2010FB-Orlando

CITY OF ORLANDO UCF students have easy access to one of the world’s most vibrant cities in Orlando. Orlando is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the world. As recently as 2009, approximately 50 million visitors traveled to the region. Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Orlando and Sea World, amongst others, are just a short drive away from the UCF campus. The Kennedy Space Center, state parks and sandy beaches are all within an hour of campus.

Orlando is a frequent destination for today’s top musical groups and performances, who visit popular venues like Hard Rock Live at Universal’s CityWalk and the House of Blues, which is located in Downtown Disney. The city’s world-renowned theme parks have added a variety of new entertainment experiences, including Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba” at Disney and Universal’s resident Blue Man Group shows.

Beyond the theme parks, downtown Orlando features an ever-changing skyline, fine dining options and a newly-developed arts district. Cultural destinations in the city include the Orlando Museum of Art, the Orange County Regional History Center and Lake Eola Park.

With top-notch musical and theatrical events occurring year-round, Orlando is a premier destination for sports fans, too. The region is home to professional franchises, college football bowl games, world famous auto races, several professional golf tournaments and much more.

The Orlando Magic have brought the excitement of NBA showtime to the city with its impressive NBA playoff runs in 2009 and 2010. The future is even brighter for the Magic, with its state-of-the-art downtown arena opening before the 2010-11 season. UCF will face the Florida Gators at the Amway Center to help open the new facility on Dec. 1, 2010.

The region’s sports calendar is busy with Grapefruit League baseball each spring as the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex hosts the Atlanta Braves. The Houston Astros train in nearby Kissimmee and the Washington Nationals are just a short trip east in Viera. In 2006, the World Baseball Classic held part of its inaugural event in Lake Buena Vista.

The Florida Citrus Bowl hosts a pair of premier college bowl games each winter – the Champs Sports Bowl and the Capital One Bowl. The stadium has also been the site of the World Cup and Olympic soccer contests, World Wrestling Entertainment’s Wrestlemania, amongst many other major sporting events.

The region also features the most prominent NASCAR race of the year, its “Super Bowl” event, the Daytona 500, held at the Daytona International Speedway, to help start the racing season, in addition to July’s Pepsi 400.

With countless world-class golf courses, several professional tournaments are held in Central Florida annually, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented

by MasterCard at Bay Hill, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at the Magnolia Golf Course in Lake Buena Vista and the Tavistock Cup, rotated annually between the prestigious Isleworth and Lake Nona private courses.

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