First off Chris, welcome to the boards!
I live in Southwest Florida (Fort Myers, FL) which is about 3.5 away from Orlando (2 hours if you floor it on the highway and not get pulled over). I'm not sure how the rent situation is in Orlando, but I can tell you this that the prices on the homes in my part of Florida have dropped considerably over the last five years. In 2007-2008, a 3 bedroom/2 bath home in Naples, FL (which is where I lived before moving to Fort Myers) went for about $500,000 (US Dollars). In 2009, the housing bubble finally popped and the price of homes started to fall drastically. Foreclosures were up. People were losing their homes left and right down here. At the time, I was renting a 3 bed/2 bath condo for $1350/month in Naples with my wife.
We recently purchased our home in Fort Myers for $115,000 (it's a 3/2) and our mortgage is $600/month less than what we were paying for rent. Now is a good time to buy a home and it's actually cheaper than renting!
Maybe someone who lives in Orlando can give you a firsthand view as to what the rent/owning situation is up there.
Whatever you decide to do....rent or own...Florida will be glad to have you here.
:wave: