Off to Orlando in a couple months for a few weeks. Got 2 weeks passes for the main parks / waterparks but have another week to explore around Florida. Any recommendations for other stuff within reasonable distance from Orlando. Space centre is a possibility depending on if my girls fancy it, what else is there there we should see / do ?

Take an air boat ride to go see Gators!

We swam with manetees in the crystal river.

Devils den spring (snorkeling)

http://www.devilsden.com/home.html

Take em to KSC. You’d have to have no interest in anything to find that place uninteresting and uninspiring. Plus it’s a doddle to get to. There’s a lot of beach out there too but you won’t get it on the same day unless it’s an evening walk. Launches come thick and fast too thanks to SpaceX.

Seconded and that’s from a visit 14 years ago when the launches had had pretty much ceased. inspiring place to realise what we can achieve as a race.

Kissimee car cruise and rock band nights. Celebration a town that’s kind of stuck in the 50s. As said above KSC. Daytona beach if you want to see American decline. St Augustine was recommended to us but we never made it there. Air boat and gators (best if you can get to Key Largo). Lots of natural springs/hot springs for a nice soak etc out in nature. I could go on …….

Orange county shooting range and fire off some rounds!

Kennedy Space Center is a good idea. We’ve also amen evening trips to ice hockey games in Tampa; my stepson lived in Orlando for a while and he rated basketball games for the spectacle. If you do an airboat trip, our guide said early morning is best as gators are crepuscular. You should be able to hire canoes or sit on top kayaks on some of the rivers. There are swamp buggy rides not far away, too. And, depending on the ages/interests, some shopping might entertain.

There are beaches on the both coasts- Atlantic and Gulf, which might have stuff going on.

There may still be a couple of drive in cinemas nearby, but I gather that there aren’t many left.

Seen NBA basketball, NHL hockey and NFL and would rate them in that order. Definitely worth going to see either of the first too.

Another vote for Kennedy. Also gatorland was good for a few hours.

Gators! As others have said – well worthwhile doing to see these up close in the wild. On an airboat ride or go to the Shark Valley visitor centre and hire a crappy singlespeed BSO to ride the 7miles to the viewing platform and cycle past loads of gators next to the path! Did this last month.

Thanks for all the info, cycling past the gators sounds fun although think my wife might freak at this so airboat might be better. Am wading through the KSC site didn’t realise how much there is to see. Gun range sounds like fun as well!

Gatorland was more fun with the kids than Disney I think.

is best as gators are crepuscular.

Bet you wouldn’t say that to their face, would you?? 😂😂

A couple of hours shopping at Bass Pro Shops is an eye opener. Swimming/tubing is great fun too, we’ve done Blue Springs state park, an hour north of Orlando. Check the launch schedule and don’t miss it if there’s one going up, we watched from Playalinda Beach for an early morning lift-off, then went on to Cocoa Beach for breakfast and a swim.

Space centre is a possibility depending on if my girls fancy it

You must go to KSC regardless of whether they fancy it or not, it’s one of the most incredible things to do in the area. You’d have to be brain-dead not to find it interesting.

Manatees in winter at Crystal River (kayaking and swimming) or at the Haul out Canal just north of KSC (the big nature reserve they set aside).

In summer the cool springs are a God-send for chilling out.

Walks in Ocala Forest looking for bears, mountain biking trails at Santos.

Pure white sand, snorkelling and shell finding on the Gulf coast south of Tampa. Many day trip only or camping islands like Cayo Costa, or populated ones with nature reserves attached like Sanibel.

My suggestions,

Daytona beach for long board surfing and Ron John’s surfshop.
Also another vote the Kennedy Space centre
And Gatorland to see those Evil Saltwater crocs

Paddleboard Orlando. Great people. A lap of the lake is about an hour at a leisurely pace and pretty cool.

Plus Wekeiva Park- lovely to kayak down and walk around.

Not done the space centre yet but on the to do list.

If you go to KSC you will see plenty of gators driving out there

Couldn’t remember what crepuscular meant, but then it dawned on me.

Kennedy for sure. It’s a day out, but being able to stand around some of the things that put us into space is amazing. It’s a really good way to reinforce how important engineering, science and maths are if you want to change the world.

If you fancy something closer: https://skydivedeland.com/

I plan on spending a week there if I can get out to Orlando for a conference in April.

Katy Perry?

Katy Perry

Steady on now.

KSC is great especially if there is a launch on. Just leave plenty of time to get there as we went down to watch a Space X launch from the centre and queued for 90 minutes to get in.

Amazing spectacle though.

Possibly not the most PC thing but we had a great afternoon at the Orlando gun club…kids were 14 n 16. Total cost for enough rounds to really get into it was about $200? You’ll need everyone’s passport to join.

We went in Novembber and loved it.

KSC was one of the highlights of our trip, so much to see there, easily a whole day’s worth, do the bus tour to go to the Saturn building and see the launch pads, amazing how big the Saturn rockets were. We also made another trip across to see a SpaceX launch standing from the Max Brewer Memorial bridge and got a really good view, but take binoculars.

Another highlight was going to Daytona speedway and doing passenger rides in a NASCAR, 180mph going round those banked turns was incredible.

Gatorland was brilliant as well, we timed it perfectly as it was feeding time and they were giving them 15lb turkeys for Thanksgiving. I really didn’t expect much from Gatorland and walked away having had a fantastic day.

The best rollercoasters were definitely at Busch Gardens in Tampa.

Best shopping is at the Premium Outlet Malls, $30 for a pair of Levis!!!

Second Orlando Gun Club

Not sure if it counts as a ‘Theme’ ?

Homepage

I didn’t go in but did see it with my own eyes so can confirm it is a real place, and not an elaborate website based hoax purely to wind Mr W into a froth.

I think my favourite place within it is the Holy Trin-i-Tee mini golf course in the kiddie section.

I hear the local crystal-meth around this time of year is sublime.

Small town america, go visit some stripmalls, little towns outside of Orlando. Thats the real america and it’s fascinating just people watching.  Not for too long though or they’ll shoot ya!