Walt Disney World Orlando Hotels

About 50 million visitors come to the Orlando area each year, making it the most popular tourism destination on the planet. More upscale hotels are opening, as visitors demand more luxurious surroundings, such as luxe linens, tasteful and refined decor, organic toiletries, or ergonomic chairs and work desks. But no matter what your budget or desires, lodging comes in such a wide range of prices, themes, color schemes, brands, meal plans, and guest-room amenities, that visitors will have no problem finding something that fits.

Resorts on and off Disney property combine function with fantasy, as befits visitor expectations. Characters in costume perform for the kids, pools are pirate's caves with waterfalls, and some, like the Gaylord Palms, go so far as to recreate Florida landmarks under a gargantuan glass roof, giving visitors the illusion of having visited more of the state than they expected.

The area around the expanded Orange County Convention Center is going more upscale as the center draws more and more savvy conventioneers who bring their families along to visit the theme parks. The area weathered the tough economic times of the past couple of years, and in many cases hotels have dropped their prices to encourage travel.

Many hotels in the area are joining the trend toward green lodging, bringing recycling, water conservation, and other environmentally conscious amenities to the table. Best of all, the sheer number and variety of hotel rooms means you can find relative bargains throughout the Orlando area, even on Disney property, by researching your trip well, calling the lodgings directly, negotiating packages and prices, and shopping wisely.