Orlando

A city of central Florida east-northeast of Tampa. It is a trade and processing center with aerospace and electronics industries. Nearby Disney World has made the city a popular tourist area. Population: 199,000.

The city of Orlando is the county seat of Orange County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 185,951 (metropolitan area 1,644,561). A 2003 local population count gave the city had a total population of 199,336 (metropolitan area nearly 1.8 million).

The city is best known for the tourist attractions in the area, particularly the nearby Walt Disney World, which is in the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Other area attractions include SeaWorld and the Universal Orlando Resort, the latter of which is in Orlando proper. Downtown Orlando has recently seen much redevelopment, despite being far from the main tourist attractions.

Orlando , city (1990 pop. 164,693), seat of Orange co., central Fla., in a lake region; inc. 1875. In a citrus fruit and farm area, it is one of the world's most visited vacation spots. Orlando's economy focuses on aerospace and electronics, but tourism brings in the largest revenues. Located 15 mi (24 km) SW is the Disney World theme park, including the EPCOT Center and Animal Kingdom. Also nearby are two other major attractions, Sea World and Universal Studios Florida. Luxury hotels, restaurants, and tourist facilities abound in and near Orlando, which is noted for its mild climate. The city was settled near Fort Gatlin, a post established (c.1837) during the Seminole War. The Univ. of Central Florida is there, and Rollins College is in nearby Winter Park. There is a busy international airport, and the city is home to the Magic (National Basketball Association).

Area Attractions

The Orlando area is home to a wide variety of tourist attractions from the Walt Disney World resort, SeaWorld Orlando, and Universal Orlando Resort. The Walt Disney World resort is the largest area's attractions with it many facets such as Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Downtown Disney. SeaWorld Orlando is a large adventure park that feature numerous zoological displays and marine animals alongside an amusement park with numerous roller coasters and water park. Universal Orlando is like Walt Disney World a multi-faceted resort with Universal Studios Florida, CityWalk, and Islands of Adventure theme park.

Other attractions in the Orlando area includes:

vCentral Florida Zoological Park , located in Sanford on Lake Monroe. This 100 acre (400,000 m²) zoo is home to butterfly garden, herpetarium, and numerous tropical animals. This zoo originally started as a collection in the Sanford Fire Department, but grew into a regional zoo in 1975. It is currently in the planning process of expanding it and renaming the facility with the title "Zoo Orlando at Sanford".

vChurch Street Station, a multi-level shopping mall and entertainment center, that features 50 specialty shops, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Cirque du Soleil, in Downtown Disney West Side, features its renowned blend of acrobatics and special effects with more than 70 artists from around the globe performing in a custom-designed, 1,671-seat theater.

vCypress Gardens Adventure Park Discovery Cove, part of the SeaWorld Adventure Park complex, this tropical paradise provides for discovering tropical fish in a coral reef, snorkeling with stingrays, and interacting with birds in an aviary, as well as swimming and playing with dolphins during a half-hour dolphin encounter.

vGatorland, is home to thousands of alligators and crocodiles, a few wangling appearances in movies, television shows and commercial spots. The 54-year-old park combines a petting zoo, bird sanctuary, mini-water park, eco-tour and action-packed outdoor entertainment, including daily alligator wrestling.

vHard Rock Live & Hotel, is the Hard Rock Cafe' chains featured location in Orlando that has a concert venue and large restaurant with typical rock style memorabilia. The Hard Rock Hotel is a featured resort hotel with a California-style restaurant called The Kitchen.

vInternational Trolley and Train Museum, features 14 model railroad trains with sound and lighting traveling through an indoor garden with 12-foot high mountains, waterfalls, and more than 30 trestles and tunnels. Also on display are toy trains from the 1920s to the present. Catch a ride in a California Victorian Style half open/half closed trolley or the 5/8 replica of an 1880 locomotive (a Mason Bogey) with its passenger cars.

vJungleland, featuring 300 animals, including a pair of Himalayan bears born in 2002, plus leopards, tigers, lions, and more, Jungleland has gator wrestling and a petting zoo. The seven acre (28,000 m²) zoo also has a nearly mile-long path winding around a natural lagoon with black swans and white ibis.

vKennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 45 minutes from Orlando and south of Daytona Beach, it’s possible to tour launch areas, see giant rockets, train in spaceflight simulators, and much more. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is open every day except Christmas and certain launch days. Apart from the Astronaut Hall of Fame, Space Center bus tours run every 15 minutes with stops at an observation gantry and the Apollo / Saturn V Center. Other guided tours include NASA Up Close, Cape Canaveral: Then and Now, and Lunch With An Astronaut. Combo tickets offer maximum access admission, plus one guided tour.

vOld Town with 8 affordable restaurants, 15 amusement park rides and 75 shops make Old Town’s brick-lined streets a retail and entertainment destination with family fun. Classic car shows every Friday and Saturday feature hundreds of vintage automobiles. Admission and parking are free.

vOrange County Regional History Center Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando Odditorium, is located in a building that appears decidedly whopper-jawed and on the slide. Explore artifacts, collections, weird art/hobbies and interactive exhibits in 16 odd galleries. For more than 40 years, Robert Ripley traveled the globe collecting the unbelievable, inexplicable, and one-of-a-kind. His collections are housed in 27 museums in 10 countries.

vWorld of Orchids, featuring thousands of blooms in an enclosed tropical rainforest, World of Orchids is actually a working greenhouse shipping orchids and other plants nationwide. A greenhouse covers nearly an acre, and in this controlled warm, humid air some 1,000 orchids are displayed in a natural jungle setting, with streams, waterfalls, and squawking parrots. World of Orchids also has a 1,000-foot-long boardwalk meandering off into nearby wetlands. Admission is free.

Transportation

wAir

Orlando is served primarily by Orlando International Airport, though nearby Orlando Sanford International Airport also serves the area. Orlando Executive Airport is used for charter flights.

wRoads

Its major freeway is Interstate 4, which crosses Florida's Turnpike southwest of Downtown Orlando. It is also served by the toll roads of the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, particularly the East-West Expressway (SR 408), which crosses I-4 downtown.

wRail

The Orlando area is served by one through railroad, CSX's A line (formerly the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's main line), and some spurs, mostly operated by the Florida Central Railroad. Amtrak passenger service runs along the CSX A line. See also a map of these railroads.

The following railroad stations have existed in Orlando:

vAmtrak Orlando station (originally built by ACL to replace Church Street Station, the only one still in use).
vAtlantic Coast Line Railroad Orlando station (Church Street Station).
vSeaboard Air Line Railroad Orlando station (Central Avenue Station).
vEight Oaks (ACL station).
vFormosa (ACL station).
vLivingston (SAL station).
vRowena (SAL station).

wBuses

Orlando is served by Lynx, which runs bus service in the tri-county area (Osceola-Orange-Seminole).

Also See:

Disney Land
Busch Gardens
Universal Studios Florida
Islands Of Adventure
Sea World
Florida Beaches
Wet and Wild Water
Everglades