Areca is great if you have the space, the big ones you are describing might be just old Areca (Hard to say with out pics) they will get quite big! You can check Craigslist they sell Areca's as low as $3-5 a pot, makes them very affordable, most places will come and put them in for you for just a few bucks more each! Good luck!

I have a mixed hedge of various plants on the dividing property line and can suggest one that has been outstanding: elderberry.
It is a native, the flowers are attractive (no smell) and the berries can support birds or make elderberry wine or jam :-).
What is especially nice in my small yard is that it doesn't get wide like many shrubs. Some of mine are now 9-10' tall and are a very good screen. At the base I have some smaller plants for color like pentas.

Also in the hedge are clumping bamboos, jatropha and Christmas cassia but none of those are 'hedge-like".

Denise

I have a photo but no time to upload it and post. Maybe later.

Welcome to the forum! You'll get lots of good ideas here.

My suggestion to newcomers to the state is to give yourself a few months before you make any major changes to your yard. I moved back to Orlando 11 years ago and instantly started planting. Part of it was wrong, part I hated within a year and part grew so large it took over the yard. LOL.
Instead, give yourself a little time and look at yards around you to decide what you like. There are so many options!

Can you post a couple pictures so we can see the space?

Kate

Do you have a fence? You can cover that for awhile with a vine. Then take some Arecas every 15 to 20 feet apart. It takes time to make a privacy hedge but that would be a good start. That's a lot of area to cover all at once.

Whoops! I was never good at numbers, just checked the fence measurements, and it's 200'. I like the idea of elderberrys, I'm hoping they sucker like other berries so I can keep filling in. I'm sure there'll be some Arecas there, too. There's going to be a farm fence along the front, so an vine would be good for a start. There's going to be wire horse fencing, what's a good vine that'll climb on that? I know some vines are picky, I planted English Ivy to cover a chain link fence, only to discover it wouldn't climb on the fence, only on the brick house till it dislodged the gutters!

Cocoplum is great. Grows fairly fast, reach height of 10-15 foot and native. They look fantastic when trimmed about 6-7 foot. And fairly cheap.

Oh, magnolia's look really mixed together with cocoplum.
Maybe distribute 3-4 little gem magnolias along the 200 foot. Nice..