Celebration -- This isn't the place for power shopping, but it is a pleasant look at mid-20th-century mainstream America with a Disney spin. Celebration will eventually be home to about 20,000 people. The downtown includes a dozen shops on or near Market Street, a couple of art galleries, some restaurants, and a three-screen theater. The storefronts, especially the galleries and gift shops, offer interesting and unique, but still overpriced merchandise. You'll find Market Street Gallery (Swarovski crystal, Disney collectibles, and more), Sherlock's of Celebration (a shop that sells wine and English tearoom goods), an art gallery, a grocer, a post office, a perfumery, and a jeweler. The real plus is the leisurely, very clean picture perfect atmosphere. The big minus: Again, extremely high prices. If Celebration reminds you of the movie The Truman Show, you won't be alone. The movie was filmed in Seaside, a Florida panhandle community that inspired the builders of this burg (tel. 407/566-2200).

Downtown Disney -- There are three distinct areas -- West Side, Pleasure Island, and Marketplace -- in this complex of shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues (tel. 407/939-2648; www.downtowndisney.com). Not including the enormous World of Disney store, stars on the shopping front include the Lego Imagination Center, Virgin Megastore, Art of Disney, and Once Upon A Toy.

International Drive Area -- (Note: Locally, this road is always referred to as I-Drive.) This tourist mecca extends 7 to 10 miles northeast of the Disney parks between Highway 535 and the Florida Turnpike. From bungee jumping and ice-skating to dozens of themed restaurants and T-shirt shops, this is the tourist strip in central Florida. Its main shopping draw is Pointe Orlando (tel. 407/248-2838; www.pointeorlandofl.com), a worth-your-time collection of restaurants, clubs, and specialty shops such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, and Tommy Hilfiger. (It's also home to a cool 21-screen IMAX theater.) You can also find Orlando Premium Outlets off south I-Drive .

Kissimmee -- Skirting the south side of Walt Disney World, Kissimmee centers on U.S. 192/Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, as archetypal of modern American cities as Disney's Main Street is of America's yesteryear. U.S. 192 is lined with budget motels, smaller attractions, and every fast-food restaurant known to humankind. Kissimmee is still, in many ways, true to its cowboy roots, and there are some Western shops to prove it. The shopping here is notable for the quantity, not necessarily the quality, but it's a good place to pick up some knickknacks, white elephant gifts, or those seashells I mentioned earlier.

Winter Park -- Just north of downtown Orlando, Winter Park (tel. 407/644-8281) is the place many of central Florida's old-money families call home. It began as a haven for Yankees trying to escape the cold. Today, its centerpiece is Park Avenue, which has quite a collection of upscale retail shops -- Ann Taylor, Restoration Hardware, Bath & Body Works, Crabtree & Evelyn, and Williams-Sonoma -- along its cobblestone route. No matter which end of Park Avenue you start at, there are more shops than most can survive, but you're bound to find something here you'll not find anywhere else. Park Avenue also has restaurants and some art galleries. To get here, take I-4 Exit 87, Fairbanks Avenue/Highway 426, east past U.S. 17/92 to Park Avenue and turn left.

Downtown Orlando