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Orlando : Overview & Top 10

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Orlando

One word describes Orlando’s transformation in the last three decades: stunning. The city and its suburbs have gone through a Cinderella-like metamorphosis, where plain Jane has become a worldly beauty. Millions of tourists are seduced every year by sophisticated resorts, a wide range of theme parks, must-see attractions, happening nightclubs, and winning restaurants. Here are Orlando’s best of the best.

More on the Top 10 sights in Orlando (see Thrill Rides)
  • Disney’s top hotel is an opulent, early 20th-century New England-style resort. Expect a ragtime mood and intimate rooms that promise romance and great views. The resort also has a full spa, health club, and tennis courts.

  • This tight course with its heavily bunkered fairways and greens also uses dense pine forest to challenge golfers. Its most unusual feature is an island green on the seventh hole. Perennially rated as one of Florida’s Top 20 in Golfweek . (Max yds: 6,819 [6,325 m]. USGA rating: 72.7.)

  • Here’s a course with forgivingly wide fairways that let you hammer the ball. But don’t get reckless: 11 of the 18 holes contain water and the course has 97 bunkers, with many waiting to gobble your miss hits. Part of the PGA’s Funai Golf Classic is played here. (Max yds: 7,190 [6,574 m]. USGA rating: 73.9.)

  • Arguably the most challenging of Disney’s five 18-hole courses, Osprey Ridge features native woodlands, elevated tees, fairly large greens, nine water holes, and more than 70 bunkers. Golf Digest’s “Places to Play” ranks it among Florida’s best public and resort courses. (Max yds: 7,101 [6,493 m]. USGA rating: 73.9.)

  • This jewel of a course is surrounded by woodlands. Half of its holes have water, and its 94 bunkers create headaches for those whose shots stray. The 18th hole is one of the toughest on the PGA Tour. (Max yds: 6,957 [6,391 m]. USGA rating: 73.)

  • You can opt to stay in the French Quarter’s colonial houses with iron balconies or in the Riverside’s southern-style mansions. Gardeners love the landscaping, and shoppers like the location.

  • The spa at this resort has a range of massage therapies (including hydromassage), body treatments, facials, pedicures and manicures. Treatments can be selected individually or as part of a full-day package, and the staff are happy to design personal treatment programs. Reservations must be made by phone in advance.

  • Choose from one-bedroom bungalows, two-bedroom town houses, fairway villas next to Disney golf courses, and three-bedroom Tree-house Villas 10 ft (3 m) off the ground. Most include daily housekeeping and there are lots of recreation choices.

  • The All-Star Movies, All-Star Music, and All-Star Sports resorts have relatively small rooms, but rates here are the cheapest in Walt Disney World Resort.

  • Disney’s sports complex is the spring training home of Major League baseball’s Atlanta Braves (Feb–Mar) and minor league baseball’s Orlando Rays, a farm team for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Apr–Sep). It’s also a winter home for basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters. Other facilities in the 200-acre (80-ha) complex, which is used for all kinds of amateur sports and athletics, include: a fitness center; basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts; softball, soccer, and lacrosse fields; a martial-arts venue; and a golf-driving range. Disney’s Wide World of Sports is also the home of the NFL Experience. There is an extreme sports area catering for skateboarders, in-line skaters, and cyclists, which is now open for special events.

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