When you say rush hour, what time are you thinking? The reason I am asking is I used to work near Sea World and it would take 30-35 minutes to get to CR from my office. I got off work at 5:00 and would get to my dining reservation around 5:30 most times. I would allow at least 45 minutes minimum, and an hour if you can. Orlando, and I-4 in particular, have a fairly long evening rush hour. Things start getting busy around three in the afternoon, builds to a peak from about 4:30-6:00, and then slowly tapers off.
The most stressful part of the journey was I-4. It always was slow from where I got on all the way down to the SR535 exit (the last exit before the Disney exits). I eventually started going down South International Drive to SR536 (which becomes Epcot Center Blvd. when you cross onto Disney property). It was less stressful because it seemed less congested, although with the occasional traffic light it didn’t really save much time overall. The main thing was that if there was an accident, you could find an alternate route, where on I-4 you could be stuck.
If you want to get an idea of how the traffic flows around that time, try looking at the websites for our local news affiliates (WFTV, WESH, WOFL, WKMG) at the time you think you would be traveling.
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