World Facts Index > United States > Orlando

Orlando's urban sprawl, spawned by the phenomenal success and expansion of Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, Sea World and a host of smaller attractions, has turned those cow pastures into planned communities that house a wide range of residents, from Disney's 55,000 "cast members" to sports celebrities and millionaires. Now, virtually all of Central Florida defines itself by its distance from Orlando, while Orlando defines its own mega-sprawl by its distance from Disney World. Towns that once had identities of their own now fight to retain that identity, succeeding in varying degrees. None, however, tries to avoid that inevitable relationship with the Mouse that has turned Orlando into a megalopolis and many of the meek into millionaires.

Getting there and getting around

Every major commercial airline and many charter aircraft fly into burgeoning Orlando International Airport or the much smaller Sanford International Airport. Amtrak trains connect the city with cities along the U.S. east coast with stops in Kissimmee, Winter Park and Orlando, while Amtrak's Auto Train boards both passengers and their cars for the trip between Lorton, Virginia near Washington D.C. to Sanford, a small town just north of Orlando. Greyhound buses bring people here from every corner of the nation.

Above all things, you need to know that if you expect to get around this vast Central Florida area with any degree of comfort, you will need a car. You will also need to allow more travel time than the distance would suggest. Even Central Florida's main interstate artery, I-4, is gridlocked at peak traffic hours from 7am-9am and from 4pm-6pm and very busy at almost any other time.

Every national rental car chain operates here, along with some smaller car rental operations. They're used to tourists renting a car in one Florida city and dropping it off here or vice versa, although they charge you an additional fee to do that. Get as current a map as you can find. Roads are being built even as you read this, and highway signs often assume you know much more than you do. There is good news, however. Because Central Florida was once sparsely populated and there are vast amounts of acreage up this way, there was plenty of room to build roads, so even the most remote routes are four- or six-lane highways, easy to negotiate.

Sadly, the downside of that is that once you're on a highway, you don't have much time to make decisions on what exit you need and where exactly you're going. Allow plenty of time to drive slowly enough to make your way across multiple lanes when you find the exit you're seeking. If you rent a car in Orlando or elsewhere, you might consider renting a mobile phone as well. It can be a big help in getting instructions if you get lost. Don't be shy about asking for directional help at your hotel, a gas station or an attraction. Driving is, of course, on the right hand side of the road. Seat belts are mandatory, and right turns can be made on a red light, as you will discover from the blaring horns you'll hear if you don't take advantage of the opportunity. U-turns are permitted unless there are signs prohibiting them.

A look at Orlando's "neighborhoods"

Walt Disney World

If you're planning to settle into this huge theme park and spend all of your time there, you'll find everything from hotels to shopping, restaurants, sports and nightlife within the park. You can settle into a hotel and use Disney's bus, boat and monorail transportation to get anywhere you want to go inside the park. Often that's the easiest path to take, as it eliminates parking problems. Within the park are thousands of hotel rooms to fit a wide range of budgets, and all provide shuttle transportation that gets you to WDW's four theme parks, three water parks and sundry other diversions. A monorail zips passengers to many destinations; boats and buses serve all the others, and the wait is rarely more than a few minutes.

Kissimmee/U.S. 192

That U.S. 192 refers to a long strip of multi-laned highway that streaks along an east-west route from the small but sprawling towns of Kissimmee and St. Cloud to Walt Disney World and beyond. This busy artery isn't much to look at, but it is the epicenter of moderately priced accommodations located outside the Walt Disney World park grounds.

On this highway, which is usually under construction and sports more traffic lights than one would prefer, are dozens of budget- to moderate-price hotels, locked in competition so fierce that you'll often see signs advertising room rates in the $30-$40 range, even less in really slow seasons. Here, too, are dozens of inexpensive restaurants ranging from fast food to ethnic options, grocery stores, discount shopping malls, and dinner show entertainment.

U.S. 192, also called Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, stretches from downtown Kissimmee past the main entry gate to Walt Disney World and to U.S. 27, which is roughly the western edge of Orlando. Heading north from a point about midway along the main stretch of U.S. 192 is S.R. 535, which also leads to I-4 and International Drive. This was once all cow country, and you can still attend top ridin' and ropin' rodeos in Kissimmee Rodeo and Sports Arena.

I-4

This big interstate highway connects Tampa on the west and Daytona Beach in the east, streaking past exits leading to Orlando's theme park and hotel districts. It is vital to remember that although the road is actually heading north at many points, everything along it is keyed to the "west" direction of Tampa and the "east" direction of Daytona Beach. All the theme parks and hundreds of hotels are accessible from this interstate highway. Avoid rush hour from 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm if you can.

International Drive

This long byway was once the way to Orlando's Convention Center, a few hotels and precious little else. Today, you can barely find the street sign, so jammed is this byway with shopping malls, attractions, towering hotels and restaurants. An intriguing site here is the giant teddy bear and huge pair of pink high heels, they're Barbie's, at FAO Schwartz, plunked down by a huge classical Greek temple structure...turned upside-down with its palm trees hanging, trunk-up, branches down. Whew!

Nevertheless, the Orlando Convention Center, which is about to double in size, lures a constant round of meetings, large and small, so for conventioneers, particularly, this boulevard is a vital cog in the Orlando machine. For everyone else, there are some very nice hotels here, and you can often find some very attractive rates on weekends and between conventions.

Universal Studios

When Universal Studios moved in to compete ear-to-ears with the Mouse, a community of hotels, restaurants and all the rest grew up around it. While Universal's two parks do not yet begin to rival WDW in size, the surrounding area is growing fast. You'll find a Universal Studios exit off I-4.

Downtown Orlando

Yes, there is a downtown Orlando, although few who come to Orlando ever see much of it. Downtown Orlando is, in fact, one of the prettiest parts of the city, blessed with tree-lined neighborhoods, attractive older homes and its fair share of, but not too many'shops, restaurants, lounges and entertainment areas.

Church Street Station, a cluster of themed dining, dancing and imbibing spots crowned by a steam-driven calliope, is the best known diversion in the downtown area and is, in fact, one of the most popular evening entertainment areas in Orlando. A number of other entertainment and shopping facilities have grown up around it.

Celebration

This small but rapidly growing town was created, lock, stock and barrel-shaped water tower by the Disney corporation, intent on creating a picture-perfect community, using the latest views on neighborhood socialization. Rimmed by white fencing, Celebration is a cluster of Victorian-style homes on neat streets, with townhouses on a crescent-shaped street, courtesy of Olde England. Celebration's homes, many of which are in the $350,000-$700,000 range, circle a central shopping, dining and entertainment area with attractive shops and cafes. It now has a pleasant, small hotel as well.

History of Orlando

As so often happened in the Americas, the Seminoles who settled in Florida weren't thrilled with the bands of newcomers. In two decades in the early 1800s, they fought two bitter wars to retain their land. When the second of those ended in 1842, Orlando's history began. Settlers followed soldiers into Central Florida, and a settlement grew around an old Army post known as Fort Gatlin, located at what is now Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando. Originally named Jernigan after an early settler, Orlando changed its name in 1857 to honor soldier Orlando Reeves, who, while on sentinel duty at the fort, was felled in 1835 by an Indian arrow as he raced to warn of an oncoming raid. Orlando was born on July 21, 1875, population 85.

Orlando's three C's
In those days, the three C's drove commerce in Orlando: cattle, cotton and citrus. As Cuban demand for Florida beef grew, cattle ranches spread across the flatlands, cattle rustlers fought gunfights in the streets, and little Orlando became a rough-and-tumble spot.

Soon, tired settlers turned to cotton, a considerably less threatening crop, and the town became the center of a thriving cotton industry. When the U.S. Civil War began, however, workers moved away to pick cotton throughout the South, replacing soldiers away at war. In 1871, a hurricane roared through town, destroying most of the crop.

Until air conditioning was invented, in Florida, by the way, life in the Sunshine State was no picnic. Summer heat, sandy soil and sporadic torrential rainfall made for tough living, but it also proved to be the conditions that citrus trees love best. Orange, grapefruit, tangerines and limes all thrived in the sandy soil. By 1870, orange fever had struck Central Florida, and the citrus industry grew rapidly.

Alllll aboard!
When Henry Flagler and, later, Henry Plante pounded spikes into railroad tracks that extended down the east and west coasts of Florida, orange fever reached its peak. Although stymied for a decade or so by the Great Freeze of 1894-1895, which destroyed nearly all the citrus crop in the region, by the 1950s Florida had more than 80,000 acres of citrus trees spread across the flatlands and rolling hills, stretching to the horizon.

Orlando's fascination with entertainment stretches as far back as 1895. Proving that it really is possible for a little creative thinking to turn lemons into lemonade, or, oranges into orange juice, citrus grower John B. Steinmentz watched the freeze turn his crop into worthless mush and started working on a comeback. He turned his packing house into a skating rink, set up some picnic tables and a bathhouse, and built a toboggan slide that whooshed visitors into a cool spring. Voila, Orlando's first entertainment center!

Central Florida acquired electricity in 1900, then telephones and, in 1903, cars that chugged around at the terrifying speed of 5 mph. In 1922, the first airport opened as a cargo center; in 1928, the Orlando Municipal Airport opened. Today, that facility is the Orlando International Airport, welcoming hundreds of thousands of travelers each year.

A major economic force in the region, the Martin Marietta missile factory, now known as Lockheed Martin, arrived in 1922 with its facilities spread over 10.6 miles of Central Florida and staffed with thousands (it's the area's largest employer).

And that has made all the difference...
But 1971 was the seminal year in Orlando. After looking at many Florida sites, including Miami, Walt Disney and company decided that the vast acreage and accommodating local leaders were just what they needed to build the company's first theme park outside California. Thus was born Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, which welcomed its first visitors in 1971 and has since celebrated its 25th anniversary, and the 75th birthday of its icon, Mickey Mouse.

As the Mouse's fame grew, others saw the possibilities inherent in thousands of visiting tourists. Sea World was the next to arrive, bringing its black-and-white Shamu "killer" whale and its leaping dolphins to Orlando in 1973. That touched off a flurry of other new attractions as the visitor numbers grew...and grew...and grew.

In 1990, Universal Studios arrived to add still more competition, more visitors and more entertainment. In 1999, it grew again with the addition of Islands of Adventure.

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