Public Transport in Orlando

[Dagobert]

Sorry to open a new thread, but I couldn't find anything about public transport with the search-tool.

Is there a public transport system in Orlando which brings us to Orlando and back to WDW, because we are arriving earlier and so we want to go to the city for shopping or sightseeing.

Thanks

[flynnibus]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

No - plan on taking a bus/car-service/taxi

Unless you are taking Disney's Magical Express with your resort stay.

[PhotoMatt]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

http://www.golynx.com/assets/userfiles/media/pdf/systemmap.pdf

The bus system in Orlando is called Lynx. As you can see from the map, there is transportation from WDW to Orlando. However, unlike in Europe, the frequency of busses is probably less, and it will probably take you awhile to get where you need to go. You can check the schedules for exact times.

[PhotoMatt]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

When are you planning on coming out here?

[Dagobert]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

Thank you for the link. We are arriving in Orlando on the 12th of January and our Disney Vacation starts on the 17th of January.

We are searching for cheap nice hotels in Orlando and other fun things to do (except disney). Any ideas?

[aimster]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

What kind of budget are you looking at for the hotel? And what kind of fun things? Other parks? Kitschy touristy stuff? Dinner shows?

[Dagobert]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

Low budget, because the weeks before we are at Las Vegas and New York City. We are thinking about Sea World and are there any shopping centers in Orlando?

[tayakaleb]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

Go to the Florida mall and the outlet mall by the big ol' shrine to mary church!

[Dagobert]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

Did anyone of you already stay in a cheap hotel in Orlando?

[aimster]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

There's a Comfort Inn a mile or 2 from Downtown Disney. It's clean and decent enough and the rooms are dirt cheap through Hotels.com. It's good enough if you just plan on being in the room to sleep for the most part.

There's also a Radisson right by I-4 near Downtown Disney. I stayed there in 2001 when it was a Days Inn and it was nice. It was most recently called the LBV Hotel... but now it's a Radisson.

http://www.hotels.com/processRefineSearchResults.do?paging=1&sortBy=PROXIMITY&searchID=AC102643-5DDB-6E91-1672-1A3E97E9619B&searchMtmPropertySupplierId=&searchType=&chooseAlternateDestination=false&propertyIdsToCompareString=&destination=usertyped&addressID=&mtnHotelID=&CIMonth=-1&CIDay=-1&CIYear=2007&COMonth=-1&CODay=-1&COYear=2007&usertypedcity=Downtown+Disney+Village&street1=&street2=&acDestinationId=934685A0-9BF8-4847-AD54-0E5B47C5F3D2&acDestinationType=2&lat=0.0&lon=0.0&pointName=&checkIn=&checkOut=&numrooms=1&adults%5B0%5D=2&child%5B0%5D=0&adults%5B1%5D=2&child%5B1%5D=0&adults%5B2%5D=2&child%5B2%5D=0&adults%5B3%5D=2&child%5B3%5D=0&adults%5B4%5D=2&child%5B4%5D=0&adults%5B5%5D=2&child%5B5%5D=0&adults%5B6%5D=2&child%5B6%5D=0&adults%5B7%5D=2&child%5B7%5D=0&hotelName=&allPropertyTypesSelected=on&minPriceStr=0&maxPriceStr=500%2B&minStarRating=1.0&maxStarRating=5.0&guestRatingMin=1.0&guestRatingMax=5.0&sortType=HCOMPICK&pageNumber=1&numProperties=1&checkIn=&checkOut=

You'll have to put in your exact travel dates to get the rates for rooms, but it'll give you an idea what rooms are going for and read reviews.

If you want to check out some kitschy touristy stuff, visit International Drive. It's crazy! They have a couple mini golf places that have live gators you can feed and one also has a gator show. They're called Gator Golf Adventure Park. It's pretty much right across the street from the Holiday Inn (I stayed there last month and it was decent and clean). There's also this kitschy midway/carnival thing next door to the Gator Golf place called the Magical Midway. They got one of those slingshot rides, a few other carnival rides & a couple interesting go-kart tracks.

Old Town over on Irlo Bronson Hwy is pretty cool to check out too.

[jonmmmkay]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

We stayed at the Days Inn Maingate East. The hotel itself was nothing special, just a bed and a shower. We liked it because it had a Lynx bus stop across the street that takes you to the TTC. It probably took an average of 15 minutes once we boarded the bus to get to the TTC. Coming back to the hotel was a little bit more difficult. The bus gets packed fast as it seemed lots of Cast Members took it to get home. The hotel also offered limited shuttle service to Universal Studios and Seaworld which kept us from renting a car. I think the hotel was $40 a night, the Lynx bus is $1.50 per person and the shuttle to US and SW was free.

[bluntman]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

rent a car. Lynx is terrible. takes too much time due to the infrequent busses.

[jonmmmkay]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

rent a car. Lynx is terrible. takes too much time due to the infrequent busses.

I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. The Phoenix city busses are beyond bad for many reasons. We never had any problems with the Lynx busses, but I'm sure like everything else it has its bad days.

[SkittleKicks]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

If you stay along I-Drive, there is the free I-Drive trolley, which can connect you to a Lynx stop, I believe.

[TDLFAN]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

As a local, I would recommend renting a car for your visit. The bus service Lynx is simply terrible, and you run into the weirdest people on those busses at times. Not entirely safe nor pleasant. I would rent a car, and I can't stress that enough.

[SaneVoice]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

Be careful about renting a car though, people who live in Florida never really learned how to drive. Anyone who says they did are lying. Anyone who blames it on the tourists are fooling themselves. Floridians are some of the worst drivers in the country, and they never learned to accept that. So, insurance

[sir clinksalot]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

But be careful with the insurance. Sometimes, depending on the card you are using the insurance will be covered by them. For example, my AmEx covers rental car insurance. The rental companies know this, and still try to sell you the pointless coverage.

I've never used the bus system in Orlando, so I can't help you there. As for attractions, there is Sea World, Universal, there are some dinner show type things (Dolly Parton something or other) and of course Malls, Outlet Malls, etc..

Check out MiceChat partner Orlando Fun Tickets http://www.orlandofuntickets.com/ as they have deals on all kinds of non-disney activities.

[KevinYee]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

We are searching for cheap nice hotels in Orlando and other fun things to do (except disney). Any ideas?

http://www.ultimateorlando.com/otherattractions/

There's a bunch to do here!

[nbodyhome]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

I was going to mention the I-Drive trolley as well. I believe you can pick that up from the Orlando Premium Outlet mall. That is what I'd take, as opposed to the bus.

[nbodyhome]

Re: Public Transport in Orlando

We are searching for cheap nice hotels in Orlando and other fun things to do (except disney). Any ideas?

Cheap AND nice? :-) How cheap?

Also, if you are going to stay off-property, you probably will want a rental car. It would make life easier. If I was going to stay on Disney property and go shopping off-property, I'd look into a rental car for a day, even though it's doable without one.