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Orlando Travel Guide

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Disney World Tickets Explained: Get The Most Bang For Your Buck

Gerard Walen There are four theme parks, two water parks, an indoor...Read More
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Orlando OVERVIEW
At first glance, it’s easy to typecast Orlando as a plastic, theme park haven and think that Orlando vacations always revolve around Disney. It is host to the largest collection of pre-programmed entertainment parks in the world and all the things that go with that: hundreds of hotels in every style and price category and a collection of restaurants, shops and nightclubs that’s much larger than its resident population could support. In the past decade, Orlando travel has grown along with the area, much beyond its stereotype. Although landlocked, Orlando has thousands of lakes and is an hour from the beaches of both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. There are dozens of golf courses, some of them PGA tour stops, and outdoor activities of every type are available nearly year-round in the subtropical climate. Demographically, Orlando looks much like what America as a whole might look like in 2020. Less than a third of the residents were born locally and there are substantial African-American ...See More and Hispanic communities along with contingents of Brits and Canadians. It has become politically important as the “swing” component of the fourth largest state, poised between conservative northwest Florida and more liberal South Florida and is a global player in medical device manufacturing, software development, digital media production and entertainment. Despite the development of these serious businesses, Orlando hasn’t forgotten that, at root, it’s a place people come to have fun—whether that’s chasing a little white ball around with a stick, outrunning your stomach on a roller coaster, communing with cartoon characters or sunning on the deck of boat anchored in a secluded cove on a balmy winter’s day. Orlando travel largely revolves around Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Seaworld Orlando and a host of other attractions, all of which bring families to the area, but it's the city's beautiful beaches, gardens and new cultural traditions that keep them coming back.See Less
BEST IN Orlando TRAVEL
from our Editors
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  • The Ravenous Pig Greg Johnston
  • Loews Portofino Bay HotelLocated at Universal Orlando, Portofino Bay Hotel is themed around a lakeside cobblestone courtyard decorated with...
  • The Ravenous PigLocal, independent and wonderful, The Ravenous Pig is owned and operated by chefs James and Julie Petrakis. TRP bills...
  • Ybor CityAnother popular daytrip about 90 minutes from Walt Disney World, Ybor City was the capital of U.S. cigar production in...
  • AOL Travel Editors test hundreds of travel experiences at all price points. See their recommendations and make the most of your trip...
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