is TAMPA worth it over MCO, if flight is way cheaper?

[keishashadow]

There are 4 of us. 7 days, 6 nights.

We can get a flight for $109-120 per person into MCO, per usual, but our return flight is looking at $150-170 per person! Tampa I can get each way for $83! We only fly SWA, for free bags, and we are members/have their Visa card.

I've never rented a car, we use DME & Disney buses to get around. No plans for outside activities, either. Just WDW!

So how much would a rental car cost for Tues - Mon? And how hard is it?

Thanks!

I've done the drive from/to TPA for Disney trips (doing it again just to visit Clearwater beach for a few days in middle of October trip). That said the drive is not something I'm fond of, just a personal preference.

Other than short trips we rent a car out of MCO, mostly for split trips but honestly because I'm not a fan of the bus system, again jmho.

You could always fly into MCO & book via SWA for the TPA flight home, but monitor the MCO prices...if they drop, just make the changes.

re rental:

some rental companies will assess you a drop fee if renting somewhere and returning elsewhere. You need to check

if u are talking a true 5 day rental (usually 4 days & several hours will trigger a 5 day/weekly rental) there is often a $25 coupon to be had, and you will meet the Saturday overnight requirement.

Depending on your flight time, you might be able to pick up a car onsite Thursday @ WDW and look into long weekend rates.

 

[Ladygoldenhair]

I think it's not worth $200, renting the car is just break even point.
The additional distance, cost of gas for the week, because you will end up hopping in the car instead, the tolls and extra time out of your vaca, are not worth the minimal savings.

If you want the convince of having a car, there are some weekend rates and four day rentals at the CCC that are doable. But, then you are putting out $200, and another $100 worth the car.

For me it's a no brainier to keep it simple, just do MCO and ME. Keep your dining closer to ease of the busing, or monorail resorts.

 

[disneydacey]

We are flying into Tampa bc the savings on a direct flight from Boston were significant. We are renting a car for one day, pick up at Tampa airport, drop off at Dolphin. We are staying at Boardwalk Villas so having a car for 24 hours means we can go to grocery and liquor stores. The car rental was cheapest through UT. But you have to buy your tickets through them to rent a car. The money we will save on the flight, groceries, alcohol is worth it to me.

 

[teambeaman]

We are flying into Tampa in October and renting a car. We, personally, prefer to have a rental car onsite because it is just so much faster and we all can sit with no strangers touching us, lol. You mentioned that you had water shipped from Costco...Costco has great rental car rates for its members and you get an add'l driver for free (some places charge extra). So far our rate for a full size for 8 days is $240, but I'm sure it will go down as we get closer. I just check every day or so and rebook as the rate decreases.

 

[ice cube]

We are flying into Tampa in October and renting a car. We, personally, prefer to have a rental car onsite because it is just so much faster and we all can sit with no strangers touching us, lol. You mentioned that you had water shipped from Costco...Costco has great rental car rates for its members and you get an add'l driver for free (some places charge extra). So far our rate for a full size for 8 days is $240, but I'm sure it will go down as we get closer. I just check every day or so and rebook as the rate decreases.

Yes we do the same thing...as I previously explained to the OP and in pm's its what your needs are that will tell you if the cost is worth it. As you know finding a car rental deal is very easy and not a great expense. We landed in TPA yesterday had a full-size reserved at alamo for $220 all in for aug.22-sept.1...when we went into the parking area to p/u the car all I did was ask the national/alamo guy where the alamo full-size row was located and he told me to just take that chrysler 300 over there in the corner. Yes got upgraded to a premium for free....leather and all. The min. cost of a car to have the luxury of going when I want to go to and from the airport,parks,dining and not have to plan out extra travel time to get there is well worth the cost....just our take on it.

 

[YayHeyNoWay]

I have been reading all of your input and feedback, thank you all so much for taking the time to weigh in on this & help me.

I am such a dummy, in past trips, I could wait until Tues or Wed am or even 2:30 in the morning & find the SW flight prices dropped, but at this point the longer I wait, they are going UP, no matter what day or time of day I check them! I wonder if there is something about flying out of MCO on a Monday?!!

I cannot convince my hubs to rent a car and drive from an unfamiliar airport that long distance, and worry about car seats for the kids, etc. And we have a disabled daughter, and need to bring a special seat for her (which is only necessary in road vehicles, not DME or Disney buses).

DME is just so convenient, but not at those prices for MCO, in my opinion!

I will take some time signing up for car rental memberships, and price some things out. And see if it really works out to be an offer we can't refuse. I use mousesavers, and they have great info on this. Just need to take the time & write out all the prices. I can also book thru SW and maybe get flight points in the process.

I did not renew my Coscto membership, but the online account still works for online purchase/shipping. No idea why, but happy it does. So not sure if car rental will work, as I have no valid membership card to show.

I already have park tickets as part of our package, but usually otherwise us UT, and will keep that in mind for next time.

As someone previously pointed out, I could always fly into MCO, and just get the car to fly out of Tampa, but then there's the carseat issue for just the one way.

Another thing I am toying around with is flying out Tuesday instead, since a 1 night stay at a Value (at rack rate!) would be cheaper than leaving Monday as planned. (Tuesday, the flights are much lower) I know, tough decision to stay an extra day in Disney, but we've never done a split stay, and wonder about the logistics of getting over to say Pop for instance. Ironically, a rental car would help transferring to a different resort, lol!!

So much math I need to do. All this, and we leave 1 month from tomorrow!!


ice cube, you are there now? awesome! how long is the drive from TPA to Disney property? are there tolls? We are staying at CSR. I use GasBuddy app to find cheap gas on the road.

 

[Lewisc]

The drive from Tampa to WDW is very easy. No tolls. An hour, if you drive fast and there isn't any traffic. Figure 90 minutes.

Alamo (PHX) not only asked to see my COSTCO card but swiped the card. They told me they needed to "capture" my membership number.

www.carrentals.com gives you a low rate without having to use codes you might not qualify for. COSTCO, AAA and AARP generally include an extra driver. You might skip carrentals in favor of one of the organizations I mentioned if you need an extra driver.

 

[johde]

I have frequently done one way Tampa to Orlando combined with a visit to Busch Gardens. This trip I'm having the reverse problem with the car especially. One way car rentals from Tampa to Orlando for January are currently outrageous. So this trip I'm flying into and out of Orlando and letting Seaworld drive me back and forth to Tampa.

My one suggestion is if you're going to fly into Tampa and rent a car make the most of it. Visit Busch Garens, or the Gulf, or Legoland. Give some additional purpose to the drive.

 

[keishashadow]

OP - Many car seats are approved for air travel. SWA doesn't count car seats against u as to luggage allotment. I took a rated but cheap Graco booster seat for GD last trip, figuring if it got lost no big deal. attached a tag at checkin & it made it thru handling in pristine condition. I've seen people garbage bag them if they don't have the fancier covers.

we drive 'close' to the posted speed limit but always allow for 1-1/2 from the main entrance of WDW to TPA. Have been stuck in traffic more than a few times due to accidents, so tend to build in a cushion when flying out of TPA.

 

[ice cube]

The drive from Tampa to WDW is very easy. No tolls. An hour, if you drive fast and there isn't any traffic. Figure 90 minutes.

Alamo (PHX) not only asked to see my COSTCO card but swiped the card. They told me they needed to "capture" my membership number.

www.carrentals.com gives you a low rate without having to use codes you might not qualify for. COSTCO, AAA and AARP generally include an extra driver. You might skip carrentals in favor of one of the organizations I mentioned if you need an extra driver.

Your correct with time frame even if you drive speed limit your there in less than 90mins if no traffic..you don't need to worry about gas on the way to Disney as you will have more than enough gas to get there and drive around but will have to find somewhere just before you get back to airport. You can also prepay for gas so no worries. Before we left I couldn't check in online as I kept getting an error message and when I called they said it was because of a coupon code I had added and would need to show at counter. Like I stated in a pp didn't show anything except drivers license and credit card at counter (used costco corp code with visa $30 off coupon) and when we went into the rental area were given a premium over a full-size. We do have a costco membership but have never been asked for anything no matter what codes we have used....whether or not we were supposed to use them...

 

[britfish]

Would it be possible to rent a car in Tampa and return it at MCO and take the ME to our resort?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Why not rent an Alamo car and return to at Disney. There are two Alamo locations onsite and they will then take you to your resort via their free shuttle

 

[davedmaine]

Wondering if anyone can help with advice... We can save $200+ flying SW into Tampa vs Orlando. This would mean no Magical Express, and having to rent a car, and driving in the rental car 1 hour to Disney property from the airport. We've never experienced a Disney trip this way, so I am curious about it. (We never rent a car, only take Disney transp. Actually, I've never rented a car in general, no idea how to go about getting a good price for one). If it doesn't cost us any more money (ie if car rental + gas & tolls would all be less than $200), then I would like to try it out. Plus, having a car would help if I make ADR's at different resorts, since there is no direct bus between resorts. Any thoughts? We are staying on property at a Disney resort and we have no plans to go anywhere else outside of Disney property.

Not worth it all all. By the time you pay for the car/ gas/taxes, you'll eat up all the savings.. Plus, factor in your time

 

[stinkpickle]

Renting a car and driving from Tampa is easy. We usually fly Allegiant and rent a car from Sanford or St Pete's. Since these are our only direct flights to Florida, we actually save time by avoiding layovers. Also, we found it's easier to just keep the car and return it at the end of the trip...and we find the best prices thru Costco. You can reserve early and re-reserved if the price drops. Actually, we're taking a longer route next month by flying into Punta Gorda and driving to WDW, because of cheap airfares, direct flights, and it's only a 2 1/2 hour drive. Even if I break even money-wise, I'll take that ANY DAY over a layover at Chicago or Atlanta.

 

[TinyTim2]

On I 4 in plant city you have Dinosaur World. If you have kids into dinosaurs its a fun place that's a couple of hours to see everything. My now 16 yo son till this day still talks about it and its been 8 years since hes been there.

 

[britfish]

Why not rent an Alamo car and return to at Disney. There are two Alamo locations onsite and they will then take you to your resort via their free shuttle

Because DH thinks the vacation begins when you board the ME!

 

[ain0004]

We saved over 100/person flying into Tampa. Plus we always rent a car./van. So yes it's totally worth it for a me. But I am a family of 5

 

[Thumper4me]

We are a family of two and are flying into Tampa this Saturday. We are renting a car one-way to Orlando and dropping it off at the Dolphin. I just could not find a decent fare down. We are flying out of Orlando so we will be taking Magical Express back to MCO. Well worth it for us - saved us hundreds!!

 

[amshowers]

We flew home TPA because of cheaper flights were and it was fine. We always rent a car anyway so and at the time I got a great rate picked up MCO and dropped off TPA. I checked this year and the return flights were cheaper but could not get a cheap enough car rental to justify flying TPA. If you normally do not rent a car than I would just fly MCO, and typically car rental are higher out of TPA.

 

[LegoMom3]

One other caveat: if you are only planning to rent a car to get from WDW to TPA, be aware that most rental companies charge a higher rate for a different drop-off location than where you picked it up. Not sure how much of an increase if you are only renting for one day, but something to consider. Also consider how you will get your rental car, unless you use one of the two (?) companies on-site. Cab fare just adds to the total and takes away from the savings.

One other thing (not sure if mentioned, I haven't read all the replies)....traffic in Tampa is usually HORRID. My dad lives in St. Pete so I fly in and out of TPA a few times a year. There is construction in the whole I-4/I-275 area that has been going on for years and it's just a nightmare to deal with in heavy traffic (about the only time I haven't encountered heavy traffic in Tampa is very early morning or the middle of the night!! Just another factor to consider, depending on the time of your departing flight).

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