Orlando, Florida: Fantasy's Reality

Orlando, the boomtown of the South, is growing on the model of Disney World: a community that imitates an imitation of a community

It takes people a while to get used to living in Orlando. This is a city where they vacuum the streets at night and disinfect the public telephones with Lysol, where the airport has a moat with live alligators in it, where you can buy your hubcaps at Hubcap World. "At first Orlando weirded me out," says Bob Simonds, 28, a producer from Los Angeles who filmed a movie there. "I saw it as a big Disney production. It seemed like a fraud, a city on overload. Now I love this place. It's like Norman Rockwell's America or Dennis the Menace...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!