What to do in orlando

[housewifeoflittleitaly]

We are heading to orlando at the end of August for 10 nights, with two teens and a 6 year old, also bringing both sets of grandparents with us.

We will be doing our own thing and then meeting up with the grandparents the odd evening/day for lunch and dinner. Where should we go/see?

None of us have ever been before and we’re not doing the parks.... no one likes rides. We’re big foodies so that’s of interest and I’ve booked volcano bay for a day but apart from that I haven’t a clue.

I’ve tried researching but come up short on daily sightseeing etc

Discovery cove is gorgeous and relaxing.

We loved the Disney parks, animal kingdom has some great shows and a couple of really good restaurants. We didn't really do many of the rides there. Pandora land is definitely worth a visit.

The space center

Next trip we plan to go to the Everglades and do a tour there.

And shopping, we did enjoy the shopping!!!

If you like Harry Potter then Harry Potter World at Universal is worth a visit even if you don’t like rides.

The food festival is on at Epcot at the end of August.

I really don’t understand why you would go there if you don’t want to go to any parks.

I really don’t understand why you would go there if you don’t want to go to any parks.

There is a lot more to Orlando and to Florida than theme parks.

We did the indoor skydiving on I drive last year. The kids really enjoyed that!

Orlando shakes theatre
Science museum and surrounding area
Speciality breakfast diners at least once rather than just IHOB or Denny's
Kissimmee Old town
Dali Museum in St Petersburg
Busch Gardens
Gaylord Palms just to see a jungle/rainforest growing in a hotel!

Volcano bay is awful. It’s gigantic, Packed, rides are heaving, so many rides slides you don’t know where they begin and end and you have a stupid tapu tapu watch thing to book your rides. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard beach are much better. 4 hours we were in Volcano bay and we got on 2 sides. And you have to pay £22 for parking.
Disney land is amazing, I don’t like the rides that we have here in Britain but they are nothing like that. Experiences are what I’d call them. You will miss out big time if you don’t go.

Some interesting small towns in the area:

www.wheretraveler.com/orlando/play/10-central-florida-neighborhoods-and-charming-small-towns

Discovery cove looks fabulous.

There’s lots of reasons we’re not doing the theme parks, it’s just not our thing.

I’d really like to see the animal kingdom, can we just go and have dinner in the hotel?

The themed dinners are deffo a go, would the medieval one be good for all ages?

Never heard to the Gaylord hotel, will deffo do that it’s looks great. Yes, to the shopping for the grandparents they will love that.

Ah volcano bay sounds so disappointing, it seemed so well organised. Your not the first to say that so I am glad it’s just the one day.

Rock springs is a beautiful national park not a far drive, a little 'beach' and lovely waterfall/ rover that you can go down in hired rings.

I highly recommend central Florida zoo if you're driving out there? It's not well advertised and we didn't bump Into a single tourist whilst there!
Very cheap to get in too and free parking. The kids fed leaves to the giraffes which was great!!

Oh also vineland premium outlets has an amazing discounted Disney store....I got a Cheshire Cat beach bag $40 in the parks, $10 in the outlet! Love it! Also a good variety of other shops too.

We just got back from Orlando last week. Would highly recommend going to Volcano bay late afternoon and staying all evening if you can. It's much much quieter and you will get on lots of rides.

We also did the space centre which was very interesting. They're building the infrastructure for the Mars missions at the moment.

There are beautiful springs to the north of Orlando which are great for a day trip too. The kids loved it.

It is controversial but Sea World is an enjoyable day out. Think you are a bit mad not to go to the Animal Kingdom with children the age of yours.

You can go and have dinner at the animal kingdom lodge but it's not the same as going to the theme park. You need to book restaurants as well (may be already booked up so keep an eye out for cancellations). The parks are so much more than rides!

Discovery Cove is absolutely fantastic and I cannot recommend it enough! The day we spent there was the best day of our whole holiday and we went to all the tourist attractions and theme parks!
You will not regret going there!

Blizzard Beach is very good too if you're into water slides. Only downside was that when I went, it was June and the humidity was stifling and they were playing Christmas songs!

Westgate ranch is good, about 1.5 hrs drive, but worth it. Also Wild Florida is worth a mornings visit.

It’s hard to imagine a 6 yo who doesn’t want to go to Disneyland.

Kennedy Space Centre is fantastic, as is Discovery Cove.
Dinner at Ohana (Disney's Polynesian Hotel) is amazing, wonderful food and great atmosphere. Book a table for about 7pm then when you’ve finished you can wander out into the beach area and watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from across the lake. Truly magical.
Epcot’s World Showcase is definitely worth a visit too. Lots of interesting things to see and do and eat!
Disney Springs comes alive in the evenings, shops, live music and entertainment and lots of great restaurants.

We went for 3 weeks for our honeymoon. Did Disney universal bush gardens sea world discovery cove.

We did a boat ride on the Everglades and gator land was really good.

Rilpleys believe it or not

"Epcot’s World Showcase is definitely worth a visit too. Lots of interesting things to see and do and eat! "

I second this. I think there are a couple of rides there, but it is more of an educational thing. We also drove to Boggy Creek for an airboat trip to see the alligators.