Orlando without Disney in February?

[Game0fScones]

Hi - wondering about using Orlando as a base, if we don't want to do Disney. Two adults, one 10 year old boy. Might do Universal, Space Centre etc, but DS doesn't like rides (scared), and me and DH don't like Disney. But flights and accommodation from Dublin are well priced for winter sun, and there seems potentially to be a lot to do in Florida - we'd like beaches, wildlife, culture etc. Would consider flying in to Orlando and out of Miami if we got a good enough price.

Anybody done this have any advice to offer?

Thanks very much.

Clearwater Beach (about 2 hours drive from Orlando) is beautiful. White sand, clear water, dolphins, boat trips. We loved Universal but it is mostly rides. Wild Florida was fun, it's an animal rescue centre. They rescue "nuisance" alligators as well as lots of other animals there to see. The airboat ride was brilliant too.

We did the space center too which is very interesting. And we saw more wild alligators there than anywhere else!!

Thanks! Clearwater sounds nice 🙂

Going to throw a complete curve ball here but if you like beaches and wildlife and are looking for winter sun, what about Costa Rica. Florida is great but maybe don't bother with Orlando if you aren't interested in the parks.

You could fly into Miami and go to the Florida keys. Lots of culture, wildlife and beaches. You'd need a car though, ideally.

Thanks Normandy but looking for a mix of stuff for us, and things for a 10 year old e.g lots of other kids around the resort pool! If it was just us..well, it would never be Orlando!

I grew up in Florida and there are plenty of things to do other than the parks. I want to school and same to Augustine, where there is a massive school for deaf and blind, Ray Charles went there, so if you are into music, you can drive around. It kind of looks like a prison with its use gates and brick walls, but you can always say you have been to where he went to school there is even a rumor that he drove a staff member his car into the lake and was expelled. I don't know how true that is though. Anyway, Saint Augustine in itself has a lot to do since it is the oldest city in America. It has a lot of sites you can visit, the beach isn't bad either.

Anna Maria island is lovely if you like beaches and drivable from Orlando

I would definitely recommend Universal. There are plenty of non-scary rides and I much preferred it to Disney.

Our favourite part of our holiday was going to Playalinda Beach. It's just up the road from the Space Centre. It's completely wild - only a car park and a very basic loo. No shops, no other facilities. You do pay, but this is to protect local wildlife. You do have to drive along 'Gator Creek' though!
It was just so glorious and beautiful though.

Florida Keys are also lovely. I went years ago... Great for cycling around streets, visit Hemingway's house, listen to live music, beach

We did a week in Feb a few years ago and had a great time. Universal for 2 days, waterpark for one (was Wet and Wild but Volcano Bay would prob be your choice now). I love Universal, there's tons to do other than rides!

Kennedy space centre is great and a real full day out ... maybe 2 if you've a space keen 10 yr old! Daytona is cool, you can take a trip round the track on a tour and it's not too far from Orlando

St Augustine is lovely but a bit of a drive, Florida Keys are gorgeous but we have done them as a twin centre holiday as too far from Orlando to do in a day or so

Miami is a dump, don't bother visiting would be my advice!

Thanks for all the suggestions! Will look at them all and have a good think. Surprised at Miami being a dump?

Miami isn't a dump. It's like any major city, good bits and bad bits.

We must have been unlucky then, two streets back from the beach and it was full of shops selling cheap tourist tat and didn't feel like a safe place to be out after dark!

Kennedy Space Center is amazing, a really interesting educational and fun day.
If your DS like swimming/water slides then head to Volcano Bay, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach.
Universal & Islands of Adventure are great.
Crazy Golf (there are a couple on International Drive, we went to Pirate Cove) is like no other crazy golf you’ve ever been to - really fun courses that go through water falls, through tunnels etc.
Epcot is well worth a visit for the World Showcase area.
Never been to Gatorland but it looks quite cool.
The Florida Mall is good - there’s an M&M shop.
The Designer Outlets are great for fashion brands and a bargain price.
Have fun op - I’m very jealous!

There's a lot more to Florida than Disney and Orlando (but they're pretty amazing too). When you say using Orlando as a base, do you mean staying there and going out for day trips? Florida is a pretty big state, so if you're not interested in the theme parks, I wouldn't stay in Orlando. However, there is a big stock of reasonably priced holiday rentals / hotels in Orlando, so if you're planning on dipping your toe into the parks and then doing something else, it's not a terrible idea.

I know Florida pretty well, spent time there as a child, and have visited many many times as an adult.

My favourite part is the Gulf Coast, but I also like the Keys, the Everglades, St Augustine, Miami. They're all very different (and very far apart!). February can be cool in Orlando (particularly in the mornings), but further south is almost guaranteed to be warm.

Well a lot to think about. Might consider a two centre holiday with just a few days in Orlando, and on to one of the other lovely places suggested. All just vague ideas at the moment, this is helping to see if it will work. Thanks again.

We went to florida for christmas and we didnt do disney because our kids are bigger and we only went once last time we went.we did go to universal but we also went to clearwater beach which was gorgeous and to the aquarium there which was great. Theres plenty to see even if you dont do rides and theres the waterparks too and bush gardens and seaworld which you can get included in your ticket package depending what you choose.

Volcano Bay at Universal is brilliant. Also there's a muscle car show on every Friday and Saturday night in Orlando, we didn't go but I know lots of people enjoy it.

The HP stuff at Universal is amazing but my memory is that apart from that, it was quite heavily ride based. A lot of them have a big virtual element.

We loved driving down the Keys - next time we'd go all the way down. If you pick the day right and don't mind the queues, you can see a real live rocket launch at Kennedy. The Disney water parks are good but better if you like flumes.

We flew into Fort Lauderdale and visited the Keys and Everglades before driving up to Orlando. Orlando to Fort Lauderdale wasn't many hours' drive.

I did a great road trip in Florida. Flew into Orlando and drove down one side of Florida as far as the keys then back up again, stayed in some great motels/hotels along the way, saw dolphins and loved Miami Beach

We love Florida and don’t do Disney at all, we are a universal kind of family 😊 Clearwater beach is lovely but think it’s quite badly affected by red tide at the moment. If you have Facebook join it’s Orlando time, loads of helpful advise on there. We are going back next year for a third time! Can’t wait!

Would recommend an airboat ride. Can’t remember the name of the one we did but check trip advisor out. Seeing the gators is fab.

Discovery cove would be a great day out for you all, all you can eat food is included with the price.

We're just back. We did a two centre holiday, Orlando and Indian Rocks Beach (near Clearwater). The Tampa Bay area is absolutely gorgeous and I would highly recommend it. Our house was incredible - we had a deck onto the water and could watch dolphins and herons while we are our dinner. It has a much more chilled, beachy vibe than Orlando. There are fewer big attractions but there's still plenty to do and there are beautiful beaches. Tampa is much closer to Orlando than Miami, we flew to Orlando this time but in the past we've flown to Tampa and driven over and it was fine.

In Orlando itself you might want to look at Discovery Cove as a pp mentioned. Also maybe Wonderworks, your DS is verging on too old for it perhaps? Not sure. Our niece and nephew loved it - they are 8 and 6. Have a look at dinner show, adventure golf and airboat rides. We went to Boggy Creek this time and it was pretty good. We looked at Gatorland but discounted it - they tape the Gators mouths closed and let people sit on their backs. I'm not really OK with that. One of the adventure golf places (in Indian Rocks) had baby gators you could feed - they come from a gator sanctuary, are exhibited as babies, and go back to the sanctuary when they are too big.

When you say Disney I assume you mean magic Kingdom - there are other Disney parks so look at them all before ruling them out. Disney Springs (their big shops/restaurant bit) has a big Lego store if he's into that, it has a load of models and things. Universal is ride-heavy and although there are some virtual reality ones which are great, if he's a bit scared, he might not enjoy Universal. If he likes Harry Potter or Marvel then he probably will enjoy it even without the rides.

Word of warning about using any location as a base - everywhere in Florida is further away than you think and takes longer to get there than you think... The scale of the place is huge, and traffic is horrendous. Plan for this whenever you're going out anywhere! Have a blast!