...to want to find artistic, cultural, lefty-liberal, bohemian/hippie/gay alternative things to do in Orlando?

[WestleyAndButtockUp]

It can't all be amusement parks, can it?
Please help me escape the Mouse.

The Yearling! Is that set in Florida? I haven't read that since I was a kid; but it might be sitting on my child's shelf even now.

Yes, The Yearling is set in Florida. You can visit the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park in Cross Creek, which is in Alachua County near Gainesville, where the University of Florida is located. The park contains her former home where she wrote The Yearling and is a classic example of old Florida Cracker style architecture. It's less than a two-hour drive from Orlando.

'Florida Cracker style'?!

I'm learning a lot of new terms!

I'm learning a lot of new terms!

A Florida Cracker style house often has a "dogtrot," a central hallway or breezeway so called because the dogs could run in and out of the house the length of it.

Yes we’ve done Clearwater aquarium it’s well worth a visit. Film dolphins tale is set there. My dd has a missing limb and wanted to see winter the dolphin (who has a prosthetic tail)
Trip to honeymoon island or caldesi state park also doable in a day.
Food wise not been but been recommended yellow dog eats which would meet quirky hippy vibe.

Dunno, but the Mouse ticks several of those boxes for me.

I wonder if the massacre in the Pulse gay nightclub has changed gay culture in Orlando, for better or worse? I know the soccer stadium has a rainbow-coloured seat to memorialise each of the victims.