Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

vivatifosi

-1- wrote: »

What are the roads like in Florida.

I'm off to Kissimmee and although I have been driving in the UK for 10 years, I have never driven on the other side before, nor in an automatic which the rental will be.

The more I look at their roads / signs, the more I think "Argh..."

Just wanted to add to what the others have said. Driving in Florida is really easy. The roads and parking spaces are nice and wide. Most people there are tourists and are in the same boat, and its pretty much impossible to accidentally drive into a dodgy area as they aren't particularly close to the touristy bits.

Here are some other thoughts that I don't think I've seen yet. Please don't be daunted by the list. I've spent over a year in total in Orlando and its taken me a while to build up my list of pointers as they aren't readily posted in one place.

* Yield signs are the equivalent of our give way. There are no lines painted though.
* Merge signs also exist to merge into traffic.
* Stop signs are the other main sign.
* On I4 (possibly the main part of your route from Sanford to Kissimmee) the exits are mile markers rather than numbered turns, so if your exit is a few miles away from the next one, they will probably be exit 64 and 67 (for example), don't look for the "missing exits" in the middle.
* People often don't indicate, so don't be surprised if people suddenly turn, keep a bit of distance and you'll be fine.
* Doing a U turn is also common, particularly if you're a lost tourist! We've all been there!
* You should drive forward into your parking space, so that the police can patrol car parks and see your number plate (there aren't any on the front). In practice, I've never seen anyone charged for this.
* If there's a no stopping lane (there's one in Downtown Disney), don't stop, even to drop off a passenger. I've been pulled over for this...
* If you are following a school bus and it stops, don't overtake it. Wait for it to pull out away again.
* Let buses pull back out into traffic, it is a legal requirement.
* If you see a police car on the hard shoulder with its lights on, either move over one lane or reduce your speed by 20mph under the speed limit.
* Put your lights on when its raining, again a legal requirement in Florida, though in many newer cars there's an "automatic" feature on the lights and they just work out when to come on.
* Take both your Part 1 and Part 2 driving licence to register for your rental. We've been asked for both on several occasions when renting.

Hope these are helpful

-1-

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hope these are helpful

Very, thanks you. I didn't know about any of those.

Also not to sure baout the speed limits over there ?.

I think if I take it slow then I should be fine.

valiant23

atro1 wrote: »

In case anyone needs it fifteen02.com have free upgrades on car hire at the moment, used them a few times and had excellent service.


fifeteen02 came out £35 more expensive than Usrentacar.

Would like to find cheaper but the only one cheaper is Easycar!!

Atro,

a couple for you to try, although USrentacar is competitively priced;

http://www.yescarhire.com/usa/home/location/florida.htm

http://www.carhire3000.com/

jackieblack

KarenG wrote: »

The absolute best map I have ever seen for Orlando (and I have tried a few) is one that I purchased through www.thedibb.co.uk

There's a guy on there who is a cartographer and loves Orlando and has mapped it all out for specifically Brits, so that he's included all the shops, restaurants as well as the tourist attractions. It is brilliant! I've been to Orlando 7 times and took it last time and it really helped despite all my previous visits.

I can't recommend it more highly and will have a look for the link. He's called "Mapman" on the above website and you can order from there.

ETA: Here's the link to purchase one http://www.orlandomaps.co.uk/

I agree, I was in two minds about it as I thought it was a bit pricey (about £6-7 from memory) considering you can get free maps anywhere, but it is well worth it, it's brilliant, easily the best map for tourists that I've seen. This shows eveything (and more) that you'll be looking for and is the only map you'll need.

eslick

nej wrote: »

Anyone driven from Atlanta to Orlando? As it was £800 cheaper (total for 4 or us) to fly to Atlanta rather than Orlando we're doing this when we go in August.

Anything interesting to see on the way?

We have dont it a few times, couple of tips choose your route carefully and make sure you have plent of stops. We did it last year for the first time with our little ones and though we went the quickest route straight down the I75 and drove out of Atlanta airport when we landed and stayed about 1.5 hours away, got up early the following day and it still took us most of the day to get to Orlando.

Atlanta airport isnt that good either with security and the way they now check your bags. You need to collect them and just when you think you are getting out of the airport they take you bags off you again. So it could take longer to get out of the airport than you think. I work for an American company and we get a lot of visitors from the US who need to change at one of the US airports, these no longer go through Atlanta because of the extra time it takes there.

Dont know where you are going but you could try doing a couple of stop overs, there are some lovely islands on the east coast of GA and St Augustine is really nice in FL.

eslick

atro1 wrote: »

[

In case anyone needs it fifteen02.com have free upgrades on car hire at the moment, used them a few times and had excellent service.

fifeteen02 came out £35 more expensive than Usrentacar.

Would like to find cheaper but the only one cheaper is Easycar!![/quote]

Did you check the model with the upgrade on fifteen02, for us with usrentcar and full insurance it cost 368 for a premium but only 295 for a full size with the free upgrade to the premium with fifteen. Thats from Miami last year we had the same deal but from ATL and they were the cheapest again when you factored in the upgrade.

vivatifosi

-1- wrote: »

Also not to sure baout the speed limits over there ?.

I think if I take it slow then I should be fine.

You'll be fine. Speeds are very well posted there, much better than here, its just that the signs are a different shape. In general, speed limits are a little lower than they are here. Typical interstate (motorway) speeds are between 55 and 65 mph, they do vary. In residential areas the speed limit is typically about 25 mph, on busy tourist roads anything around the 30mph to 45mph mark is likely.

You most likely will see people speeding, they are mostly people who work for the theme parks and are running late for work! And the speed cops know exactly where to lay in wait for them and what time their shift changes are...

One other pointer I forgot to mention is that its illegal to park by a fire hydrant. This is quite an easy one, you just don't park anywhere that the kerb is painted yellow. In practice it is rare to parallel park anywhere in Orlando as there are parking spaces everywhere.

Enjoy your trip!!!!!

oddbod19

Watch out for the Yield signs especially when using the onslips onto the Freeways, the one from Sandlake Road onto the I4 westbound catches me out everytime.

nej

eslick wrote: »

We have dont it a few times, couple of tips choose your route carefully and make sure you have plent of stops. We did it last year for the first time with our little ones and though we went the quickest route straight down the I75 and drove out of Atlanta airport when we landed and stayed about 1.5 hours away, got up early the following day and it still took us most of the day to get to Orlando.

Atlanta airport isnt that good either with security and the way they now check your bags. You need to collect them and just when you think you are getting out of the airport they take you bags off you again. So it could take longer to get out of the airport than you think. I work for an American company and we get a lot of visitors from the US who need to change at one of the US airports, these no longer go through Atlanta because of the extra time it takes there.

Dont know where you are going but you could try doing a couple of stop overs, there are some lovely islands on the east coast of GA and St Augustine is really nice in FL.

Thanks, I was planning on just jumping on I75 and turning off onto the Florida Turnpike into Orlando. I'm taking my TomTom with US maps - should help a bit!

Why do they take your bags off you again at Atlanta? Is that customs?

Col_in_LB

nej wrote: »

Why do they take your bags off you again at Atlanta? Is that customs?

Coz they're a pain in the butt & didn't design the airport very well for international arrivals - just like Orlando McCoy aka Orlando International - ironic really, given the name

cheers
col