Tampa is it worth the saving?

[HFJohnson]

Originally Posted by goofyfave

Where are you finding these cheap flights to Tampa?! I wouldn't mind at all but for my dates next year they are coming up pretty much the same as MCO. What am I doing wrong?!

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I got a great price for Tampa compared to MCO but I booked on day of release. It had jumped by around £900 (for four people) a day later.

[NewtoOrlando]

I changed my booking today!

LHR to Miami 17th August
1 day car hire drop off at Hard Rock
Pick car up 2 days later when we move to Disney
Fly home Tampa to London - 5th September
£3089 - 2 adults 2 teens.

Virgin was £3900, and they’re letting me change my booking to hotel only & keeping the Hard Rock so I won’t lose my deposit. (£50pp admin fee)

But still an overall saving of £500-600 and 3 extra days, so gone from 16 nights to 19 nights.

[moosha]

Originally Posted by sunseeker

I have done this journey several times, it is about 65 miles to Champions gate and usually takes about 1hr 10. You will almost certainly be in Champions gate quicker, from landing to villa, than you would from MCO. I can appreciate the time difference, but I for one am never in bed after landing before 10pm ET and I dare say neither are most of us.

Dave

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We prefer Tampa and would choose it over MCO every time if prices were similar but just wanted to mention our experience of driving across on the Saturday of Presidents’ Day weekend in 2020.

It took nearly two hours to drive from the airport to Universal, and as Mazbar said, by this point it was late at night so being stuck in traffic after the long flight was not much fun. Yes we were going further than Champions Gate or Disney and yes it was a holiday weekend but if anyone is booking under similar circumstances to us, it’s worth bearing in mind it probably won’t be 1 hour 10 minutes in that case. But we did have a short immigration wait so probably would have been swings and roundabouts with MCO that day.

[Floridarules]

Where are you flying from?- as for me, it’s about the same as MCO 🙄

[kells]

Gatwick to Tampa from 21st august to 4th September. Still wasn’t cheap but was 822 each for four people plus car hire, mco was £1100 each.

[themeparksandy]

Is it only London airports that fly to Tampa?

[NewtoOrlando]

Originally Posted by themeparksandy

Is it only London airports that fly to Tampa?

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Yes, generally BA from Gatwick.

[Steve Florida]

Originally Posted by kells

I was looking for our flights and car hire for next year and it is £300 cheaper per person direct to Tampa rather than mco, for a family of 4 that’s a fair bit to save but was just wondering if anyone has experience of Tampa, other than distance is there any other disadvantage from using Tampa, we plan on getting a villa around champions gate area.
Thanks in advance guys.

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100% worth the saving. I would fly to and have done a few times to Miami for that kind of discount. Tampa to Orlando is a nice easy drive.

[themeparksandy]

So it maybe quicker coach transfer than flying into Sanford or Melbourne but wouldn’t want to drive 2 and a half hrs from Birmingham without traffic and last time I flew back to Gatwick when XL airways went bust I nearly crashed the rental car on the way home for been tired. Be looking at flying from Birmingham for Melbourne airport or Manchester for Orlando airport depending on the price.
Maybe when the kids are older could think about flying to Tampa or even in direct flights.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by themeparksandy

So it maybe quicker coach transfer than flying into Sanford or Melbourne but wouldn’t want to drive 2 and a half hrs from Birmingham without traffic and last time I flew back to Gatwick when XL airways went bust I nearly crashed the rental car on the way home for been tired. Be looking at flying from Birmingham for Melbourne airport or Manchester for Orlando airport depending on the price.
Maybe when the kids are older could think about flying to Tampa or even in direct flights.

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I would dream of a mere 2.5 hours drive to my departure airport. Our choices (and we arrive in the evening at rush hour) are…
LHR at 5 hours on a good day.
LGW at 6.5 hours on a good day as we hit it at around 1700.

Clearly with those distances, we must inevitably travel up on the day before.

Probably my often stated preference for anything out of LHR is partly fuelled by my dread of the M25 South and this makes an indirect from LHR generally quicker than a direct from LGW when looking door to hotel room. It is also this preference for LHR that may have influenced our ever increasing desire to see the rest of the USA, given that this is the most prolific airport for those flights into Boston, NY, D.C., California etc.