Orlando is honest about what it is — the theme park capital of the world — and this honesty is, in its way, refreshing. The city that existed before Walt Disney chose swampland south of it in 1965 still exists, in a different world from the resort corridor, and it is possible to spend time in Orlando without visiting a theme park. But the parks are the reason most people come, and if you are travelling with children, or are simply curious about what a US$100 billion entertainment industry looks like at full operational scale, Universal Studios and Walt Disney World reward engagement on their own terms.
We’ve had a holiday in Orlando and enjoyed time at the Disneyworld theme parks
[YOUR STORY HERE — did you pass through Orlando on the cycling route, visit the parks, or see another side of the city?]
A Little Background
Orlando was a small cattle and citrus town for most of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sitting on a ridge between a series of freshwater lakes in central Florida. Walt Disney’s decision to secretly purchase 11,000 hectares of swampland southwest of the city in the mid-1960s — using shell companies so that land prices would not rise — and the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, transformed it permanently. The resort complex now covers an area roughly the size of San Francisco. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990; SeaWorld had been operating since 1973. The tourism infrastructure that supports over 74 million annual visitors is the city’s dominant economic fact.
Before Disney, the city was also one of the most racially segregated in Florida. The Parramore neighbourhood, west of downtown, was the Black commercial and cultural district under segregation; its decline after integration — a pattern repeated across the South — left a neighbourhood that the city is still, slowly, attempting to reinvest in.
What to See and Do
Walt Disney World encompasses four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom), two water parks, and a retail and entertainment district. Magic Kingdom is the original and most visited — the Cinderella Castle, the Main Street parade, the classic rides. EPCOT is the most interesting to adults, particularly the World Showcase section, a ring of eleven national pavilions around a central lagoon, each with food, drink, and cultural performances representing the respective country. Tickets start at approximately US$109 per day; multi-day passes represent significantly better value. Book park passes in advance.
Universal Orlando Resort has two connected parks: Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — split across both parks and connected by the Hogwarts Express — is the technical and creative peak of the American theme park industry and worth visiting regardless of your relationship to the source material. Volcano Bay, the water park, is adjacent. Single-day tickets from approximately US$109; a two-park ticket is strongly recommended for Harry Potter. Book in advance.
Leu Gardens — 20 hectares of botanical garden on the shore of Lake Rowena, a few kilometres north of downtown — are the city’s best escape from the resort corridor. Camellia collection, rose garden, the largest formal rose garden in Florida. Adult approximately US$15.
The Orlando Museum of Art in Loch Haven Park has a solid collection and is the centre of the city’s small but genuine arts district — a cluster of museums and performing arts venues near downtown that exist largely independent of the resort corridor. Adult approximately US$15.
Winter Park, immediately north of Orlando, is a prosperous residential suburb with a pleasant commercial main street (Park Avenue), the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (the world’s largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany glass and decorative art; adult approximately US$6), and a boat tour through the chain of lakes that gives the area its character. Worth a half-day.
Getting There
Orlando International Airport (MCO) is one of the busiest airports in the United States. The SunRail commuter rail connects downtown Orlando to Winter Park and communities to the north; the resort corridor to the south requires a car, rideshare, or resort shuttle. Most hotels on the resort corridor offer shuttles to the parks.
Cost and Hours
Orlando’s resort corridor is expensive by design. Theme park tickets, mid-range resort hotels (US$200–400 per night in peak season), and food on resort property are all priced at a level that assumes visitors have budgeted for them. Downtown Orlando and the non-resort parts of the city are considerably more affordable. Allow at least two to three days per park if doing the parks seriously; one full day minimum per park for a broad overview.