Disney to MIA Airport to POM

My daughter and I are booked on the Symphony - April 13,2019. We are a little crazy but we are going to fly into Orlando in April 11th to get the 2 last days out of our Disney annual passes before our cruise.

So - That means on Saturday morning we will be up really early to drive from Orlando to Miami, Return the Rental Car (assume at the Miami Airport) and then take the car rental shuttle to the POM.

When I plug this into a driving app - it says that the drive is between 3.5-4 hours. Can anyone give me some reality check on that?

My preference would be for us to get on the road by 7, stop for McDonalds breakfast/bathroom break at 9, and get to the airport for 11:30, return the car, and get to POM by 1pm. Symphony leaves at 4:30, so we have about 2 hours max of cushion.

Any chance that could happen? I should mention that this is likely the busiest family school break week of all.

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I have done that a few times, in reverse from Ft Lauderdale to Orlando, I find it usually takes me close to four hours, first because I stop at every rest stop, I hate interstates. Traffic isn't too bad from outside Ft Lauderdale to near Orlando, but once you get in the city traffic, anything can happen.

Reality: Orlando to MIA is totally doable in 3.5 hours.

Reality: Early Saturday morning traffic should be light and easy, in your favor.

Variables: If you need to make multiple stops you run the risk of encountering very heavy traffic as you approach the greater Miami area.

MIA has a multiple agency car rental center that makes it a very easy option. Ideally you would want to be at MIA no later than 11:00 to avoid heavy Miami traffic. I would recommend Florida’s Turnpike over I-95 for lighter traffic, but be prepared for lots of tolls.

It is very easy to drive straight through (although DH always insists on a coffee break along the way [emoji38]) Any time after noon, MIA to POM can take 45-60 minutes.

Bottom line: the math adds up and you should be fine as long as all goes well.

As much as I always encourage a quick Disney trip, I personally would be stressing the entire time. I’d be hitting the road at 5:00AM, and that’s not a pretty picture [emoji15]

Good luck!

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Plan 4hrs. for the drive, and then add in the times you plan on stopping and 45 minutes to return the car and get to the port. I would want to be on the road no later than 6am. Though the weekend will have light traffic it will pickup on the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale. Florida roads are notorious for accidents at anytime of the day. The more time you have before the cruise departs the better.

I would disagree with the chances of hitting "very heavy traffic in the greater Miami area" - we don't have very heavy traffic on the weekends unless there is an accident, and even then, it's minimal disruption as there are so many alternate routes. And on a Saturday, Miami airport to PortMiami is not anywhere near 45 - 60 minutes even after noon on any day of the week, let alone Saturday. For it to take that long would probably require a nuclear holocaust. It's about a 20 minute drive, 30 max if there is an unusual delay. Weekend traffic in South Florida, generally speaking, is non-existent.

Use your phone and Google to navigate and it will keep up with any potential delays. You won't have an issue at all. 3.5 - 4 hours at 75 - 80mph is spot on with 1 minimal stop.

If you are on the road at 7, I can't fathom you being to PM later than 1PM unless you fall asleep at a rest stop.

Thank you all for the feedback!

We are religious Wazers so we will definitely rely on Waze and do some periodic route updates to assess if there are any significant things that have happened!

If we are ready to get on the road before 7 we will but unless it’s raining or something that might take more time we won’t force it...we won’t need a long rest stop for breakfast - just coffee/bathrooms and then to stop and car return at emerald aisle or Alamo is always pretty quick! Since we will use almost a full tank of gas we shouldn’t need to stop for gas before we arrive there either!

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Sounds doable to me. We've been on the road from WDW early and have made it onto the ship by noon. National, Alamo, Thrifty and Enterprise offer free shuttles between their MIA airport location and POM

Have a great cruise! :)

I live on Brickell, close to the port and drive to Disney World all the time. It takes me 3 hours and 45 minutes to go door to door to The Yacht and Beach Clubs on Epcot Resorts Blvd where we stay. That's not going during rush hour and not having any huge incidents on the roadway.

I would disagree with the chances of hitting "very heavy traffic in the greater Miami area" - we don't have very heavy traffic on the weekends unless there is an accident, and even then, it's minimal disruption as there are so many alternate routes. And on a Saturday, Miami airport to PortMiami is not anywhere near 45 - 60 minutes even after noon on any day of the week, let alone Saturday. For it to take that long would probably require a nuclear holocaust. It's about a 20 minute drive, 30 max if there is an unusual delay. Weekend traffic in South Florida, generally speaking, is non-existent.

 

Use your phone and Google to navigate and it will keep up with any potential delays. You won't have an issue at all. 3.5 - 4 hours at 75 - 80mph is spot on with 1 minimal stop.

 

If you are on the road at 7, I can't fathom you being to PM later than 1PM unless you fall asleep at a rest stop.

I must be driving in a different Miami, I've never found weekend traffic to be nonexistent! Less traffic than during the week mind you, but there is always traffic!

I must be driving in a different Miami, I've never found weekend traffic to be nonexistent! Less traffic than during the week mind you, but there is always traffic!

This traffic topic makes me giggle. It is all perspective, we live in. Naples and during season complain about the traffic all the time. In reality, in comparison to Miami, or NYC, or even our visits to CO and Tallahassee our traffic is nonexistent. On most of our drives to Miami however, we have encountered some type of incident on the roads. So, in our perspective there is traffic. If I were the OP and driving to my cruise destination I’d leave at 5 am. It’s the only way I could relax. But, the OP very likely has a far different perspective.

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This traffic topic makes me giggle. It is all perspective, we live in. Naples and during season complain about the traffic all the time. In reality, in comparison to Miami, or NYC, or even our visits to CO and Tallahassee our traffic is nonexistent. On most of our drives to Miami however, we have encountered some type of incident on the roads. So, in our perspective there is traffic. If I were the OP and driving to my cruise destination I’d leave at 5 am. It’s the only way I could relax. But, the OP very likely has a far different perspective.

 

 

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We lived in Naples for 16 years so I completely get the season complaints. We used to complain. I drove my Miami to Naples and back for over 2 years s know that once I hit back to this side, I was doomed! Now when we go back over to see friends I just laugh at what my idea of traffic used to be! Even during season it didn’t touch the traffic of downtown Miami or 95.

Hopefully now that season is over, you get your roads back....

We will also be doing that same trip - driving from the DW area of Orlando on a Friday morning in early December, down to MIA to return rental car and then taxi or uber to our hotel in Downtown Miami - cruise leaves the next day. Have never made that trip before, we are planning on leaving late morning, heading to Miami...not in any hurry, but living in the Portland OR area and knowing what Friday afternoon traffic is like HERE, I'm pretty sure it's probably as bad there. What can we expect as we get closer to Miami mid to late afternoon? Or, would it be better to leave for Miami later in the day, getting down there after 7 pm...would that lead to us encountering less traffic as we move into the Miami area?

We will also be doing that same trip - driving from the DW area of Orlando on a Friday morning in early December, down to MIA to return rental car and then taxi or uber to our hotel in Downtown Miami - cruise leaves the next day. Have never made that trip before, we are planning on leaving late morning, heading to Miami...not in any hurry, but living in the Portland OR area and knowing what Friday afternoon traffic is like HERE, I'm pretty sure it's probably as bad there. What can we expect as we get closer to Miami mid to late afternoon? Or, would it be better to leave for Miami later in the day, getting down there after 7 pm...would that lead to us encountering less traffic as we move into the Miami area?

You just want to avoid 4 - 7PM time slot if you can. But anytime before that you will have pretty smooth sailing. As a local who does that drive regularly... leaving Friday morning and getting here around Noon - 2PM, I wouldn't even have traffic on my mind. You probably won't hit anything at all. I would just try and be here before 4PM, as even after 2PM it can start to congest a little. And honestly, even then, maybe an extra 20 - 30 minute, tops, added to your drive.

It's an easy, if not flat out boring drive along the turnpike. Don't put much thought into it.