Driving Disney World. Advice?

[jacobcary1]

I can remember the days when you could park at the campground for free and just take the boat or bus to the MK. It saved a few bucks anyway.

[FutureImagineer]

192 used to be a slow one way small highway, and recently, my father convinced us to take it because it has been renovated. It is quicker than before with more lanes, 2 each way.

This is a good alternative from spending/wasting money on the FL turnpike.

[MadEye]

192 used to be a slow one way small highway, and recently, my father convinced us to take it because it has been renovated. It is quicker than before with more lanes, 2 each way.

This is a good alternative from spending/wasting money on the FL turnpike.

Ok... Where are you coming from? 192 goes East/West and the Turnpike (most of it) goes North/South. Heck, they intersect at Exit 242. Why are you comparing the two since the turnpike has no exits anywhere near WDW? And, sure 192 is better than it was when I was a kid, but now that I live in the area, I never use it unless I have to (mostly never) because the traffic is horrible.

[Sleepy90]

hmmm that confused me to and I'm not from there, maybe he meant the 417 Florida greenway that goes close to the parks.

We usually use the 528 toll road on the way in from the airport.

[dstrawn9889]

You can always just park at Downtown Disney and take the bus to one of the resorts close to the parks. Its a mild case of cheating though. This also doesn't work with Animal Kingdom either

actually, with less troubles, park at DTD, take the boats to PO-Riverside, pass through the main bldg there, and out to the bus stop... they do not share with french quarter... then off to any park/water park!

[Goofyfan]

I'm looking at driving to Disney World for the first time and will probably be staying off-site and driving into the resort to visit the parks. Is there anything I need to know about driving around Disney World? Important traffic patterns? Parking lot costs? Any help would be awesome.

We always drive down from N.H. It is part of the excitement of going to Disney (if vacation time allows for some people). The anticipation of hitting each state boarder thinking...we are getting closer . Stopping to get lunch and dinners. We love It. But we have to stay at Disney. It gives us the full effect of the Disney World Hoopla. Just the transportation by the Busses alone are worth it. I can have a few Drinks here and there and not worry about how we are going to get back the the hotel.

[SorcererDonald16]

We drive as well, splitting the trip into two days. Fairly boring sights-wise until we get to Daytona, other than the infamous South of the Border at the NC/SC line.

We drive to all of the parks except when we stay at WL and can take the boat to MK. Never once taken a Disney bus. It gives you a little better control of when you will get somewhere, and strangely enough, I like riding the trams. We go off property too to visit the Disney Store outlets and such.

I do appreciate the signs they have everywhere; fairly easy to figure out where you are going.

[Amy]

We drive as well, splitting the trip into two days. Fairly boring sights-wise until we get to Daytona, other than the infamous South of the Border at the NC/SC line.

We drive to all of the parks except when we stay at WL and can take the boat to MK. Never once taken a Disney bus. It gives you a little better control of when you will get somewhere, and strangely enough, I like riding the trams. We go off property too to visit the Disney Store outlets and such.

I do appreciate the signs they have everywhere; fairly easy to figure out where you are going.

I would say they have done a great job putting up road signs to help people get around the WDW resort. I remember a trip many years back, probably at least 12-15 years ago when I was a mission to get a friend a souvenir from one of the golf courses. I don't remember the roads being as well marked back then. In fact, we never ended up at the golf course I was aiming for and instead bought something at one of the other courses since we stumbled upon it while looking for the other one

[Mark86]

Also, don't speed. The Orange County cops like to hideout more, especially just as you enter WDW property.

[SorcererDonald16]

Also, don't speed. The Orange County cops like to hideout more, especially just as you enter WDW property.

This is very true. I know we've seen many more police cars the last few years than we used to. Probably a good thing, because some people seem to think being in WDW means losing all common sense on the road.

Actually saw them quite regularly on the road that runs past FW, WL, and the Contemporary (can't remember the name) last year, too.

[SorcererDonald16]

We drive as well, splitting the trip into two days. Fairly boring sights-wise until we get to Daytona, other than the infamous South of the Border at the NC/SC line.

We drive to all of the parks except when we stay at WL and can take the boat to MK. Never once taken a Disney bus. It gives you a little better control of when you will get somewhere, and strangely enough, I like riding the trams. We go off property too to visit the Disney Store outlets and such.

I do appreciate the signs they have everywhere; fairly easy to figure out where you are going.

I would say they have done a great job putting up road signs to help people get around the WDW resort. I remember a trip many years back, probably at least 12-15 years ago when I was a mission to get a friend a souvenir from one of the golf courses. I don't remember the roads being as well marked back then. In fact, we never ended up at the golf course I was aiming for and instead bought something at one of the other courses since we stumbled upon it while looking for the other one

I don't even remember all the signs they have now back in the early 90s, so I would assume they came a bit later on.

Even for the most directionally challenged among us, they make it pretty easy. Even when you make a wrong turn, you can get back where you need to go fairly quickly. I think the most trouble we ever had was last year trying to get to Beach Club to visit Beaches 'n Cream, and even that didn't take very long.

[dstrawn9889]

speaking for stupidity on world drive... try driving a rented impala with a knee, and juggling a canon t1i just to get a pic of the welcome signs...(only did that b/c the car was empty, i drove down alone, ahead of my parents with my chilluns, i was running point, to suprise them)

[Mark86]

speaking for stupidity on world drive... try driving a rented impala with a knee, and juggling a canon t1i just to get a pic of the welcome signs...(only did that b/c the car was empty, i drove down alone, ahead of my parents with my chilluns, i was running point, to suprise them)

Nice, sounds like something I would do if I was driving. I wish they didn't have those signs that said "No stopping" near the WDW sign. It is probably safer to built a parking lot in the median and allow vehicles to stop and take pics. I am usually out the sunroof (if rental car is equipped) or windows snapping pics. They are always crooked.

[Mark86]

speaking for stupidity on world drive... try driving a rented impala with a knee, and juggling a canon t1i just to get a pic of the welcome signs...(only did that b/c the car was empty, i drove down alone, ahead of my parents with my chilluns, i was running point, to suprise them)

Nice, sounds like something I would do if I was driving. I wish they didn't have those signs that said "No stopping" near the WDW sign. It is probably safer to built a parking lot in the median and allow vehicles to stop and take pics. I am usually out the sunroof (if rental car is equipped) or windows snapping pics. They are always crooked.

[SorcererDonald16]

speaking for stupidity on world drive... try driving a rented impala with a knee, and juggling a canon t1i just to get a pic of the welcome signs...(only did that b/c the car was empty, i drove down alone, ahead of my parents with my chilluns, i was running point, to suprise them)

Nice, sounds like something I would do if I was driving. I wish they didn't have those signs that said "No stopping" near the WDW sign. It is probably safer to built a parking lot in the median and allow vehicles to stop and take pics. I am usually out the sunroof (if rental car is equipped) or windows snapping pics. They are always crooked.

It is a shame they don't do that. We always enter WDW from the DTD/Crossroads exit off of I-4, so I don't even see the main signage every trip. It is a really nice visual, though.

Apparently the same stopping issue goes on at the FL state line on I-95. Gigantic "Welcome to Florida" sign along with a "No stopping. Photo opportunity at Welcome Center" sign. Now that, I can't believe people do.

95 is not exactly the best place to get out of your car on the side of the road to take a picture.