1982 Florida AAA Tour Book, page 182
 
 
Photographs June 24, 2006
Orlando-Main Gate, Florida
 -- 7600 U.S. 192 West
 

One of the more than a dozen Howard Johnson's that came to serve the Orlando/Disney area, Main Gate held a prime spot on U.S. 192 at its intersection with S.R. 545--just across from what was billed as the main entrance to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.

The 5 floor 206 guest room complex opened in 1973, and it boasted a gift shop, putting green, game room, and in-the-property car rental agency.

 
Left: Note the recycled circa 1970s Howard Johnson's roadsign!
 
 
 
After the Howard Johnson Company was dissolved in the middle 1980s, Main Gate's Restaurant was converted into a Sizzler, but the Motor Lodge retained the Howard Johnson name until the middle 1990s. Perhaps a Doubletree branded property for a period of time, by the 2000s it had been converted into a "condo-hotel" property called Westgate Towers. Interestingly the Mansard Manor retained its outward recognizability and its Sizzler (one of the last four locations in the Sunshine State) as recently as 2006.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Original Sections
Described at "Vacation Villas," the circa 1973 Motor Lodge had been remade. While the Mansard Lobby stayed out front, it had become a sitting area and a new much larger multistory reception/lobby was added to the property as well as newer "Villa" towers (seen in the background in the photograph below).