Visiting Orlando

In the middle of the Florida peninsula is Orlando, a city best known around the world for its enormous collection of theme parks and entertainment. I’ve visited the area several times since I was a kid, usually with Walt Disney World as one of the main attractions, but Orlando itself extends well beyond the theme parks.

Orlando

Away from the huge resorts and amusement parks, downtown Orlando feels much more like a conventional Florida city. City Hall sits in the heart of downtown, surrounded by office buildings, restaurants, cultural attractions, and the neighborhoods that make up the city’s urban core.

The Orange County Regional History Center occupies the historic former Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando. It’s a reminder that the region had a long history before the enormous tourism industry that now dominates its international image.

I’ve never spent as much time exploring central Orlando as I have its surrounding attractions, but wandering around the city still produced some interesting sights. Orlando’s personality isn’t limited to polished theme parks, and the city becomes considerably more ordinary, and sometimes more unusual, once you’re away from the resorts.

Orlando Attractions

Entertainment is everywhere around Orlando, including far beyond the major theme parks. Even miniature golf courses and roadside attractions can be heavily themed, which fits a city built around giving visitors something to do at almost every turn.

Florida’s wildlife also becomes part of the entertainment. I came across this alligator demonstration during one of my visits, another example of the seemingly endless assortment of attractions scattered around the Orlando area.

Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World is by far the largest attraction associated with Orlando and has been a major part of several of my visits to the area. The enormous resort complex contains four major theme parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Most of my photographs from these visits came from Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.

Magic Kingdom

Cinderella Castle is the centerpiece of Magic Kingdom and probably the most recognizable landmark anywhere in Walt Disney World. The park spreads outward from the castle into several themed areas filled with rides, restaurants, shops, and live entertainment.

Mickey and Minnie Mouse were putting on a brief show near Cinderella Castle during one of my visits. I’ve been to Disney World several times since I was a kid, and there always seems to be some kind of performance taking place somewhere around the park.

One of my visits came just after Christmas, when the park was still covered in holiday decorations. Magic Kingdom’s entertainment goes well beyond the rides, with shops, restaurants, shows, seasonal decorations, and other attractions filling the park.

Disney Parades

One of the biggest traditions at Magic Kingdom is the elaborate Disney parade. Characters and stories are represented by enormous floats moving through the park while crowds line the streets to watch.

Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and countless other Disney characters have appeared in the parades over the years. I went to Disney World many times as a little kid, but as an adult I started to appreciate how much work goes into producing the huge performances, parades, and other entertainment throughout the parks.

EPCOT

EPCOT has always felt very different from Magic Kingdom. Its enormous geodesic sphere, Spaceship Earth, has become the park’s defining landmark, while much of EPCOT combines attractions centered on technology and discovery with the international pavilions surrounding World Showcase Lagoon.

World Showcase

One of the most distinctive parts of EPCOT is World Showcase, where a series of pavilions represent different countries through architecture, restaurants, shops, gardens, exhibits, and entertainment. It obviously isn’t a substitute for visiting the countries themselves, but it’s an interesting part of the park to walk through because each area has a completely different appearance.

The Mexico and Morocco pavilions are two examples of how dramatically the scenery changes while walking around World Showcase. Each uses architecture inspired by the country it represents, turning a walk around the lagoon into a succession of very different environments.

The Japan pavilion includes a large torii gate facing World Showcase Lagoon along with Japanese-inspired buildings, gardens, restaurants, shops, and live entertainment.

Live performances add another dimension to World Showcase. At the Japan pavilion, I watched a Japanese drumming performance, one of the cultural demonstrations taking place around the international section of EPCOT.

Between downtown Orlando, the seemingly endless collection of smaller attractions, and the massive theme parks surrounding the city, Orlando is a place I’ve experienced in pieces over many different visits. I’ll probably continue adding to this page as I return, but Walt Disney World will inevitably remain a major part of the story.