Opinions

Driving Tips for Staying Off Property
By Michael Boyer - November 20, 2001

Please refer to this map for more information on all the routes discussed in this article.

Here are some general driving tips for everyone to help them navigate into and out of WDW from off-site locations:

- There are two primary gateways to WDW property, the first is the South gateway off of Route 192(Exit #25 off of I4). This entrance accesses the main North/South artery through WDW property from which every WDW park and most resorts can be easily accessed. This North/South artery is the most heavily traveled road on WDW property and the South gateway is the most used entrance. In the evenings, after park closings, most cars flood down this artery and exit through the south gateway often causing minor traffic jams getting out of the park. If you see a sea of bright red tail lights in front of you leaving the parks, you might want to take one of the other alternate exits to avoid a potential jam.

- The second primary gateway is the East(Route 536, Exit #26 off of I4)gateway. This is sometimes referred to as the Epcot Gateway, but it should be pointed out that you can access all parks and resorts from this Gateway with almost the same ease as from the South Gateway. You just might have to make a few additional turns to get there. I have never experienced traffic jams into or out of this gateway, although it gets heavy just after Epcot closes. This is an excellent alternate to get out of WDW

- There are several secondary entrances to WDW property, the first I'll mention, which is my favorite when approaching WDW from the west, is an un-marked, un-advertised, but perfectly legal and growing in popularity entrance via Sherberth Rd. which takes you directly to the Animal Kingdom and the new AKL from the west side of 192. Our last two trips to WDW, we stayed on the West side of WDW on 192 and this Sherberth RD entrance allowed us to bypass all the South entrance traffic both coming and going. This was especially a life-saver during the 192 construction period!

- Another secondary entrance is an East entrance via the Osceola Parkway(Toll Road). Since it is a Toll Road, as soon as you leave WDW property, this road is usually totally empty. But for about a buck, this may be a convenient way to get into or out of WDW at times. The Osceola Parkway cuts straight across WDW property from East to West ending up at the Animal Kingdom. BTW, the Osceola Parkway ends up right where my secret Sherberth Road entrance comes in from the Southwest. Accessing the Osceola parkway can be a bit tricky since there is no direct access from either I4 or US 192, but the easiest access is from the Route 535 interchange just north of US 192.

- Some people also gain entrance to WDW property through its less popular Northeast entrance (Exit #27 off of I4). This is not as popular an entrance because you have to wind through the Downtown Disney resorts and past Downtown Disney to gain access to the rest of the WDW property.

- There is NO North entrance to WDW property!

A few final tips when driving around WDW property!

- You can get to/from any WDW location via any of the entrances described above, so don't be afraid to use an alternate if you see traffic in front of you.

- Ask for a "Transportation" Map from any of the Guest Relations areas on WDW property to give you the latest detailed map of all the WDW Public property roads. This map also provides detailed routes for the bus/boat/monorail system on WDW property. Familiarity with the WDW property roads can save time and headaches.

- Pay attention to road signs! The roads on WDW property are generally well marked and each road intersection usually lists the major parks/resorts that are accessed in each direction. When leaving WDW, the signs will direct you to the major highways, either I4(North/South) or US 192(East/West).

- Don't be afraid to explore! I love to take roads and turns I've never tried before to see where they go. Sometimes they dead-end or they end up at a security gate, but then I just turn around. Sometimes, they take me to places I never would have thought of. I discovered several years ago that you can drive all the way around the Magic Kingdom(At least you could a few years ago, I haven't tried it recently :-) The resort road that takes you to the Grand Floridian actually loops around the back of the Magic Kingdom and comes out on the other side at the Contemporary Resort. It is a very interesting drive which takes you past the Monorail "roundhouse".