Ocala is about a 4 hour drive. If you go on the front end, fly into Orlando Airport and drive an hour North to Ocala and them 4 hours South to Fort Lauderdale. If you do it on the back end, then fly to Fort Lauderdale, drive to 4 hours to Ocala and then 1 hour back to Orlando Airport. You can also fly between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale on Southwest. I've done the drive many times, it's not a big deal.