staying off site and traffic?

[hyland113]

Not going until nov. but already planning. Last time stayed in Disney at All stars but this time thinking of doing Universal and sea world too. We have reservations at Port Orleans Riverside but I was wondering if we stay off site we could save some money. Only problem is hubby hates traffic and I didn't know if getting to disney from off site would start the day off wrong. i heard someone mention it could take 20 min. to drive 3 miles. Any comments or suggestions? Should I just stay on site and just deal with the traffic to Universal and sea word or go for off site and keep my fingers crossed?

[HappyLawyer]

i went in december and traffic was fine, i stayed off property, to be honest i really could not tell you how long it took to get anywhere becase it is disney, it is so exciting just being there and doing the daily activity, the time flies by when you are driving.

Off site can definitely save you big buck, use all the resources in these threads and you will be amazed

good luck and ave fun
ps it is never to early to plan

[spiceycat]

you could stay in silver lake and unless there is a wreck along Sheraton Road be on WDW property in a minute - it is around a mile from WDW property - the AK.

However if you want to go to SW and US - this is not the area you want to be in - you want to be along ID - International Drive close to SW (it is the middle) - now from here to WDW - 15 minutes is fair - could definitely be longer.

Sometimes I4 can get backed up that bad. I generally go ID to WDW and this is generally 15 minutes. If I4 doesn't have a traffic problem - then you can get to WDW property in around 7 minutes.

it depends upon much traffic and wrecks is on I4.

[Sandyincanada]

We never find traffic to be much of an issue when we go in Jan or Feb. I agree with around 15 min from DW to Universal but traffic moves well. When we stayed at Cypress Pointe, it took around 3 min to get to Disney's property and maybe 7 min to the actual park. No biggie

[winniedapooh]

We rented at WP at Christmastime 2003/04 and it took us 3 1/2 to 4 Alan Jackso songs to get from our driveway to the parking spot at all parks every morning and if we left with everyone else at night, it took 4 to 4 1/2 songs. The same thing this past October. Not a bad drive and we did not mind in the least. :wizard:

[Gillian]

Cypress pointe is convenient for both WDW and universal. It's very close to downtown disney and the Crossroads center with restaurants. There is also a back way to Universal that is very easy. You avoid the highway & a lot of traffic!

We are thinking of staying there again for the universal studios part of our trip. We're staying onsite at pofq for disney, then visiting family at the beach, and visiting universal for a couple of days on the way home.

[VacationDad]

We stayed in a place off 192 in Kissimmee and I thought it was fine. Maybe not if you are thinking of taking a break in the afternoon and going back to your place before heading back to the parks, but fine if you want to go somewhere, enjoy the day and then be done when you leave.

Of course, I'm used to Boston traffic, so the traffic down there seemed pretty tame to me.

[Mom of Sleepy, Bashful and BabyDoc]

Maybe it was because we went in Sept. but traffic was pretty light from Vistana. This is in the Lake Buena Vista area.

One day we went to Universal by I-4 and there wasn't any traffic. I'm sure it was because we were in the off-season, but that is generally when we go anyway.

It will be interesting to see what happens this December.

[Gillian]

September is just about the quietest month, especially the first couple of weeks. :)

[madge]

no traffic troubles from Silver Lake Resort in October....with the exception of around 8:00am on weekday mornings. A lot of people were going to work at the WDW facility off Sherbeth Road...and driving kind of fast ;) We also saw several cops patrolling the area for speeders.

It took us less than 30 minutes from the time we left Silver Lake to the gates of the Magic Kingdom...including parking, taking the tram to the monorail, and riding the monorail. We thought that was pretty darn good.

[flclarkkent]

If you're going to be using I-4, avoid rush hour...7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. -- usually the worst times on weekdays. As a local, when dealing with I-4, I plan for the worst and pray for the best. If you have a cell phone, call 511 before you make your drive. That's the automated traffic line..just say "attractions" and it will give you the latest traffic report for the, well, "attractions" part of town.

Personally, I'd rather take on I-4 than International Drive any day of the week. But, if you use Universal Drive, which roughly parallels I-Drive, you can move up and down that part of town with little trouble.