Tampa airport

[ourmagic]

Has anyone flown into the Tampa airport? I can get a cheaper rate if I fly there instead of Orlando MCO. I guess from there I would need to rent a car. How is that airport? Are there ways to get to Disney from there, or is it better to just rent a car?
Thanks.

 

[sandieb]

We have flown into Tampa to take advantage of cheaper airfare to to book a time that was more convienent for us. It is fine except you need to take a shuttle to the car rental pavilion. It is not a huge deal, but if you have a lot of stuff, it is somewhat of a hassle. That said, I would fly there again if needed.
Sandie

 

[bmalonef45]

How long is the drive from Tampa's airport to WDW?

 

[Sammie]

from the airport to AKL is 72 miles so if traffic is moving about an hour.

 

[Cajun28]

How long is the drive from Tampa's airport to WDW?

It is approx 80 miles from Tampa Airport to WDW, so it should take about 1 1/2 hours to drive.

I've never driven from the airport, but we have friends who live in Wesley Chapel which is in north Tampa and is approx the same distance from WDW as the airport and that what it takes us to drive from Wesley Chapel to Disney.

 

[ohtarabell]

Easy in and out around the airport. Trip is HIGHLY dependant on traffic. If you are coming at one of the holidays, plan on the drive taking closer to 2 hours. If not, then a little over an hour will do it. Not really all that much longer than coming from MCO. I have done the Tampa to Dis thing 8-9 times (sis used to live in Tampa). I would have no problem doing it again.

 

[TifffanyD]

We live in Tampa and drive there all the time. We're slightly east so it takes us about an hour to get to Disney. I work by the airport tho and have been there multiple times. It's pretty easy to hop on the freeway and then get to Disney - you just take 275N to 4E and keep on until you see Disney exits!

 

[Telcogirl]

We have flown into Tampa to take advantage of cheaper airfare to to book a time that was more convienent for us. It is fine except you need to take a shuttle to the car rental pavilion. It is not a huge deal, but if you have a lot of stuff, it is somewhat of a hassle. That said, I would fly there again if needed.
Sandie

I have flown into Tampa recently and I have not had to take a shuttle to the rental car facility. I used AVIS and they are right at the airport.


What agency did you use?

 

[TifffanyD]

I have flown into Tampa recently and I have not had to take a shuttle to the rental car facility. I used AVIS and they are right at the airport.


What agency did you use?

Yeah I used Hertz and they are right at the airport

 

[backyardponder]

I flew into TPA and rented a car and drove to VB. It wasn't too bad...interesting drive past tons of orange groves.

 

[MouseMomx2]

It is fine except you need to take a shuttle to the car rental pavilion. It is not a huge deal, but if you have a lot of stuff, it is somewhat of a hassle. That said, I would fly there again if needed.
Sandie

This is not (or no longer) true. At Tampa the car rental agencies are all located just outside of the main terminal building. You simply cross the road and they are right there. It couldn't be easier.

We love flying into Tampa. Not only are the fares usually lower, but it is such a hassle-free experience. Orlando is so crowded...all the time...and it can take such a long time to get to your gate. At Tampa it's a breeze! They do security checks at each gate complex (there are 6 of them, all extending out from a central hub) and the last time we were there there was just one family in front of us.

I would definitely rent a car. The drive to WDW takes about twice as long from Tampa (about an hour) but it's an easy one. Considering that you have to be on your Magical Express bus 3 hours before your flight it's not that much different. You can either rent a car for your entire stay or you can do one-way rentals. Dollar (Regal Sun Resort), Budget (Doubletree) and Avis (Hilton) all have Downtown Disney branches.

Tampa has definitely become our airport of choice!

 

[ourmagic]

Thank you so much. I didn't even consider the thought of just renting the car each way instead of for the week. It's good to know that is possible for the return.

 

[MouseMomx2]

Thank you so much. I didn't even consider the thought of just renting the car each way instead of for the week. It's good to know that is possible for the return.

Depending on how long you are staying at WDW it could save you a lot of money to do the one-way rentals. It will also allow you to go to the grocery store once you arrive and stock up on items for your stay. If you are staying for a week or less you may find it just as cheap to do a weekly rental, as they often offer discounts for them. You'll have to play around with the websites to see what works best for you.

Dollar, at the Regal Sun Resort, or Avis, at the Hilton, would be the most convenient for car return/pick-up for one-way rentals. The resorts are located just across the street from Downtown Disney so it would be very easy to drop the car off and then catch a bus at the DtD bus stop (doing the opposite for car pick-up at the end of your stay). Budget is at the Doubletree, which is at the far end of the hotel plaza. Using them would mean a longer walk. It is still easily do-able, just a bit less convenient.

Also, I forgot to mention that National and Alamo have offices at the Swan resort so that is an option as well...especially if you are staying at the BWV or BCV.

 

[CleoPahd]

I'm so glad to hear that other people have had good experiences with flying into Tampa. We just decided to do this for our April 2010 trip since it was soooo much cheaper than flying into MCO. We are renting a car for the week because it wasn't that much more to keep the car for the week vs having to pick up and drop off twice. Even with the car rental we are still saving hundreds of dollars over flying into MCO!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Hertz at TPA is notoriously slow and has reportedly some of the worst customer service representatives (Flyertalk). I had slow service even as a Gold Member with a Prestige rental, so I can definately vouch for the slow service, customer service on the other hand was fine, they even pulled the vehicle right up to the entrance to the garage.

 

[disneymomjcs]

We love the Tampa airport it is clean and easy to navigate. We have flown into Tampa also to save on airfare and its a short ride to WDW. We have rented here and it was onsite. No shuttle.

I like Alamo so you can pick your own car. We just flew in in August and rented from Dollar and you get the car they give you. Don't do the lock low and go, we had four cars that smelled bad or had beat up cars. It took forever and the I gave up and took the car that stunk like smoke. Yuck ..once I got driving with the air the smell would clear but I hated not be able to pick my own car. I got to go with Alamo.