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Getting Around: Visiting The Theme Parks
You have to be very determined to get to the theme parks without a car,
but it can be done. Local Lynx buses (tel 407/841-8240) converge on the
downtown Orlando terminal between Central and Pine streets; route #50 heads
to Walt Disney World, but it's a somewhat patchy service and takes about an
hour. The pricier Mears Transportation Service runs private shuttle buses
(tel 407/423-5566) between the main accommodation areas, the airport and Walt
Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios ($10-12 round-trip) - phone at
least a day ahead to be picked up. Taxis are
the best way to get around at night - try Yellow Cab Co. (tel 407/699-9999).
Along International Drive, between Sea World Orlando and Universal Studios,
the I-Ride trolley service (tel 407/354-5656) operates every few minutes daily
from 7am to midnight, costing 75¢ one way. The immense convention center,
several blocks in length, stretches along International Drive amid the attractions.
Nightlife And Entertainment
Though you'll probably be so exhausted from a long day at the parks that boozing
and boogying with thousands of others will be the last thing on your mind, the
Orlando area is just bursting with themed nightspots of every persuasion, from
medieval banquets to piano bars and country and western clubs. It's all relentless
good, clean fun, sanitized to the hilt.
From around 9pm, each Walt Disney World park holds some kind of closing-time bash,
usually involving fireworks and fountains. There's also Pleasure Island , exit 26B
off I-4 (in the Disney Village Marketplace), a remake of an abandoned island, whose
pseudo-warehouses are the setting for shops, themed bars and nightclubs (daily 10am-7pm;
after 7pm $21 gains access to all bars and clubs). The most enjoyable are the Comedy
Warehouse and the Adventurers' Club , loosely based on a 1930s gentlemen's club. Take
ID and a fat wallet.
In a similar vein, in downtown Orlando at 129 W Church St, the restored Victorian buildings
of Church Street Station enclose a mall-like cluster of restaurants, bars, clubs and shows
with a vaguely Old South theme (daily 11am-2am; after 6pm $19 gains access to all bars and clubs).
Orlando Convention Center: Click Here
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