Hey Folks - I'm going to be in the Orlando area for a few days (end of March) and plan on kayak fishing.  Looking for info on: 1) good nearby fresh water areas with kayak rental, 2) advice on dealing with / worrying about local wildlife (e.g., alligators) (coming from northern Virginia, where we just have to worry about snakeheads) - thanks in advance!

I'll let someone else chime in on specific spots, but if you pull up google earth Orlando is covered with small to medium sized bodies of water that could be covered in one day from a kayak.  Pick a couple near each other and you'll be good to.

 

As far as wildlife, any isolated lake surrounded development likely won't have too many gators, if any at all in this part of the state.  I think people from outside the state have a misconception about how prevalent gators actually are down here. 

 

Anything connected to the St. John's and it's feeder creeks will be full of gators, also pretty good fishing in those lakes and rivers though.  As a rule of thumb, the gators aren't interested in you and typically swim away or submerge themselves if you start getting close.  If you see one while walking the bank, they'll typically take off into the water.  With that being said, definitely don't intentionally run up on a gator from shore or in a kayak.  And never get between the water and the gator.

There are 4 options for kayak rental places that I know of:

 

Peace of Mind Kayak Tours - Winter Park lake chain. This would probably be one of the better options as you have multiple lakes to try. They offer both sit-in and sit-on kayaks. 

Weikiva/Weikiwa River Kayak Rentals - This is a spring feed river. The plus is with the current it becomes an easy paddle. The downside is it go from very clear water, 6-8 feet in spots, down to murky, muddy stuff with 6 inches of visibility.

Westgate Lake Resorts - Sand Lake. You may want to call this one as they were talking about limiting rentals only to guest staying on property. 

Shingle Creek Kayak Rentals - Shingle Creek and Lake Toho. This place can be a spawning bass gold mine when the time is right. However, it is a trek to get down to Toho, and you'll have to fight the current to get back to the outpost. 

 

Just like any body of water in Florida could contain a double digit bass, they can also contain alligators. You may or may not see them. Attacks are rare, and usually involve a gator that is being feed or that someone has been feeding.

 

I would beg to differ on any lake surrounded by development not having many if any gators in them. This photo is of a 5-6 foot beside a drainage creek that goes into Lake Underhill. On the other side of the fence is a divided 4 lane road. The the north is the Orlando Executive Airport, to the west is downtown Orlando, and to the south and east are multiple housing communities. I was checking to the creek to see if the bass were spawning or staging about a month ago. It was empty, perhaps because of this: