Just got back few weeks ago and for the 1st time used tampa both in and out. Can't praise it enough! We will be using every visit from now on
For one it's a lot cheaper - always a plus! I had read the immigration was better than at MCO and it really was. Whizzed through so quickly. Bag collection all straight forward and car hire also straight forward and no queues, even with popular company like Alamo (don't need to bother with fast track even though is available - from what I could see same with the other companies).
The drive to Orlando was very simple. Our car had sat nav so made much easier, however I'm sure we could have easily navigated without it (we did just that back to the airport). When coming out of the airport you're pretty much straight on the I4 which obviously you can't go wrong once on that. It only took just over 1hr to get to the apartment in Davenport which is just off I4 - add on further 10mins to get to WDW also just off I4.
Coming home just as easy. I would say not many shops at the moment and not masses of restaurant options, however what is there is perfectly good and the airport is in process of big redevelopment and will eventually have more shops etc.
We realised that the extra time it takes to travel from Tampa to Orlando is the same amount of time it takes to get through MCO - so same amount of time door to door UK to Orlando for much cheaper price! No brainer!
Hope that helps! I was hunting for info like this myself before our trip