Driving in Orlando?

[beautybutafunnygirl]

I'm planning on bringing my car down, and I was wondering what the traffic situation is. Is the traffic really bad? Are the drivers crazy? Is it easy to get lost? Is the extra expensive gas worth the time saver of driving to work vs. saving money and taking the bus?

Thanks in advance!

 

[disneymegs]

I'm planning on bringing my car down, and I was wondering what the traffic situation is. Is the traffic really bad? Are the drivers crazy? Is it easy to get lost? Is the extra expensive gas worth the time saver of driving to work vs. saving money and taking the bus?

Thanks in advance!

It's the tourist capital of the world, so yes you can definitely count on traffic. Especially by the CP apartments. The outlets, I-4, and an entrance to Disney are all right there. Disney isn't far but it crawls at certain times of the day! I lived off site, but a lot of girls at work were so disgusted with the bus that they wish they had cars. They would have to get on the 6am bus for an 8am shift cause of bus schedules.

 

[WDW_lover_in_SC]

Don't drive at 5. That is all.

 

[Sehsun]

Like disneymegs said, the traffic can get bad around the CP apartments, esp. around the premium outlets. But thankfully that is not all the time.

I don't think there are any crazier drivers than usual , but then again, I didn't go out very much during my CP.

It is not too easy to get lost, esp. around Disney property. Disney is very good with their signs. If you decide to drive to work, make sure you know the exact directions. Sometimes the directions to get to your work location (depending on where you work) are different than the guest entrances to enter the parks.

You can certainly do without a car during the CP, but it is so helpful to have one! I loved being able to go to Publix and Wal-Mart at my leisure.

Even with a car, I took the buses most of the time to get to work. The only times I drove were mostly when I had very early morning shifts or shifts that ended very late. I don't know how it is now, but when I did the CP, you had to make a request for a van to come pick you up if you had a super early shift (the buses don't run 24/7).

Hope this helps!

 

[AllisonMak]

No, people can't drive @ all in Orlando. I saw an accident like ever single day. BAD accidents. Idk if it's Orlando drivers or just tourists who don't know where they're going and suddenly make bad moves...but I feared for myself cuz I was in my first accident in July. :x

 

[t-ho]

I'm planning on bringing my car down, and I was wondering what the traffic situation is. Is the traffic really bad? Are the drivers crazy? Is it easy to get lost? Is the extra expensive gas worth the time saver of driving to work vs. saving money and taking the bus?

Thanks in advance!

It depends where you come from, because I grew up in Miami and Orlando has nothing on Miami traffic wise. It's youe normal rush hour traffic. On that note though, people are tourists and don't know where they are going. The Main street you take to get from Vista to the other apts, and to like some fast food restaurants does have like the worse left turn signal EVER. Prepare to be there for like 10 minutes. It gets waaaay backed up. I-4 the main interstate can get aggressive, but you don't have to drive on it to get places. 528 has tolls, but there are no tolls before you get to the mall, so yay. Now from CS, TC, and Patt. The street you take is fine, with hotels on the side and it's like 50 mph and I never saw it backed up. It's also the road that takes you to WalMart ( but don't shop there). The street leads straight into WDWR. As for driving in the resort and to work, all the signs are straight forward and it's designed so that if you miss an exit, it loops you around. The speed limit is 40 or 50 but there's never any police, if you're running late *cough cough* Like someone before me mentioned, drive your car on days with early or late shifts. But don't drive your car to work the first week. 1. you'll meet other people going the same place as you on the bus. you can talk and be confused and excited together. 2. pay attention to the route the bus takes so you know how to get there yourself. I can't emphasize how much google amps helped me hahaha.

 

[autie689]

Also, drive around and learn the back roads. Hardly any traffic and will get you to work faster. There are ways to get around it. Make friends with a CP who is already there with a car and ask them about alternative routes to work, or ask your housing front desk. They can help you out.

 

[Jool-e]

Also, drive around and learn the back roads. Hardly any traffic and will get you to work faster. There are ways to get around it. Make friends with a CP who is already there with a car and ask them about alternative routes to work, or ask your housing front desk. They can help you out.

Right. I know the locals must know SOME back way to beat the insane Disney traffic. Every town has a secret route

Also, I think any new town or city is going to be uncomfortable to drive in at first. When I moved to a city for college it took me like my entire freshman year to get used to driving there. You just have to go for it and eventually it becomes second nature. And there are bad drivers everywhere you go.

I'm also planning on doing a test run to see how long it takes me to get to work (with traffic). I refuse to be late the first day, haha.

 

[Melinda22]

Traffic is not bad. I guess it depends on what you are used to. There are also back roads.

The drivers are terrible. Half the people are tourists who don't know where they are going. The other half are locals who speed and drive very aggressive. It isn't a very good combination.

I have my car here but I take the bus. CPs don't make much money. Spending money on gas when I can get to and from work for free is not something I can justify for myself. I don't find the buses that annoying.

 

[DisneyGirl421]

Traffic isn't so bad here. At times traffic on 535 (the main highway right by CP housing) is insane, but thats really it. You get used to when the traffic gets congested and avoid those areas. There are backroads and plenty of ways to get on/off disney property, and depending on where you work, you will figure it out!

But if you are contemplating either bringing your car or not bringing it to save money, BRING IT. Everyone says the buses aren't that bad, but with your own car, you can go wherever you want to whenever you want to, not depending on a bus schedule or a friends' ride. So much easier in my opinion. Plus, grocery shopping when you don't have a car? Not fun, haha.

Gas is kinda expensive here (but, really, its expensive everywhere now)... right now its $3.75. but again, totally worth it.

 

[SydneyJoLynn]

I-4 has a very nasty reputation. It is busy at all points in the day, but is absolutely impossible from 4-8pm on Monday through Friday. I drive from University of Central Florida to Disney, and by Orlando is always a mess to get through. With you being a CP, i'd imagine you would be closer. But anywhere near Disney/Universal/Outlets gets pretty packed too. Factor in any kind of accident on the side of the road and you have an instant parking lot.

Numbers game. In the last 4 days, I have been stuck in unmoving traffic on I-4 3 times. Cars, buses and vans seem to be catching on fire a lot lately is all I have to say...

There are alternate ways. Like for MK, there is Reams Road. Sure, it's longer and one lane. But as long as people keep moving that's all you need.

 

[t-ho]

I-4 has a very nasty reputation. It is busy at all points in the day, but is absolutely impossible from 4-8pm on Monday through Friday. I drive from University of Central Florida to Disney, and by Orlando is always a mess to get through. With you being a CP, i'd imagine you would be closer. But anywhere near Disney/Universal/Outlets gets pretty packed too. Factor in any kind of accident on the side of the road and you have an instant parking lot.

Numbers game. In the last 4 days, I have been stuck in unmoving traffic on I-4 3 times. Cars, buses and vans seem to be catching on fire a lot lately is all I have to say...

There are alternate ways. Like for MK, there is Reams Road. Sure, it's longer and one lane. But as long as people keep moving that's all you need.

Ew. I'm glad I read this now so I can prepare. I'll be starting UCF after my CP this fall, and I wanted to know how the commute was even though I knew it was bad, I kept pretending to myself that it wasn't "too bad" lol. On a another note about 3 weeks ago I was driving 1-4 from Orlando to Tampa and was stuck in Traffic for 3 hours, so it took double the time it should!

 

[autie689]

If you live in Chatham or Patterson, you don't have to go onto I-4 at all to get to work. Literally take 3 turns and staying straight and Disney property is 5 minutes away.

 

[Kelsers!]

Wait. Gas is only 3.75?!? -does a happy dance- I'm moving from LA so it would be pretty much impossible to find worse traffic. I'm glad to see gas is also .35 cents cheaper there too! I'm much more nervous about running into an alligator or something.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

Things to remember when driving in Orlando:
1) 85% of the people on the roads don't know where they're going.
2) 95% of the people on the roads don't know how to drive in rain
3) When considering #2, also consider that those same people think "a drop of water" = "rain"
4) From my house to WDW property is about 10 miles, as the crow flies. The roads around Orlando were laid out by some very drunk crows, and sticking to the roads, it's about 15 miles to WDW property from my house.
5) I-4 East will take you North.
6) 10% of the roads in the area have some form of the word "Vineland" in their name. They're not the same road. Also, 535 intersects with 535.
7) On a similar note, remember the differences between World Drive, World Center Drive, Epcot Center Drive, Vista Blvd and Buena Vista Blvd.
8) GPS devices are pretty much useless on Disney property.

 

[ladypage]

Wait. Gas is only 3.75?!? -does a happy dance- I'm moving from LA so it would be pretty much impossible to find worse traffic. I'm glad to see gas is also .35 cents cheaper there too! I'm much more nervous about running into an alligator or something.

You gotta remember that pay is less there too though. It really evens out.

 

[glendalais]

Things to remember when driving in Orlando:
1) 85% of the people on the roads don't know where they're going.
2) 95% of the people on the roads don't know how to drive in rain
3) When considering #2, also consider that those same people think "a drop of water" = "rain"
4) From my house to WDW property is about 10 miles, as the crow flies. The roads around Orlando were laid out by some very drunk crows, and sticking to the roads, it's about 15 miles to WDW property from my house.
5) I-4 East will take you North.
6) 10% of the roads in the area have some form of the word "Vineland" in their name. They're not the same road. Also, 535 intersects with 535.
7) On a similar note, remember the differences between World Drive, World Center Drive, Epcot Center Drive, Vista Blvd and Buena Vista Blvd.
8) GPS devices are pretty much useless on Disney property.

Don't forget that at least two-thirds of drivers here (including local law enforcement) ignore the posted speed limits. The other one-third are tourists from countries that use the metric system and as such have absolutely no clue what our speed limits mean to begin with .

 

[nurse.darcy]

Wait. Gas is only 3.75?!? -does a happy dance- I'm moving from LA so it would be pretty much impossible to find worse traffic. I'm glad to see gas is also .35 cents cheaper there too! I'm much more nervous about running into an alligator or something.

Don't worry about the alligators. Not really an issue most of the time. . .lol.

Things to remember when driving in Orlando:
1) 85% of the people on the roads don't know where they're going.
2) 95% of the people on the roads don't know how to drive in rain
3) When considering #2, also consider that those same people think "a drop of water" = "rain"
4) From my house to WDW property is about 10 miles, as the crow flies. The roads around Orlando were laid out by some very drunk crows, and sticking to the roads, it's about 15 miles to WDW property from my house.
5) I-4 East will take you North.
6) 10% of the roads in the area have some form of the word "Vineland" in their name. They're not the same road. Also, 535 intersects with 535.
7) On a similar note, remember the differences between World Drive, World Center Drive, Epcot Center Drive, Vista Blvd and Buena Vista Blvd.
8) GPS devices are pretty much useless on Disney property.

I love this list. It is perfect. I am from Los Angeles and used to HORRID traffic. . .but at least the people there know how to drive (well most of them anyway). I spent a couple years in Vegas before moving here and I will tell you the traffic in Vegas is HORRID compared to Orlando. Its pretty straight forward to get where you are going as long as you are prepared for the road you are driving on to have SEVERAL different names. . .this is why GPS useless here. I live 20 minutes from the parks and NEVER use I-4. I can get there faster with the back roads. I don't even drive 535. . .lol. I find the traffic here "easier" than LA. Its relative but seriously, just pretend that everyone driving the roads is either drunk or doesn't know where they are going and drive accordingly.

 

[keypooh90]

Don't worry about the alligators. Not really an issue most of the time. . .lol.



I love this list. It is perfect. I am from Los Angeles and used to HORRID traffic. . .but at least the people there know how to drive (well most of them anyway). I spent a couple years in Vegas before moving here and I will tell you the traffic in Vegas is HORRID compared to Orlando. Its pretty straight forward to get where you are going as long as you are prepared for the road you are driving on to have SEVERAL different names. . .this is why GPS useless here. I live 20 minutes from the parks and NEVER use I-4. I can get there faster with the back roads. I don't even drive 535. . .lol. I find the traffic here "easier" than LA. Its relative but seriously, just pretend that everyone driving the roads is either drunk or doesn't know where they are going and drive accordingly.

That sounds about evident. I'm not a local, but go yearly to WDW and know the area pretty well by now. Of course, it's always been with my family so my mom's been the one driving. CP will be the first time with me driving.

 

[Dreamstuff]

6) 10% of the roads in the area have some form of the word "Vineland" in their name. They're not the same road. Also, 535 intersects with 535.
.

Omg I don't drive but THIS. THIS. THIS.
I can't tell you how lost my car driving friends and me riding shotgun got lost backwards, sideways and confused because of the thousand different vinelands and the 535 intersecting itself.