World City Guide

Mini Guide of Orlando

City Overview

There is no disguising the fact Orlando is a city built on theme parks – lots of them. Until 1966, there was precious little here in central Florida, but growth has spiralled thanks to a huge influx of tourists following the arrival of Walt Disney World. From the original Magic Kingdom, which opened in 1971 after a five-year building programme, Disney has added three more theme parks, two water parks and a host of associated development, including hotels, shops and golf courses to make it a true ‘World’ resort.

With Disney setting the example, SeaWorld (one theme park) and Universal (two) have added to Orlando’s reputation as the family entertainment capital of the world. Between them, they draw more than 40 million visitors every year, and that has meant a huge growth in associated hotels, restaurants and shops, plus a host of smaller-scale attractions.

However, this young city has also developed its own identity, with a number of high-tech industries relocating here. The downtown area is fast developing yuppie overtones and there are ambitious plans to become a major cultural centre. The city is also one of America’s top five convention locations. Having said that, the main attraction for 99% of visitors remains the theme parks, and the likes of the nearby Kennedy Space Center. And, in order to attract the all-important repeat visitors, Orlando has become adept at re-inventing itself and providing new attractions at regular intervals.

Getting There By Air

Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Tel: (407) 825 2001.
Website: www.orlandoairports.net

Located 9 miles (14km) south-east of Orlando city centre and some 22 miles (35km) east of Walt Disney World, Orlando International has grown in pace with the city in the last 15-20 years, from handling just 8 million passengers in 1983 to more than 31 million in 2004, making it the 15th-ranked airport in the US. It serves some 55 airlines to 82 domestic destinations and 19 internationally.

Main airlines include Delta (tel: 1800 221 1212; website: www.delta.com), Continental (tel: 1800 523 3273; website: www.continental.com) and American Airlines (tel: 1800 222 2377; website: www.aa.com), plus US Airways, United and Northwest Airlines, and low-cost carriers Spirit, Jetblue, Independence Air, Zoom, Song and Southwest. British Airways operate daily flights from London Gatwick, and Virgin Atlantic from Gatwick and Manchester. Other international carriers with weekly services are Lufthansa, Martinair, Alitalia, Iberia and Icelandair.

The airport is consistently voted No. 1 for customer satisfaction in the US and on-airport services include a 446-room Hyatt hotel, 40 shops and restaurants, a full service bank, a hair salon and spa and a post office. Six car hire companies (including Alamo, Avis and Budget) operate direct from the airport, with another 15 operating off-airport. Mears Transportation offers a shuttle service from the airport to all the area’s hotels.

Orlando Sanford International Airport (SFB)
Tel: (407) 585 4000.
Website: www.orlandosanfordairport.com

This satellite airport 32 miles (51km) to the north of Orlando has become a major UK gateway for many of the main British tour operators, including Travel City Direct, MyTravel, Thomson, First Choice and Thomas Cook, and in the last few years has also been developed by various US low-cost carriers, including TransMeridian, Vacation Express and PanAm. It is much more limited in its scope and services but processes new arrivals extremely quickly compared to Orlando International. There are five car hire companies operating on-airport, notably, Alamo, Dollar and Hertz, and another four based off-airport, while there are several dozen offering round-trip transportation to the hotels, including Mears.

Getting There By Water

Getting There By Road

Hire cars are almost omni-present in Orlando and companies like Alamo, Dollar and National have some of the biggest fleets in the world here. UK nationals must remember to bring both parts of their driving licence if they have the new card, and basic car rental is quite cheap – although various taxes and fees can add considerably to the price. Seatbelts must be worn at all times, front and back, and child-seats must be used for under fours. Local speed limits vary from 55-70mph (88-112kph) on the motorways to as low as 15mph (24kph) in built-ups areas (notably near schools).

Florida in general is served by two main motorways, I-95 from the north-east, and I-75 from Canada and the mid-West, both of which run down either coast, plus I-10, which runs the full width of the USA from Los Angeles to link up with I-75. Orlando can be reached from I-95 or I-75 via I-4, which runs east-west through central Florida. Almost all the attractions of Orlando can be reached via I-4, while Highway 192 is the main route immediately to the south serving the Kissimmee area. The (toll) Central Florida Greeneway (417) then circles a large part of Orlando and is useful for reaching both airports.

American Coach Lines (tel: 1800 488 6876; website: www.americancoachlines.com) offers bus services from Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia to Orlando and Florida

Getting There By Rail

Amtrak provide the main rail link to Orlando, with direct service to downtown Orlando, plus Winter Park, 10 miles (16km) to the north, and Kissimmee, from south California, Texas and Louisiana, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. The Silver Service operates daily from the north-east, while the Sunset Limited runs three times a week from Los Angeles via Houston and New Orleans. Call 1800 872 7245 or visit www.amtrak.com for more information.

Getting Around

Public Transport
The rather plodding Lynx bus system (tel: (407) 841 5969; website: www.golynx.com) is Orlando’s only public transport, but it covers most of the city, Orlando International Airport, the theme parks and most of the main tourist areas. The routes (Links) are symbolised by pink paw-print signs. One, seven and 30-day passes are available, all of which represent significant savings if you take more than two regular-price journeys a day. Link 51 runs from the airport to downtown Orlando; Link 42 goes from the airport to International Drive, Link 50 runs from downtown to Disney’s Magic Kingdom; Link 56 runs from Kissimmee’s Highway 192 to the Magic Kingdom; and Link 38 runs from International Drive to downtown.

In downtown Orlando, the free Lymmo bus service operates around the city centre. On International Drive (one of the main tourist thoroughfares), there is also the I-Ride Trolley, a cheap bus service linking all the main hotels and points of interest. There are one, three, five, seven and 14-day passes, all of which represent great savings on individual journeys (tel: (407) 248 9590; website: www.iridetrolley.com).

You can pick-up round-trip or one-way shuttle vans from both airports to all the hotels and other destinations in and around Orlando. Mears Transportation (tel: (407) 423 5566; website: www.mearstransportation.com) and TranStar (tel: (407) 856 7777; website: www.transtar1.com) are the two main companies.

Taxis
Taxis are common in all areas. Three of the biggest taxi firms are Star Taxis (tel: (407) 857 9999), Diamond Cab Co (tel: (407) 523 3333) and Yellow/City Cab (tel: (407) 699 9999).

Round-trip services from the airports are also offered with various town car companies, who operate luxury sedan cars and limos. Prestige Towncar (tel: 1800 769 8227; website: www.prestigetowncar.com) and Florida Tours (tel: 1888 832 2111; website: www.fltours.com) are two of them.

Car Hire
As mentioned above, this is a huge area for car hire and there are rental offices all over the main tourist areas. Alamo (tel: 1800 462 5266; website: www.alamo.com) and Dollar (tel: 1866 434 2226; website: www.dollar.com) are easily the two biggest companies in town.

Driving in the City
Most attractions are well sign-posted and easy to find on Orlando’s road system but traffic can be very heavy on key routes in the morning (0800-0930) and evening (1600-1800). Motorway I-4 is the key east-west route but should be avoided at rush hour, while International Drive can also be seriously congested in the evening. Universal Boulevard is a good alternative. To the south, Highway 192 is the main route to Disney from the busy Kissimmee area, but (toll) Osceola Parkway is often a better bet.

Business

Sightseeing

Sightseeing Overview
Just about everything in Orlando starts with Walt Disney World. Almost a city in its own right, this 47 square mile (121 square km) resort wonderland boasts four theme parks and a host of other attractions. You can easily spend a week or more just inside the amazingly creative World of Mickey Mouse and Co; and, while most of it is firmly family-orientated, there is plenty to amuse and entertain adults. Outside Disney, the International Drive area is the other main draw, with both SeaWorld Adventure Park and the Universal Orlando resort (which consists of two theme parks and a dining/shopping/entertainment district) located here, along with a raft of smaller-scale attractions like Wet ‘n Wild water park, Skull Kingdom haunted house, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum and a host of good restaurants and shops. Just to the south is Kissimmee, which adds more attractions and some more natural diversions, like airboat rides, horse-riding, golf, fishing and hiking.

Tourist Information
Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitor Bureau (CVB)
6700 Forum Drive
Suite 100
Orlando
Florida 32821-8017
Tel: (407) 363 5800. Fax: (407) 370 5012.
Website: www.orlandoinfo.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700.

The CVB also has an Official Visitor Center, open seven days a week, offering attraction tickets, maps, hotel offers and other discounts.

Visitor Center
8723 International Drive
Suite 101
Orlando
Florida 32819
Tel: (407) 363 5872.
Email: info@orlandoinfo.com
Opening hours: 0800-1900 daily.

Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau
1925 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway
Kissimmee
Florida 34744
Tel: (407) 944 2400. Fax: (407) 847 4114.
Website: www.floridakiss.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1700 (except major holidays).

Passes
The Orlando/Orange County CVB offers the free Magicard, with discounts for many of the attractions, restaurants, sports and shops. Download and print online or apply online for home delivery (US only).

Key Attractions

Walt Disney World
This vast resort combines four superb theme parks (including the essential Magic Kingdom), two water parks, a sports complex, a downtown district of shops, restaurants and nightlife, golf courses, water sports, tennis, spas and 20 themed hotels.

Lake Buena Vista
Tel: (407) 824 4321.
Website: www.disneyworld.com

Universal Orlando
Another resort development (although only a 10th the size of Disney), Universal offer two more theme parks, three resort hotels and their CityWalk nightlife and shopping district. They also own the nearby Wet ‘n Wild water park.

1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Tel: (407) 363 8000.
Website: www.universalorlando.com

SeaWorld Adventure Park
The marine life park is hugely popular in Orlando with its mix of dolphin and whale shows, aquariums and other animal habitats, rides and other live entertainment.

7007 SeaWorld Drive
Tel: (407) 351 3600.
Website: www.seaworld.com/seaworld/fla/

Discovery Cove
An exclusive swim-with-dolphins park next door to SeaWorld, this is available to just 1,000 guests daily and features realistic marine environments and other animal encounters as well as a laid-back high-class resort style.

6000 Discovery Cove Way
Tel: (407) 370 1280.
Website: www.discoverycove.com

Kennedy Space Center
Just a 50-minute drive from Orlando, the home of NASA offers daily bus tours of the Space Center, static and hands-on exhibits, astronaut encounters and giant-screen film shows.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, State Road 405
Tel: (321) 449 4444.
Website: www.kennedyspacecenter.com

Further Distractions

Fantasy of Flight
An aviation-themed museum with a difference, this one-off attraction just south of Kissimmee offers a clever ‘immersion experience’ into the history of flight, with flight simulators, an extensive vintage aircraft collection and fascinating behind-the-scenes tours. Stay for lunch or dinner at their lovely Compass Rose 1930s vintage café.

1400 Broadway Boulevard SE, Polk City
Tel: (863) 984 3500.
Website: www.fantasyofflight.com

Boggy Creek Airboats
For a journey out into the real Florida, head to one of Boggy Creek’s two locations in Kissimmee for their half-hour airboat ride around one of the local lakes, taking in the alligators and other animal life of the area. Better still, try their one-hour night tour when they go out to find ’gators in the dark – and their eyes glow red!

3702 Big Bass Road, Kissimmee
Tel: (407) 304 9550.
Website: www.bcairboats.com

Tours of the City

For tours of the area, the two main companies to consider are Real Florida Excursions and International Divers, both Orlando-based operators who offer a complementary series of visits both in the immediate area and further afield, even as far as a Bahamas overnight tour.

Real Florida Excursions (tel: 1866 266 5733; website: www.realfloridaexcursions.com) specialise in beach trips, manatee swims, several eco-tours and even an all-day shopping bonanza. There are also three overnight trips and four evening excursions to local attractions like the Pirates and Arabian Nights dinner shows.

International Divers’ (tel: (407) 352 5151; website: www.swimdolphins.com) signature excursion is their swim-with-dolphins trip to the Florida Keys, either as a one-day visit or with an overnight stop. They also visit both coasts on various beach excursions and have their own limousine service.

Excursions

The excursions mentioned here are all provided by the two tour companies listed in our Tours section.

Day Trips
About 90 minutes’ drive from Orlando on the Gulf Coast are the resort towns of St Petersburg and Clearwater, with long, wide, family-friendly beaches, fishing excursion, dolphin-watching cruises and speedboat rides.

An increasingly popular excursion takes guests to Homosassa Springs or Crystal River to swim with manatees, which are amazingly gentle creatures. Many tours also include an airboat ride.

A (very) long day-trip takes guests all the way south to the magnificent Florida Everglades and the chance to explore this amazing water system, which is home to a huge variety of wildlife.

Overnight Trips
There are plenty of opportunities to swim with dolphins in Florida. A trip to the Florida Keys also includes an excursion to Miami and the Everglades as well as the highlight water encounter at the dolphin facility.

If you need a holiday from your holiday, take the short flight to Nassau for the best part of two days exploring the beaches and resorts of the Bahamas.

Sport

Shopping

Shopping in Orlando is truly world class, with every kind of retail outlet known to man, from flea markets to tourist traps to magnificent designer-label malls. The discount outlet shopping plazas are particularly common here and boast some of the best value. However, they are spread out far and wide and there is no central shopping area as such, although the 6 mile (10km) length of International Drive comes closest to being a shopping area as it is home to numerous plazas of the gift shop variety, plus two tourist-orientated shopping and dining centres, The Mercado and Pointe Orlando, which both offer some one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants.

The essential shopping venues, though, would be the Orlando Premium Outlets (8200 Vineland Avenue, just off International Drive), for a good range of big-name brands at discount prices; Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores (15767 South Apopka-Vineland Road) for an equally tempting range price-wise; Belz Factory Outlet World (5401 West Oak Ridge Road at the top of International Drive) for more of the same; the huge Florida Mall (8001 South Orange Blossom Trail), Orlando’s largest mall; Mall at Millenia (4200 Conroy Road, just off motorway I-4), which is the newest and smartest mall in Florida; and Festival Bay (5250 International Drive), an entertainment centre with restaurants, mini-golf, skate-boarding and cinemas, plus some good one-off shops. Individual shops worth looking out for are the eclectic art world of Hoy Poloi (in Downtown Disney’s West Side) and Auke Hempenius (316 North Park Avenue in Winter Park, a northern Orlando suburb) which stocks some of the finest Italian designer menswear in the US.

Culture

There is a small but thriving arts centre in Orlando, the majority of which is centred on the downtown area. The Central Florida Ballet (tel: (407) 849 9948; website: www.centralfloridaballet.com) is based at 4525 Vineland Avenue and give performances all over Florida, while Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival (tel: (407) 447 1700; website: www.shakespearefest.org) offers classical productions year round at the John & Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center on Princeton Street in the Loch Haven Cultural Park. The latter also houses the Mennello Museum of American Folk Art (tel: (407) 246 4278; website: www.mennellomuseum.com) and family-friendly Orlando Science Center (tel: (407) 514 2000; website: www.osc.org). The Bob Carr Performing Art Center, 401 West Livingston Street (tel: (407) 849 2001; website: www.orlandocentroplex.com) is the premier venue for theatre, ballet and opera, while The Theatre Downtown, on the corner of Orange Avenue and Princeton Street (tel: (407) 841 0083; website: www.theatredowntown.net) offers more experimental theatre. Winter Park, just to the north, is home to two fine museums – The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, 445 North Park Avenue (tel: (407) 645 5311; website: www.morsemuseum.org) which features the world’s finest collection of work by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and Cornell Fine Art Museum, 1000 Holt Avenue (tel: (407) 646 2526; website: www.rollins.edu/cfam/).

For cinemas, Downtown Disney (AMC 24, Downtown Disney, tel: (407) 298 4488), Universal’s CityWalk (Universal Cineplex, CityWalk, Universal Orlando, tel: (407) 354 5998), Pointe Orlando (Muvico Pointe 21, Pointe Orlando, tel: (407) 926 6850) and Festival Bay (Cinemark 20 at Festival Bay, tel: (407) 352 1042) all boast multi-screen cineplexes, while the non-profit alternative cinema Enzian Theater, 1300 South Orlando Avenue (tel: (407) 629 1088; website: www.enzian.org), in the suburb of Maitland, is home to the Florida Film Festival each April.

Nightlife

Orlando boasts a surprisingly vibrant and active night-time bar and club scene, with three main venues, Downtown Disney’s Pleasure Island, Universal’s CityWalk and Downtown Orlando, where there is an ever-changing line-up of nightclubs.

At Pleasure Island, seek out the Adventurers Club for eclectic live entertainment and Mannequins for pure dance; at CityWalk, don’t miss Bob Marley’s for live music and the groove at their standout dance club; and in Downtown Orlando, don’t miss bars like One-Eyed Jack’s, The Loaded Hog and Wall Street Cantina (all on Orange Avenue) and excellent nightclubs like The Social (on North Orange Avenue), with live music (blues, rock and jazz) and resident DJs, the Blue Room (on West Pine Street) for its art-house dance style and the huge Country & Western venue 08:Seconds (on West Livingston Street). Other one-off clubs worth noting are the duelling pianos of Jellyrolls at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort and House of Blues at Downtown Disney.

City Statistics

Location: Florida, south-eastern United States.
Country dialling code: 1 (also required within America, as well as the city code, when dialling from one city to another). Metropolitan city code (407).
Time zone: GMT - 5.
Electricity: 110 volts AC; standard two-pin plugs are used.
Average January temp: 22ºC (71ºF).
Average July temp: 33ºC (92ºF).
Annual rainfall: 1,245mm (49 inches).

Special Events

Walt Disney World Marathon: the second week in January sees this modern local tradition with runners from all over the world racing around the parks of Disney World, with huge spectator interest (website: www.disneyworldsports.com).
Silver Spurs Rodeo (February and October): a twice yearly celebration of an original American sport at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee (website: www.siverspursrodeo.com).
Sidewalk Arts Festival: Winter Park in north Orlando is home to one of America’s most prestigious fine arts festivals every March (website: www.wpsaf.org).
Independence Day: like everywhere else in America, July 4 marks huge celebrations. Orlando’s is centred on Lake Eola downtown, with fireworks and other entertainment.
Great Outdoor Festival: each November, the Kissimmee area celebrates its tradition of fishing with a two-day lakeside pageant at Lakefront Park (website: www.floridakiss.com).

Cost of Living

1 American Dollar (US$1) = £0.57; C$1.16; A$1.31; ¬0.83
Currency conversion rates as of October 2005