Travel USA Travel - Orlando Florida Travel Guide

Orlando is located in central Florida 75 miles northeast of Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater Beach. It is 50 miles due west of Cape Canaveral, the Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. Best known as the home of Disney World, this city is also the center of the largest concentration of family entertainment attractions in the world.

The Climate is semi-tropical

The climate in central Florida is semi-tropical. Summers are oppressively hot and humid with almost daily afternoon Thunderstorms. Winters are pleasantly mild with sunny weather and comfortable temperatures. Hurricane season, between August and December, can produce some unpleasant weather on the rare occasion when a tropical storm chances to veer inland in the immediate vicinity. Many US families brave the heat and flock to Orlando during the summer school holidays from the beginning of June until the end of August. They invariably fill the hotels, amusement parks and restaurants with hordes of raucous children. Adult vacationers and retired folks usually choose the winter months of December through March to visit Orlando. The off seasons in the fall and spring are often the best times to visit.

Two major airports serve the Orlando area. Orlando International Airport is located 8 miles southeast of downtown. It has numerous daily fights to major cities throughout the USA. Orlando Sanford Airport is situated about 15 miles north of downtown. It serves numerous charter airlines from overseas destinations. The Tampa St. - Petersburg airport is less than two-hour drive to the west and the Melbourne airport is a bit over an hour to the east.

Airport buses provide convenient, inexpensive transportation to downtown Orlando and an airport van service provides quick transport to the International Drive area hotels.

Major attractions are along route 4 southwest of downtown

Most of the major attractions in the Orlando area are located along a ten-mile stretch of Route 4 southwest of the city. The Disney Resort Complex is situated along Route 4 ten miles southwest of downtown. Disney World Tickets can be procured at a discount by using an authorized and contracted ticket broker. Universal Studios is located just 5 miles southwest of downtown. Sea World, Wet and Wild, plus many other attractions, numerous hotels, hundreds of restaurants and several shopping malls are all located along route 4 between those two giant theme parks. Check our Orlando Attraction Map to view the locations. Keep in mind, an Orlando Car Rental makes visiting each of these attractions quick and convenient.

The Disney Resort Complex is immense. With over 40 square miles (100 square km.) of land, it is the size of a small country or at least a province. It contains four major theme parks. Each of them is equivalent in size to the Disney parks located in California, France or Japan. The complex also contains three water parks, eight golf courses, twenty-five themed hotels, hundreds of restaurants, several shopping centers and a wide variety of additional entertainment and recreational sports facilities.

Universal Studios Great Escape contains two major theme parks, a luxury hotel and an assortment of restaurants and shopping facilities. Sea World has a marine theme park and will soon be adding a water park with a dolphin encounter experience. Wet and Wild is a major water park. There are dozens of other attractions in this area and along route 192 in Kissimmee, 5 miles east of Disney World.

Accommodations are concentrated along route 4 and route 192

Accommodations are concentrated in and around the major theme parks, all along this stretch of route 4 and along route 192 in Kissimmee. There are additional accommodations near downtown Orlando, in the vicinity of the two airports and scattered throughout the area.

Disney Resorts has at least 18 different hotel and vacation home complexes within its realm with 7 more just outside the main gates. Each has a different historic or geographic theme with prices varying from moderate to very expensive. There are no budget accommodations at Disney, but all the facilities are very nice and all include free access to the convenient Disney internal transportation system.

Lake Buena Vista offers a number of moderate to expensive hotels near the entrance to Disney Resorts. The ten-mile stretch of route 192 between Disney World and the town of Kissimmee is lined with moderate and budget priced accommodations along with a wide array of restaurants, shops and entertainment facilities. You can still find hotel rooms in the $25 to $50 range along this highway.

Universal Studios offers luxury accommodations at its Portofino Bay hotel on-site and is currently constructing a second hotel. There are large concentrations of moderate priced hotels in this area especially along International Drive and near the exits of route 4.

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Additional attractions in the Orlando area

In addition to the major theme parks and water parks, Orlando provides a wide variety of family entertainment options. For typical Florida diversions, I recommend that you visit Gatorland with its vast collection of native alligators and crocodiles and its "gator-wrestling" shows or that you try an airboat ride through the swamps at Boggy Creek Airboats. For adventure and excitement, try a hot air balloon ride with Orange Blossom Balloons or a high-speed spin in a genuine NASCAR racer at the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

Even dining can become an adventure in Orlando. Theme dinner shows such as Medieval Times provide you with entertainment like jousting tournaments and sword fights while feasting. The dinner show themes run from Medieval to Cowboy, Arabian Nights, Gangster or Broadway Show motifs.

Shopping opportunities abound in the area

There are great concentrations of souvenir shops, boutiques, specialty stores and shopping malls in the theme-park strip along route 4 southwest of downtown. You will find shops scattered throughout the major theme parks and in the hotel complexes. Disney also offers a variety of shopping at its downtown area. Universal does the same at its City Walk. There are many shops and malls in Lake Buena Vista or along route 192 to Kissimmee and along International Boulevard near Universal Studios. Additional shopping centers are concentrated in downtown Orlando at Church Street and in the suburban communities of Altamonte Springs and Winter Park.

For serious shoppers, there are two very large Belz Factory Outlet Malls at West Oakridge Road and along International Drive. Orlando Premium Outlets and the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores are outlet malls located near Disney World.

Orlando, Florida

The Climate is semi-tropical

Major attractions are along route 4 southwest of downtown

Accommodations are concentrated along route 4 and route 192

Additional attractions in the Orlando area

Shopping opportunities abound in the area

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