Looking for Family Activities in Orlando

[MyAdventureBook]

So I have just about given up on Disney or Universal offering an appealing experience this summer. With the insistence on masks and the limited attractions, I am thinking we will just save our APs and try something new this year. We have done Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, and Discovery Cove, so this may be a good summer to check out other offerings in the area. For less than the LM room at Disney, I booked a 3 bedroom 2 bath suite at The Grove.

I am now looking for some fun things to do with kids (13 and 7) in the area. We don't mind driving an hour or so from the city. We will have a car.

Considering:

Gatorland (is the zipline worth it? What are the best choices for tickets/experiences there?)
FunSpot America
Icon Park
Safari Wilderness (My goodness! This is expensive for such a short experience!)
Rock Springs Kelly Park
Old Town
Sunset Walk
Outlet Shopping
Titanic Exhibit and the Gala Dinner (my 13 year old is fascinated by the Titanic)
Airboat tour (any recommendations on which ones are the best?)
Canoe or kayak tour (any recommendations on best places for this?)
Parks with awesome, shaded, walking or biking trails (or places where we can rent bikes and ride)
Kennedy Space Center

Any thoughts or suggestions on these? What other experiences am I missing?

 

[RememberWhen]

Kennedy Space Center is pretty great if you haven’t been there and anyone in your family is into space stuff. I don’t know when it will be all the way open again though.
My family also had a blast at the Brevard Zoo last December. We loved feeding the giraffes, but skip the train ride. It’s on the coast, south of port canaveral.

 

[jensenrick]

You are missing out on some of the best family friendly activities- Escape rooms! And Orlando has some of the best in the country!

The best of the best include-
1)The Escape Game Orlando, near the corner of I-Drive and Sand Lake. Playground in particular is great for the whole family. Also Gold Rush and Prison Break and both amazing, and they all feature slides.
2) Escapology, on south I-Drive, has one of the amazing and filled with special effects; called Under Pressure, which takes place on a sabotaged submarine. Great stuff.
3) Lockbusters, on I-Drive, has actually been hit and miss for me- they do some amazing sets, but some of their puzzles are not that intuitive. I have heard (but not experienced myself) that their Pirate Adventure room is one of the favorites for young kids.

BTW Escape Game Orlando has T-shirts and pins themed to their different rooms. Escapology gives you a themed wristbands and small water bottles if you win the room.

 

[jensenrick]

So I have just about given up on Disney or Universal offering an appealing experience this summer. With the insistence on masks and the limited attractions, I am thinking we will just save our APs and try something new this year. We have done Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, and Discovery Cove, so this may be a good summer to check out other offerings in the area. For less than the LM room at Disney, I booked a 3 bedroom 2 bath suite at The Grove.

I am now looking for some fun things to do with kids (13 and 7) in the area. We don't mind driving an hour or so from the city. We will have a car.

Considering:

Gatorland (is the zipline worth it? What are the best choices for tickets/experiences there?)
FunSpot America
Icon Park
Safari Wilderness (My goodness! This is expensive for such a short experience!)
Rock Springs Kelly Park
Old Town
Sunset Walk
Outlet Shopping
Titanic Exhibit and the Gala Dinner (my 13 year old is fascinated by the Titanic)
Airboat tour (any recommendations on which ones are the best?)
Canoe or kayak tour (any recommendations on best places for this?)
Parks with awesome, shaded, walking or biking trails (or places where we can rent bikes and ride)
Kennedy Space Center

Any thoughts or suggestions on these? What other experiences am I missing?

From this list, I only have experience with Gatorland and Icon Park.

Gatorland is a very nice park, with a variety of shows and activities, and the zipline is well worth it.

Icon Park has a lot of fun things, although I do think the best ones are more geared to adults. However there are things geared towards kids and families, mainly SeaLife aquarium, which has a lot of interactive exhibits and many of the tanks have "pop up" holes, where youngsters and smaller adults can put their head up and be inside the tank for photo ops.

Also at Icon is Skeletons, which can be fascinating and informative, and worth the hour or two needed to see it.

 

[MyAdventureBook]

You are missing out on some of the best family friendly activities- Escape rooms! And Orlando has some of the best in the country!

The best of the best include-
1)The Escape Game Orlando, near the corner of I-Drive and Sand Lake. Playground in particular is great for the whole family. Also Gold Rush and Prison Break and both amazing, and they all feature slides.
2) Escapology, on south I-Drive, has one of the amazing and filled with special effects; called Under Pressure, which takes place on a sabotaged submarine. Great stuff.
3) Lockbusters, on I-Drive, has actually been hit and miss for me- they do some amazing sets, but some of their puzzles are not that intuitive. I have heard (but not experienced myself) that their Pirate Adventure room is one of the favorites for young kids.

BTW Escape Game Orlando has T-shirts and pins themed to their different rooms. Escapology gives you a themed wristbands and small water bottles if you win the room.

Thanks! I’ll check these out. We did an escape room in Atlanta and had fun with it.

 

[MyAdventureBook]

From this list, I only have experience with Gatorland and Icon Park.

Gatorland is a very nice park, with a variety of shows and activities, and the zipline is well worth it.

Icon Park has a lot of fun things, although I do think the best ones are more geared to adults. However there are things geared towards kids and families, mainly SeaLife aquarium, which has a lot of interactive exhibits and many of the tanks have "pop up" holes, where youngsters and smaller adults can put their head up and be inside the tank for photo ops.

Also at Icon is Skeletons, which can be fascinating and informative, and worth the hour or two needed to see it.

We will probably try both of those. They sound fun.

 

[jensenrick]

Thanks! I’ll check these out. We did an escape room in Atlanta and had fun with it.

Wonderful!
If you don't mind, could you tell me which Escape room you went to in Atlanta, and would you recommend them? I'm always looking for recs for new places. You can DM me if you don't want to clutter the thread.

 

[jensenrick]

We will probably try both of those. They sound fun.

And I forgot, or more like I was distracted, since I'm at work right now, and it's super slow, but occasionally - anyway . . .

2 more cool things at Icon Park, the main icon- The Wheel at Icon Park. Preferably in daylight on a nice clear day, since you don't see much but all the flat land around Orlando, although it's cool to use the ipads to pick out the landmarks. This would depend on how patient your kids are however, in my experience.

Also, if your family has thrill seekers, the StarFlyer - the world’s tallest swing ride standing at 450 feet! I can tell you from experience, it is quite the thrilling (or scary depending on your perspective) ride and the difference in temp between the ground and 450 ft up caught me by surprise too! LOL

 

[jeanericuser001]

This may be late but hell here is some suggestions.

Springs:

Wekiwa Springs State Park

With emerald springs feeding the Wekiwa River and lush tropical hammocks, this unique park just minutes from downtown Orlando is perfect for observing abundant wildlife or cooling off on a summer day. Miles of trails beg to be explored on foot, bike or horseback, and canoes and kayaks are...

www.floridastateparks.org

Blue Spring State Park

Hundreds of manatees make this park their home for the winter, and viewing these gentle giants from the spring's overlooks is a rare experience. The refreshing 72-degree waters of Blue Spring State Park greet visitors at this gem along the St. Johns River.

www.floridastateparks.org

These places unlike others will not charge you an arm and a leg plus they got a lot of stuff that can be done.