ORLANDO, Fla. — The Memorial Day travel period is here. That means a busy weekend on local roads and at the Orlando International Airport.
Central Floridians are preparing for the long weekend ahead to honor Memorial Day. Many headed to the Orlando airport Friday. The airport is expecting a 2% increase in travel from this time last year.
“Didn’t even think about it,” one traveler said. “We just got in the pickup and came.”
The Memorial Day travel period should see at least 1 million passengers move through the terminals, so travelers are taking the advice to get there well before their flights.
“The traffic I try to avoid, so I do things earlier,” said another traveler.
Some are opting for vacations closer to home.
Travelers could see a break at the pump with the price of a gallon of regular between 40 and 50 cents cheaper than this time last year.
“I’d rather drive,” said one driver. “It’s more convenient and I like to drive. Even with gas and tolls, I’d rather drive.”
Whether visitors are making way to central Florida by plane or car, AAA does expect Orlando to be the number one destination for the holiday weekend.
“When you consider you have some of the worlds most popular attractions, Disney, Universal just opened a brand-new theme park, so that’s going to bring a lot of folks to the area,” said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA. “Then its proximity to the cruise ports and beaches, Orlando has something for everyone.”
AAA wants everyone to be safe this weekend. They said because of the extra people on the roads, popular highways will be congested. They said it’s best to travel early in the morning.
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