What is I Drive?

[Mills]

Ive heard two different versions of what I Drive is... one from a travel agent, one from someone who worked at WDW for 2 months last spring.

Travel agent - Easy to get down, things close together, transport all the time, lots of good places to eat, shop etc.

Friend who worked there - Like a motorway in ways, good places to eat but you need transport to everyone, hard to just walk around and find a good buffet etc.

Which ones more accurate??

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Ive heard two different versions of what I Drive is... one from a travel agent, one from someone who worked at WDW for 2 months last spring.

Travel agent - Easy to get down, things close together, transport all the time, lots of good places to eat, shop etc.

Friend who worked there - Like a motorway in ways, good places to eat but you need transport to everyone, hard to just walk around and find a good buffet etc.

Which ones more accurate??

Yes it is easy to get down, however there is a high density of traffic and it can sometimes take a long, long time to travel up and down it.

Good for Universal, Wet 'n' Wild, Seaworld. If there is little traffic about 20-25 minutes to WDW.

The I Drive trolley buses travel up and down it continuously so things are easy to get to (but can take a long time!).

Motorway(?) - yes there is a lot of traffic, but it moves slowly. Some people don't stop for the "traffic lighted" pedestrian crossing, so always be aware!.

Lots of hotels / motels etc. Plenty of places to eat - some good, some downright tacky. We walked to most of them.

Shopping - depends where you are. If you go to the Malls not too bad. A lot of the other shops though make the seafront at Southend look classy.

 

[Goofyish]

IDrive - or International Drive to give its full title, is a road that runs parallel with the Interstate 4 highway to the south of Orlando.

It is one of the main tourist locations in the area and is basically made up of hotels, restaurants, shops, bars, attractions (minigolf, Wet n Wild etc.) along it entire length.

At the north end it's close to Universal Studios/IOA and the south passes by Seaword and Premier Outlets Mall.

There is a trolley bus service that runs along it's length - the I-Ride Trolly Bus. Use full if you don't want to drive.

Here's a few websites for you to look at:

http://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/

http://goflorida.about.com/od/attractio2/a/internationaldr.htm

http://www.iridetrolley.com/index.html

 

[paulh]

its a bit like blackpool meets benidorm nowadays
Paulh

 

[Mills]

So are all the shops, food outlets etc actually on the drive? Or like industrial estates of the drive?

Any good pics?

 

[Goofyish]

Most are actually on the drive itself - although you need to pull into the car park for each block of shops etc.

Some of the hotels are off the main road on small side roads or courts.

The northern end of IDrive tends to be the busiest - around the Wet n Wild area. Towards the south end (south of Sandlake Road) it tends to be a bit quieter. There is also a central reservation on the south portion of IDrive that seems to make the road quieter - although it's a bugger to cross on foot LOL

I think comparing it to Blackpool/Benidorm does it an injustice - it's nowhere near as tacky as that

 

[daveyoghurt]

Like a motorway in ways, good places to eat but you need transport to everyone, hard to just walk around and find a good buffet etc.

I would say this is totally wide of the mark, I suppose crossing the road is difficult if you can't manage it in the 30-odd seconds you get to do so. This is where the majority of the hotels are so you would expect it to be a busy area, but there are ways of minimising it's impact on your holiday.

Great variety of restaurants and as for it being hard to walk around, I would say that it is one of the few places in Orlando where it is geared up for people to walk from one place to another, with pavements on both sides of the road.

It's a great place to base yourself if you're not limiting yourself to a Disney holiday, with Universal, Wet 'n' Wild and Seaworld at the top middle and bottom of the i-drive. Sure, there are some souvenir shops that stock the cheaper gift items that some on here seem to despise, so if you're easily offended stay away at all costs!

 

[cazzie]

Both of these photos were taken about 9 in the morning when we were waiting for the bus. The top end is not as nice as the bottom end but on saying that I would stay at the Rodeway again. The worst times we found for traffic would be Friday nights and then it would be nose to tail. There are crossings and we found that the traffic would stop (most times) so it wasn't too bad. It was ideal for us as we didn't have a car and therefore it was easy to get to Sea World and Universal.

The Top end - the bus stop by the Rodeway & across the road is the Ponderosa.

The south end where we stayed at the Radisson.

 

[paulh]

I think comparing it to Blackpool/Benidorm does it an injustice - it's nowhere near as tacky as that

Erm allday english breakfasts and streeat stalls selling T Shirts and lighters ect.I know its not quite there yet but heading that way.Well at least the nothern end.Would agree thet the end near vineland is nicer but that tends to be timeshare
Paulh

 

[wayneg]

When were the photos taken? Mid Sept? Nov? Its a few years since I saw it so empty
We went to Sweet Tomato for meal last night. Took 20 mins to do 500 yards up IDrive.
We avoid Idrive as much as poss.

 

[Verity Chambers]

We stay on I drive nearly everytime we go as it is the most economical way to stay IMO. It is a great base as it's close to US and SW and just a short drive to WDW. I couldn't really compare it Blackpool at all, there is a good variety of shops and restaurants.

 

[dc1964]

To get a good view of International drive have a look at Google earth, you can follow it whole way down which give you a good perspective about the place.
I have to say that it is unfair to compare the place to Blackpool, it is like saying the Disney world is like Blackpool pleasure beach.... which it clearly isn't.
Anyone that has been to Blackpool will know that it is filthy dirty, full of drug addicts and beggars, street traders selling Crap, stag and hen partys, horrible fish and chips, tacky shops etc. Need I say more. International drive is clean, good quality chain restaurants and probably the finest steak house in Orlando, CHARLEYS, it has a fantastic conference centre, good quality hotels and some average quality. In all the years that I have been going I have never felt unsafe when walking around there.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I-drive? we have stayed there a few times, admittedly many years ago.

Some of the cheap, discount stores are a bit tacky - mainly at the Northern side, however as I live very close to Blackpool there really is no comparison as far as 'tackyness' goes.

The advantage of staying on I-drive is there are restarurants within easy reach and Universal & Sea World are also closeby.

To be perfectly honest the south end is much nicer, with hotels like the Rosen Center and further on down the likes of the Vistana etc - at the end of the day it's personal preference (standard Johnny comment) and wherever you stay a great holiday awaits, if you are not renting a car I-drive does have it's advantages.

 

[Mills]

Evening times we will probably dine on I Drive, but also go Downtown disney and want to see fireworks at epcot/MK. Which end is best to stay on for this?

 

[Goofyish]

Southern end of Idrive is closest to WDW and Downtown Disney.

Take a look at the Best Western Plaza or Quality Inn Plaza for value hotels. Both are close to some good value restaurants like Sizzler, Ponderosa, Friendlys, Tony Romas, Race Rock, Bahama Breeze and even a Pizza Hut

 

[Lizzybear]

If you're not hiring a car it'd probably be best to 'stay on' at Disney after a park day there rather than going back and forth as it could get expensive in taxis or time-consuming with shuttles or buses. I-drive is quite a way from Disney IMO especially if you don't have a car (reason we're staying onsite for our Disney week next year) North and south ends both have loads of restaurants so whichever end you're on will have plenty of choice. Also the north end isn't necessarily all tacky and crowded: We stayed at Sheraton Studio City which is about stop 14 on the trolley and this area was a lot more spread out.. Just a short way up the drive it was much more dense (near Wet n Wild) We'll probably be staying a Homewood Suites near Universal in 07 which has the same stop as the Sheraton, we liked that the Lynx stop to the Florida Mall was just over the road too.

 

[cazzie]

When were the photos taken? Mid Sept? Nov? Its a few years since I saw it so empty
We went to Sweet Tomato for meal last night. Took 20 mins to do 500 yards up IDrive.
We avoid Idrive as much as poss.

As you can see from my signiture we stayed at the Rodeway last April and the Radisson last September. Both were taken at around 9 in the morning when we would get the bus to either Disney or Seaworld. Just in case you are thinking it no I haven't edited cars or people out, that is how it was at that time.

 

[daveyoghurt]

Evening times we will probably dine on I Drive, but also go Downtown disney and want to see fireworks at epcot/MK. Which end is best to stay on for this?

I stayed at the Sheraton World resort at the southern end of the i-drive which is in an excellent location, roughly halfway between Universal and Disney and a two minute walk from Seaworld. It's the last pick-up for Disney which often meant that we got our own coach which also meant we were able to arrange later pick-ups to ensure we saw the fireworks. There are five or six restaurants over the road and the i-ride will take you up to the other restaurants in the middle of International Drive.

Best option would be to split your stay between the i-drive and an on-site hotel at Disney, that's what we're doing next time round.

 

[cazzie]

Best option would be to split your stay between the i-drive and an on-site hotel at Disney, that's what we're doing next time round.

I agree, we have talked about doing that next time we go. Having stayed both on the I Drive and Disney it is a lot easier to stop and see the fireworks plus go to Downtown & the water parks staying on site although it can be done from the I Drive. Staying at Pop though we didn't go to Universal although we did go to Sea World but only once as for some reason we found it easier to just go to parks at Disney. whereas I think a lot of the hotels on the I Drive have free transportation to Universal and some also to Disney which could be your other option.

 

[Mills]

So if we did stay, say on the south end of I Drive? Would it be a problem spending 2 nights (epcot/mk fireworks) and a couple of nights at downtown disney and getting back?

And on the flipside, if staying on site, the same question as above, as I know their are plenty of options on site and this situation seems to be the only one thats causing us a bit of trouble planning. Also easy to get up and down I Drive to seaworld? DC etc from staying on site?