Orlando airport and FBO recomendations?

[carusoam]

Heading to Florida to visit with the mouse & friends around Orlando.

 

Any recomendations for airport and FBO would be appreciated.  Looking for a rental car when we get there.

 

Best regards,

 

-a-

[bnicolette]

I personally like Showalter at ORL.  It is family run and they will take care of everything for you.

[GTWreck]

I stopped at Kissimmee earlier this year for exactly the same reason.  I used Kissimmee Jet Center.  They had the cheapest gas.  Not a great facility (a bit run down), but the staff was very helpful.  They arranged for my rental car and had it delivered to my plane upon arrival.

Pretty close to DisneyWorld.  About a 10 minute drive to be on property.

I would definitely stop there again.

[DrBill]

I second the motion on ORL.  Stopped there one time with my Sundowner and got a Hertz car no problems.  Felt like I was a jet jockey.

Dr BIll

 

[74657]

Im flying down to KISM on the 18th to spend 3 days @ Disney then on to KMKY for Thanksgiving.  I was told that ISM is the best place to go for Disney and the Jet Center has the best prices around on fuel.  When are you going to be down there?

[Piloto]

[Piloto]

My son lives in Orlando and we stop by Sheltair at KORL. Excellent service. A couple times they gave us a ride for free to my son's house. At other times we had used their crew car for a couple of hours. Fuel is not cheap but service is excellent. They always help with baggage and getting ground transportation. Strongly recommend them.

José

 

[231flyer]

We have two young girls so we have done the annual Disney trip for the last 13 years.  I find  KISM to be the easiest and also cheapest.  I do agree with the earlier post of facilities being a little run down.  Friendly folks though and much easier drive if you are staying on property at Disney.  My wife usually takes a "shopping" day at the outlet malls before we head home and its directly on the way back to the airport.  

[John Pleisse]

All of the FBO's at Executive are great and the facities are great. On most approaches, you'll pop out right over down town...it's a great view. Kiss also has the warbirds to see and do. http://www.warbirdadventures.com/  It is also an equidistant drive. 

[1964-M20E]

I went there Memorial Day weekend and visited Sheltair.  The service was good and more economical than Showalter.  The only complaint is they do not get there until 6am.  The self serve fuel depot is on the east side of the field as best as I can tell. I stopped in Cross City CTY I only needed about 11 gallons so I just had Sheltair fill it up.  I did not need a rental my daughter came by and picked us up.

[Dale]

I have been to both KORL and KISM within the past month.  KORL is convenient and near downdown.  I used Showalter and their service is excellent.  They also have rental cars if you need a car for a few days.  I had business downtown and they dropped us off at our meeting and picked us up at the end of the day.  Fuel is a little more expensive at KORL than at KISM but depending on where you are staying, the airport is nicely located. 

I fley into KISM for a conference a couple of weeks ago and I used Kissimmee Jet Center.  Like the other posts the facilities are not the top of the line but they do have the cheapest fuel around, without a doubt.  We got a decent rate on a rental car there for the three days we were at the conference.  Staff was friendly and helpful and the airport is also conveniently located.  You might want to see which airport is closest to where you are staying and which airport gives you the best deal on a rental car. 

[David Mazer]

Not entirely surprisingly, as a local, I don't use the FBOs much.  However, the choice of airports in the Orlando area would also include which part of Orlando to which you are going.  There are at least two other airports you might consider.  First is KSFB, north of Orlando.  Long runways, lots of instrument approaches, good facilities, lots of maintenance issues, and fuel won't be worse than ORL.  Second is Orlando Apopka, X04, to the north west.  Non-toward, long enough runway for just about anything (4,000), less expensive fuel, some maintenance available.  I'm not sure about the car rental but a phone call would answer that quickly enough (407-886-4030).

Both are a good 30 min from downtown but if you are going to the northern portions of Orlando, they make lots of sense.

[carusoam]

Thank you guys,

 

To recap...

We left 12 hours after I launched this request.  

We considered X04 briefly.  We were unable to find a rental car.  The AOPA data had a dead phone number to the only FBO mentioning cars.  I like simple non-towered airports. Easy in easy out....

We used KORL.  Orlando executive.  They set us up with a rental car at Showalter (FBO).  They were open pretty late when I made the reservation.  Great service.  They make you feel like you fly a brand new Mooney.

We  visited KISM.  Kissimmee. They have a small museum that is worth giving a look to if you can alter your amusement park schedule.  we watched a P51 with counter rotating 3-blade props depart.  Jet fast and up close.  Name on the P51 "precious metal"

Thanks for all your input. We had a great time.  It was made easier by knowing what to expect at the FBOs.

Best regards,

 

-a-