We spent 6 days and 5 nights in Orlando, Florida and vicinity as part of our big May 2001 vacation that included the Smoky Mountains.  We had a great time, especially at the beach.  We spent some time at four different beaches in fact (we only swam at one).

Our stay in Orlando was highlighted by:

• Universal Studios
• Sea World 
• Two trips to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, one day to go to the beach and one to go to a baseball game.  
• Visits to the Atlantic Ocean visiting Cocoa Beach and St. Augustine.  

We stayed at the Days Inn Lakeside on the south edge of Orlando for the very affordable price of $30 per night.  We stayed in Orlando because it was central to the things we wanted to see and we wanted to have a place to park our stuff for a few days.  We did not want to change motels every other day.  

Thoughts/Recommendations

• Affordable motels/hotels can easily be found, especially in the off-season.  There are so many places to stay, competition is great.  Check out many of the national chains to get a good price.  Our room was $35 the first night (Saturday) and $30 per night the next 4 nights.  
• Go off-season if you can.  There isn't much of an off-season in Orlando, but April/May and September/October tend to be less busy than other times of year.  
• Go to the theme parks during the week.  Because we went off-season during the week, both closed a couple hours earlier, but we never waited more than 15-20 minutes per attraction.  During busy times waits can be 3 times that.  
• We enjoyed the beach the most.  The next time we go, we will probably  stay closer to the beach and drive to Orlando for the theme parks.  Stay closer to your priority.  We weren't sure what our priority was when we went and felt Orlando would be best because it was central to where we wanted to be.   
• Watch a sunset over the Gulf of Mexico - it's beautiful!  We would have liked to watch a sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean also, but didn't have time/make time.  
• Do not go to too many theme parks in a row.  We went to two in a row and that was enough.  If you plan to go to more than that, throw in some quieter days in between.  

Did you know Orlando is the most popular tourist location in the world!