Orlando, Florida

Orlando: Theme Park Capital, and That’s Not Necessarily a Criticism

Orlando’s economy is theme parks. The city of around 320,000 people sits at the centre of a tourism infrastructure that draws about 75 million visitors annually. Most of them are there for Disney World, Universal, or SeaWorld, and that’s completely fine. The parks are extremely good at what they do.

Walt Disney World

Disney World covers about 27,000 acres — roughly twice the size of Manhattan — and contains four main parks plus two water parks, multiple resort hotels, and Disney Springs (a shopping and restaurant district). Most visitors dedicate their whole trip to Disney.

The four parks have distinct characters. Magic Kingdom is the most photogenic (Cinderella’s Castle, the classic rides, the fireworks show) and the most crowded. EPCOT is half theme park, half world’s fair, with international pavilions around a lagoon that have food and drink from various countries — the France pavilion has genuinely good croissants. Hollywood Studios has the best individual ride in Florida (Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, a 20-minute experience that’s technically a single ride) and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for nostalgia value. Animal Kingdom has more natural space and one of the better dark rides in the parks (Avatar: Flight of Passage).

Tickets are expensive — base tickets start around $109 per day and the Lightning Lane passes (for shorter queues) add $15–35 on top. A family of four doing Disney World for five days will spend over $3,000 on park admission alone before accommodation, food, or flights.

Universal Orlando Resort

Universal has Wizarding World of Harry Potter split across its two parks (Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure, Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida), which are connected by the Hogwarts Express — you need a park-to-park ticket to ride it, which is an effective upsell mechanism but also a legitimately good ride. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in Islands of Adventure is the best-reviewed ride in the resort and often has the longest queue. Go when the parks open.

Epic Universe, a new third park, opens in 2025 and includes additional Wizarding World content, a Nintendo area, and other lands.

Practical Notes

June through August is the hottest and most crowded period — temperatures regularly hit 35°C with high humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms are daily. September and October are better: school is in, crowds are lower, and the heat is slightly less overwhelming.

For accommodation, on-site resort hotels at Disney give you some advantages (Early Entry, easy park transport) but cost significantly more than off-site options near International Drive or on US-192 near Kissimmee. For the savings, off-site is often the better call unless you’re planning multiple trips.

Kennedy Space Center, about an hour east, is the most substantial non-theme-park attraction in the area. The Vehicle Assembly Building is one of the largest structures in the world by volume; the Saturn V display is genuinely impressive. Allow most of a day.