Tampa to WDW?

[MommyBou]

Hi, I'm new here and hoping you might be able to help.

I recently scheduled a trip in Feb. I'm having a real hard time getting good airfare for that time. We're flying out of New Orleans, and alot of flights are booked already with people leaving town for Mardi Gras.

I'm considering scheduling 1-way tickets to Tampa, getting a 1-day 1-way car rental to get to WDW, and then take our regular MCO flight home. Anyone familiar with a communte from Tampa to Orlando? Mapquest is telling me it's about 1 1/2 hours.

I have a 6 yr old and a 1 yr old, so I'm also concerned all this traveling (1 hr to the airport, 2 hr flight, another 1hr or so driving to WDW) will be a mess. Your thoughts??

THANKS!

 

[safetymom]

I would allow more than an hour to travel I-4. It is under construction and there are sometimes long delays on the road.

 

[drogerstn]

At the right time, the drive from TPA to WDW is a little over an hour. At the wrong time or with construction delays as mentioned by safetymom, it can be longer. Its about a 30 minute drive from MCO to WDW, so flying into TPA will only be 45 minutes or so longer than flying into MCO.

We made the trip no problem, but the kids were older.... How much will you save? During one trip, it would have cost us $200 to $300 more to fly four into MCO instead of in/out of TPA, so it was worth it to us.

 

[Sandi]

While this isn't the question you asked, it is possible to get "round trip" air with three airports in the mix. I've done it several times with Northwest, US Air and United. Often when we go to WDW, we first fist relatives in the Tampa area. So, we fly from Michigan to Tampa, get a rental car and drive to Orlando. We then fly back to Michigan from Orlando. The flights are competitive (amazingly, sometimes less) with the one destination flights. Also, we've never had a problem with the car rental pick up at Tampa and return at Orlando.

Like the other posters have said, the trip from Tampa to WDW is a mixed bag depending on construction and weather. If the money is worth it, then do the drive. If it's not a big difference, I'd rather not be stuck in the car with my child after being in planes for a few hours.