream Cruise?

[WDWINJUNE!]

We are going on our first Disney cruise 12/19/12 and I'm trying to figure out our airfare. We fly out of Seattle and right now I can get tickets for the 5 of us to fly into Tampa and out of MCO for about $2200. Has anyone had experience flying into Tampa? How easy is it to rent a car and drop off somewhere near Port Canaveral? We are flying in the day before our cruise and staying at a hotel near the Port. Then after our cruise we are spending 3 days at WDW and then flying back home.

I'm not sure what is a decent price on airfare from Seattle around Christmas. I was planning on waiting until Southwest comes out with their fares in May but don't want to get stuck with a high price. (Since there are 5 of us any savings helps )

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Carina]

I just book Southwest - Seattle to Tampa in Sept for 191pp

Obviously Tampa was not my first choice but the price difference into Orlando on any airline was signifigantly more. And we are planning a car rental either way.

 

[goofy4tink]

I love Tampa International!!! It's a great airport. You should be able to easily rent a car there, make the 2+ hr drive over to Port C for your one night stay. The next morning, drop everyone, and the bags, off at the ship, then you drive to the car rental office. Budget is one I would recommend. They have a frequent shuttle to and from the ship.
But, how are you getting to WDW from port? Are you rerenting a car? Or are you planning on taking the DCL shuttle service??? You may want to run the numbers to see what the cost to keep your rental car, until you get to WDW, and add in parking. There have been many times that it was either just a few dollars more or even less, to keep the car and pay for parking. Add to that the convenience of being able to just walk over to your car, load it up and hop in and drive away. I really love doing that vs taking a shuttle or heading to a car rental office.

 

[richmo]

...There have been many times that it was either just a few dollars more or even less, to keep the car and pay for parking. Add to that the convenience of being able to just walk over to your car, load it up and hop in and drive away. I really love doing that vs taking a shuttle or heading to a car rental office.

I agree with this. For our 4 night cruise, I found it less expensive to keep the car (pickup and drop at MCO, in our case) and pay port parking than to mess around with one way rentals. It was nice to just leave the ship and drive off when the cruise was over and another nice perk was the ability to leave stuff in the car that we didn't need to take on the ship (dirty laundry, etc.).

 

[backyardponder]

Make sure you check out the airfare with Alaska Air. They have a non-stop SEA -> MCO. If it is a little more, it might be worth it.

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will wait until Southwest releases the dates for December and go from there. I'm hoping it will be cheaper than what the fares are right now but I'm going to consider flying into Tampa, it sounds like it wouldn't be a huge problem to fly into there.

Wish Southwest would release December dates already...it's killing me to wait! lol

 

[sunkissed4]

Tampa is a great airport! I live here and use it often and getting the rental car is very easy. The drive from the airport shouldn't be too bad either, you're able to get on 275 right as you leave the airport and then that will take you to I-4. Plus, I think they're one of the best airports for on time flights, which is always a plus!

 

[SilverMickey]

We LOVE Tampa's airport! Clean, Well thought out and it always takes us less time then MCO.

However on a different note. Seattle to Orlando on Virgin America might be a nice flight... (when those tickets open up)

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Once you fly into Tampa you may "never" want to fly into/out of MCO again! Tampa is such an easy airport to get around. The airport is not as busy as MCO & security is a piece of cake. Rental car companies as of last Nov are now on site just walk across the street to the parking garage. The drive to WDW takes 1 hour 15 minutes and there are no tolls and its an easy drive.

Last month we prices SWA into MCO and Tampa. The Tampa fares were $100 less per person! In general we have found that fares to Tampa are cheaper than MCO.

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

It sounds like flying into Tampa wouldn't be too bad at all. Thanks for all the info. We'll definitely have to check the price of both Orlando and Tampa once Southwest releases the fares.

I will check Virgin as well. I would love the Alaska non stop but right now it is priced around $1200 per person for our dates

 

[goofy4tink]

The other interesting, and pleasant, thing about Tampa International??? Not nearly as many little ones running around, at least when compared with MCO. Man, it's so much quieter sitting and waiting at the gate!!!

 

[WDWINJUNE!]

I am leaning more towards flying into Tampa. We were thinking of flying into Tampa the day before our cruise, renting a car and driving to PC to stay the night. Then after our cruise, driving to WDW (probably staying at Pop Century). Still deciding on if we are going to fly home from MCO or Tampa.

If we decide to fly home out of MCO, we wouldn't need our rental anymore as we would use disney transportation and ME to get to MCO. Are there specific rental companies onsite or near WDW where we could return our car?

Would this plan work? Or would it be too much of a pain with 2 little ones? lol Anyone have any idea what a rental would cost around Christmas? We would probably need a mini van (we have a 16 yr old, 5 and 2 yr olds that are in car seats)

Thanks for any advice.

 

[goofy4tink]

I am leaning more towards flying into Tampa. We were thinking of flying into Tampa the day before our cruise, renting a car and driving to PC to stay the night. Then after our cruise, driving to WDW (probably staying at Pop Century). Still deciding on if we are going to fly home from MCO or Tampa.

If we decide to fly home out of MCO, we wouldn't need our rental anymore as we would use disney transportation and ME to get to MCO. Are there specific rental companies onsite or near WDW where we could return our car?

Would this plan work? Or would it be too much of a pain with 2 little ones? lol Anyone have any idea what a rental would cost around Christmas? We would probably need a mini van (we have a 16 yr old, 5 and 2 yr olds that are in car seats)

Thanks for any advice.

You have a couple of choices here. You could drive to WDW, drop everyone off at the resort, with the bags, and then just you drive to MCO, drop off the rental and take DME back to the resort. Time consuming but less easier with kids.
If you decide to return the car closer to WDW....Alamo/National are located at both the Car Care Center (closes to MK entrance) and at the Dolphin (outside Epcot). YOu can arrange to be shuttled back to your resort from the CCC. YOu have to get back on your own from the Dolphin. We usually just head to a park from there.
There are other car rental companies located in the DTD area. Budget, for instance, is located in the Doubletree Guest Suites. Some can provide a ride back for you.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Avis is also located at the Hilton at DTD. Its a short 5 minute walk to DTD where you can catch the bus back to your resort. Dollar is located at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista resort which is right across the street from DTD.