{"id":163186,"date":"2026-02-20T23:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163186\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:07:07","slug":"attractions-food-parking-road-to-orlando-explores-the-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163186\/","title":{"rendered":"Attractions, food, parking: Road to Orlando explores the options"},"content":{"rendered":"

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ORLANDO (BP) \u2013 The home of Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld has long been a popular destination for Southern Baptists attending the SBC Annual Meeting. A recent episode of \u201cThe Road to Orlando\u201d delved into the specifics of how attendees to this June\u2019s gathering can make the most of their visit.<\/p>\n

Host Jonathan Howe spoke with Mary Margaret West, a Lifeway contributor in women\u2019s ministry who lives in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park with her husband and young sons, in Episode 5 \u2013 Orlando Food and Fun<\/a>. They talked about attractions for attendees before and after the annual meeting at the Orange County Convention Center.<\/p>\n

Attractions<\/p>\n

The west concourse of the Orange County Convention Center, site of the annual meeting, lies in the heart of a bustling tourist area. SeaWorld is literally across the street, with Universal Studios minutes in one direction and Disney minutes the other way. The Orlando Eye Ferris wheel is only about a half-mile north.<\/p>\n

West, who grew up in the area and now has a 4-year-old and 2-year-old, spoke of the area\u2019s draw for families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do all the highlights and a lot of Disney World, because we live super-close,\u201d she said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not the only thing to do here. \u2026 [There are] a lot of other things you can do here in Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disney is the elephant-sized mouse in the room and gets the most attention, with Universal right behind. SeaWorld is a more affordable option and \u201csneaky good,\u201d according to Howe, as West described its attractions and rides. Disney vacation planners are willing to offer services for planning a trip, Howe and West acknowledged.<\/p>\n

The SBC has made discount tickets available for annual meeting guests for Disney<\/a> and Universal<\/a> on the annual meeting website. Discounted Sea World tickets are available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Those are far from the only attractions, of course. The Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall Ferris wheel with views of the city, shouldn\u2019t be overlooked, West added, especially at night when fireworks displays light up the sky. Legoland and Bush Gardens are within 45 minutes to a little over an hour, as is Cape Canaveral and NASA\u2019s Space Coast to the east.<\/p>\n

Low-cost attractions include the \u201ciconic\u201d Gatorland, said West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to see some gators and have the whole reptile experience, do not sleep on Gatorland,\u201d she said. \u201cWe went on a field trip when I was a kid, and I have a lot of friends who have annual passes to Gatorland, and their kids love to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winter Park, where she lives, also offers boat tours of about an hour\u2019s length that go through the chain of lakes in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re famous for those,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019ll take you by Rollins College. There\u2019s a house that Mr. Rogers [used to] live in that\u2019s on the boat tour. There\u2019s just a lot of interesting history, and it\u2019s a really enjoyable experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food<\/p>\n

Pretty much every chain restaurant one can think of \u2013 including regional ones like Skyline Chili \u2013 joins local fare for dining options.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can find just about anything from anywhere here in Orlando that is famous somewhere else,\u201d said West. \u201cThat makes it such an interesting place to live, because it\u2019s such a melting pot of people and cultures that you get a ton of fascinating places to try.<\/p>\n

\u201cRestaurant Row\u201d is a section of the city not far from the convention center that is highly popular and seen as a culinary \u201cmust-do.\u201d It begins primarily at the intersection of West Sand Lake Road and Turkey Lake Road, and includes a mix of steakhouses, seafood, international fare and American bistros.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorites is called Seasons 52,\u201d West said. \u201cThey have a seasonal changing menu. It\u2019s a nice, sit-down, but not crazy-expensive restaurant, a good date night kind of place, but also on the healthy side, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

She warned against overlooking more common options.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have not experienced a Publix grocery store, while you\u2019re in Orlando head over there and get a Pub Sub,\u201d West said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a part of Florida culture. When I would go to the beach with my friends, you\u2019d stop at Publix for a sub and a Coke and take that to the beach for your lunch. We love our Pub Subs here in Orlando.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driving and parking<\/p>\n

Howe pointed out to those driving at the annual meeting that parking at the convention center \u201cis a bit limited\u201d and isn\u2019t free, so hotel shuttles may be a better option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do have a car, know that Orlando is filled with toll roads,\u201d he added. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to stop and pay a toll, but they\u2019re going to get it through the rental car license plate and you\u2019re going to get a bill from [the rental company].\u201d<\/p>\n

Driving your own vehicle doesn\u2019t bypass the toll, of course. But a Florida SunPass<\/a> can be purchased locally or beforehand. Some out-of-state versions of toll passes are acceptable, such as Peach Pass (Georgia) and NC Quick Pass. Check your state\u2019s toll pass website to make sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey call Orlando the City Beautiful, and it really is,\u201d said West. \u201cDon\u2019t get caught up in the theme parks and the big stuff that\u2019s going on, because there is so much to see and do.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo some homework. Look into the places we mentioned. There really is a lot to experience in Central Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO (BP) \u2013 The home of Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld has long been a popular destination…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-163186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}