Weekend of 9-25-15 (Orlando, Sanford: how much, hotel, construction)

[DeejayDJ]

Good morning,
My friends and I will be in Orlando tomorrow through Sunday. We will be going to Universal IOA and later in the evening to HHH on Saturday. Unfortunately I won't have much time to research the area this time around but am excited to be back in Orlando as its on my future radar city to move to. We will be staying at a hotel on I drive. Where are some good local places to eat at for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I understand that I drive is touristy, but we will have a car. On my last research trip to Orlando I had breakfast at KeKe's and love that place. Any other recommendations would be great. Also, I am the only one who will be flying into Sanford airport as my friends will all be flying into MCO. Most of my friends depart Orlando Sunday night except for one friend and I. I depart Monday morning from Sanford at 8am and he departs MCO at 11:45am. I understand I-4 is horrible in the morning and guessing this would be the optimum or best route from I drive to Sanford, and because my flight departs at 8am, how much time should I give myself to reach the airport and catch my flight? Our plan was to leave at 6am. I will only have a backpack with me and will not be checking in any luggage.

Thanks!

[Crane's Rooster]

Sunday Brunch at Kasa downtown or Santiago's Bodega is well worth the drive.

[idr591]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Sunday Brunch at Kasa downtown or Santiago's Bodega is well worth the drive.

or Soco.

[Arcenal813]

Basically anything away from I-Drive area...

[0nyxStation]

Make sure you visit I Drive, its the best part of Orlando.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by 0nyxstation

make sure you visit i drive, its the best part of orlando.

lol!!!

[0nyxStation]

Originally Posted by DeejayDJ

Good morning,
My friends and I will be in Orlando tomorrow through Sunday. We will be going to Universal IOA and later in the evening to HHH on Saturday. Unfortunately I won't have much time to research the area this time around but am excited to be back in Orlando as its on my future radar city to move to. We will be staying at a hotel on I drive. Where are some good local places to eat at for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I understand that I drive is touristy, but we will have a car. On my last research trip to Orlando I had breakfast at KeKe's and love that place. Any other recommendations would be great. Also, I am the only one who will be flying into Sanford airport as my friends will all be flying into MCO. Most of my friends depart Orlando Sunday night except for one friend and I. I depart Monday morning from Sanford at 8am and he departs MCO at 11:45am. I understand I-4 is horrible in the morning and guessing this would be the optimum or best route from I drive to Sanford, and because my flight departs at 8am, how much time should I give myself to reach the airport and catch my flight? Our plan was to leave at 6am. I will only have a backpack with me and will not be checking in any luggage.

Thanks!

I hope you enjoyed I Drive, make sure you visit Orlando again.

[DeejayDJ]

Hello, I'm back from my weekend in Orlando. I had a great time! Much of our time was not on I drive and was spent at IOA and HHH. I have to say that Harry Potter was awesome! Now I see why that is the number one attraction at both IOA and Universal Studios. With what time I had, I observed Orlando's surroundings and it reaffirmed my decision to move. My flight was early Monday morning so I had a chance to drive on the 408 and 417. I did not know UCF was in the rural area. I always though it would be closer to the core of Orlando. Sanford airport was nice (however will not fly Allegiant ever again, worst experience). I did see the bulldozers and construction crew for the I-4 expansion project but traffic was flowing smooth (we left at 5:45am, thats probably why). However I don't understand why GPS took me through 408 & 417 when I could have taken I-4 East all the way and exit off of Lake Mary Blvd. That way I would have avoided the tolls but all good as I got to see another portion of Orlando.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by DeejayDJ

Hello, I'm back from my weekend in Orlando. I had a great time! Much of our time was not on I drive and was spent at IOA and HHH. I have to say that Harry Potter was awesome! Now I see why that is the number one attraction at both IOA and Universal Studios. With what time I had, I observed Orlando's surroundings and it reaffirmed my decision to move. My flight was early Monday morning so I had a chance to drive on the 408 and 417. I did not know UCF was in the rural area. I always though it would be closer to the core of Orlando. Sanford airport was nice (however will not fly Allegiant ever again, worst experience). I did see the bulldozers and construction crew for the I-4 expansion project but traffic was flowing smooth (we left at 5:45am, thats probably why). However I don't understand why GPS took me through 408 & 417 when I could have taken I-4 East all the way and exit off of Lake Mary Blvd. That way I would have avoided the tolls but all good as I got to see another portion of Orlando.

While I wouldn't call UCF area rural by a longshot, I'm sure as hell glad the main campus isn't anywhere near downtown... I can only imagine the cluster**** that would be with 60,000 college kids driving around downtown all at once.

[Crane's Rooster]

Basically everything east of UCF is like a small college town within a city. I would say University Blvd from Dean to the UCF campus has really been taken over by UCF and caters to students. But you are correct, most of the area west of campus is rural compared to the rest of Central Florida, to the North to a certain extent as well. Oviedo is still a somewhat rural community.