Winter Park, Orlando or Kissimmee?

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Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
628
Location
Portsmouth, VA
Hey guys,

Which is the best station to stop at in the Orlando area? I ask because on my most recent trip to that area, I chose ORL as my destination. Not realizing that I could have chosen WPK or KIS. ORL isn't exactly in the best part of town. Are WPK and KIS any better in terms of not only location but the facilities themselves?

Thanks!
 
The area surrounding the Winter Park station is extremely nice. The station is nice also, as are the station agents.
 
Kissimmee currently is a work zone with the construction of Sunrail going on. Once that is done it will be nice. It is right by downtown Kissimmee. But it is much smaller than Winter Park. Though it has really good bus connections to all important parts of Orlando.
 
Winter Park, absolutely!

It is a walkable town, with a lovely street along the Park, with lots of upscale stores and restaurants. The Morse Museum there has the largest collection of Tiffany in the world, plus a lot of other Art Deco stuff.

The town is pretty quiet (no screaming kids going to Disney) and has a lot of historical places. Also Rollins College, which has a very nice campus.

If you want to go to Orlando, the SunRail, which is very nice, makes several stops (the Florida AUers will know which stop is best for what).

The town is expensive (I go down once a year in the winter and save my travel pennies all year for it), but the Park Plaza (a hotel that is either historic or ancient, depending on how you feel about old hotels) can be fairly reasonable for that area.
 
Good ideas from the Florida Pros, but the way to save some money in the expensive Orlando area in the Winter is to stay in a Chain Motel, or one of the old Mom and Pop Tourist Courts that Retiree Snowbirds flock to in the Winter.

Also you could Google up the many House Sharing/Short Term Rentals that are common place on the net.
 
Another positive vote for Winter Park. We detrain there each Jan we go to Fla. Very nice new station with nice agents too. Rental car will pick you up at the station. Plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry in the beautiful park near the station. Nice museums within walking distance as well. Sunrail stops there also and can give you a ride into Orlando if you wish.
 
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I am in the minority. I always choose Orlando because there is a Hertz rental counter, right in the station. I can pick up, and then later drop off, my car right there. Book early enough, and you can grab those low-low FL vacation rates.
 
I choose orlando because for $2 I can get from there, to wherever I want to go (usually Disney) by Lynx bus.

I think Kissimmee has a Lynx bus connection to Disney as well.
 
Winter Park is definitely squeaky clean and adorably quaint.

However, I will say, in defense of Orlando Health Station, that the neighborhood has gotten a lot better since I was a child, so if your evaluation of the area's safety is based on a visit a while back, you may be pleasantly surprised. Vacant businesses have filled up, and taxi service is more readily available from the station.
 
Downtown Orlando is fine and of course the rental cars is a point. At Orlando or Winter park you can get on Sun rail to many stations. Kissimmee will need to take Amtrak. The only downer was the closed Pulse nightclub near Orlando station but even that area is fairly nice.
 
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