Orlando Bustles with Entertainment Variety - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, June, 2000

Orlando has been ranked as one of the most popular vacation destinations in the United States. One look at the amount and variety of activities available to visitors clearly shows why Orlando has attained this popularity. Below are only a small number of venues in the Orlando area to which visitors flock for entertainment, enlightenment, and relaxation.

Theme Parks

Whether you want to visit the Mouse or hobnob with the stars of stage and screen, Orlando theme parks have what you're looking for.

Disney's Magic Kingdom, in Lake Buena Vista, features Main Street U.S.A., Tomorrowland (showcasing future technologies), Fantasyland and Mickey's Toontown Fair (featuring Disney's animated characters), Frontierland and Liberty Square (celebrating colonial life), and Adventureland (jungle adventures from Africa, Asia, and South America). 407/824-4321.

Disney's EPCOT(r), in Lake Buena Vista, is divided into two very different areas: Future World, filled with attractions that highlight computer technology, science, and ecology; and World Showcase, a sampling of 11 countries complete with traditional architecture, food, shopping, and entertainment. 407/824-4321.

Disney-MGM Studios, in Lake Buena Vista, is big on stage shows, including "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast" especially for kids. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster are popular rides. Other areas of the park include Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Animation Courtyard, Echo Lake, and New York/Backlot. 407/824-4321.

Disney's Animal Kingdom, the newest theme park in Disney World, features Safari Village, with its Tree of Life; Africa, which contains Gorilla Falls and Harambe Villages; the Conservation Station; Asia; Dinoland U.S.A.; and Camp Minnie-Mickey, with its Festival of the Lion King. 407/824-4321.

Universal Studios Florida has six major areas: The Front Lot, with movie-themed shops and exhibits; Hollywood Boulevard, home of Terminator II 3-D; Expo Park, which includes the ET and Back to the Future rides; Production Central, where Nickelodeon shows are filmed; New York, home of King Kong; and San Francisco/Amity, where you can experience an earthquake or see a great white shark. 407/363-8000.

Islands of Adventure features roller coasters, water flumes, and break-through rides that will take your breath away. Themes within the park include Seuss Landing, Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and Marvel Super Hero Island. 407/363-8000.

Special Attractions

While visitors to Orlando could spend all their time exploring only one or two attractions, there are many other unique destinations in and around Orlando for learning, relaxing, and just having fun.

Kennedy Space Center. This complex, about 50 miles from Orlando, offers interactive and historical exhibits that guests can spend hours exploring. Shuttle Plaza and Launch Status Center feature a full-size replica of the space shuttle Explorer that guests can tour, actual rocket boosters and mission control computers, and live mission-control briefings on various space-related topics. For the younger set, the Visitor Complex offers the Children's Play Dome, a playground where kids of all ages can pretend to be junior astronauts. The Space Theater features IMAX movies. 407/452-2121.

SeaWorld Orlando, one of Florida's most established animal parks, plays home to scores of birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals, including Shamu, the killer whale. The park's newest attraction, Journey to Atlantis, combines a water flume and roller coaster ride that also treats visitors to amazing special effects, two freefall drops, and a bird's-eye view of the whole park. 407/363-2273.

Harry P. Leu Gardens, in Orlando, covers 50 acres of trails and botanical collections. Colorful annuals, a butterfly garden, palms, Florida native plants, an enormous floral clock, and tropical greenhouse await visitors. 407/246-2620.

Titanic: Ship of Dreams. Located at Pointe*Orlando in Orlando, this permanent, interactive exhibition features artifacts from the ship, costumes from the movie, a recreation of the ship's grand staircase, and other objects associated with the ocean's most famous shipwreck. 407/248-1166 or 877/410-1912.

Mystery Fun House/Lazer Tag, in Orlando, is 15 rooms of fun-house mirrors and spinning tunnels. Other highlights include miniature golf, laser games, an arcade, and concessions. 4071351-3356.

Museums

Orlando boasts a number of museums tailormade for visitors with an interest in art and culture, history, or scientific knowledge.

Orlando Museum of Art. This venerable Orlando institution houses traditional and contemporary American art, pre-Columbian and African art and artifacts, and traveling shows. Works by Georgia O'Keefe, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenburg are represented. 407/896-4231.

Orlando Science Center, in Loch Haven Park, entertains and educates visitors on a wide range of scientific phenomena related to physics, mechanics, meteorology, astronomy, and more. Interactive exhibits include Nature-works, Science City, and Tech Works. Cinedome movies, Digistar II planetarium shows, and live performances in the Darden Adventure Theater also are offered. Visitors also have the chance to stargaze through Florida's largest publicly accessible refractor telescope, in the Crosby Observatory. 407/514-2000.