Living in Florida

From WDWIP Walt Disney World International Programs Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

While parties in the Commons, or chilling in Chatham Square may keep you entertained for a bit, there will come a time in your stay there that you will realize that there is a world outside of the one Walt created. Its called Central Florida, and as the world's number one tourist destination, it has a LOT to offer.

Contents

Lay of the Lands

First, it's important to understand just where you will be living in relation to everything else. As mentioned on the Living Experience Page, the three housing complexes are technically on Disney property, but they are well separated from the parks and most of the tourists. You will find the complexes on the southeast side of Interstate 4, on Little Lake Bryan Drive off Vineland Road, while the majority of Disney attractions lay on the west side, about a 5-10 minute drive away.

Although your address will be in Orlando, most people would not consider the area to be part of that city at all. If anything, the complexes are in Lake Buena Vista. Broadly speaking, to the north is Lake Buena Vista, Orlando is to the northeast, Kissimmee is to the south and southwest, and the WDW Resort area is to the west.

For a dynamic map that allows you to zoom and move around, check out this map at MapQuest or MapBlast (The Commons and Chatham Square are situated beside the smaller lake in the center of the map, called Lake Ruby for some odd reason). For a more accurate and interesting look at the area, try this image from Terraserver, which is a USGS Topographical satellite image of the area. This picture was taken in April 2002. The Commons is the complex that stretches horizontally and Chatham Square is the square one near the bottom-centre. You can also clearly see Little Lake Brian, with the white sand beach of Mickey's Retreat. I-4 is the large highway intersecting the picture, and the two other properties in the image are the Mary, Queen of the Universe Catholic Shrine and the Orlando Premium Outlets. Try zooming out a few times to see how close Epcot and the other parks are to the housing complexes.

Sports and Recreation

The most obvious form of recreation available to you is simply enjoy the world class facilities of the Walt Disney World Resort, since you are just minutes from Epcot, Magic Kingdom Park, The Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, the three water parks, five golf courses, Disney's Wide World of Sports, and the rest of the wonderful world of Disney.

For something closer to the housing complexes, Mickey's Retreat is a short walk or Rollerblade down the road. It is the cast recreation complex on Little Lake Bryan. It features a lake, beach, two pools, beach volleyball, basketball, tennis, barbecues, an activities pavilion, a soccer pitch and a baseball diamond!

For professional sports action, Orlando is home to the Magic (NBA), Tampa has the Devil Rays (MLB), Lightning (NHL) and Bucs (NFL), Jacksonville has the Jaguars (NFL), and those pesky Dolphins (NFL) are down in Miami, along with the Marlins (MLB) and Heat (NBA).

Beaches

This is Florida after all, so expect to hit the beaches pretty often. Since everything in the area seems to be 'world class', there's no reason for that to stop at the beaches, and they do live up to their high billing. If you want close, 50 minutes east is Cocoa Beach, which is cheap and cheerful, and seems to be more of a 'local's beach' then the west coast ones.

Head 90 minutes west along I-4 and you will be in the Clearwater area - which is cleaner and larger than Cocoa, and has no ants, but you will have to put up with the crowds. There are plenty of great beaches in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area, but my personal favorite is Sand Key County Park. Located at the north end of Sand Key near the bridge, Sand Key Park boasts an extraordinary white shelly sand beach that is among one of the widest in the area. Parking is plentiful and cheap (which is not the case a few miles north at the main Clearwater Beach) and it always seems less-crowded.

If a party beach is your style, stuff the car with booze and people and head 90 minutes up I-4 to world famous Daytona Beach, which rocks anytime, but especially in the spring during College Spring Break and Bike Week. There are hundreds of other great beaches in Florida, check out this Interactive Florida Beach Map for a full guide to the offerings.

Daytime Entertainment

Naturally, the Disney Theme Parks are at the top of this list, but after spending five 8-hour shifts per week at one of them, you might just want to get away. A short drive from the housing complexes will take you to I-Drive and 192, the tacky tourist strips. Universal Orlando Resort with the Islands of Adventure Park, CityWalk and Universal Studios is a must-do, especially if you are lucky enough to be there in October for Halloween Horror Nights (NOT to be missed!). In addition, Wet 'n Wild (the most popular waterpark in the U.S.), Sea World (featuring the awesome Kraken floorless roller coaster) and Discovery Cove (if you into swimming with dolphins) are all less than 10 minutes away! An attraction that everyone should visit at least once is Gatorland, which is on South Orange Blossom Trail, about 20 minutes away. It has been there forever, and still features great gator wrestling and jumparoo shows, plus CMs get a big discount!

If you find yourself in the Tampa Bay area, make time for Busch Gardens, which has built up an amazing collection of rides and roller coasters.

Nighttime Entertainment

Starting close to home, Pleasure Island (PI) used to be Disney's answer to the nightclub, a sprawling complex that had no less than a half-dozen clubs, plus restaurants and shops. Pleasure Island's clubs closed however in Autumn 2008 to be transformed into more shopping and eating oppourtunities. It was part of the larger Downtown Disney area which included the West Side and Marketplace areas which remain open. It features more restaurants, a few dozen shops, 24 AMC movie screens, a Disney Quest, Cirque Du Soleil, and a couple of huge restaurant/bar/concert hall complexes. Admission and parking is free to Downtown Disney.

If you go to the AMC Theatre often, it could be a smart move to get a Moviewatcher.com membership card. It's free and gives you bonuses, free popcorn and more as you visit more and more films. Also, Company D sells special cinema-tickets called "Silver Passes" for $5.50. These can only be used for films that have been running for two weeks or more, but it's still cheaper than the $7 you normally pay with cast member discount. <Submitted by Livar>

When you grow bored with Downtown Disney, Universal Citywalk should be next on your list and its clubs are still open. Universal CityWalk is much like Downtown Disney, but has a more adult edge to it. Much like Pleasure Island was, you don't have to pay to enter the area, but you do to enter some clubs and restaurants past a certain time. Unlike Downtown Disney, parking is not free. For drinks, head to Pat O' Brien's, an exact replica of the famous New Orleans bar. The Hurricane is the specialty, and features something like 5 shots of rum! Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville has a fun atmosphere, but the food leaves a bit to be desired. For clubbing, The Groove looks plain on the outside, but is all high-tech and high-energy on the inside. On busy nights, the Main Stage outside is a fun place to hang around and watch whatever show is on - the atmosphere is energetic. There is also a Cineplex theatre, with dozens of screens.

Clubs

Clubbing in the Central Florida area is absolutely fun, drinks are usually a lot cheaper then what u are used to pay at home, 'Ladies drink for free until 12am/1am' is actually quite common in some clubs and 'pay $10, drink for free' is also offered at some locations. Clubs generally close around 2 a.m.

There a quite a few clubs/bars in the neighborhood where you can go to, actually, two places are served by the F bus route that takes you to Downtown Disney and Cross-roads center. On specific nights a lot of CP's/CRP's/ICP's gather at the same clubs:

House of Blues is the only remaining place at Downtown Disney where the party is at, at least on Sunday nights because CM's (over 21) get in for free (under 21 have to pay a cover).

Buffalo Wild Wings at the Cross-roads center has become a popular place for CP's/CRP's/ICP's on Monday night. Underage guests pay a $5 cover but soft drinks are free. Beers are a dollar until 1 am.

On Tuesday evening Ale House is the place to go.

On Wednesday and Thursday, there are independent organizations (Vista Party Bus, Cast Party Bus and others) that hire buses that take you to clubs in Orlando (Roxy's, Bliss) for $10 including the cover for the club. They depart just outside the housing complexes between 9.30pm - 11pm and return around 2.30am. They generally stop at Vista Way and Chatham Square but will stop at The Commons if you make a reservation through their hot-line and request a pickup.

Downtown Orlando offers great clubs and pubs, but is a very expensive cab ride away, as it's more than 1/2 hour up I-4. Digital City has a more complete listing of bars and clubs.

Please keep in mind that even while this might not be on Disney property, underage drinking & providing alcohol to minors is prohibited by law and doing so might get you in to trouble with law enforcement or Disney (if you show up intoxicated at the security gate) or even later on, if someone 'tells on you' in an act of retaliation.

Restaurants

There are thousands of restaurants in the area surrounding the housing complexes, which can range from touristy joints, to common American chains, and even a few world class places. There are too many to list even all the best ones, so here is just a few of the best. Check Digital City Orlando for a full listing. If you can afford it (even after your 20% discount), the restaurants of the WDW resort are all great quality and consistently good service, with California Grill, Jiko, Citricos, Flying Fish Cafe, and Artist Point at the top of the list. Best to take advantage of the Holiday 50% CM discount as much as possible so you can experience them all! Menus are available online at the All Ears Net Walt Disney World Dining Guide.

Outside of Disney, three restaurants are particularly worthy of mention. The Fishbones and Charlie's Steakhouse chain is known for having some of the best restaurants in the area. Fishbones is on Sand Lake and I-Drive, Charlie's is on I-Drive by the Mercado and also on 192 by Celebration. All three restaurants are owned by the same group and the food and service is very similar, with Fishbones specializing in seafood, and Charlie's in Steak. Charlie's has won a ton of awards for 'Best Steakhouse in America' as they will tell you. All meat is dry-aged on premises, and cut by their own butchers, then grilled on the fire made of three types of local aromatic hardwoods burning at 500-degrees! As you can imagine, the steak is amazing. All the portions are huge - from 12-45 ounces for most steaks, and the starters and sides match the size and quality of the steaks. Expect to pay about $30-40 a person, more if you dive into the extensive wine list. The service is very knowledgeable and attentive. You will usually wait 1/2 to 1 hour to get a table, but go before 7 for the shortest wait. Fishbones is very similar, but specialize in massive portions of fresh seafood (try the tuna!), as well as many of the steak selections from Charlie's. Fishbones is usually the busier of the two - especially if a convention is in town.

Simply the best combination of quality, atmosphere, price and service in the are comes together at Bahama Breeze (one location near The Commons on Vineland & 535, and one on I-Drive, north of Pointe Orlando). It is a huge sprawling outdoor/indoor collection of tropical buildings owned by the same people that own Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Unlike those popular, but typical, chain restaurants, Bahama Breeze is a unique attraction in itself. The style is Florida-Caribbean - in the casual atmosphere, food, drinks, and service. Massive portions of great flavorful food abound on the book-sized menu. Starters are a specialty, but be warned, as they are meals in themselves. The drinks 'book' lists hundreds of dangerous specialties, including the Bahama-rita, one of the best frozen concoctions known to man. Service is outstanding, and you will typically only pay about $15 a person - not including drinks. Bahama Breeze is very popular with locals and tourists alike so expect a 1 hour+ wait for a table on busy nights. The bar has live music and you can still order any of the famous starters. In fact, for an easy way to experience it without the wait, get a table in the patio, order lots of Bahama-rita's, and pile of appetizers to share (the coconut shrimp and onion rings are the most popular), and you will be set for a great night out!

Another great place for food and drinks is the Orlando Ale House, just one mile north of Vineland Ave on 535 (at the start of the back entrance road to WDW). Cheap food and cheap drinks - dare you ask for more?

Shopping

As you would expect, shopping is excellent all around the area. It's easy to find bargains on virtually anything at the malls and outlets all a short drive from The Commons and Chatham Square. A favorable exchange rate makes most purchases in Florida considerably cheaper than they would be back home.

The best deals are found at the myriad of outlet malls that surround the resort areas. The largest of which is the Orlando Premium Outlets I-Drive, which is at the top of I-Drive. The closest is the Orlando Premium Outlets Vineland Ave, which is amazingly enough, a five minute walk from the complexes, right opposite the Commons!

The locals tend to shop along the East Colonial corridor, which is a fair drive into Orlando, but has a lot of the bigger stores. The malls in the area include Pointe Orlando, Florida Mall, West Oaks Mall, and the Mall at Millenia, which feature the typical American mall store selections, such as Abercrombie and Fitch, Gap, Banana Republic, and Express. The Orlando Retail Guide offers a more comprehensive listing of local shops.

For groceries and house wares, you have a few choices, but most people shop at Wal-Mart, Target or Publix. The closest Wal-Mart Supercenters are on 192 in Kissimmee next to Medieval Times (open 24 hours) and 1471 East Osceola Parkway (open 24 Hours). The closest SuperTarget is 2155 Town Center Blvd (Orange Blossom Trail & Town Center Blvd). The closest Publix is located just northeast of The Commons on Vineland Ave. Avoid Gooding's at all costs (tourist trap).

The Dynamic-buses that provide transport to-and from work also have a route, the H-route, that takes you to Wal-Mart. New in 2005 is that the route goes to Florida Mall on special days of each month. See the transportation plan for details.

External Links

Lay of the Lands:

City Guides:

Sports and Recreation:

Beaches:

Daytime Entertainment:

Nighttime Entertainment:

Restaurants:

Shopping:

Retrieved from "http://www.wdwip.com/wiki/Living_in_Florida"
Personal tools
SITE NAVIGATION
visit our sponsors