Anyone ever fly into Tampa? So much cheaper!

Kuzcotopia

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Long time lurker, and since I can't find anything else on the boards about this, I'm going to post for the first time.

So. . .

Using Southwest, I have determined that we can fly into Tampa, rent a car for nine days, stay at an offsite hotel near downtown disney the day before check-in. . . . for the same price as flying straight to Orlando.

Has anyone else ever done this? For the price of about 30 extra minutes of driving each way, we basically get and early check-in and an extra half day at disney, plus the rental car . . . is there a downside?

Why doesn't everyone do this?
 

rob0519

Well-Known Member
SSSHHHHH!!!!!! We don't want everyone doing this!!!!! Well, it's a bit more than 30 minutes of driving, but yes, it can be substanially less expensive to fly into Tampa than Orlando. For our past several trips we've flown into Orlando, but flown home out of Tampa. Much smaller airport, much less hectic rental car return, MUCH less hectic TSA lines. I would assume most people don't do becuase they stay on property, don't rent cars and use the Magical Express to and from the airport.
 

StageFrenzy

Well-Known Member
Long time lurker, and since I can't find anything else on the boards about this, I'm going to post for the first time.

So. . .

Using Southwest, I have determined that we can fly into Tampa, rent a car for nine days, stay at an offsite hotel near downtown disney the day before check-in. . . . for the same price as flying straight to Orlando.

Has anyone else ever done this? For the price of about 30 extra minutes of driving each way, we basically get and early check-in and an extra half day at disney, plus the rental car . . . is there a downside?

Why doesn't everyone do this?

I'm such a homer but you could also get one night in Tampa and go to Busch Gardens. Drive time from airport could be anywhere from 1-1 3/4 hrs from TIA to hotel.
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
I fly into Tampa sometimes because that is where the in-laws live. Last trip in October, we dropped our daughter (6 months at the time) off with them, took their car and drove to WDW. They were happy to see their granddaughter and we were happy with a free car. :) Except we had to face time with them every night because it was our first time away from her and my wife got sad during the down-times when we weren't running about.
 

Kuzcotopia

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We have a Southwest hub in Houston, and for three of us, we're saving almost $400 for direct flights to and from Tampa. I guess we're lucky.

We were pretty excited to get the freedom of a rental car. We're even flying in a day earlier than our check-in and staying cheap on the first day.
 

wdwstateofmind

Well-Known Member
The only reason MCO is busy is because of the parks in the area...Overall, the Orlando area is way smaller in size and population than the Tampa area. You'd be surprised, Tampa feels like an actual city while Orlando gives off a very manufactured vibe. Having flown into both and living in Florida, TPA is by far the nicer and more relaxed of the two. It's also nice to fly into the tropics rather than farmland. The only downside is, the 1 hr. 15 minutes it should take to get to Disney can turn into 2 hrs. easily based on the amount of traffic on I-275 and I-4...I'd personally save the cash and fly into TPA regardless of what traffic might be like, just avoid rush hour landings as the airport is positioned between two of the busiest highways in the area (I-275 and the Veterans' Expressway)...
 

Kuzcotopia

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the traffic tip. Since we're going a day earlier than check-in we're gaining alot more time that we're losing.

We can relax, get sleep, and hit rope drop on the first day.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
The price for us is about the same.

(Plus, having a car wouldn't translate to freedom or relaxation for me. I already spend nearly 2 hours of every day in my car, commuting to and from work. The last thing I want to do on vacation is drive.) :)

Still, I think it's great that the OP discovered the savings and is taking advantage of it! It's easy to get stuck in the rut of just "doing what we did last time we went to WDW," and overlooking opportunities to economize.
 

Kuzcotopia

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The price for us is about the same.

(Plus, having a car wouldn't translate to freedom or relaxation for me. I already spend nearly 2 hours of every day in my car, commuting to and from work. The last thing I want to do on vacation is drive.) :)

Still, I think it's great that the OP discovered the savings and is taking advantage of it! It's easy to get stuck in the rut of just "doing what we did last time we went to WDW," and overlooking opportunities to economize.

I agree about the car. I hate my commute too!

The main reason it's so relaxing is that we can fly in a whole day earlier, stay offsite near DD, and have a full first day at WDW the next morning, rested and ready without having to deal with travel.

All this for the same price as flying to Orlando. I guess technically, we're spending all the money we saved, but so worth it for us.
 

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
We have a Southwest hub in Houston, and for three of us, we're saving almost $400 for direct flights to and from Tampa. I guess we're lucky.

We were pretty excited to get the freedom of a rental car. We're even flying in a day earlier than our check-in and staying cheap on the first day.

My boyfriends daughter did the same thing for their spring break trip they flew to Tampa instead of Orlando. Since they were planning on getting the rental car anyways it was a considerable savings.

Right now I see a savings of $85 for the flights out of Houston...I hate how much flights to Orlando and Las Vegas jumped when Continental became United:( I thought when Spirit showed up maybe the rates would drop but I haven't seen that happen yet.
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
When I had a team spread across the country, and we had to have face to face meetings, I found that Tampa was the second cheapest place to fly all of my people (8 to 10 people, ranging from OK, TX, NJ, FL, CT, NY etc) if you added up the cost of all of the tickets.

The cheapest place to fly everyone to would have been Vegas, but it really does not look good on an expense report when you fly your team into Vegas for a face to face team meeting. Especially given the fact that we had an office in Tampa, and none in Vegas.

Sometimes I would fly into Tampa for a meeting (we had a lot of meetings in Tampa, not just my team meetings) and book the return flight for 2 or 3 days later than it had to be. I would then take 2-3 days vacation, rent a car, and go to WDW for a few days.


-dave
 

bow0303

Active Member
On our last visit (3 day long weekend) we flew into Sanford, rented a car for the 3 days we were in Orlando and the 4th day drove to Tampa to fly home. Prices were a lot cheaper than flying into MCO. Drive from Sanford was only about 45 minutes but drive to Tampa on Sunday morning was at least 1 1/2 hours. Would do it again if we weren't going to stay on property.
 

LarryBass

New Member
The only reason MCO is busy is because of the parks in the area...Overall, the Orlando area is way smaller in size and population than the Tampa area. You'd be surprised, Tampa feels like an actual city while Orlando gives off a very manufactured vibe. Having flown into both and living in Florida, TPA is by far the nicer and more relaxed of the two. It's also nice to fly into the tropics rather than farmland. The only downside is, the 1 hr. 15 minutes it should take to get to Disney can turn into 2 hrs. easily based on the amount of traffic on I-275 and I-4...I'd personally save the cash and fly into TPA regardless of what traffic might be like, just avoid rush hour landings as the airport is positioned between two of the busiest highways in the area (I-275 and the Veterans' Expressway)...
Are you serious? Just curious, do you actually live in the Tampa area? If so, I would love to hear the reasoning behind the statement.
 

wdwstateofmind

Well-Known Member
Are you serious? Just curious, do you actually live in the Tampa area? If so, I would love to hear the reasoning behind the statement.
Yes, in-fact I do....so I'd love to hear your reasoning behind whatever reasoning I have that you have a problem with? However, don't be all up in arms if you live in the boredom that is the Orlando area and don't like what I have to say about Orlando, that's just life...
 

LarryBass

New Member
Yes, in-fact I do....so I'd love to hear your reasoning behind whatever reasoning I have that you have a problem with? However, don't be all up in arms if you live in the boredom that is the Orlando area and don't like what I have to say about Orlando, that's just life...
Chill out dude... it was an honest question in response to your statement. I never got the same feeling on the many visits to your area. Having lived in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio area for too long... I have no desire to criticize any Florida city. For 15+ years I have been checking out the Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa/St Pete, and yes Orlando areas looking to purchase a 2nd home. This past year, I moved to Celebration on the south side of Orlando, primarily because of the cheap DIRECT flights and the constant activities and things to do. The fact that in 90 minutes you can be at the gulf or 60 minutes to the ocean... it was a no brainer for me.

In all of my trips thru the Tampa area, It just never felt like a place to live (to me), nice place, but just to visit. Maybe because it is a larger metro area, I don't know. At MCO, Frontier has their email specials a couple of times a month, and I can fly MCO to CLE round trip for $118 all in! Try that out of RSW, PBI, TPA, FLL or MIA on the off season!
 

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
The drive from Tampa is about 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic - nonetheless, it is a very easy drive. And no toll roads and 75 drops right off to the entrance (Kissimmee) to WDW on World Drive.
 

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
My boyfriends daughter did the same thing for their spring break trip they flew to Tampa instead of Orlando. Since they were planning on getting the rental car anyways it was a considerable savings.

Right now I see a savings of $85 for the flights out of Houston...I hate how much flights to Orlando and Las Vegas jumped when Continental became United:( I thought when Spirit showed up maybe the rates would drop but I haven't seen that happen yet.

Southwest used to have very cheap direct flights from Chicago to MCO. Since the merger - flights to Orlando are now very expensive and many are not nonstop anymore. It is terrible.
 

wdwstateofmind

Well-Known Member
Chill out dude...
I'm fine dude...I think my response was an appropriate response to you asking me if I'm serious...

The drive from Tampa is about 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic - nonetheless, it is a very easy drive. And no toll roads and 75 drops right off to the entrance (Kissimmee) to WDW on World Drive.
You are aware that exit 62, when coming from Tampa, is pretty much an open road to anywhere on property right?
 

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