sanford and orlando int

[welshlamb]

can you tell me how easy it is and the distance from sanford airport to somewhere close to disney. We've always flown into Olando int but never had a direct flight. lots of flights go out of manchester but many of them only fly into sanford

 

[Goofyish]

Sanford airport is quite a bit smaller than MCO and so passing through the airport is a little quicker (especially as you don't have the double baggage claim).

Sanford is around a 30-40 minute drive to I-Drive/WDW areas depending on traffic and route taken (and weather you get lost or not LOL).

Most direct route is down the I-4, but this can get busy. A quieter and less direct route is to use the Florida Greenway (toll road).

 

[ely3857]

So long as you miss rush hour the I4 is the easier drive. Like Tim said, around 30-40 mins in a straight line.

It took us a while to get from Plane to hotel last year as 3 planes arrived at the same time and I refuse to be dragged with the crowd so we waited to get off the plane and ended up last in a packed immigration hall so it was around 3 hours in total which is longer than ever previously but we did stop at Burger King on the way



Jodie

 

[Andy B]

So long as you miss rush hour the I4 is the easier drive. Like Tim said, around 30-40 mins in a straight line.

It took us a while to get from Plane to hotel last year as 3 planes arrived at the same time and I refuse to be dragged with the crowd so we waited to get off the plane and ended up last in a packed immigration hall so it was around 3 hours in total which is longer than ever previously but we did stop at Burger King on the way



Jodie

This reminded me of our trip to the US last Easter. we had to go to Cincinnati to take the ashes of my DW's mother to be buried. I said to my family as we would have to wait for the luggage and my have problems getting in with cremated remains we would wait until most of the passengers had 'deplaned' rather than rush. At immigration we were virtually last however my DW has duel nationality and can go through the US side. As we were waiting at the back of the queue a call goes out 'can Mr B..... make himself known. I did and they ushered us through immigration ahead of the non US passengers!

 

[spincandy]

Up until last year we've always until Orlando Int and were pretty apprehensive about having to use Sanford twice last year (we changed to using TCD for our package) because of the longer drive and it being a smaller airport. However, we couldn't have been happier!

Sanford is much smaller and (unless you're unlucky enough to land with another couple of planes) much faster to get through than OIA. Both times we went (in the middle of Summer) we breezed through immigration and baggage in under an hour. The first time we were in and out of the airport in half an hour!

The drive from Sanford to the Disney area is longer than from OIA but not hard at all. It was my boyfriend's first time driving in the USA (and indeed on the right-hand side of the road) and the drive helped him adjust perfectly. We took the toll road- one straight road, which is usually quite quiet and helped him build up his confidence. The tolls come to under $10 from Sanford to Disney and you can get change at the booths. We got to our villa at Champion's Gate in about 45mins.

The only suggestion I would make is to try and book the Sanford Guest House for the way back to the UK. We found this a great place to relax before the flight- especially since we were delayed 3 hours (due to last Summer's security issues) and the general departure lounge got REALLY busy (there was no seating space left on the floor!).