Sanford Airport to Pop Century Resort

[tink20]

We always drive to Disney. Now there is a non stop flight to Orlando from where we live, but it’s to the Sanford Airport.

My husband has only flown once and I’ve only flown once as a child, so we have no experience with flying.

Please share any tips especially if you fly into this airport and how to get to Disney (really don’t want to rent a car) tia

 

[FCDub]

Uber/Lyft/taxi

 

[SteveH]

Ride Guru, ride.guru says Lyft/Uber will run you about $50

 

[Best Aunt]

If it’s Allegiant (I’m guessing because they fly to Sanford) make sure you understand all of the fees. The total may be much more than the listed price. If I recall correctly, you pay to choose seats, to check a bag, maybe to carry on a bag, maybe to buy online. Can’t remember details but it was a lot

Tiffany Towncar goes from that airport to Disney hotels.

 

[AppleJack]

Im a little late to this thread, but we have flown a bunch of times into Sanford on Allegiant. Its a small airport and an easy place to navigate. Normally we rent a car, but last April we took an Uber to Caribbean Beach. It was very easy, and we didnt wait too long (5-10 minutes max) for a driver. We also used a coupon code, so the price wasnt too bad either.

 

[JimMIA]

Also, carefully check the reliability of the airline and specific flights you're taking. Some of the smaller airlines may only have 3-4 flights a week and they don't have the fleet to replace aircraft or crews. If there is a cancellation, your delay might be several DAYS rather than hours.

 

[saff67]

We always drive to Disney. Now there is a non stop flight to Orlando from where we live, but it’s to the Sanford Airport.

My husband has only flown once and I’ve only flown once as a child, so we have no experience with flying.

Please share any tips especially if you fly into this airport and how to get to Disney (really don’t want to rent a car) tia

I have flown Allegiant (only direct flight from my home airport to Orlando area at the time) into Sanford about 5 times over the past 3 years. The Sanford airport is small and easily to navigate. Unlike my most recent flight into MCO, the security is a breeze and it's just an all-around easier experience in my opinion. I usually rent a car via carrentalsavers.com and had little to no wait at the rental counter. I know other people that have taken Uber/Lyft to Disney and it was fine. I don't know what the cost was. As for Allegiant, I have had nothing but great flights with them, but there are plenty of others who had a very different experience. I take it for what it is - a low-cost airline with no frills and adjust my expectations accordingly. Good luck!

 

[tink20]

It’s an airline called Via. It’s the only nonstop from where I live, to Orlando. Otherwise we would have to fly into Atlanta. We usually drive the 8 hours, but was thinking about trying flying for our next trip.

The flight into Sanford would arrive around 10pm, so I would really like to go ahead and get to our Disney resort, is that too late to get transportation and check in to Pop Century? Or does the late time, really not matter?

 

[JimMIA]

It’s an airline called Via. It’s the only nonstop from where I live, to Orlando. Otherwise we would have to fly into Atlanta. We usually drive the 8 hours, but was thinking about trying flying for our next trip.

The flight into Sanford would arrive around 10pm, so I would really like to go ahead and get to our Disney resort, is that too late to get transportation and check in to Pop Century? Or does the late time, really not matter?

I would certainly do more research on VIA.

Just a quick check with Trip Advisor looks pretty ugly: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d13635970-Reviews-Via-Airlines

This shows 33 Excellent and Very Good ratings, and 125 TERRIBLE ratings. Overall Trip Advisor average 2.0 out of a possible 5.

Two other rating systems had them at 3.9 out of 10 and 1.0 out of 10, and there was one news report calling them the worst airline in the US.

Google is your friend.

 

[tink20]

I would certainly do more research on VIA.

Just a quick check with Trip Advisor looks pretty ugly: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d13635970-Reviews-Via-Airlines

This shows 33 Excellent and Very Good ratings, and 125 TERRIBLE ratings. Overall Trip Advisor average 2.0 out of a possible 5.

Two other rating systems had them at 3.9 out of 10 and 1.0 out of 10, and there was one news report calling them the worst airline in the US.

Google is your friend.

Oh my gosh, thank you. I did not know that. That would be terrible for our first flying experience. I will definitely go check that out.

 

[JimMIA]

I would certainly look for reliable options -- like Delta to MCO through Atlanta.

Or maybe another airline direct to Tampa, if that's possible. Sanford is about an hour from WDW; TPA is about 90 minutes, but you will probably have MUCH better flights options there.

From MCO, you would have DME; from TPA, a one-way car rental might be your least expensive option.

 

[JimMIA]

Try one of the travel websites like Expedia, Travelocity, or Kayak to get an overall view of the options from your city to MCO and TPA. That will also give you an idea of what a good fare is.

When you get an idea of what might work for you, go to the individual airline website and search flights. The prices will be the same as you saw on the travel sites, but you may have a lot more flight options.

There is a LOT more to flying than the fare, and the cheapest fare is not always the best choice.

 

[tink20]

Thanks for all the great advice JimMIA

 

[goofynut41]

Can you use this airport for magical express? Like take a taxi or uber to MCO and catch the Magical Express?

 

[AngiTN]

I would never, ever, in a million years suggest a novice flyer to use a no frills airline. Heck, I barely suggest a seasoned flyer to use them but at least they know what they are getting in to and can be experienced in what to do when something goes awry. And yeah, I used when, not if, on purpose.

Can you use this airport for magical express? Like take a taxi or uber to MCO and catch the Magical Express?

You can not use Sanford for ME but you can get to MCO and use ME

 

[JimMIA]

Can you use this airport for magical express? Like take a taxi or uber to MCO and catch the Magical Express?

You could, but I don't think I would.

Uber/Lyft from Sanford to MCO would be about $37 or $57 for XL. To Pop Century, $50 or $76 XL. I personally wouldn't go through the hassle for $13 or $19.

However, if someone were a cab-only person, it might make more sense. Cab would be $86 to MCO, $117 to Pop Century...so $31 more.

But then, as usual, I agree with Angi and wouldn't fly "VIA" anyway.

 

[shocker]

I flew to Sanford for $50 (after all fees, taxes, and paying for 1 carry on bag, and not paying to board early or have a seat assignment). The Lyft ride to WDW cost me more than that, probably close to $75. It's just part of the cost and you do have to add totals to compare apples to apples, but I sure could not have flown to MCO and ridden DME for under $150 total one-way. Had there been more people with me, the Lyft ride would havvc

The OP is also suggesting that Sanford option is to gain a non-stop flight, which they wouldn't get otherwise. This is a huge consideration. Even if a flight is delayed, at least once departed you should make it to your destinations. There's so much that can go wrong booking a layover flight, that I find it difficult on newbies to navigate missed flights, stays in layover cities, etc. etc.

Happy planning.

 

[JimMIA]

The OP is also suggesting that Sanford option is to gain a non-stop flight, which they wouldn't get otherwise. This is a huge consideration. Even if a flight is delayed, at least once departed you should make it to your destinations. There's so much that can go wrong booking a layover flight, that I find it difficult on newbies to navigate missed flights, stays in layover cities, etc. etc.

I agree that a non-stop flight is better than connecting, but that is only part of OP's problem. She is considering flying a tiny airline, and as I pointed out in post #9 above, that airline has a pretty bad reputation. One article called them the worst airline in the US.

With smaller airlines, delays often do NOT result in delayed departures -- they result in NO departure at all, and often no alternatives. The small airline may only have a few flights a week from OP's city to Sanford. So if her flight can't take off, she might be stranded for several days.

Larger airlines would have options like bringing in another aircraft or routing OP through other cities -- VIA probably will not have either option. (And in fact, one of the reviews I saw said exactly that -- VIA canceled, had no options, was not able to route them on another carrier -- so they had to buy tickets on another airline because VIA could not help them. That's the risk you run with tiny airlines.)

Large airlines have the resources to adapt when things go wrong (and they go wrong for all airlines). Tiny airlines do not.

 

[AngiTN]

With smaller airlines, delays often do NOT result in delayed departures -- they result in NO departure at all, and often no alternatives. The small airline may only have a few flights a week from OP's city to Sanford. So if her flight can't take off, she might be stranded for several days.

This is the key that can't be overlooked.
We have a similar airline here. I won't fly it, even though it means no change in planes.
I have 2 choices, 1 airline that flies 3 or so days a week, 1 or 2 flights a week. A flight gets canceled, there is no replacement. You are just canceled. Till the next flight which isn't for 2 or 3 days away. What good is that? Give me a change of planes 10 out of 10 times, thank you very much. Sure, we have had a problem with a connection on rare occasions. And the airline fixed it right up and got us on the next flight or put us up. Problems have been extremely rare. And the flights have been 100x more comfortable than the flight we took on the value airline