Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

John259

marc7 wrote: »

i'm fairly interested in some off the beaten track places

Will you have a car? If so, then it might be worth exploring some of the small-to-medium-sized towns away from Orlando a bit. Perhaps even have a "virtual drive" on StreetView beforehand.

Andy_89

I am actually looking for a couple of nice places for a romantic meal.

I don't really want to be eating Golden Coral every night of my honeymoon.

Advice welcomed.

marc7

vivatifosi wrote: »

If you want to go somewhere nice off the tourist track, try the Winter Park and Thornton Park areas. Winter Park has traditional shops (in streets, not malls) and is a nice place to people watch from the coffee shops. Thornton Park is one of Orlando's gay areas but again is very nice. They are next door to each other. While there, you could try the Winter Park boat trip or take a walk around Lake Eola. There is a slightly rough part to Winter Park, but head for the shops and you'll avoid this.

One of my favourite restaurants in Orlando - it's somewhere I go with friends who live there - is Funky Monkey. We go to the Downtown location, but they now also have one at the Pointe Orlando (haven't been there). It isn't cheap but the food is lovely.

yh been down to winter garden area n shops last year had a walk around the lake and had some lovely food there

marc7

Andy_89 wrote: »

I am actually looking for a couple of nice places for a romantic meal.

I don't really want to be eating Golden Coral every night of my honeymoon.

Advice welcomed.

theres a upgrade to coral now called wood grill down bottom end of I drive very good value lol

marc7

John259 wrote: »

Will you have a car? If so, then it might be worth exploring some of the small-to-medium-sized towns away from Orlando a bit. Perhaps even have a "virtual drive" on StreetView beforehand.

yh will have a car
thats the sort of thing i was thinking some smaller towns better value n more relaxed

John259

marc7 wrote: »

yh will have a car
thats the sort of thing i was thinking some smaller towns better value n more relaxed

FWIW here's an idea for a trip but I'm not claiming it's the best possibility:
Orlando > Apopka > Zellwood > Mt Dora > Leesburg > Wildwood > Inverness > Crystal River (about 100 miles)
Map:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Orlando,+FL,+United+States&daddr=Apopka,+FL,+United+States+to:Zellwood,+FL,+United+States+to:Mt+Dora,+FL,+United+States+to:Leesburg,+FL,+United+States+to:Wildwood,+FL,+United+States+to:Inverness,+FL,+United+States+to:Crystal+River,+FL,+United+States&hl=en&ll=28.741172,-81.859131&spn=1.745882,3.348083&sll=28.764048,-81.918182&sspn=0.872772,1.674042&geocode=FeB1swEdXEAm-yl3vM3-2HPniDGev6U8BrLDCg%3BFQ-QtQEdZD8k-ykZfBXMOXfniDGI6ID8jw8d1w%3BFeJmtgEdX90i-ylRPzPofZnniDG32Bos8Zar5Q%3BFbx9twEdGTQi-yn3BEaEWKLniDEP6GaGAYJ5ig%3BFUeetwEdnqQe-ynB0hA9corniDGtVPzbdQoHWg%3BFfByuAEdQi8c-ymZjNji1MLniDHjPdXxLiEW6w%3BFXv-twEd_LgX-yn1mEM_DmnoiDESAtSCr2E11A%3BFU8EuQEdp7wT-ymXtELydlnoiDG7RgmzNeq5kA&oq=crystal&mra=ls&t=m&z=9

Then perhaps for a change a slightly more southerly route back to Orlando, via Brooksville. You could have an overnight stop in Crystal River if you wanted.

If you do a search within Google Maps for:
restaurants near crystal river, fl
(etc, for other towns) you'll see what's available, with reviews.
For example:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=restaurants+near+Crystal+River,+FL,+United+States&hl=en&sll=52.8382,-2.327815&sspn=9.628756,26.784668&oq=restaurants+near+crystal+river,+fl&hq=restaurants&hnear=Crystal+River,+Citrus+County,+Florida,+United+States&t=m&z=13

If you're up for a longer trip, maybe take the minor roads up to Savannah, Georgia (about 300 miles each way). As a general rule, use the interstates to get somewhere fast, but use the US and state highways to see places. (Sorry if that's obvious.)

For a seriously longer trip, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is great - but that's 600 miles from Orlando.

It might also be worth having a look at the Florida State Parks web site:
http://www.floridastateparks.org

Just a reminder that you can use StreetView mode in Google Maps to look round all these places and the roads between them.

Andy_89

marc7 wrote: »

theres a upgrade to coral now called wood grill down bottom end of I drive very good value lol

Even thought this isn't what I am after. I'M THERE!!

Driving for my first time next year. I drive about 30,000 miles a year in the UK so I should be okay. I am pretty familiar with all the rules of the road, still nervous though!

John259

Andy_89 wrote: »

Driving for my first time next year... still nervous though!

Anyone who wasn't a bit apprehensive before driving in the USA for the first time would worry me, but most people get used to it very quickly. Outside of big cities traffic levels are generally light and driving is easy.

Some suggestions:

If you need any more details of the rules of the road (turning right on red traffic lights, center turn lanes, how four way stops work, the school bus rules, car pool/HOV lanes, etc) they're all covered in the Florida Drivers' Handbook:
http://www.flhsmv.gov/handbooks/englishdriverhandbook.pdf

If you're not familiar with driving an automatic, have a go on a friend's car in this country if possible so as to eliminate one of the differences.

Do a "virtual drive" in Google Maps StreetView mode from wherever you're picking up the car to your first destination.

Decide what you're going to do about navigation - front seat passenger with a printed map, or GPS/SatNav, etc. You can buy a printed Rand McNally road atlas from Amazon UK which covers all the states but that's overkill if you're only going to be in Florida.

This site has an option to order a free printed road map of Florida - might be worth a try:
http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/travel-guides.html

If you're going to be driving on any toll roads, check on the car rental company's web site what their policy is regarding toll payments and what your best choice is - eg pay cash (which is increasingly being removed as a toll option in the USA), or rent an EZPass (etc) transponder from the car rental company, etc.

This video is of a drive in the Orlando area which nicely illustrates various types of roads, road signs, signposting and even a couple of examples of poor driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sLCHJDkdE
(I've no connection with the creator, nor with YouTube other than as a viewer)

Andy_89

John259 wrote: »

Anyone who wasn't a bit apprehensive before driving in the USA for the first time would worry me, but most people get used to it very quickly. Outside of big cities traffic levels are generally light and driving is easy.

Some suggestions:

If you need any more details of the rules of the road (turning right on red traffic lights, center turn lanes, how four way stops work, the school bus rules, car pool/HOV lanes, etc) they're all covered in the Florida Drivers' Handbook:
http://www.flhsmv.gov/handbooks/englishdriverhandbook.pdf

If you're not familiar with driving an automatic, have a go on a friend's car in this country if possible so as to eliminate one of the differences.

Do a "virtual drive" in Google Maps StreetView mode from wherever you're picking up the car to your first destination.

Decide what you're going to do about navigation - front seat passenger with a printed map, or GPS/SatNav, etc. You can buy a printed Rand McNally road atlas from Amazon UK which covers all the states but that's overkill if you're only going to be in Florida.

This site has an option to order a free printed road map of Florida - might be worth a try:
http://www.visitflorida.com/en-us/travel-guides.html

If you're going to be driving on any toll roads, check on the car rental company's web site what their policy is regarding toll payments and what your best choice is - eg pay cash (which is increasingly being removed as a toll option in the USA), or rent an EZPass (etc) transponder from the car rental company, etc.

This video is of a drive in the Orlando area which nicely illustrates various types of roads, road signs, signposting and even a couple of examples of poor driving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sLCHJDkdE
(I've no connection with the creator, nor with YouTube other than as a viewer)

Thank you for the help!

I was after some literature to read and make sure of. I am somewhat fortunate that I am flying into Orlando, Sanford would just be a pain.

And I was there last year so I am pretty sure I know where I am going.

piglet74

hi

can anyone help / advise,

I am staying at the Rosen Plaza 9700 I Drive, and on the night we arrive it will be quite late on (730pm landing at airport, I imagine 930pm ish before we make the hotel) so we are not making any plans for the first night other than to get to a supermarket to get some snacks and food for the room, eg maybe cereal, milk, yoghurt

can anyone advice where the nearest / best supermarket may be, i was thinking of Walmart, but cannot find one on I Drive (unless the address is something else)

can anyone advise where is handy using the trolly ( we wont be driving)

tia,