69 Fun Facts About Central Florida

What is Orlando's official nickname?

O-Town and Theme Park Capital of the World are the unofficial ones; the official slogan dates from a 1908 City Beautiful movement campaign.

The Orlando area was originally known by the name of which 1838 Seminole Wars army post?

Fort Gatlin was built in 1838 just south of present-day Orlando during the Second Seminole War; the settlement that grew around it, first called Jernigan, was renamed Orlando in 1857.

According to the most widely accepted account, Orlando's name was proposed by Shakespeare admirer James Speer after a character in which play?

Judge James Speer, a Shakespeare admirer, is credited with naming the town after Orlando in As You Like It; the rival Orlando Reeves soldier legend has a Lake Eola marker but no documentary record.

Orlando International Airport's code is MCO because the airport was built on the site of what?

MCO comes from McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command base that closed in 1975; the airport kept the old military identifier rather than adopting an ORL-style code.

Rollins College, founded in 1885, is in which Central Florida city?

Rollins College was founded in 1885 on Lake Virginia in Winter Park, just northeast of Orlando; its alumni include Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Which aerospace and defence company, under an earlier name, opened an Orlando missile plant in 1956?

Lockheed Martin's predecessor, the Glenn L. Martin Company, chose Orlando for its missile plant in 1956, a decade before Disney; the site later became Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Under what name was the University of Central Florida founded in 1963?

It was founded as Florida Technological University in 1963 to supply engineers for the space program, opened for classes in 1968, and took the UCF name in 1978.

What mythological creature appears on the University of Central Florida's official seal?

UCF's seal shows Pegasus, the winged horse, chosen to symbolize limitless possibilities; the athletic teams are the Knights, with a mascot named Knightro.

On what date did Walt Disney World open?

Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971; Walt Disney had died in December 1966, almost five years earlier, and never saw the Florida project finished.

Why did Disney buy 27,000 acres of Central Florida through dummy corporations from 1964?

Disney used shell companies such as Ayefour Corporation, a pun on Interstate 4, to stop landowners raising prices once the buyer was known; the 27,000 acres were roughly twice Manhattan's size.

Who insisted the Florida resort be called 'Walt Disney World' so nobody would forget whose idea it was?

Walt's older brother came out of retirement to see the project through and died only two months after the opening.

What was the body that had governed the Disney parks' land since 1967 renamed in 2023?

The Reedy Creek Improvement District, created in 1967, became the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in 2023 under a state-appointed board, ending the company's county-level self-government.

Which Walt Disney World park was the resort's only theme park for its first eleven years?

Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 and was Walt Disney World's only theme park until EPCOT arrived in 1982; it topped the world theme-park attendance rankings throughout the 2010s.

EPCOT, which opened in 1982, is an acronym for what?

EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow; Walt Disney pitched it as a real working city with residents and industry, but what opened in 1982 was a permanent world's fair instead.

Spaceship Earth, the geodesic sphere at the entrance to EPCOT, is roughly how tall?

Spaceship Earth stands about 180 feet, roughly eighteen stories, and is a complete sphere held up on legs rather than a dome; the ride inside spirals up through the history of communication.

Universal Studios Florida, Orlando's first serious rival to Disney, opened its gates in which year?

Universal Studios Florida opened on June 7, 1990, as a working studio as well as a park; a second gate followed in May 1999 and a third, Epic Universe, in May 2025.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter debuted in 2010 at which Universal Orlando park?

Hogsmeade opened at Islands of Adventure in June 2010; Diagon Alley followed at neighboring Universal Studios Florida in 2014, with the Hogwarts Express linking the two parks.

Kennedy Space Center sits on which Florida island?

Kennedy Space Center occupies Merritt Island, where most of the land is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so alligators and bald eagles share the property with the launch pads.

In which year did Cape Kennedy officially revert to the name Cape Canaveral?

Floridians objected to the 1963 renaming to Cape Kennedy, and the state restored the name Cape Canaveral in 1973; the NASA center kept the Kennedy name.

From which Kennedy Space Center launch pad did Apollo 11 lift off on July 16, 1969?

Apollo 11 launched from Pad 39A on July 16, 1969; the same pad later hosted Space Shuttle launches and, from 2014, was leased to SpaceX for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy flights.

How long does it take to open one of the Vehicle Assembly Building's high-bay doors?

Each VAB high-bay door is 456 feet tall and takes about 45 minutes to open fully, so a stacked Saturn V or Space Shuttle could roll out to the pad on the crawler-transporter.

What was painted on the Vehicle Assembly Building in 1976, then the world's largest of its kind?

An American flag was painted on the VAB for the 1976 Bicentennial; it is 209 feet high, and each stripe is wide enough to drive a bus along.

Which telephone area code serves Florida's Space Coast around Cape Canaveral?

Area code 321 was assigned to Brevard County in 1999 because read digit by digit it is a launch countdown; it also overlays Orlando's 407.

Which 1960s sitcom about a NASA astronaut was set in Cocoa Beach?

The show never actually filmed there, but the town has a street named I Dream of Jeannie Lane, and 11-time surfing world champion Kelly Slater grew up in the same city.

What is the longest stretch of undeveloped land on Florida's East Coast, 24 miles from Volusia County to Titusville?

Canaveral National Seashore, created by Congress in 1975, protects 24 miles of beach and much of Mosquito Lagoon; from its southern beach you can watch rockets climb out of Kennedy Space Center.

Which NASCAR founder built Daytona International Speedway, which opened in 1959?

Bill France Sr., who founded NASCAR in 1948, built Daytona International Speedway, opened in 1959; racing had previously run on the hard sand and Highway A1A of the old beach-road course.

How steeply are the turns banked at Daytona International Speedway?

Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees, steep enough for cars to hold speed through the corners and for fans in the grandstands to see the whole 2.5-mile track.

How was the very first Daytona 500, in 1959, decided?

Lee Petty was eventually declared the winner over Johnny Beauchamp; the excavated infield of the new track had already filled with water to become Lake Lloyd.

Who set a land speed record of more than 276 mph on the sands of Daytona Beach in March 1935?

Sir Malcolm Campbell drove Bluebird to 276.82 mph on Daytona Beach on March 7, 1935; the hard-packed sand made it a natural speedway, and later that year he topped 300 mph at Bonneville.

Which 175-foot tower, completed in 1887, is the tallest lighthouse in Florida?

Ponce de Leon Inlet Light, finished in 1887, rises 175 feet, the tallest lighthouse in Florida and among the tallest in the United States; it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1998.

Which Volusia County surf town has been dubbed the "shark attack capital of the world"?

New Smyrna Beach, beside Ponce de Leon Inlet, is the heart of Volusia County, which records more shark bites than any county in the world; almost all are minor, from small sharks in murky surf.

Andrew Turnbull's 1768 colony on the Volusia coast drew most of its 1,300 settlers from which Mediterranean island?

Most of the 1768 settlers were Menorcans, joined by Greeks from the Mani peninsula and Italians; the colony, New Smyrna, was named for the Asia Minor birthplace of Turnbull's wife.

Which Volusia County Spiritualist community calls itself the 'Psychic Capital of the World'?

Cassadaga was founded in 1894 by George P. Colby, a trance medium from New York; the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp grew around a hotel, a temple and dozens of resident mediums.

Which animals crowd into Blue Spring State Park's 73-degree water on Florida's St. Johns River each winter?

Manatees gather at Blue Spring each winter because its water stays about 73 degrees; swimming is banned from mid-November to March so the herd, counted daily by park staff, is left alone.

Ocala National Forest, established in 1908, holds what distinction?

It covers 607 square miles and holds the largest concentration of sand pine in the world.

Which animal's Florida population is most concentrated in the Ocala National Forest?

The Ocala National Forest holds Florida's largest black bear subpopulation, roughly 1,200 animals in scrub and swamp cover; the bears are why campgrounds there insist on locked food storage.

Silver Springs, near Ocala, pioneered which tourist attraction in the 1870s?

Glass-bottom boats were invented at Silver Springs in 1878 by Hullam Jones; the spring is one of the world's largest artesian springs, with water clear enough for the boats to show the bottom.

A colony of which non-native animals has lived wild at Silver Springs since a tour-boat operator known as Colonel Tooey released them in 1938?

He wanted them for his jungle cruise and reportedly did not know they could swim; the troop has been on the river ever since.

Which TV series starring Lloyd Bridges as a scuba diver was filmed largely at Silver Springs?

Sea Hunt, starring Lloyd Bridges as diver Mike Nelson, ran from 1958 to 1961 and shot many of its underwater scenes in the clear water of Silver Springs.

At least what share of homes in The Villages, Florida, must have a resident aged 55 or older?

Under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act, at least 80 percent of occupied homes must include a resident aged 55 or over; founder Harold Schwartz began selling the land by mail order in the 1960s.

Which Florida spring has staged live underwater 'mermaid' shows since 1947?

Weeki Wachee Springs opened its mermaid show in 1947; stunt swimmer Newt Perry taught performers to breathe from air hoses in an 18-seat underwater theater, and the spring became a state park in 2008.

Which president dedicated Bok Tower, the "Singing Tower" near Lake Wales, in February 1929?

President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the tower on February 1, 1929; Ladies' Home Journal editor Edward Bok built it as a gift to America, with a 60-bell carillon and gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.

At Spook Hill in Lake Wales, cars left in neutral at the marked spot appear to do what?

Spook Hill is a gravity hill on the Lake Wales Ridge where the slope's optical illusion makes cars seem to roll uphill; the elementary school next door adopted Casper the Friendly Ghost as its mascot.

What is the highest point on the Florida peninsula, a 312-foot rise in Lake County?

Sugarloaf Mountain, 312 feet, is the peninsula's highest point and Florida's most prominent hill; Britton Hill in the Panhandle is the state's true summit at 345 feet.

A 226-foot observation tower was built in Clermont in 1956 so visitors could do what?

The Citrus Tower opened in 1956 so visitors could look out over miles of orange groves; the Turnpike diverted tourists in 1964, and 1980s freezes killed most of the groves around Clermont.

Mount Dora, in Lake County, has Florida's only what?

Mount Dora's 35-foot lighthouse, built in 1988 on Lake Dora, is billed as Florida's only inland freshwater lighthouse; the town is named for 1880s settler Dora Ann Drawdy and sits 184 feet above sea level.

Lakeland's swans, which glide around Lake Morton, descend from a royal pair sent in 1957 by whom?

Queen Elizabeth II sent a pair of royal swans in 1957 after a Lakeland woman wrote to the palace when the city's swans died out; Lakeland paid the shipping, and the Lake Morton flock descends from them.

Which supermarket chain is Lakeland's largest employer and has its headquarters there?

Publix has been based in Lakeland since 1951; George Jenkins opened the first store in Winter Haven in 1930, and the employee-owned chain became the largest such company in the United States.

Which MLB team has held spring training in Lakeland since 1934, baseball's longest such tie?

The Detroit Tigers chose Lakeland for spring training in 1934, baseball's longest such tie; Joker Marchant Stadium, opened in 1966, is the home park, shared with the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Florida Southern College holds the largest single-site collection of buildings by which architect?

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the campus plan he called Child of the Sun, a dozen buildings begun in 1938; the ensemble was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012.

Legoland Florida opened in 2011 on the site of which classic attraction, Florida's first commercial theme park?

Dick Pope Sr. opened Cypress Gardens in 1936 and made it famous for water-ski shows and hoop-skirted Southern Belles; Legoland kept the original botanical gardens when it opened in 2011.

Which 1887-incorporated town near Orlando was one of America's first self-governing all-Black municipalities?

Eatonville, incorporated in 1887, was where Zora Neale Hurston grew up; she set much of Their Eyes Were Watching God there, and the town honors her with the annual Zora! Festival each winter.

The Morse Museum in Winter Park holds the world's most comprehensive collection of which American designer?

The Morse Museum, founded by Jeannette Genius McKean in 1942, holds the world's most comprehensive Louis Comfort Tiffany collection, including leaded-glass windows rescued from his fire-ruined Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall.

The Monument of States, a 1943 step-pyramid of stones donated from every US state, stands in which Osceola County city?

Retired physician Charles Bressler-Pettis built it after Pearl Harbor as a symbol of unity; the town on Lake Tohopekaliga was originally called Allendale.

Orlando's Gatorland lent its breeding marsh to which 1984 movie?

Gatorland's breeding marsh was a filming location for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; Owen Godwin founded the park in 1949, and its entrance is a giant concrete alligator mouth visitors walk through.

Which future Hall of Famer did the Orlando Magic take with the first overall pick of the 1992 NBA draft?

The Magic, an expansion team that began play in 1989, took Shaquille O'Neal first overall in 1992; three years later he led them to the 1995 NBA Finals, a sweep by Houston.

Amtrak's Auto Train runs from Lorton, Virginia to which Central Florida town?

The Auto Train ends at Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando, after an overnight run of roughly 855 miles from Lorton; its only stop is a crew change at Florence, South Carolina.

What top speed do Brightline trains reach on their run between Cocoa and Orlando?

Brightline trains reach 125 mph on the stretch between Cocoa and Orlando International Airport, where service began in September 2023; the line is privately owned and funded.

Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka takes its name from a word in which language, meaning "spring"?

Wekiwa is a Creek (Muscogee) word for a spring; the 72-degree spring discharges into the Wekiva River, a variant spelling, and the state park around it opened in 1970.

Florida's Bone Valley region south of Lakeland is mined for which mineral?

Phosphate deposits along the Peace River were spotted in 1881 by Army engineer J. Francis LeBaron; Florida's Bone Valley went on to supply roughly three-quarters of the phosphate mined in the United States.

Because of how often it is struck, Central Florida is often referred to as the U.S. capital of what?

Sea breezes from both coasts collide over the peninsula on summer afternoons, and the region has more than 1,500 lakes to add moisture.

Which businessman financed the 1880s drainage that opened Central Florida's wetlands to settlers?

Hamilton Disston, a Philadelphia saw manufacturer, bought four million acres in 1881 and funded canals draining the Kissimmee valley; before that, most of the region beyond the coasts and cattle lands was swamp.

Sanford's role as a hub for shipping farm produce earned it which nickname?

Sanford became the Celery City after celery replaced frozen-out citrus as its main crop in the 1890s; founder Henry S. Sanford had first dubbed it the Gate City of South Florida.

Which Osceola County town was planned by the Walt Disney Company and opened in 1996?

Celebration was developed by The Walt Disney Company as a New Urbanist town next to Walt Disney World; its first residents moved in during 1996, and Disney sold the town center in 2004.

Which three major hurricanes hit Central Florida during the 2004 season?

Charley, Frances and Jeanne all crossed Central Florida within seven weeks of 2004, Charley in August and Frances and Jeanne in September; a fourth, Ivan, struck the Panhandle.

SunRail, the region's first commuter rail line, runs south from which Volusia County city?

SunRail's northern terminus is DeLand, whose station opened in August 2024; the first phase, from DeBary to south Orlando, opened in 2014, and the line reached Poinciana in 2018.

Which lake northwest of Orlando was a famed bass-fishing destination before farm runoff degraded it?

Lake Apopka, northwest of Orlando, drew anglers from across the country in the 1940s; decades of muck-farm runoff and sewage turned it green, and the state began buying out the farms in 1996.

Which county was carved out of northern Orange County in 1913?

Seminole County was created from northern Orange County in 1913, with Sanford as its seat; Osceola and Lake counties had been split from Orange earlier, in 1887.

Which Florida Southern College president invited Frank Lloyd Wright to design its campus in 1938?

Ludd Spivey, Florida Southern's president from 1925 to 1957, asked Wright in 1938 to design a campus for the college; Wright worked on the Lakeland project for the rest of his life.