Disney Solves a Huge Disney World Problem

[cheryllarsen]

Great idea!

 

[hrhdhd]

My DH worked on the I-4 Ultimate project for almost 8 years. I can assure you that Disney had nothing to do with it.

 

[New Mouse]

Yes, the current expansion of I-4 (which includes toll lanes) is done. Get ready for part 2. Its called I-4 Beyond the Ultimate. I starts where part 1 ended. It rebuilds I-4 from Universal past Disney. They haven't even started it yet. Dont know the completion data but local news station 13 states the following:

"Right now, FDOT said only two of the five Beyond the Ultimate segments are tentatively funded, and that money wouldn't come for another 10 years."

Not gonna happen in this lifetime with the failure of the current portion.

 

[artinlife]

The company (with a little help) has literally done something that should improve most Disney World trips.
RONIKA BONDARENKOMAR 2, 2022 6:32 PM EST

Anyone from Central Florida (or who has ever tried getting into Disney World by car) knows that driving down the I-4 is no easy feat: the interstate highway is long, prone to bottlenecks, and full of tourists and snowbirds unfamiliar with its twists and exits. A nightmare, in other words, for anyone rushing to get the fun started.

That impacts tourists too because you have to take the I-4 when you come in from the Orlando airport. You can also fall victim to the famously busy road if you're staying outside of the so-called "Disney Bubble" that's right near the company's four theme parks.

Now, Disney has something new that just might make those driving trips easier.

Express Lane To Disney World? Sign Me Up

To take some driving stress off visitors, the Florida Department of Transportation has finally opened I-4 Express Lanes heading westbound or eastbound in Mickey's direction. In construction for the 21-mile stretch of highway to Disney World for years, the lanes finally opened to visitors last Saturday.

Free for the first five days, the lanes will soon cost 50 cents for each segment for a toll total of $3.50 during what the Orlando Sentinel reports is an "introductory period." After that, toll prices will be "adjusted based on traffic volumes in I-4 Express to manage congestion."

"The Florida Department of Transportation is providing motorists choices with managed lane options on some of its most heavily traveled highways," Florida's Department of Transportation Motorists have the option to enter the lanes, two in each direction, via limited access points to more reliably get where they need to gon told the newspaper in a statement. "Managed lanes are highway lanes designed to address congestion and have been successfully implemented in other areas around Florida, throughout the United States, and around the world."

What Will This Do To Disney Traffic?

While obviously an enormous boost for Disney visitors, the highway project is unconnected to the Walt Disney Company (DIS) - Get Walt Disney Company Report — the $2.3 billion state effort to rework and widen the 21 miles of I-4 first began seven years ago and has faced many setbacks, financial problems, and delays.

As Disney World is the busiest amusement in the world, traffic around it is understandably substantial. That changed somewhat during the pandemic as the amusement park industry took a massive hit.

Between 2019 and 2020, visits to the country's 25 biggest parks (Disneyland, Disney World, and Universal Studios are all on this list) fell by 67%, according to a report by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM. While our exit from the pandemic has been haphazard at best, theme park attendance is rising steadily in 2021 and 2022 — the lanes, then, can be a major boost for Disney as well as a perk for drivers who don't want to get frustrated by traffic before even getting on their first ride.

Source: The Street

Why take 4 when you can take 417?

 

[OKW Lover]

Why take 4 when you can take 417?

Because I-4 is usually fewer miles and may be faster depending on time of day.

 

[hrhdhd]

Why take 4 when you can take 417?

Right now, it's SR-417 that's under construction.

 

[artinlife]

Right now, it's SR-417 that's under construction.

Yes. But the construction is going on in the center median, not on the roads themselves. Besides, when is a road in this busy area not under construction? I live in downtown Chicago and it is guaranteed that at some point a street near you will be involved in some kind of re-surfacing. This is something we all learn to live with and deal with.

 

[hrhdhd]

Yes. But the construction is going on in the center median, not on the roads themselves. Besides, when is a road in this busy area not under construction? I live in downtown Chicago and it is guaranteed that at some point a street near you will be involved in some kind of re-surfacing. This is something we all learn to live with and deal with.

My husband is in road construction--I know construction and am pro-orange barrel.

The issue with SR-417 is that the construction in the median necessitates miles of barrier wall to protect the workers, which results in narrowed regular travel lanes. Add decreased speed limits (which few pay attention to), lane closures (mostly at night) and large trucks entering and exiting the construction zones, and you've got travel delays.

ETA: the construction on I-4 was staged so the new general use lanes were constructed before the variable tolling lanes, so in a sense that construction was also occurring outside the existing lanes of traffic. But construction causes delays nonetheless.