Central

Central Florida covers the broad peninsula interior between the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the lake-and-ridge country built around Orlando and the Walt Disney World resort. The terrain is gently rolling — sandhills, citrus groves, and a chain of freshwater lakes — with Orlando’s theme parks concentrating most of the state’s tourism economy. Orange County holds Orlando, with Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Polk, Marion, Sumter, Hardee, and Highlands counties making up the surround. Anchor cities include Orlando, Kissimmee, Sanford, Lakeland, Lake Wales, Sebring, and Ocala. Walt Disney World sits in Orange and Osceola; Universal Orlando and SeaWorld in Orange; Bok Tower Gardens and Legoland in Polk; Silver Springs and the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings homestead in Marion. Most trips run theme-park dominated. Multi-day visits cluster around Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld; longer stays branch out to the Lake Wales Ridge, the Ocala National Forest for swimming-spring runs at Juniper and Silver Glen, and the historic squares of Sanford, Mount Dora, and Winter Park.