Things to do in Orlando – not theme park related!

It’s true, there are so so many other things to do in Florida and the Orlando area as well as the famous and fabulous theme parks.

So are you wondering what else is on offer that does not involve a visit to the Mouses House?? We can tell you for sure you could spend the 2 weeks of your holiday and NOT even touch one of the theme parks. Orlando is far more than just mad rides and water parks!

So where to start? What do you like to do?

Do you like golf? Ok, there are over 70+ courses in the Orlando/Florida area. You cannot hit a golf ball from your villa or hotel without hitting a course! Disney own 5 at least plus crazy golf and pitch & putts. There are also numerous crazy golf courses all over the Orlando area, some more outrageous than others (gators in the water hazards anyone??).

Another spin on the golf theme is a venue called Top Golf just off International Drive. This is a state of the art driving range equipped with lots of cutting edge technology. It’s over 4 floors with a brilliant restaurant and bar. We had some of the best food in Orlando here!

It’s a brilliant way to spend a few hours, it’s even better at night as the course lights up and the “holes” pulsate to the beat of the music that is playing in the bay! It’s a full waiter service service so you never have to leave the game to order a drink or food. Superb.

Just across from the the Top Golf is Icon park, a recent regeneration project that has seen International Drive restored to some of its former glory. Icon park is packed full of restaurants, bars and attractions. A massive amount of money has been ploughed into I-drive in the last few years and it is really showing. Lots of big brand attractions have now arrived. The Orlando eye is also there and is the US cousin of the London eye. We imagine there are some spectacular views of the area from the top of the wheel and although we have not been on it yet it’s scheduled fo our next visit. The Star Flyer is situated next to the Orlando Eye. It’s the tallest swing chair ride in the world at 450ft! Boy what a view from that when it’s spinning around at 60mph… hold onto your sunglasses. We’re going to say this is worth every penny (cent!) you pay for it. If you return the same day the second ride is cheaper. ($12 for the 1st ride then second ride is $7 on the same day). We’re going to ride this one at night next time (as we have already been on during the day). The lit up views across the I4 and I-drive will be next level.

Staying around Icon Park, you have Madam Tussauds Orlando, Skeletons: a museum of Osteology with all manner of exhibits, the 7D dark ride adventure, Arcade City and Sea Life Orlando. There are loads of restaurants including Outback Steak House , Carrabbas Italian Grill, Shake Shack (best burgers ever in our humble opinion! ), Buffalo Wild Wings and so on. Standard US chain restaurant fare and plenty of them.

Staying on the I-Drive area and moving up you have The Titanic Experience , a 17 gallery 20,000 square ft interactive museum. It holds the “little big piece” a 3 ton section of the Titanic’s hull, the 2nd largest piece of the Titanic ever recovered. There are also full scale recreations of a first class cabin and the grand staircase. You can even get married here. (Fun fact, we looked at this as a potential wedding venue for when we tied the knot last year!) (Wedding blog to follow in the near future).

Close by is Wonderworks, a so called amusement park of the mind. This is the famous “upside down” building on I-Drive. A very famous local landmark. It has a laser tag zone, an indoor ropes challenge and a 4D XD simulator. There are also various exhibitions that change fairly regularly, at the time of writing it is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles exhibition. Lots for minds young and old. Nearby is Ripleys Believe it or Not. If you’ve ever been in one in the UK you’ll know all about it.

If speed is your thing then there are 2 go cart tracks nearby. One is the NASCAR Bar and race track, its an electric go carts track and a bar/restaurant. Lots of fun for letting off a bit of steam. You also have the Mario Andretti go cart experience near to Top Golf. This also includes rope assault courses, a restaurant and laser tag. So if you can’t beat them driving, shoot them with a laser!!

Some of the most fun days we have had have been on an airboat ride through the shallow waterways of Orlando. We have been to Boggy Creek Airboat Rides a couple of times and it was amazing. The ride itself is a fantastic experience, likened to sitting on a tea tray on the water with a giant fan behind you – you have to wear ear defenders. The guides are really good fun, and super knowledgeable about the area, and the animals and are very entertaining. Fun fact – you can tell the length of an alligator by looking at the distance from its eyes to its nose – each inch on the distance from eyes to the end of its nose equals one foot in length of the animal. We were lucky to see full grown and baby alligators and also a Bald Eagle. Amazing! The best time to see them is early in the morning. Adults can have a 30 minute tour for $28.95 plus tax and children $24.61. They also do hour long tours, night time tours and sunset tours. We were lucky enough to actually have the tickets free from our theme park ticket provider as part of our package so if you do get them provided free don’t miss the opportunity to use them. It’s a lovely and different way to see some of the unspoiled Orlando area and a welcome escape from the crowds.

If you fancy looking at the beaches of Florida the our recommendation would be to head off to the Gulf Coast and the areas of Clearwater, Naples and St Pete’s. Clearwater beaches are particularly beautiful and there are piers and boat rides to see wild dolphins. It’s spectacular to see dolphins leaping out of the water in the wake of the boat. So beautiful. There are lots of cafe’s, restaurants, bars and hotels and water sports and boats to hire. Again, a lovely way to get away from the noise and hustle and bustle of the theme parks, although at peak times of course the beaches are very busy. You can also head off to the Atlantic Coast to Daytona if that’s your thing – it’s very busy there and in our opinion not as pretty but very lively. Perhaps best avoided at Spring Break!

You can head down to Miami and stay there for a few days – South Beach is lovely and Ocean Drive is always worth a look. Further down are the Florida Keys. Having only been to Key West it’s the only one we can mention in great detail – a glorious place to visit – quirky, laid back and artistic. There are lots of fabulous boat rides to experience, water sports, fishing trips, dolphin encounters, the lighthouse, the famous Sloppy Joes Bar in Duval Street, and of course Ernest Hemingway’s House and museum, which is well worth a visit, if only to see the polydactyl 6 toed cats, all direct descendants from Ernest Hemingway’s cat Snow White. There are currently 40 in and around the house and you sometimes cannot see the items in the display cases as there is a cat sunbathing on the top of it.

Or head up north to St Augustine. It claims to be the oldest City in Florida and is known for its Spanish colonial architecture. There are lovely beaches, a State Park, the Castillo de San Marcos Fort, a pirate museum, and old jail and Flagler College. A lovely place to explore – well worth a visit.

Celebration is a gorgeous place to visit. It is right by WDW and it’s a perfect American small town – the Walt Disney Corporation had it built to a very specific design to reflect their image of the perfect town. It is no longer owned by the Disney Corporation but remains a beautiful unspoiled town. There is a wonderful diner and a fabulous deli, a host of little boutique type shops, a wonderful pet shop that does doggy pic n mix so you can take your pooch in to pick their own treats, and it has a lovely lake in the middle of it with an area to sit on rocking chairs and just look out over the lake and watch the world go by. It’s also a very friendly town and people out walking their dogs tend to stop and have a little chat. Well worth a few hours of your time – it’s so peaceful. We love it there and always visit.

….. and we haven’t yet mentioned the shopping. That’s our specialist subject and there’s so much to cover we could write loads of blogs about the places to shop in Orlando, and we probably will, so look out for those in the future.

We could go on forever – there is so much to see and do. The Orlando area and the theme parks and water parks are constantly updating and changing and together with the many other things to do and see, you have an endless supply of options. We have been going to Orlando and Florida for over 25 years and have had a different holiday experience every time we have been. Our next adventure will be different again as we try new things and stay in new areas and accommodation. We can’t wait!

Hope we inspire you to take a look at Orlando!