International Drive, commonly known as I-Drive, is a major

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highw ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and is the city's main tourist strip. I-Drive is located several miles southwest of proper

Downtown Orlando Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by Marks Street in the north, Mills Avenue ( SR 15) in the east, Orange Blossom Trail ( US 441) in the west, and Kaley Avenue in ...

in the southernmost limits of the city. The International Drive area serves a similar purpose to that of the

Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas cit ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

as the core of the tourism area.

Route description

International Drive stretches approximately 11.1 miles, with the northern part extending into the southernmost city limits of

and the remainder of the central and southern portion located in unincorporated Orange County. An additional extension which does not directly intersect with the main section of International Drive is known as International Drive South, partly located in the northern portion of Osceola County. Surrounding cross-roads include Sand Lake Road, Kirkman Road, SR 536, and Universal Boulevard, which runs parallel to the midsection of International Drive. I-Drive has four lanes, two in each direction, from its north end at Oak Ridge Road to Pointe Plaza Dr. (former Universal Blvd. south end; see below), and again between the northern and southern intersections with Westwood Blvd. It has six lanes, three in each direction, from Pointe Plaza Dr. to the Beachline Expressway (the eastbound ramps to the Beachline tie into the northern intersection with Westwood Blvd.), and again from the southern intersection with Westwood Blvd. to its end at SR 536. The entirety of International Drive South, from SR 535 to US 192, is entirely six lanes. The section of I-Drive from Universal Blvd. to Sand Lake Road has no median or center turn lane, and frequently has heavy traffic and

gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where "continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill". The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...

in the evenings in the tourism corridor, affecting Carrier Dr. and Sand Lake Road. The International Drive area is home to the wax museum

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

, the

Orange County Convention Center The Orange County Convention Center is a convention center located in Orlando, Florida. Opened in 1983 as the Orange County Convention and Civic Center, it is the primary public convention center for the Central Florida region and the second-lar ...

complex, the Pointe Orlando entertainment complex, major hotels,

SeaWorld Orlando SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park, in Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Or ...

, Aquatica (SeaWorld's water park), Fun Spot America amusement park, the ICON Orlando

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

, the world's tallest StarFlyer (opened June 1, 2018), the world's tallest Slingshot, the World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's, CoCo Key Hotel & Water Resort, the I-Drive 360 entertainment complex, museums, themed

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, bars, outlet malls, mini golf courses like Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf and other tourism-related commercial properties and tourist attractions such as Air Florida Helicopter Inc, Wonder Works and The Magical Midway. The major

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

resort

Universal Orlando Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort Building#Complex, complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operate ...

is also located in the area. Wet n' Wild was a water park formerly located on International Drive, considered to be America's first water park until it closed on December 31, 2016 to make way for Universal's Volcano Bay, which opened on May 25, 2017.

Public transportation

The I-Ride Trolley system operated by the International Drive Master Transit & Improvement District provides

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

transportation along the I-Drive Resort Area primarily for tourists, convention attendees, and locals alike. Several

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, ...

public bus routes also serve the I-Drive area with routes to

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

and other parts of the city.

History

The first section of I-Drive was laid out in the 1960s by attorney Finley Hamilton to serve his Hilton Inn South, opened in May 1970. He imagined that once

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

opened in October 1971, tourists would spot the hotel when traveling to the park along

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent ...

. "They called the hotel 'Finley's Folly' – everyone, all of my friends," Hamilton said. "They said it was in the boondocks. ...But it turned out to be highly successful. ...I came up with International Drive," he recalled, "because it sounded big and important." International Drive was eventually extended to its current north point (where Prime Outlets is now) and southward past the

Beachline Expressway State Road 528 (SR 528), alternatively named the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway (with parts previously named the Bee Line Expressway), is a partially- tolled state road in the U.S. state of Florida; it is maintained by the Flori ...

. The International Drive Master Transit and Improvement District was created in 1992 to provide growth management, transportation, and infrastructure development for the area with collaboration between the local governments and I-Drive businesses. One of the most critical projects presented to the organization is to create an efficient transportation system for tourists on the I-Drive strip; this prompted the creation of the I-Ride bus trolley system.

Universal Boulevard

Universal Boulevard runs roughly parallel to International Drive from the Beachline Expressway north, then crosses I-Drive and intersects I-4 via an overpass into the

Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as Universal Orlando or simply Universal, formerly Universal Studios Escape, is an American theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Orlando, Florida. The resort is operated by Universal Pa ...

. Originally built as Republic Drive, it originally stopped at International Drive and fed into ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound. In 1998, the extension north into Universal Studios was opened (in preparation for the opening of Islands of Adventure in 1999), and the road was renamed to Universal Blvd. The intersection at I-4 still only has ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound; the ramps on westbound I-4 connect not to Universal Blvd., but to Hollywood Way, necessitating a right turn to get to Universal Blvd. Southbound, it originally fed into International Drive just north of the

(the current West Building). The north corner of the intersection is now the Pointe Orlando shopping district. When the North Building (then Phase V) of the OCCC was planned, it was also planned to extend Universal Boulevard along its current alignment on the north side of the North Building. Plans were made in conjunction with the Williamsburg subdivision to design the intersection at the Beachline Expressway so that traffic would not inadvertently clog Orangewood Boulevard, which already met the Beachline at that point (Exit 2). The extension was opened in early 2003, and the old connector to I-Drive at Pointe Orlando was renamed Pointe Plaza Avenue. An electric sign system on the Beachline directs convention-goers to the proper road so as to avoid unnecessary traffic on I-Drive. Universal Boulevard has fewer businesses, thus much less traffic serving as an overflow exit road for the

during major events. Several planned communities and extended-stay business apartments are planned for the corridor, including the Village of Imagine, across from the OCCC North Building. The

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State Universi ...

opened the off-campus

Rosen College of Hospitality Management The Rosen College of Hospitality Management is an academic college of the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. History UCF offered its first program in Hospitality Management in 1983. The program was the outg ...

, funded by local hotelier Harris Rosen, in 2005 at Universal Blvd. and the Beachline. Universal Blvd. is currently six lanes from Vineland Rd. southbound to International Drive, then four lanes southbound to Pointe Plaza Ave., then six lanes again to the Beachline. Only one lane in each direction passes under the Beachline to connect to Orangewood Blvd., which is four lanes on the other side.

Major junctions

References

External links

International Drive Resort Area Official Website
{{Coord, 28.4171999, -81.4598421, display=title Tourist attractions in Orlando, Florida Transportation in Orlando, Florida 1970 establishments in Florida