Activities in Orlando, FL

This is a good place to get out of the rain or to stay indoors and busy when the weather is just too much to handle. Easy to spend a day here with something for most toddlers to 12 years old.

Admission for adults is $23. Children 6 and over - $18.

Admission includes entrance to Titanic interactive museum, as well as two IMAX shows – ROAR, Lions of the Kalahari, and Seamonsters – A prehistoric adventure. The tickets to these shows are given to you with times printed which helps organize your visit, and the IMAX shows take up almost an hour each.

Kidstown is great for the little ones, offering interactive displays, such as a mini airport conveyor belt and airplane, water play to discover the movement of water, and a Florida orange grove that teaches the process of making orange juice as well as cooperation with the other children playing in the area.

Exhibits include a dinosaur display and play to dig up bones, as well as Beakman’s world which is an interactive science exhibit . This is a hands-on version of the popular television series
There was a Rockwell – American Art exhibition, but we didn’t get a chance to check it out. The children were too engrossed in the alligators and turtles in the Florida Cypress swamp, and the little nature trail and displays.

If you want something out of this world, you can visit the Science on a Sphere area where you can learn about planets.

Although the admission is still quite high, this is a nice change of pace from the rigors of the theme parks – indoors, cool and relaxing.

Welcome to a shopper’s paradise – designer clothing at big sale prices – all the time. GAP, Clavin Klein, the Children’s Place, Adidas, Nike, GUESS, Apparel, children’s wear, housewear, footwear, accessories and food.

Not all the stores are able to have huge sales ie BOSE, but Victoria’s Secrets, Gymboree and Disney for example, are a shopper’s delight – lots of clearance racks with markdowns of 50% and more. It’s a poor Angel’s dream - convertible bras originally for $50 on sale for $9.99, loungewear also on sale and conveniently separated into different sizes.

Disney Outlet is a treasure cove for Disney fans. Tee shirts are marked down to $15 from $30, Disney crocs down to $20 from $37, and other items that you can find at Disney World for twice as much, can be discovered at this outlet, and with luck, it will be in your size.
Other stores at this outlet include:

When you are hungry, there is a nice food court in addition to several popular smoothie and drink places around the outlet court to quench your thirst and reenergize your shopping expedition. There are places to sit and relax all throughout the outlet.

If you are a frequent shopper, you can join the 1Club to receive bonus savings.

Go to the website Primeoutlets.com for info on the specific stores or sign up for the special services and events with 1club.

This is a boulevard of Disney shopping, dining and other entertainment – from Pleasure Island (requires separate admission, photo id and minimum age requirement) to a little choo choo train ride (just for little ones) and a carousel ride.

The Marketplace section includes a multitude of stores from Disney and a fantastic LEGO store with sculptures made of LEGO. Along the boulevard, you’ll find eateries such as House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck Café, Fulton’s Crab House, Rainforest Café, plus quick stops like McDonald’s, Ghiradelli’s, Wetzel’s Pretzels. Cirque Du Soleil is located at the end of this boulevard. Disney Quest, an indoor interactive theme park located on 5 floors offers rides and adventures for an admission.

This is a picturesque place to spend the day, or dusk to evening, when the lights and cool weather change the atmosphere dramatically. A nice outdoor place to go with the kids for a couple of hours that gives both parents and kids something to do. Stroller friendly, and a nice lakefront walk to escape the crowds on the boulevard.

This quaint downtown area offers a nice park to sit in, or a nice street of various stores from the boutiques selling name brands such as Lucky Jeans and Restoration Hardware to old time stores and delis, as well as the Morse Museum, which at the time of this blog, was exhibiting Tiffany lamps.

This stroller and child friendly street was fun to visit and offered enough distractions, eateries and hidden back alley stores to entertain all ages from 3 to 40 years of age for a couple of hours. Once again, this provided a nice distraction that was free and relaxing.

Magic Kingdom is one of the main reasons that people come to Orlando. It is one of the big theme park attractions. I'm not a big theme park fan, but once I got over the thought of tons of people everywhere and waiting in line, and because I was not psyched to go on any ride in particular, I found it relatively fun.

First tip - get there early! - Right at the beginning and get on the most popular rides, or if lines are already forming, get FAST pass tickets for later. These require you putting your ticket into a machine located outside some of the more popular attraction, then instead of waiting in line, you just get a ticket with a time for you to return. When you return - no line wait - just walk up the FAST pass lane ahead of the people waiting in line.

Some of the rides to hit first - Space mountain, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. The roller coaster-ish rides appear to be the ones that rack up lines.

Other kiddie rides get busy in a hurry - It's a Winnie the Pooh, the delightful 3D Michkey's PhilarMagic was fun, along with the flying boat in Peter Pan's Flight.

As long as you stay hydrated and balance the indoor rides with the outdoor rides and waits, you are good to go. There are restaurants and food galore everywhere, although if you want to save your pocket book from wearing thin, I would recommend you bring a good supply of snacks and drinks.

If you are able, try to stay until the evening, when it gets much cooler, and the atmosphere changes drastically in preparation for the parade. If you want to stay for the parade, bring something to sit on, and perhaps a shawl or blanket for the little ones.

As for the almost daily Florida rainshowers, bring a raincoat or just be prepared to duck for cover sometime during the day.

This is a FULL FULL day for the whole family. Just keep cool and be prepared for waits and you'll have fun!

Epcot Center provides a snapshot of the world - from 'traditional' houses and plazas from Mexico, Japan, Italy to Canada, to food and drink from around the world.

In addition to the highlights from various countries, you can visit some rides like the Viking Boat voyage, a boat ride around the various 'countries', and also visit some cool and comfortable indoor theatre shows about the country. Worth the 30 minute of cool down time before you head out to the next country.

When you are done walking around and eating the fare from each country, you can stop in at Future world for exploration of time and travel with exhilirating rides like 'Soaring' for the big kid in all of us, as well as enjoy some character interaction with shows like Turtle Talk with Crush, which is entertaining for the little kid in all of us.

Once again, something for everyone. Epcot used to be one of the highlights of theme parks, but seems to be losing some of its attraction because the World Showcase is just not as fun as a theme park filled with water and roller coasters. Still, I found it quite engaging and fun for the kids, especially if they do the little project of walking around the world to collect little stamps from each country.

Epcot has Fast pass for the ride and is a great day's excursion at a much slower pace than Magic Kingdom and some of the other parks. Worth a visit in my opinion.

Typhoon Lagoon is a day's worth of wet and lazy or crazy fun.

Arrive early and reserve your choice area in the sun or shade. everyone leaves bags and towels around on the chairs that they want for the day.

Then, start lining up for rides that are anything from easy to hardcore. There are lots of activities for all age groups - from toddlers to teenagers.

The wave pool has a rough surface which makes lounging about the pool a little painful, however there are areas where you can sit and just hang out covered a little or a lot in water.

The best part of the day was the part (most of it) that I spent in lazy river, just going around and around and around in a big float (though admittedly, it was fun just to float around) with the current.

With all the activities, there are tons of lifeguards around, but be extra careful with little ones since it takes only a few big kids to start goofing around to cause a problem when there are so many people around.

This is a great water park because there is enough to keep all adventure levels entertained and happy, from small wading pools, to wave parks and crazy rides, to shark reef (where you swim in a reef with real sharks). If you like water, you'll like this place.

Lockers are located near the main bathrooms so you can store away valuables while you play. No one is interested in stealing your food or towels for the most part, since you can buy everything you need - from towels to cameras here.