Help! need to avoid traffic areas

[mom4fun]

We are looking at staying at Homewood suites on international drive during spring break. We've stayed there before and liked it but traffic was horrible. I'm hoping there is a better route out of there to Disney world.

 

[spiceycat]

are you talking ID or I4?

I get on 535 (ID) when it deadlines - turn right to 536 - which turns into World drive and WDW

 

[DOOM1001]

I've stayed at that hotel before,but then again I've probably stayed in 70% of the hotels on International Drive.The hotel is in between International Dr and Universal blvd,you can take either street south to the 528 beach line expressway west and get on I-4 west towards Disney.If you ever need to go north from your hotel say towards Universal Studios take Universal blvd,it will always have less traffic than International Dr and they pretty much parallel each other for a stretch of this tourist area.If you want to take ground streets to Disney,either take International Dr south,you'll pass Sea World and reach 536 which becomes Epcot center Dr,once you're there signs will point you where you need to go.There's other routes but this is the simplest and you shouldn't get much traffic.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Use Universal Blvd. as an alternative to I-Drive. To get to Disney while avoiding I-4, take Universal Blvd. to Central Florida Parkway and make a right. It will dead-end on Palm Parkway/Turkey Lake Rd. Make a left, and that road will take you all the way to Lake Buena Vista when it intersects Apopka-Vineland Rd.

 

[mom4fun]

I've stayed at that hotel before,but then again I've probably stayed in 70% of the hotels on International Drive.The hotel is in between International Dr and Universal blvd,you can take either street south to the 528 beach line expressway west and get on I-4 west towards Disney.If you ever need to go north from your hotel say towards Universal Studios take Universal blvd,it will always have less traffic than International Dr and they pretty much parallel each other for a stretch of this tourist area.If you want to take ground streets to Disney,either take International Dr south,you'll pass Sea World and reach 536 which becomes Epcot center Dr,once you're there signs will point you where you need to go.There's other routes but this is the simplest and you shouldn't get much traffic.

How long do you think it would take to get to a Disney park from the hotel during spring break?

 

[kwdw]

Use Universal Blvd. as an alternative to I-Drive. To get to Disney while avoiding I-4, take Universal Blvd. to Central Florida Parkway and make a right. It will dead-end on Palm Parkway/Turkey Lake Rd. Make a left, and that road will take you all the way to Lake Buena Vista when it intersects Apopka-Vineland Rd.

Yep - this. I did this last spring break. (Except I was closer to Central Florida Parkway - and just took I-Drive to it.)

But - if NOT traveling at peak times - really - traffic wasn't a problem.

 

[mom4fun]

Yep - this. I did this last spring break. (Except I was closer to Central Florida Parkway - and just took I-Drive to it.)

But - if NOT traveling at peak times - really - traffic wasn't a problem.

What was your drive time?

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

What was your drive time?

For my route, probably 15-20 minutes depending on lights.

 

[DOOM1001]

Using I-4 would probably be the fastest way to get to the Disney parks,I would put it at 15-20 minutes using I-4 and 25-30 minutes using either of the two ground street routes.AK and MK are further away so the high numbers of these estimates would be for those parks which are a bit further away.These numbers are with light to average traffic,of the three routes I think I-4 has the highest chance to get a slow down with the Central Florida parkway/Palm Parkway route second as this route will take you by DTD/535/Hotel Plaza blvd which is notorious for high traffic.That's why I prefer the International drive to 536/Epcot Center Dr route as it has the lightest traffic of the three.

 

[spiceycat]

okay confused - though ID was 535 - looks like it is Vineland/s apopka - but the instructions were correct.

it takes me around 15 minutes to get there from the Marriott's Grande Vista - close to SW - sounds like you are alot further down the road.

 

[DOOM1001]

okay confused - though ID was 535 - looks like it is Vineland/s apopka - but the instructions were correct.

it takes me around 15 minutes to get there from the Marriott's Grande Vista - close to SW - sounds like you are alot further down the road.

International Drive runs from the Premium outlets International drive location by Universal Studios on the north end and goes south passing by Wet n Wild,the Orlando Eye,the convention center,Sea World/Aquatica,the Vineland ave location of the Premium outlets and about several hundred hotels,restaurants and attractions.It reaches 536 on the south end,536 is an east/west road that becomes Epcot Center Dr if you take it going west.535 runs from 192 on the south end going north towards Lake Buena vista around I-4.Once you pass the Disney Hotel plaza blvd entrance on 535 and Palm Pkwy,535 becomes 435 if you keep taking it north and it reaches the Dr.Phillips Sand Lake rd Restaurant row area which is another route that will get you to Universal studios.At 535 and Palm pkwy if you turn left it continues being 535 and the name changes to Winter Garden Vineland ave which reaches the Winter Garden/Windermere area.South of 536 on 535 you will also see a small section of road also known as International drive which might eventually connect to the main section of International drive but as of now its just a small section of road between 535 and 192.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

okay confused - though ID was 535 - looks like it is Vineland/s apopka - but the instructions were correct.

it takes me around 15 minutes to get there from the Marriott's Grande Vista - close to SW - sounds like you are alot further down the road.

Orlando road names and numbers are notoriously confusing. I don't know who decided to give roads 2-3 different numbers, names, and then switch them randomly.. And we have roads that share the same name. It's a mess.

Just check out the routes on Google Maps. The drive time estimate I gave was how long it takes to get from the hotel to the LBV area, so Downtown Disney would be the first part of property you'd get to. Getting to the parks from there will add drive time.

If you're headed to MK, you could essentially take Palm Parkway past Apopka-Vineland, and it turns into 535. You'd enter the back way onto property and pass Golden Oak and Ft. Wilderness. Just can't remember the name of that road at the moment.

 

[mom4fun]

Thanks! When are the high traffic times?

Yep - this. I did this last spring break. (Except I was closer to Central Florida Parkway - and just took I-Drive to it.)

But - if NOT traveling at peak times - really - traffic wasn't a problem.

What would be peak travel times?