A British tourist driving in Orlando for the first time - my experience

How to survive driving in Orlando

Our rental car

One of the key decisions we had to make when booking our vacation was should we drive or rely on transportation.  We knew that we wanted to do more than just visit Disney so we stayed off-property and rented a car with Alamo.  In the weeks running up to the trip I felt quite nervous about driving in America, there were so many things which seemed scary and alien to me:

• Driving an automatic car
• Driving on the right and sitting on the left
• Different road markings and traffic signals
• Turning right at junctions on red lights

I did some prior reading before I came and to be honest I am very glad that I did drive for the extra opportunities this gave.

Two essential things I found vey useful were:

UK guide to driving in the USA 

Florida drivers handbook

I also managed to find a dashboard cam video of the journey from the airport to Disney which was really helpful.

So what did I learn?

• Driving in Florida was really simple and I am glad I did it.
• The traffic lanes are generally wider than in the UK
• Traffic is generally slower
• Some of the speed limits felt strange (35mph) and I had to really concentrate on those
• Speed limits are not as well signposted as in the UK and at times it was not obvious when joining roads what the correct speed limit was
• Other motorists are generally very tolerant of tourists who get lost
• Our rental satnav wasn't all that helpful - it was obsessed with taking us on i4 all the time!
• When turning left remember it is a long left before you have to turn!

My advice for first time drivers in Orlando is do it!  We saw quite a few people waiting for transportation at Disney and at our Condo and I definitely enjoyed the freedom of coming and going when we wanted.

Parking was lovely, the spaces are much longer and wider than ones in the UK.  Most cars parks at the theme parks cost $17 per day. Parking at Disney is transferrable if you want to park hop during the day.

Many roads have tollbooths and these can appear confusing at first.  We were offered the opportunity to buy a sunpass transponder when we picked up the car but decided that we would pay.  In total we spent $16 on toll roads of which $10 was for the journey to Kennedy Space Centre.  At manned booths you will need to use the very right hand lane and have notes no bigger than $20.  You can ask for receipts here which are worth keeping.  We only encountered one automated booth and had small change for that one.  There is a map here. 

A word of caution - We had a couple of very 'interesting' driving experiences during thunderstorms.  You will definitely need to be very careful as the visibility reduced very quickly and the roads became quite slippery.

In summary, if you are not sure about driving but know you will want flexibility hire a car. I would definitely have a look at your route in advance from the airport to your accommodation.  We left the airport at half past midnight, feeling very tired and stressed due to the rain and having a general sense of what we were doing was useful.

Getting petrol (gas) in Orlando - a guide for British tourists

So you have made the decision to drive in Orlando on your vacation.  At some point during the trip you will need to fill up the car with gas (petrol).  You might be tempted by the slick car hire rep to return the car empty and let them fill it up, don't do it!

Filling up at an American gas station is really no harder than in the UK but there are a couple of extra things you will need to think about.  If you are a local reading this you might think that this is really obvious but as a Brit doing it for the first time it can be daunting.

All gas payments must be made in advance, this can either be through a credit card or paying cash at the counter. Until chip and pin cards are finally used everywhere you will not be able to use your British credit card at the pump as it asks for the zip code that the credit card is registered to.

Before I go through the steps of paying for gas it is worth mentioning location.  There are many reasonably priced gas stations around Disney and International Drive but the closer you get to the airport the greater the cost.  You can find out current prices here at orlandogasprices.com. If you are visiting Disney on your last morning before returning to the airport you can fill up there and still have a full tank when you get back.  We found the HESS on World Drive very pleasant and accommodating of tourists.

The biggest difference between the UK and America is the price of gas.  Currently you can be paying anything up to $6 a gallon for gas here in the UK compared to the $2.21 in Orlando (rough calculation).

Step 1: Check which side your petrol cap is on and where the button is to open it

Step 2: Have a rough idea of how big your fuel tank is, as a rough estimate; 

Small car 12 gallons
Mid-size car 16 gallons
Full-size car 18 gallons
SUV 20+ gallons

Step 3: Do a rough sum of how much is it going to cost based on how much of a tank you will need.

I filled up a full-size car when the tank was half empty - roughly 9 gallons.  At $2.21 dollars a gallon I knew it was going to be around $20

Step 4: Go into the shop and ask the cashier to put $20 on the pump you are using.

Step 5: Most pumps offer a selection of different grade gas.  I went for the cheapest! Before you put the nozzle in your car and check again if you have diesel or petrol.  At this point you may have to press a selector button for the gas you want.  This was the moment I wondered what had gone wrong as nothing was happening.  I had missed the sign saying "lift the switch" beneath the pump holder.  

Step 6: If you have not used the full amount you will then need to go back in and ask for your change.  I would always ask for a receipt to prove that you have returned the car full to the hire company.