Best Transportation Between Tampa And Disney World
Looking for all the best transportation options between Tampa and Disney World?
Tampa and Disney World are only about an hour and a half away from each other by car.
I used to make the drive many times when my dad was stationed in Tampa for a couple years and then again when I went to college near Tampa.
Many private transfer and shuttle services also offer transportation from the Tampa International Airport and neighboring hotels over to Disney World if you don’t have your own transportation.
Additionally, there are some public transportation services like trains and buses that travel between these two destinations also.
All of these options have a wide price range and length of travel time, so the best option will depend on the budget and the amount of time you have!
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Best Transportation Between Tampa and Disney World
The most common transportation options between Tampa and Disney World include driving (whether it’s your own car or a rental car), rideshare services, airport shuttles, private transfers, public buses, and trains.
The one that will be best for you will depend on if you need any extra accommodations like car seats, wheelchair accessible vehicles, or if you’re needing airport transportation during uncommon hours or you have a larger than typical group.
Let’s break down each one to compare and contrast the cost, the time involved, the reliability, and the safety of each of these options.
1. Driving Yourself
Whether you’re driving your own vehicle or you have a rental car, this is what I would recommend trying to do as your first option.
This way you also have your transportation freedom once you get to Disney World and you can do anything you want on your own schedule.
Distance: 77 miles from Tampa International Airport to Disney Springs
Average Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
This route does not include toll roads, but if there’s traffic, sometimes your GPS could divert you to toll roads.
So if you don’t have the SunPass or you just don’t want to pay for tolls, then make sure to turn that setting off.
2. Rideshare Services (Uber and Lyft)
Along the same lines of driving, you could also take a rideshare service between Tampa and Disney World.
It would be the same distance and time as driving, since that’s still the same method being used, but it will be much more expensive than just the cost of gas money.
This isn’t an option I’d really recommend, but I still wanted to include it here because there could be a time when it might be your only or quickest way to get where you’re going.
For the most part, rideshares are better to use when needing to get around locally, not these long distances.
Uber claims that the average cost for this is about $103-$119 each way for a regular Uber.
If you’re taking an Uber Black, Uber XL, or going during a peak time, then it will cost significantly more.
For those that are not familiar with Uber, Uber Black is a luxury vehicle and Uber XL is a larger vehicle that can accommodate more passengers.
Another option is Lyft.
Lyft is an official partner with Disney, but only through their Minnie Vans on Disney property.
Costs will be roughly the same, but I recommend checking both Uber and Lyft before booking your ride just to get the better deal.
3. Taxi
Taking a taxi is the last regular driving option.
So again it’ll take the same amount of time and it’ll be the same distance as driving yourself or taking a rideshare.
This also wouldn’t be my first choice of transportation since it’s such a long distance to take a taxi, but if you’re in a pinch, it’s an efficient way to get there.
The Yellow Cab taxis offer curbside pickup at baggage claim at the Tampa airport and their rates are $2.50 per mile (after a $3.50 fee for the first 1/5 of a mile).
Overall, the estimated taxi cost can range from $156-$270 each way, so it’s definitely pricier than a rideshare.
4. Airport Shuttle
A much more cost effective option would be to take an airport shuttle.
Since these are usually full motorcoach buses going to multiple destinations in the same area, the price per person is pretty low.
If I were flying into Tampa and needed to get over to Disney World without a car, this would be my first option I’d look at because of it’s cost effectiveness.
Shared shuttles tend to be about $65 per person each way, but could be higher during peak travel seasons.
Sometimes it’s less for children and children under 3 are free sometimes as well.
Tampa Bay Airport Shuttle Service tends to be the most popular option, but there are plenty of others.
Something to keep in mind is that you may have to wait 30 minutes or so for your shuttle to depart the airport and your stop could potentially be the last stop, so you might be on the shuttle for up to 2 1/2 hours or so.
So make sure to plan for this extra time because even if you’re on the first stop, it’ll still take a little bit longer than just driving yourself.
5. Private Transfers
Another popular airport transportation option is private transfers.
These will cost more than shuttles since it will just be your own party traveling together.
There are also a variety of vehicles to choose from like a simple town car or party bus type vehicles or limos, which will all widely range in price.
It can be cost effective though if everyone in your group splits the cost because usually the cost is for the ride as a whole, regardless of how many people are traveling.
Most of the time they will be waiting near baggage claim with a sign to pick you up.
Many companies offer grocery store stops before dropping you off at the hotel.
Sometimes it’s included, sometimes it’s extra.
One thing I’ll add here too is that when you’re looking for shuttles or private transfers, some of the search results use those words interchangeably, when obviously they are 2 different things.
I ran into this a lot when trying to find different companies for each and the same search results would come up for both.
6. Bus
There are two popular bus companies that run between Tampa and Disney World – Flixbus USA and Greyhound, which actually operate in tandem.
However, they do not have bus stations at the Tampa Airport, the bus stations are in downtown Tampa.
So you’d have to get yourself to the bus station to utilize these options.
Additionally, the bus station drop-off that is nearest to Disney World is on Sand Lake Road, which is nearer to the Universal Studios area, so you’d once again have to get yourself to Disney World.
Flixbus runs several times a day from Tampa to the Orlando area and tickets can range from $9-$45 per person.
It takes a little over 2 hours usually.
Greyhound also has bus routes between Tampa and Orlando for the same price.
When you’re looking on the Greyhound site, they will actually show you the Flixbus routes and the Greyhound routes.
A third bus option is the local LYNX bus system, but you’d have to take the Greyhound or Flixbus to the Orlando area first, then take the local bus routes to get to Disney Springs.
7. Train
So I mentioned my first choice would be to drive myself or get a rental car.
Then my second choice would be to take a shared shuttle service.
My third choice would be to take the train.
Amtrak has a pretty extensive rail system throughout Florida.
I’ve taken it from Tampa plenty of times down to the Fort Lauderdale area to visit my grandparents when I was in high school and college, plus some other random trips around Florida.
What’s great about this option is that it is usually about $11 for a coach seat.
The problem though is still that you’d need to get to downtown Tampa to get to the train station.
I’d recommend taking an Uber or Lyft, which usually would be less than $30 as long as there’s no surge pricing at the time you’re traveling.
Additionally, the Amtrak bus station will drop off in the actual city of Orlando, which overshoots Disney.
From there, you’d need to take a LYNX bus or a rideshare.
I’d probably go the rideshare route again which would be about $40 or less depending on surge pricing.
So overall, this option would cost maybe $85 or so, and the train portion alone would be 2 hours, so it would likely take 3 hours total.
This is still about $20-$30 cheaper than taking a rideshare the entire way, but it also takes twice as long.
So for that reason, I think I’d actually choose a rideshare over the Amtrak.
As a side note, you may have heard of the Brightline train.
This is a high speed train connecting Orlando through Miami.
It does not currently connect to Tampa though, so it would not be an option for this itinerary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to get from Tampa to Disney World?
The cheapest way would be to drive your own vehicle.
Gas would be about 1/4-1/3 of a tank and there are many direct routes that don’t include any toll roads.
What is the fastest way to get from Tampa to Disney World?
The fastest way to get from Tampa to Disney World is to drive yourself, whether it’s in your own vehicle or in a rental car.
It should take less than an hour and a half, depending on traffic.
How far is it from Tampa to Disney World?
The distance between Tampa to Disney World is less than 80 miles.
For example, from the Tampa Airport to Disney Springs, it is 77 miles.
Is there a direct bus route from Tampa to Disney World?
Sort of.
There is no bus station at the Tampa Airport.
You’d have to go to downtown Tampa to take the bus to Orlando.
From there, the bus would not drop off at Disney World, but at the Sand Lake Road stop, which is just past the Universal Studios area.
Where To Stay At Disney World
If at all possible, it is always best to stay at a Disney Resort Hotel.
These come with a bunch of additional perks and immerse you more in the Disney experience.
As a second choice, there are also a ton of partner hotels that are on Disney property, but aren’t owned by Disney.
For example, there’s all the hotels in the “Disney Springs Resort Area” along Hotel Plaza Boulevard and the Bonnet Creek Resort Area hotels.
Additionally, there is the Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, and the Four Seasons that are all on Disney property.
If none of those are available or are out of your price range, then I recommend local timeshare resorts.
They are available to non-timeshare owners just like a regular hotel would be, but they usually have more amenities like full kitchens, extra bedrooms, and more.
I’ve reviewed a ton of my favorites on another blog of mine called Timeshares, Resorts, and More.
These are some of the resorts I recommend checking out:
Aqua Sol
Aqua Sol is the furthest away.
It’s on the far side of Animal Kingdom, but it has it’s own mini water park and mini golf and a ton of other resort amenities.
The 2 bedrooms are recently renovated and absolutely beautiful and so spacious.
For the rooms themselves, this is my first choice.
Cypress Pointe
Cypress Pointe is just 5 minutes outside of Disney Springs and it’s my favorite place to stay when I can’t stay on property.
It’s one of the cheapest of the resorts and they have a really nice volcano pool and cafe.
I won a drawing for a free pool cabana for a day and made the absolute most of it!
Grande Villas
Grande Villas is actually right across the street from Cypress Pointe.
These two resorts actually share their amenities and guest access points with each other since they are both owned by Hilton Grand Vacations.
I enjoyed the pool deck area of Grande Villas because all of the amenities and entertainment were centrally located.
It’s usually pricier than Cypress Pointe, but the rooms are nicer.
Grand Beach
Grand Beach is on the south east end of Disney, closer to places like Wide World of Sports and Art of Animation, but still easily accessible to Disney Springs.
This resort looks like the Grand Floridian, so you might have seen it before when driving around Orlando.
The rooms are definitely a little dated, but the jacuzzi tub in the room is really nice and so is the pool.
It was one of the quieter resorts I’ve stayed in too.
Mystic Dunes
The last one I want to mention is a good compromise between all the resorts.
It’s usually pretty cheap, but not the absolute cheapest.
It’s about 15 minutes from just about any of the Disney theme parks, so it’s really convenient.
The resort is closer to more residential type areas and is really spacious.
There’s a golf course and it has more of a vacation resort feel than all of the others.
We’ve stayed here several times and it’s also the most convenient for us to visit family.
The Wrap-Up: Transportation Between Tampa and Disney World
If you’re traveling between Tampa and Disney World, the best option is to drive yourself or rent a car.
If that’s not possible, then a shuttle service or rideshare service would be the next best efficient and cost effective route.
For a more luxurious experience, private transfers are also efficient.
If you have more time on your hands and still want to save some money, then a bus or train would be a decent idea, but it will take at least twice as long.
Since the Orlando Airport is so much closer to Disney, there are a lot more options from there if you’re able to fly into that airport instead.
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