Don’t do Tampa. The drive is so much worse and can’t be used really as a last resort. Side note, there are many more jacked up trucks with confederate bumper stickers in tampa

I commute TPA to MIA regularly and yes it is a relatively full commute but have never had a problem making it on. Also the drive from Tampa is almost identical drive time wise as from Orlando plus taking i75 is easier than 95. And Tampa bay is great area to have a family or plant some roots. I’m closer to the beach than Tampa though.

Anybody know how the MCO-CLT commute is?

Don't hold your breath. Brightline (yeah, they really called it that!) currently runs from Miami to Ft Lauderdale, has for a few months of operation. Their great plans are to continue it north up the coast on existing Florida East Coast RR track, then hang a left on new track direct to MCO.

The local communities along the way are seriously opposed. The RR folk didn't stop to think about having any stations on this section, to actually benefit these guys. Newspapers are running repeated stories about people killed by the trains, since there are a bucketload of grade crossings. (The reality is a combination of under-reported incidents by the RRs, suicide-by-train and Darwin-Award winners who think they can beat the trains!) Ambulance and fire truck drivers are pointing out the delays waiting for trains in an emergency. The RR folks are trying to stick the local municipalities with the cost of upgrading and maintaining these crossings. The RR is trying to make sure that taxpayers are on the hook for costs and overruns.

IMHO, the whole thing is a very expensive way to upgrade the RR systems for freight, since that's the way they make money, and the southern ports have recently been dredged for more & bigger ocean shipping.

Get that Prius, and renew your prescription for Valium.

A charged Volt would give better acceleration and mpg on that route