'They called the hotel 'Finley's Folly' вЂ“ everyone, all of my friends,' Hamilton said. He imagined that once Walt Disney World opened in October 1971, tourists would spot the hotel when traveling to the park along Interstate 4. 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. Several Lynx public bus routes also serve the I-Drive area with routes to Orlando International Airport, Downtown Orlando and other parts of the city. The I-Ride Trolley system operated by the International Drive Master Transit & Improvement District provides bus transportation along the I-Drive Resort Area primarily for tourists, convention attendees, and locals alike. Wet n' Wild was a water park formerly located on International Drive, considered to be America's first water park until it closed on Decemto make way for Universal's Volcano Bay, which opened on May 25, 2017. The major theme park resort Universal Orlando is also located in the area. The International Drive area is home to the wax museum Madame Tussauds, the Orange County Convention Center complex, the Pointe Orlando entertainment complex, major hotels, SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica (SeaWorld's water park), Fun Spot America amusement park, the ICON Orlando Ferris wheel, 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 restaurants, 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. to Sand Lake Road has no median or center turn lane, and frequently has heavy traffic and gridlock in the evenings in the tourism corridor, affecting Carrier Dr. The section of I-Drive from Universal Blvd.

The entirety of International Drive South, from SR 535 to US 192, is entirely six lanes. 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. It has six lanes, three in each direction, from Pointe Plaza Dr.

south end see below), and again between the northern and southern intersections with Westwood Blvd. I-Drive has four lanes, two in each direction, from its north end at Oak Ridge Road to Pointe Plaza Dr. Surrounding cross-roads include Sand Lake Road, Kirkman Road, SR 536, and Universal Boulevard, which runs parallel to the midsection of International Drive. 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. International Drive stretches approximately 11.1 miles, with the northern part extending into the southernmost city limits of Orlando and the remainder of the central and southern portion located in unincorporated Orange County.

Idrive florida