Check out the UCF area. It's the second (or maybe first by now) largest university by student enrollment and it's on the other side of Orlando. While there are lots of student-specific housing options, I know there are a lot of houses and apartments in family communities that are rented out to students. But now with Covid, who knows how quickly those rentals are going. I know UCF opened back up, but if it's anything like UNC-Chapel Hill, who knows how long they will remain open. Also not sure about the short term rental laws, but it might be worth checking out.
I went to UCF and always enjoyed that area. It's about 45 minutes away from the parks, but it's still an not terrible drive over there (I did it nearly daily for work). There are rarely any tourists that venture over to that side of town and all the hotels are usually occupied by families of students or professionals in town for work. I really don't know what activities are happening in Orlando these days, but at the very least you'll find open grocery stores, restaurants for take out, some open air shopping areas to walk around, and plenty of parks and natural areas. One thing I always liked about the Central Florida area is just that there is a lot of open space and nature, which I'm craving now living in a congested city during this pandemic. Just to sit outside with a book is a luxury.
The town just north of the UCF campus is Oviedo which is a nice, quiet town. Other areas I would recommend are Winter Park and Maitland.
I went to UCF and always enjoyed that area. It's about 45 minutes away from the parks, but it's still an not terrible drive over there (I did it nearly daily for work). There are rarely any tourists that venture over to that side of town and all the hotels are usually occupied by families of students or professionals in town for work. I really don't know what activities are happening in Orlando these days, but at the very least you'll find open grocery stores, restaurants for take out, some open air shopping areas to walk around, and plenty of parks and natural areas. One thing I always liked about the Central Florida area is just that there is a lot of open space and nature, which I'm craving now living in a congested city during this pandemic. Just to sit outside with a book is a luxury.
The town just north of the UCF campus is Oviedo which is a nice, quiet town. Other areas I would recommend are Winter Park and Maitland.
