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Orlando sits in the sunshine, both literally and figuratively. Thanks to its status as one of the world's premier leisure destinations, it's one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. Its cleanliness, friendliness and climate make it a popular getaway for families, honeymooners, seniors and solo travelers, all of whom immerse themselves in the city's theme-park version of the whole wide world.

But, Disney and friends aside, Orlando has become a major city in its own right with a rapidly expanding economy and home-grown entertainment centers. It feels very much like a young city, both in terms of its energy levels and the newness of many of its neighborhoods. Today the downtown is becoming increasingly popular, with nightlife, art festivals and street parties complementing eclectic local neighborhoods, parks and eateries.

Sights -- The Magic Kingdom and MGM Studios in Walt Disney World; Shamu the killer whale at SeaWorld; thrill rides at Universal's Islands of Adventure .

Museums -- Orlando Museum of Art; Morse Museum of American Art; Mennello Museum of American Folk Art; the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College ; the Orange County Regional History Center.

Memorable Meals -- Homemade pastas at Alfredo's in Epcot; Asian spiced lamb at Manuel's in downtown Orlando; duck with strawberries and pistachios at Pebbles near Downtown Disney; the Mediterranean sampler at Cedar's on Restaurant Row; the prime strip steak for two (with peppercorns) at Del Frisco 's in Winter Park.

Late Night -- The neon-flooded Downtown Disney complex; CityWalk at Universal Orlando; the Pointe* Orlando entertainment and shopping complex near International Drive.

Walks -- Taking a leisurely 1-m/1.6-km walk around Lake Eola Park; strolling the upscale shops along Park Avenue in Winter Park; meandering amid the flowers at Leu Gardens.

The best time to visit Orlando is in the fall and spring. October is mild, comfortable and perhaps the most pleasant time of the year. It is also the time of year when the parks are quietest because kids are back in school. Early May is another option, because the weather's great and most kids are still in school.

Most people, however, end up visiting during the summer, and the tourist density increases noticeably -- most people spend a good portion of their days waiting in lines. Summer highs reach into the low 90s F/30s C, but temperatures drop down to the low 70s F/20s C at night. The June-September rainy season brings almost daily -- but brief -- afternoon thundershowers (keep a small umbrella handy), but the rains help by cooling things down a bit.

Orlando is surrounded by lakes, which keep the humidity high year-round. If you're not used to it, you may find the combination of heat and 60%-75% humidity uncomfortable. Be sure to drink plenty of water.

Winter temperatures tend to be a little cooler in Central Florida than in the southern part of the state, but it's not a bad time to visit. Expect infrequent rain during the winter months, when temperatures average around 50 F/10 C (sunny daytime highs will be in the low 70s F/20s C).

Cars play a big role in most Florida vacations: Those who don't drive to the state usually rent a vehicle on arrival. If you confine your stay to Walt Disney World, you can get by without a car, but if you plan to hop between parks or to see other area attractions, you'll want wheels.

Familiarize yourself with the area highways so you can figure out the best way to get where you're going. International Drive in Orlando continues to be difficult and time-consuming to navigate because hotels and attractions are so close together. Some hotel guests choose to walk or take one of the I-Ride buses that stop along the street.

Walt Disney World has its own internal transportation system that includes free buses, monorails and boats. Universal Orlando also has its own system and is adding to it as new hotels open. At both entertainment giants, guests may drive their own cars to all parks, hotels and minor attractions. Taxis also are available within the parks.

Millions of visitors, even those who place Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain among the wonders of the world, are hard-pressed to define Walt Disney World. When you take a Walt Disney World exit off I-4, you're almost on the grounds, even though there's no Cinderella Castle in sight -- it's a very big place. And it's crammed with pleasures: from swooping above the Magic Kingdom's starlit London in Peter Pan's Flight to simply sitting under the shade of a Callary pear tree frosted with blooms in Epcot; from enjoying jazz at Pleasure Island and cheering for your favorite team at the ESPN sports bar at Disney's BoardWalk to whooping and hollering down water slides at the cleverly designed water parks.

The sheer enormity of the property -- 30,000 acres near Kissimmee, Florida -- suggests that WDW is more than a single theme park with a fabulous castle in the center. The property's acreage translates to 47 square mi -- twice the size of Manhattan or Bermuda, and about the same size as San Francisco. On a tract that size, 107 acres is a mere speck, yet that's the size of the Magic Kingdom. When most people imagine Walt Disney World, they think only of those 107 acres, but there's much, much more.

More than 2,800 acres of the property are occupied by hotels and villa complexes, each with its own theme and swimming pools and other recreational facilities. Epcot, a little more than twice the size of the Magic Kingdom, is the second major theme park. A combination of a science exploratorium and a world's fair sprinkled with thrills throughout, Epcot looks at the future and celebrates the world's cultural diversity. Disney-MGM Studios, devoted to the film business and also known familiarly as the "Studios," is nearby. In 1998, WDW opened its fourth major theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, which covers creatures real, imaginary, and extinct. Thousands of acres are still undeveloped -- grassy plains and pine forests patrolled by deer and other Florida fauna, and swamps patched by thickets of palmettos and filled with white ibis.

In the past several years, Disney has introduced and expanded a way to experience the most popular attractions with little or no wait. FASTPASS allows you to schedule appointments and avoid the long lines that are so commonplace. Going by a Disney survey, FASTPASS may save as much as two hours of line-standing time. Just step up to the front of the line and book your reservation time by feeding your theme-park admission ticket into a machine.

When you're ready to put some distance between you and Mickey, you'll find that Orlando and the surrounding Central Florida area offer much more than theme parks. Nature buffs like to escape to the Ocala National Forest. Art devotees head for the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art and other museums in Winter Park. Attraction lovers seek out the additional rides and shows that are located along International Drive, halfway between WDW and Orlando. Indeed, you'll discover an abundance of sights -- natural, unnatural, and supernatural -- that are equally enjoyable and often less crowded and less expensive than those at the theme parks.

Although just 50 mi separate the Space Coast and Orlando, they're a world apart. In the small oceanfront towns of Cocoa Beach, Titusville, New Smyrna Beach, and Cape Canaveral, you won't find a lot of glitz, glamour, or giddy attractions. Mainly, it's sun, sand, and surf.

Besides the beach, there's one major attraction in the area: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The other sights tend to be rather low-key, funky, and offbeat. Still, there's plenty to see and do -- or not do. Probably the nicest thing about Cocoa Beach and its neighbors is their laid-back style, which is very easy to get used to.

For some, Orlando is simply a factory town, and the factories just happen to be theme parks. To others, it's a backwater burg that lacks sophistication and culture. Then there are the preteen girls who see it as the breeding ground for synthetic bubblegum boy groups like 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, and O-Town. Orlando might be all of this, but it is an entertainment capital and as such is obligated to provide evening diversions to everyone who visits.

If you're here for at least two nights and don't mind losing some sleep, reserve one evening for Downtown Disney and the next for CityWalk. They are both well worth seeing. If you want a one-night blowout, however, head to Disney -- believe it or not. By virtue of Disney's status as essentially a separate governmental entity, clubs on Disney property are allowed to stay open later than bars elsewhere; you can get served here until 2 AM if you have the energy for it.

When you enter the fiefdom known as Walt Disney World, you're likely to see as many watering holes as cartoon characters. After beating your feet around a theme park all day, there are lounges, bars, speakeasies, pubs, sports bars, and microbreweries where you can settle down with a soothing libation. Your choice of nightlife can be found at various Disney shopping and entertainment complexes -- from the casual down-by-the-shore BoardWalk to the much larger multi-area Downtown Disney, which comprises the Marketplace, Pleasure Island, and West Side. Everywhere you look, jazz trios and bluesmen, DJs, and rockers are tuning up and turning on their amps after dinner's done. Plus, two long-running dinner shows provide an evening of song, dance, and dining, all for a single price.

Of course, after a hot day of walking, thousands of vacationing families prefer to take it easy with a refreshing splash in the hotel's themed pool or by ducking into an old-fashioned ice cream parlor (or poolside bar) for an inexpensive evening together. Even if you head back to your hotel for an afternoon nap or swim, remember that you can always return to a theme park and catch a wealth of free shows performed at Epcot's pavilions and stages at the Magic Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios. Get information on WDW nightlife from the Walt Disney World information hot line (tel. 407/824-2222 or 407/824-4500) or check on-line at www.disney.com. Disney nightspots accept American Express, MasterCard, and Visa. And cash. Lots of it.

Disney's West Side is a pleasantly hip outdoor complex of shopping, dining, and entertainment with the main venues being the House of Blues, DisneyQuest, and Cirque du Soleil. Aside from this trio, there are no cover charges. Whether you're club hopping or not, the West Side is worth a visit for its laid-back attitude, waterside location, wide promenade, and diverse shopping and dining. Opening time is 11 AM, closing time around 2 AM; crowds vary with the season, but weeknights tend to be less busy. For entertainment times and more information, call 407/824-4500 or 407/824-2222.

Now that Walt Disney World has about a dozen resort hotels to accommodate visitors who once spent their nights off-property, hotel lounges have become surprisingly active. Depending on whether the resort is geared toward business or romance, the lounges can be soothing or boisterous -- or both. To reach any of these hotel bars directly, you can call the Disney operator at 407/824-4500 or 407/824-2222.

Both in the theme parks and around the hotel-side waterways, Walt Disney World offers up a wealth of fabulous sound-and-light shows after the sun goes down. In fact, WDW is one of the earth's largest single consumers of fireworks -- perhaps even rivaling mainland China. Traditionally, sensational short shows have been held at the Magic Kingdom at 10. Times vary during the year, so check with Guest Services just to be certain. You can also find fireworks at Pleasure Island as part of the every-night-is-New Year's Eve celebrations -- an event that's worth the wait into the wee hours. For a great, unobstructed view of the fireworks above Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom, head to the second floor of the Main Street Train Station -- but get there early.

Don't forget that Epcot hosts visiting shows that are free with admission. Epcot has welcomed Lords of the Dance as well as Broadway's Blast! to perform abbreviated, albeit highly energetic, samples of their shows. Regular performers include a Beatles sound-alike group in the United Kingdom, acrobats in China, mimes in France, musicians in a smaller African kiosk, and rock and roll bagpipers in Canada. Catching any of these parades and/or performances easily soothes the sting of what you may feel is an overpriced admission.

In Friday's Orlando Sentinel (www.orlandosentinel.com), the "Calendar" section carries reviews of plays, nightclubs, live music venues, restaurants, and attractions.

When the fantasy starts wearing thin, check out the Orlando arts scene in the Orlando Weekly (www.orlandoweekly.com) a local entertainment and opinion newspaper that accurately tracks Orlando culture, lifestyles, and nightlife.

Prices are per person for a main course at dinner.

Fabulous cuisine is available throughout Walt Disney World -- and all over Orlando -- and it's getting progressively easier to find it. Now it's almost as easy to find a salade niçoise as it is to find an order of fries. That's the good news. The bad news is that, at least in tourist areas, the restaurant marketing people seem to be calling the shots. And they have made a couple of decisions. First, they think that you want to eat in a restaurant connected to a celebrity.

The marketing wizards also seem to have decreed that all those newcomers must have themes, especially those on tourist strips such as Kissimmee's Irlo Bronson Highway and Orlando's International Drive.

In addition, Orlando has long been something of a laboratory in which corporate America test-drives its new Burger Barns and Lasagna-on-a-Bun outlets to see if they'll make it. In this environment, it's difficult for mom-and-pop restaurants to compete with their big-budget brethren and hard to find a menu that hasn't been subjected to a focus group before it's rolled out before the public. The legions of chain eateries in Orlando often have a certain sameness.

All the same, if you persevere, you can actually find original, one-of-a-kind eateries in Orlando. Fresh, imaginative local restaurants have emerged in sections of the downtown and Thornton Park neighborhoods, driven by the mass influx of white-collar workers making their homes in the central business district. The restaurants there tend to be urbane and not driven by tourism -- you'll dine among the locals. Another good dining area has emerged in the Winter Park Village retail complex in the suburb just north of the downtown area.

The newest area for good dining is the restaurant row on Sand Lake Road (I-4 Exit 30A), just over a mile west of International Drive. Many of the restaurants there are chain offerings, but they are largely good chain restaurants, many of which may be new to you if your hometown is not also one of the restaurant industry's test kitchens.

Universal has done a good job of providing information and access to these eateries, with a special reservation and information line (407/224-9255) and a Web site (www.universalorlando.com) that includes menus for many of the restaurants.

Shopping is part of the entertainment at Walt Disney World and throughout the Greater Orlando area. There's something in every price range in virtually every store. Shop-'til-you-drop types will be delighted to know that Orlando is packed with malls -- and every year there are more and more. It's nearly impossible to step outside your hotel room without seeing a mall or a sign advertising one. Whatever your shopping interests -- stuffed toys, blue jeans, flea-market finds -- the area provides a great opportunity to do a lifetime of shopping in a few days. Most stores accept traveler's checks and major credit cards. And cash.

Naturally, you can find your recommended daily allowance of Disney trinkets in every park. And do you think it's a coincidence that Disney merchandisers route guest exits directly into a gift shop? Not a chance. Beyond the obvious Disney film tie-ins, there are more unusual items to be found, such as the Western-style gifts at the Magic Kingdom's Frontier Trading Post. Outside the parks, there's even more shopping, offering a wealth of wonderfully themed Disney products in categories from sporting goods to artwork to clothing to jewelry. Most Disney stores will hold your merchandise and deliver it free to your room -- provided you're staying at a Disney resort. If you return home and realize that you've forgotten a critical souvenir, call WDW's Merchandise Mail Order service at 407/363-6200.

The largest concentration of stores on Disney property is found in Downtown Disney. This three-in-one shopping and entertainment complex comprises the Marketplace, West Side, and Pleasure Island, which is known primarily for its clubs