About Orlando

[NFO-1]

Orlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan region. Orlando has a population of 230,519 (July 2008 estimate), and of the metropolitan area, 2,054,574. It is the fifth largest city in Florida by population. It was incorporated on July 31, 1875, and became a city in 1885.

Originally the center of a major citrus-growing region, Orlando is now best known as the home of amusement attractions, including the Walt Disney World Resort, the Universal Orlando Resort, and SeaWorld. These destinations helped make Orlando the third most visited American city among travelers in the year 2007. Since the establishment of destination tourism in the 1970s, the local economy has diversified, and today the region is the center of operations for companies servicing Central Florida. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida, the largest university campus by student enrollment in the state of Florida and among the largest in the United States.

The Orlando area is home to a wide variety of tourist attractions, including the Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando and Holy Land Experience. The Walt Disney World resort is the area's largest attraction with its many facets such as the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, and Downtown Disney. SeaWorld Orlando is a large park that features numerous zoological displays and marine animals alongside an amusement park with roller coasters and water park.

Universal Orlando, like Walt Disney World, is a multi-faceted resort comprising Universal Studios Florida, CityWalk, and the Islands of Adventure theme park. Orlando attractions also significantly appeal to many locals who want to enjoy themselves close to home.

Orlando has the second largest number of hotel rooms in the country (after Las Vegas, Nevada), and is one of the busiest American cities for conferences and conventions with the Orange County Convention Center, the country's second largest in square footage. It is also known for its wide array of golf courses, with numerous courses available for any level of golfer.

Located several miles away from the main tourist attractions, Downtown Orlando is undergoing major redevelopment with a number of residential projects, commercial towers, and major public works projects including the Amway Center and the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center. Orlando ranks as the fourth most popular city, based on where people want to live, according to a 2009 Pew Research Center study.

Orlando has also been called Hollywood East because of numerous cinematic enterprises in the area.

Until recently, Walt Disney Feature Animation operated a studio out of Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort. Feature Animation-Florida was primarily responsible for the films Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and the early stages of Brother Bear and contributed on various other projects.

Universal Studios's Soundstage 21 is home to The TNA Impact Zone. Nickelodeon Studios, which through the 90s produced hundreds of hours of GAK-filled game shows targeted at children, no longer operates out of Universal Studios Florida.

The Florida Film Festival in nearby Maitland is one of the most respected regional film festivals in the country and attracts budding filmmakers from around the world. In addition, the implosion of Orlando's previous City Hall was filmed for the movie Lethal Weapon 3.

Orlando's indie film scene has been picking back up since Haxan Film's The Blair Witch Project (1999) and a few years later with Charlize Theron winning her Academy Award for Monster (2003). A Florida state film incentive has also helped increase the amount of films being produced in Orlando and the rest of the state.

The Orlando Metropolitan Area is also home to a substantial theatre population. Several professional and semi-professional houses and many community theaters dot the area including Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Orlando Repertory Theatre, Orlando Theatre Project, Mad Cow Theatre, Theatre Downtown, The Osceola Center for the Arts, Winter Park Playhouse, Theatre Winter Haven, and IceHouse Theatre.

Disney also a cast theater company known as S.T.A.G.E. as well as Encore, a cast choir and orchestra whose annual charity concerts have raised thousands of dollars. Additionally, both University of Central Florida and Rollins College (Winter Park) are home to well respected Theatre Departments that provide an influx of young artists to the local area.
In addition, the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre brings national tours through town on a regular basis. This venue, built in 1926, will be replaced by the Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center in 2012.

Each spring, local theaters and downtown venues play host to the Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival, which draws touring companies from all around the world as well as readings and fully staged productions of new and unknown plays by local artists. Also in the spring, there is The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, hosted by Orlando Shakespeare Theater.