Flying into Tampa for the first time.....

[Kim&Chris]

I saved almost $200 by flying into Tampa instead of Orlando

Not too shabby.

Can anyone share their experiences at this airport?

I'm especially curious about the car rental situation. Are the car rental desk inside the airport? Is it like MCO, where you just go to the garage & get your car....or do they shuttle you to a different location?

Thanks!!!

 

[msd1776]

The Tampa airport and Orlando airport are setup very similar, IMO: both have a similar hub and spoke terminal design and trams. Rental car desks are in the terminal and return is clearly marked. The drive between the two is simple. You should not have any problems.

 

[OKW Lover]

TPA is a very easy airport to get around. Similar to MCO, when you get off your plane you take a monorail to the main terminal. From there you go downstairs to baggage claim. Car rental counters (and the cars themselves) are directly across the road when you exit baggage claim.

 

[Kim&Chris]

Thanks for the replies!! Very happy to hear this :-D

 

[mjplantz]

We are doing the same this year as well, saved $350 on the tickets and we are staying a couple nights on the beach before heading to Disney.

 

[LisaTC]

We did this the last 2 times. I love TPA. Rental cars are easy access. We have National Emerald Aisle, so we just head to our car pick it out and go. I think there is some road construction around TPA right now, you may want to Google that, but for what we saved we could rent a car for a whole week at Disney and still save $$.

 

[AJKMOM]

The only problem we had at Tampa was that the airport was not open 24 hours. We were told to be there at 6AM for an 8AM flight, but they didn't open the security gates until 7AM. This was a few years ago, I don't know if it has changed any.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

OMG once you have flown into TPA you will not want to go back to MCO. TPA is a much quietier airport. Easy to get around not a congested as MCO. Security lines are a breeze!

The drive over to WDW is easy. Just remember if you are driving around rush hour time to allow about 20-25 minutes more for your commute. No toll roads to deal with.

If you need to stop at a store before getting to Disney there is a Publix right off I-4 in Champions Gate at exit 58 on I-4 and Disney is at exit 54 on I-4 so its 4 mile from Disney. This is where we stop and get snacks and drinks.

 

[Kim&Chris]

OMG once you have flown into TPA you will not want to go back to MCO. TPA is a much quietier airport. Easy to get around not a congested as MCO. Security lines are a breeze!

The drive over to WDW is easy. Just remember if you are driving around rush hour time to allow about 20-25 minutes more for your commute. No toll roads to deal with.

If you need to stop at a store before getting to Disney there is a Publix right off I-4 in Champions Gate at exit 58 on I-4 and Disney is at exit 54 on I-4 so its 4 mile from Disney. This is where we stop and get snacks and drinks.

Thanks so much, Shelly F!! The info about Publix is so helpful!!!

 

[antree]

We too are flying in to Tampa for the first time in Nov. I just saved the info for the Publix. We'll be in Disney 10 days so we will need to stock up. Great info

 

[huskies90]

We are looking at a flight that gets into Tampa late. I am thinking we can land, get our rental car and then spend the night near the airport or in route to WDW before checking into our WDW resort the next day. Can anyone recommend a good hotel to do this?

 

[ain0004]

We too booked a flight into Tampa. Was thinking of staying close to the airport with a late flight in. We met several people from Tampa that advised us to leave Tampa during the night. To avoid the heavy traffic and would breeze to Disney world. We were going to stay in Lakeland. But now are staying at a Hotel near DTD, just to be close. Our goal be at the hotel before 1am!