Universal to Poly for Spirit of Olaha?

[srobinet]

We have not been to Universal Studios in years. I don't remember how long the commute is or how the parking is at Universal. We have dinner reservations for the 5:15 show on 10/17/14. What time would you recommend leaving Universal Studios? We are driving our own car to Universal but will be taking the bus from Pop Cenury to dinner.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

We have not been to Universal Studios in years. I don't remember how long the commute is or how the parking is at Universal. We have dinner reservations for the 5:15 show on 10/17/14. What time would you recommend leaving Universal Studios? We are driving our own car to Universal but will be taking the bus from Pop Cenury to dinner.

Oh golly, well. I would not take I-4, too many what if's concerning traffic. I would travel down Turkey Lake, it's almost a straight shot, and traffic move's steadily. At Universal you will park in a parking garage, its usually pretty easy to get out, but where you'll pop out of the garage is sometimes confusing.

If you are at your car, getting ready to leave the garage, I would allow yourself a minimum of 45 minutes traveling via Turkey Lake back to the Pop.

But, If you take the bus from the Pop to the Poly won't you have to stop at a park first, and transfer buses? This could potentially eat up a lot of time, if you have a vehicle, why not just drive in? There is a back road off of 535 into the Poly, that would save you oodles of time if you went from Universal straight to the Poly.

But if you really wanna take the bus, and your reservation is at 5:15 I would be at my car, leaving universal no later than 2:45 - 3 o'clock. If you decide to just drive to dinner, I would be at my car leaving universal at 4:00.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

P.S. the backroad is called Vista Blvd.

So, turkey lake, to 535 (when you reach the Apopka Vineland crossroad, 535 is straight, so Turkey Lake kinda turns into 535 at the crossroad) to Vista Blvd. Easy Peasy

 

[srobinet]

Thanks for the directions. I just get concerned about finding my way back to Pop Century after dark. It would be much easier to drive instead of taking the bus.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I agree about driving directly to Poly... You would waste a lot of time waiting for bus at Pop then going to MK and switching busses, you could hop on the resort monorail to Poly from MK but driving your own car would still be a lot quicker.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Thanks for the directions. I just get concerned about finding my way back to Pop Century after dark. It would be much easier to drive instead of taking the bus.

Oh, gotcha. I can respect that, and those Disney roads can be a doozy. Sure there are signs, but sometimes, the signs hide until the last second, and it's a maze thru there. Defiantly do what makes you most comfortable.

But, I still recommend taking Turkey Lake from Universal to the crossroads area, and then to the POP. It's the path of least resistance, IMO.

 

[Elevationist]

I'm so glad this post has appeared! I will be at Universal next Monday, with Ohana reservations that night. I too have been questioning what time to leave the parks and what route to take. The directions I printed from Google maps are taking me to Universal and back via I-4, but now I'm going to take another look and ask it to route me via Turkey Lake Road instead. Big thanks to the previous poster for all the advice!

 

[DOOM1001]

There's about 5 different ground street options between Disney and Universal,I agree that Turkey lake rd is the best one.Also note that Turkey Lake rd is called Turkey lake rd past Central Florida parkway,before that it's Palm parkway.

 

[bas71873]

Just throwing this out there (and disclaimer, we've never done the Spirit of Aloha)...we did do the luau at Royal Pacific a few summers ago during our US/IOA trip and it was WONDERFUL. Food was good, we had great table mates, the staff the drinks FULL and the show was great. And best of all, no driving. We took the shuttle from Hard Rock where to stayed over to RPR.

 

[LetsTalkWDW]

We have not been to Universal Studios in years. I don't remember how long the commute is or how the parking is at Universal. We have dinner reservations for the 5:15 show on 10/17/14. What time would you recommend leaving Universal Studios? We are driving our own car to Universal but will be taking the bus from Pop Century to dinner.

Don't know if you use your smartphone for GPS. But I have been using a wonderful (and free) navigation app called Waze for the last 9 months. It uses data from other Waze users along your possible routes to calculate drive times and selects the best route. It hasn't steered me wrong yet (I know - bad pun). It has saved me tons of commute time. The arrival times are much more accurate than the GPS in my car.

One time when I first started using it I decided to ignore what the app was trying to tell me about traffic and I paid for it (an extra hour on my commute).

I should also mention that you can use Waze on your laptop without signing up (www.waze.com). Just select "Live Map", put in your location and destination and it will give you the best route and drive time with traffic (much more accurate drive time than Google Maps with traffic)

As I write this on a Sunday night at 11:00pm, it says the best route from Universal Studios to Disney's Polynesian Resort is I-4W Epcot Center Drive about 23 minutes. Of course it will be different on a Friday afternoon.

One more thing and then I'll shut up. The app also shows speed traps, accidents and other hazards, that other wazers have reported

 

[Lewisc]

Don't know if you use your smartphone for GPS. But I have been using a wonderful (and free) navigation app called Waze for the last 9 months. It uses data from other Waze users along your possible routes to calculate drive times and selects the best route. It hasn't steered me wrong yet (I know - bad pun). It has saved me tons of commute time. The arrival times are much more accurate than the GPS in my car.

One time when I first started using it I decided to ignore what the app was trying to tell me about traffic and I paid for it (an extra hour on my commute).

I should also mention that you can use Waze on your laptop without signing up (www.waze.com). Just select "Live Map", put in your location and destination and it will give you the best route and drive time with traffic (much more accurate drive time than Google Maps with traffic)

As I write this on a Sunday night at 11:00pm, it says the best route from Universal Studios to Disney's Polynesian Resort is I-4W Epcot Center Drive about 23 minutes. Of course it will be different on a Friday afternoon.

One more thing and then I'll shut up. The app also shows speed traps, accidents and other hazards, that other wazers have reported

Google bought waze. Google is in incorpoarating waze data in google maps