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Getting Around Orlando: By car
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The car is omnipresent in Orlando, and it is a very easy and convenient (if not congested) way to get to your destination. Orlando is a sprawling city with most attractions lying far to the south of the CBD and into adjacent cities like Kissimmee and Lake Buena Vista (this section include those areas). The roads are all wide and easy to drive on with all major attractions well signed, but traffic jams around downtown are common in the afternoons, and around the touristy areas on Friday nights and all day Saturday. Orlando ranks 8th in the nation in terms of traffic congestion, and there are numerous ongoing construction projects on area expressways (all aimed at alleviating this, but only causing congestion in the meanwhile). Traffic information is available from new Dynamic Message Signs, most local radio stations, and also by calling 511 (a free, automated service which provides current traffic info collected from hundreds of traffic cameras as well as police reports.)
The main highway through Orlando, and the only interstate serving it, is Interstate 4 (referred to as "I-4", running NE-SW). In recent years major construction on it has widened it through areas south of SR528 making it a well signed and commuter-friendly highway (except for traffic during rush hours and Friday and Saturday evenings). Downtown Orlando; International Drive; Amway Arena; the Mall at Millenia; Arabian Nights dinner theater; and theme parks such as Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, Discovery Cove, the Holy Land Experience, and Wet n' Wild are all conveniently located along/near I-4.
Aggressive drivers are abundant in the Greater Orlando area not only on major highways but also on surface streets in the Downtown District. Speed limits are for the most part ignored in and around the city, even though on I-4 the speed limit is only 50 mph in the Downtown area and ranges between 55 and 65 mph near the attractions, it is not uncommon to be tailgated if you travel less than 80 mph in the left lane. If you are unfamiliar with the area, it is much easier and safer to drive in the far right lane, as road signs will direct.
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Open Road Tolling BEWARE: Open road tolling is either used or being constructed along Orlando's toll roads such that drivers with a Sun Pass transponder and prepaid account (which accounts for almost no tourists) continue straight along the road at the speed limit, while drivers paying cash (almost all tourists) must follow signage that diverts them to toll booths constructed off the right of the highway. In this example photo a tourist paying the toll in cash deviates off the right side of the road, pays the cash toll, then merges back onto the road: |
Other major highways include SR528, the Beach Line Expressway although known until recently as the Bee Line, which runs east from I-4 (exit 72) towards the Space Coast beaches and Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa beach, and Port Canaveral. SR528 is, like all Orlando area expressways (not including I-4), a toll road. While tolls are modest for short trips within Orlando, tolls can quickly add on long cross-town trips (bypassing Orlando on SR418 is $5.50 for 55 miles). See this convenient toll calculator online: www.expresswayauthority.com/Corporate/travel/TollCalculator.aspx.
In Orlando, the main tourism area is International Drive, a strip of road that runs parallel to I-4 for about 10 miles. Many tourist-focused shops, restaurants, and attractions are to be found along this road; therefore, it is excruciatingly hard to drive on and find parking along this road on weekends, especially in the summer, and excursions to this area are best by bus during such times. Other major roads include: US 192 in Kissimmee(fronted by thousands of small shops and attractions), Orange Blossom Trail (US 92/441...a North-South alternative to I-4), SR50 (E-W route towards the CBD).
- Ivanhoe Plaza, 3 km (2 miles)
- Bayhill Plaza, 7 km (4 miles)
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