Driving from Tampa

[Stevelovesfl]

Originally Posted by mseagle

It will be tiring and I reckon the drive would be best part of 2 hours after going through security and picked up the car which itself will take a little while. The route is pretty direct and straightforward but it will also be dark.
So can all be done ok but my suggestion would be to treat yourself to a stay at the Marriott onsite at the airport. Have a nice meal in a nice hotel and wake early but refreshed for the drive.

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I agree, we were lucky and got through in around 10 mins as we were waved over as we had young kids in our arms. Walking into the Marriott from the airport was very handy after the flight.

We got some food in the airport and went to bed and was awake early the next day. We got some breakfast from Starbucks I think and then took the monorail to the rental garage and were at Disney Springs by 10am! We picked up some magic bands, did a food shop and then checked into the villa.

[lifes2comp]

We have done this route and always driven straight from Tampa airport to villa on 192/27, normally on a Thursday. It’s a very straightforward drive on the I4, you can pretty much get on and cruise all the way once out of initial rush hour traffic around tampa.

For me, this has never been a problem and I would much rather just get to the villa and unpacked and the girls settled so we can start our holiday properly the next day. There is no way I am spending a night near the airport if I can help it!

Yeah I’m pretty exhausted, but well thats part of my job as dad as I see it (everyone else sleeps on the drive pretty much) and travel day is all about getting there and done and starting the holiday big time the next day. Last year I even did the initial Walmart shop on my own about midnight Florida time (so quiet it was great). A good sleep, easy start the next day and then off to the water parks for the day on the Friday, before First long park day at MK on the Saturday. Worked brilliantly. Yeah I took the hit on landing, but was worth it.

Everyone is different obviously, so work out what you are comfortable with. I totally understand people that might not want to drive that far after long flight etc, and I have done this route many times.

But if you feel ok about the driving generally, then it’s pretty much as simple a drive as you can get I think. It’s pretty boring tbh, but I just stick an American radio station on with Springsteen or something and enjoy the long flat vistas and feeling of being in Florida

[Stevelovesfl]

Originally Posted by lifes2comp

We have done this route and always driven straight from Tampa airport to villa on 192/27, normally on a Thursday. It’s a very straightforward drive on the I4, you can pretty much get on and cruise all the way once out of initial rush hour traffic around tampa.

For me, this has never been a problem and I would much rather just get to the villa and unpacked and the girls settled so we can start our holiday properly the next day. There is no way I am spending a night near the airport if I can help it!

Yeah I’m pretty exhausted, but well thats part of my job as dad as I see it (everyone else sleeps on the drive pretty much) and travel day is all about getting there and done and starting the holiday big time the next day. Last year I even did the initial Walmart shop on my own about midnight Florida time (so quiet it was great). A good sleep, easy start the next day and then off to the water parks for the day on the Friday, before First long park day at MK on the Saturday. Worked brilliantly. Yeah I took the hit on landing, but was worth it.

Everyone is different obviously, so work out what you are comfortable with. I totally understand people that might not want to drive that far after long flight etc, and I have done this route many times.

But if you feel ok about the driving generally, then it’s pretty much as simple a drive as you can get I think. It’s pretty boring tbh, but I just stick an American radio station on with Springsteen or something and enjoy the long flat vistas and feeling of being in Florida

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I normally drive it but as we have young children now the wife insisted we stay at the airport this time. We live 15 mins from the airport so a short drive this end so a shorted day compared to others.

I’m glad we stayed in an airport hotel as I could enjoy some drinks in the lounge and on the flight. The kids were keen to crawl and run about for a bit before going to sleep and I don’t think 2 hours being strapped in would have been an enjoyable drive for all. Perhaps with older kids driving its fine after a long flight but it’s really how tired the drive is or will be.

We did plan on stopping at Dinosaur world on the way but it wasn’t open when we were driving past so we carried on.

[Echo18]

As others have said, the Marriott at Tampa is really convenient. We had a 10pm arrival and stayed overnight. Worth booking a rate that can be cancelled as we found the price dropped a few times.

[JosephDrums]

We land at around 4pm on a Saturday and had planned to get through security and go collect our car etc then hit the road up to Haines City.
We've never flown into Tampa before so i've done my google maps research and checked out the route. It looks pretty straight forward and everytime i've looked it says around the 1hr 15m timescale to get there.

I'm hoping security, reclaim and car collection is straight forward and runs smoothly!

Have an awesome trip!