Ahhhhh! Orlando: The City Beautiful.  The Orlando-Kissimmee area has so much to offer that you can’t possibly do it all while you’re in town for the Joint meeting.  Many people gravitate towards the most popular theme parks while they are here: Disney World and the Universal Studios parks.  But there’s much more available.  We’ll mention some of the others here in case there is something you’d rather do, but might not know about.   

Downtown Disney and Universal’s “City Walk” provide various shopping, dining, and nightlife options.  For example, Cirque du Soleil has a nightly show in Downtown Disney.  International Drive and Old Town Kissimmee are streets filled with similar entertainment options including Wonderworks and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.  Other local attractions include Sea World, Holy Land Experience, and Gatorland.  And there seems to be a Dinner Show to meet almost any diner’s genre preference: Arabian horse shows to Pirate’s stories to Mysteries.  Attractions which are a bit further away include Kennedy Space Center and Fantasy of Flight.   

And for those of you who plan on soaking up some warmth to replenish yourself from harsh winter weather, there are various water parks and golfing options galore. For beach enthusiasts, Cocoa Beach (of I Dream of Genie) is approximately an hour away, while Daytona Beach is slightly further. 

Some of the attractions events listed above require advance preparation/ticket purchase.  While you are in town, pick up a copy of the Orlando Weekly, a local entertainment and event guide that will let you know about shows that are happening that week in many of the above locations and at other venues in the surrounding area. 

Here are some websites that provide much more detail about the options above: 

http://www.orlandotouristinformationbureau.com/index.html

http://www.floridakiss.com./ 

Most importantly, connect to old friends and have lots of fun while you are in Orlando…after all, it’s home to the “the happiest place on earth!”