Which vacation home resorts are closest to Universal and Epic Universe?

This is the companion to our ranking of the closest vacation home resorts to Disney World: the same 17 resorts and the same method, now timed to Universal. For a comparison of areas (Kissimmee, Four Corners, International Drive), see where to stay in Orlando. This page is only the measured ranking, resort by resort.

Which vacation home resort is closest to Universal Orlando?

Vista Cay, in the Convention Center area off International Drive, came out on top. From its gate to the toll plaza of the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure garage is 4.8 miles (7.7 km), about 12 minutes without traffic. To the Epic Universe parking lot it is 2.5 miles (4.0 km), about 7 minutes. Vista Cay has condos and two-story townhomes.

Second place goes to Paradiso Grande, a vacation home community near SeaWorld: 13 minutes to the garage and 9 to Epic Universe.

After those two, the times jump. The closest Kissimmee resort is Storey Lake, 20 minutes from the garage, followed by Lucaya Village at 21. Windsor Hills, which tops the Disney ranking, is 24 minutes from Universal.

Does Epic Universe change the ranking?

Barely for Kissimmee, quite a bit near International Drive. Epic Universe is not part of the original Universal complex. Based on OpenStreetMap coordinates, its parking entrance sits about 2.9 miles (4.6 km) in a straight line south of the garage that serves Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.

If you stay nearby, that matters. Vista Cay reaches Epic in 7 minutes and the garage in 12. Paradiso Grande takes 9 and 13. The condo buildings north of there, right next to Universal, flip the math: they are closer to the garage than to Epic. So the place closest to one park is not always closest to the other.

From Kissimmee, Four Corners or Davenport, the two destinations come out nearly tied, 0 to 1 minute apart. Both routes head north on I-4. To reach Epic, the fastest route leaves I-4 for a short stretch of SR 528 (the Beachline Expressway), a road with electronic tolls. How tolling works for drivers and rental cars is covered in how tolls work in Orlando.

How did we time the drive to Universal?

We used driving routes, not straight-line distance, with the same method as the Disney ranking:

• Start: the resort gate, using OpenStreetMap coordinates. Where a resort has more than one exit, we used the one on the fastest route.
• Finish: the entrance toll plaza of each parking area. Universal publishes two addresses for drivers: 6000 Universal Boulevard, the garage for Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and CityWalk, and 1001 Epic Boulevard, the Epic Universe lot. We timed the drive to the toll plaza at each one.
• Route: calculated with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data on October 7, 2026, with no traffic.
• Rounding: always up. 11.1 minutes counts as 12.

The numbers leave out traffic, stoplights, the line at the toll plaza, the drive to a parking space and the drive inside large communities such as Reunion, ChampionsGate and Storey Lake, where a home can be several minutes from the gate.

How long is the drive from each resort to Universal?

Between 12 and 35 minutes to the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure garage, without traffic. The gap between first and last place is 23 minutes each way.

Resort	Area	Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure	Epic Universe	Orlando Best Place homes
Vista Cay	Orlando, International Drive (Convention Center)	12 min	7 min	yes
Paradiso Grande	Orlando, near SeaWorld	13 min	9 min	yes
Storey Lake (The Cove)	Kissimmee, east (Osceola Pkwy)	20 min	21 min	yes
Lucaya Village	Kissimmee, east (US-192)	21 min	21 min	yes
Windsor Hills	Kissimmee, west (Old Lake Wilson Rd)	24 min	24 min	no
Terra Esmeralda	Kissimmee, east (Poinciana Blvd)	25 min	25 min	yes
Formosa Gardens	Kissimmee, west (US-192)	25 min	26 min	no
Bella Vida	Kissimmee, east (Yowell Rd)	25 min	26 min	yes
Encore Resort at Reunion	Reunion (Sinclair Rd)	26 min	26 min	no
Lake Berkley	Kissimmee, east (US-192)	26 min	26 min	no
ChampionsGate	ChampionsGate (I-4)	26 min	27 min	yes
Reunion	Reunion (Sinclair Rd)	27 min	27 min	no
Emerald Island	Kissimmee, west (US-192)	28 min	28 min	no
Festival	ChampionsGate (I-4)	29 min	30 min	no
Solterra	Davenport (Ronald Reagan Pkwy)	30 min	30 min	yes
Windsor at Westside	Kissimmee, west (Westside Blvd)	33 min	33 min	no
Solara	Kissimmee, west (Westside Blvd)	35 min	35 min	yes

Source: driving routes calculated with OSRM on OpenStreetMap data on October 7, 2026, from the resort gate to the entrance toll plaza of each parking area, without traffic, rounded up. The last column shows whether we manage homes in that resort today.

Encore Resort at Reunion and Reunion take SR 429, a toll road, on the fastest route to the garage. Vista Cay and Paradiso Grande reach both destinations without tolls.

How far is Kissimmee from Universal Studios?

From the Kissimmee resorts in the table, 20 to 35 minutes to the garage without traffic. The east side, near Osceola Parkway and Poinciana Boulevard, has the edge: Storey Lake and Lucaya Village take Vineland Road up to I-4. The west end of US-192 and the Westside Boulevard area are at the bottom of the list.

In real life, add I-4 traffic, the line at the toll plaza and the walk. From the garage you walk through CityWalk to the Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure gates, and Universal does not publish how long that takes. Epic Universe has its own separate lot. Prices and rules are in Disney World and Universal parking.

Can you stay halfway between Disney and Universal?

Yes, and in our numbers Paradiso Grande is the most balanced. It is 17 minutes from the Magic Kingdom parking plaza and 13 from the Universal garage, 30 minutes combined. Vista Cay adds up to 32 (20 and 12). Storey Lake and Lucaya Village add up to 35 but lean toward Disney. Windsor Hills adds up to 36, with twice as much time on the Universal side.

It adds up over a trip. With 4 days at Universal and Epic Universe, the 23 minute gap between the first and last resort in the table comes to about 3 hours behind the wheel, counting both ways. Home size, the pool and price still matter, so decide how many days you will spend at each resort complex first, then read the right column.

In practice: before you book, ask for the exact address of the home and run the route in your GPS to 6000 Universal Boulevard and 1001 Epic Boulevard at the time you plan to leave. Universal says a parking payment is valid all day at both the garages and Epic Universe, with re-entry when you show your receipt and a photo ID. If your plan is Epic in the morning and CityWalk at night, you do not pay twice.

Which of these resorts have Orlando Best Place homes?

We manage homes in 9 of the 17 resorts we timed, including the top two: Vista Cay and Paradiso Grande. In Kissimmee, we have homes at The Cove at Storey Lake and Lucaya Village. Then come Terra Esmeralda, Bella Vida, Champions Gate, Solterra and Solara.

We also manage condos in buildings that are not vacation home resorts. With the same method, they are the closest to the Universal garage:

Building	Location	Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure	Epic Universe
The Point Orlando Resort	Universal Boulevard	5 min	8 min
The Enclave	Carrier Drive	6 min	9 min
StaySky Suites	Canada Avenue, near International Drive	7 min	10 min
Hawthorn Suites	Lake Buena Vista	13 min	14 min

To see what is available in this range, with photos and the distance for each one, open our vacation rentals near Universal Orlando. For a day at the newest park, read how to visit Epic Universe from a vacation home, and for the two original parks, how to do Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.