Best route to Orlando (Disney) from Naples? (Tampa, Winter Haven: winter, drive)

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by tmozer

Funny, the route Tripower55 list is exactly how my Garmin says to go North (Naples to SC). Coming the other way it does not use that route. Always wondered why......

LOL... I find that the drive home in the wee hours is orders of magnitude easier than the drive up during the day. Maybe it's assuming you're driving up at night and down durin daylight.

[FLBirdwatcher]

We went straight up 27. It was a beautiful drive. The orange trees were in full bloom, and the smell permeated the air. The lakes were lovely. And we saw those cranes, Beth. We saw 5 of them. They were on the right coming back to Naples. The slough was dry. It took us less than 4 hours, but I drive slow. I enjoyed the drive. It was much less stressful than the interstate.

[Tripower455]

I love the orange blossoms this time of year. There are some jasmine trees in Bartow that bloom in the fall, and smell awesome at night coming home.....

[travellight27]

Best route to take is stay on I-4 until you get to the by pass toll road that takes you to Bartow. From Bartow due south until you get to I75 The road south is mostly 4 lane and 65 miles an hour. It saves you about half an hour from taking the interstate the entire way.

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by travellight27

Best route to take is stay on I-4 until you get to the by pass toll road that takes you to Bartow. From Bartow due south until you get to I75 The road south is mostly 4 lane and 65 miles an hour. It saves you about half an hour from taking the interstate the entire way.

Are you talking about the Polk County Expressway? I've tried that way (both going north in the daytime and south at night) a few times, but it adds mileage and, even dealing with the lights, doesn't save any time over taking 557 to 17 through Lake Alfred, Winter Haven and Eagle Lake.

If you just want to avoid the Winter Haven lights, it'll work, but won't save any time.


God, I hate that drive!

[WNY]

Doing research from Naples to Orlando - thanks for such a choice and the details.

What is the speed limit on 17?

Any other speed limit information using the route below?

Originally Posted by Tripower455

I've been doing the commute between Naples and Orlando weekly for over a decade.

There is no easy way, but the shortest/quickest way is:

I75N to SR 78 east (first exit past the bridge over the Caloosahatchee) towards the Lee Civic Center.

Make a left at the end onto SR31 north to SR 70 (about 35 miles)

Make a left on SR 70, but get in the right lane immediately. Make a right on Turner Ave (Tractor Supply on the corner). Take Turner until it ends, which is SR 17.

Make a right (north) on SR17 and stay on it until you're in Lake Alfred. and follow signs to CR557/I4 (which will be a left turn just before leaving town).

Take 557 north to I4.

If you miss the 557 turn, you can stay on 17 until SR27 North, and pick up I4 from there. It adds about 10 minutes.

My average time from 951/Vanderbilt area to the Orlando airport is 3:05 going up in the daytime and 2:50 coming home late at night.

You go through a few small towns on the way, but there is little traffic in any of them except for Winter Haven.

The towns are:

Zolfo Springs (not much there but gas. The BP station has by far the cleanest bathrooms between naples and MCO)
Wauchula (gas/fast food)
Bowling Green (gas)
Ft Meade (gas fast food)
Bartow (gas, not much else on 17)
Eagle Lake (not much)
Winter haven (gas, lots of food choices)
Lake Alfred (not much)

If you like good BBQ, Smokey Joes in Bowling Green is top notch.

The "Pressco" gas stations/laundromats in Bowling Green and Ft Meade have the nastiest bathrooms I've ever seen. If you've ever seen the movie Trainspotting, they are as bad or worse than that one.

[Tripower455]

The speed limit on most of 17, outside of the towns, is 60.

It is 65 between Fort Meade and Bowling Green. It goes down to 55 for a few miles in the construction area south of Zolfo Springs right now. It used to be 65 on the 4 lanes the whole way, but with the recession, I guess they had to do something to keep the cops employed and paid, but I digress.

The speed limits in the towns vary, but most are 40. Eagle Lake is 45. The only real speed traps (other than all of Collier County where you'll see more cops than the entire drive from MCO) are in Bowling Green (either the Bank in the middle of town, or the gas station at the south end) and occasionally Ft. Meade (usually as you enter going south, but once in a while, they'll sit on the south side of town where the speed limit goes to 50. Once you get to the 65 section, you're clear). Most of the towns don't have their own police forces any more, so the old FL "speed traps" really don't exist anymore.

Zolfo Springs used to be bad. It goes from 55, to 45 to 35 in about 1/2 mile. Once in a while, a county deputy will run radar in there still. The town is only about 1/2 mile long, so there's nothing to be gained by flying through there anyway.

Turner Rd is 45 north of Roan, and 30 mph south of it. There are lots of pedestrians and I've seen the cops running Lidar on there a few times to protect them. Take it easy through there. It's only a mile or so.

SR 31 is 60, except at the one major intersection about halfway between Arcadia and N. Ft. Myers, where it goes down to 45 for a few hundred yards.

[WNY]

So appreciate all the facts - thanks so much.

DH likes the I-4/I-75 route, but since I do all the driving I would like to try your way to avoid the I-75 speed demon jerks. I'm no slow poke though - but do look forward to trying this way for a change.

[Tripower455]

Originally Posted by WNY

So appreciate all the facts - thanks so much.

DH likes the I-4/I-75 route, but since I do all the driving I would like to try your way to avoid the I-75 speed demon jerks. I'm no slow poke though - but do look forward to trying this way for a change.

I've been doing this drive every 3-4 days for the last 11+ years, and I won't even consider taking the I75/I4 route. There is simply no upside. Pure misery from beginning to end.

In all the time I've done this, I've been delayed due to an accident once on 17. It was a pretty bad one between Zolfo and Arcadia, and I was stopped for about 20 minutes.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been dead stopped for hours on I-4 in the past year alone. It's like bumper cars on the highways down here during season...... and it's getting worse.

[WNY]

Tripower455, thanks again. BEST route, that's for sure.

We easily reversed your route....Orlando/Naples on Wed. If you drive a silver Camry, we followed you just about the whole way If that was not you, it was nice to see someone else has it figured out.

Returned to Orlando today with no problem. Heard on the way home about a serious accident on I-75 around Tampa which was still not cleared after 4 hours. Wow.

Readers: Highly recommend this Naples - Orlando drive!