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Must-see Attractions in Orlando
See Also Ticket Sales , Sight
Seeing , Orlando Tours
The followinglist provides some geranl information abgout the many
atrtreactions available inOrlandp Florida through out the year
- Arabian Nights
- Arabian Nights brings a fairy tale to
life on horseback as more than 60 of the world’s most beautiful
Arabian horses combine with special effects and incredible stunts
in a spectacular Broadway-style production that includes a three-course
dinner with unlimited beverages. Guests choose from prime rib
of beef, grilled chicken breast, chicken tenders or vegetable
lasagna, and all entrees are served with a fresh garden salad,
garlic mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, roll and butter, and
dessert, with house beer, wine, or Coca-Cola products.
6225 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. (800) 553-6161
- Cirque du Soleil
- Cirque du Soleil, in Downtown Disney
West Side, features its renowned blend of acrobatics and special
effects with more than 70 artists from around the globe performing
in a custom-designed, 1,671-seat theater.
Downtown Disney West Side, Buena Vista Drive. (407) 934-9200
- Congo River Golf & Exploration Co.
- Guests are invited to explore two 18-hole
courses set in a tropical environment with caves, waterfalls,
and 25 live alligators.
4777 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Kissimmee. (407) 396-6900
- Cypress Gardens Adventure Park
- Following 2003 closure after falling
on hard times, one of the state's most venerable attractions has
reopened as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. Some $50 million in
upgrades and additions include a 38-ride midway with four roller
coasters, an amphitheater for country-music concerts and a quaint
Main Street.
6000 Cypress Gardens Boulevard, Winter Haven. (863) 324-2111
- Discovery Cove
- Across from SeaWorld Adventure Park,
this tropical paradise provides for discovering tropical fish
in a coral reef, snorkeling with stingrays, and interacting with
birds in an aviary, as well as swimming and playing with dolphins
during a half-hour dolphin encounter. Reservations are required.
6000 Discovery Cove Way. (407) 370-1280
- Disney MGM Studios
- A theme park within a motion picture
and television studio, attractions include Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
- Play It!, Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!, Rock 'n' Roller
Coaster Starring Aerosmith and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
Epcot-Downtown Disney Exit (exit 26) from Interstate 4. (407)
824-4321
- DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme
Park
- The five-story DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive
Theme Park combines Disney's magic with cutting-edge technologies.
Guests board a river raft on Virtual Jungle Cruise, ride a roller
coaster of their own design on Cyber Space Mountain, and become
part of a human pinball game in Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam. Some
events require a separate admission charge.
Downtown Disney, 1486 Lake Buena Vista Boulevard, Lake Buena Vista.
(407) 939-7429
- Disney’s Blizzard Beach
- Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park features
one of the world’s tallest, fastest free-fall speed slides, smack
in the middle of sunny Florida. As the largest of Disney’s water
parks, it has 22 water slides and fast "icy" bobsled runs that
stay comfortably warm.
1801 West Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista. (407) 560-9283
- Disney’s Magic Kingdom Park
- Magic Kingdom’s seven magical lands are
filled with attractions, restaurants and shops based on favorite
Disney themes of fantasy, yesterday and tomorrow. Popular attractions
include The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder
Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, The Many Adventures
of Winnie the Pooh, Haunted House, and Space Mountain.
Main entrance, U.S. 192, Interstate 4, Exit 25. (407) W-DISNEY
- Disney’s Miniature Golf Courses
- Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf
Course, a 36-hole adventure featuring Fantasia Gardens, has 18-holes
with a theme from Disney's classic film "Fantasia," and Fantasia
Fairways, and an 18-hole challenge course with strategic bunkers
and hazards. Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course
is an interactive experience with two 18-hole elf-sized courses.
One course has a snow-clad Florida look reminiscent of Disney's
Blizzard Beach Water Park, while the other goes tropical with
holiday ornaments hanging from palms.
Fantasia Gardens, across from Disney MGM Studios. (407) WDW-GOLF
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- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
- Big among locals, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
Water Park, open year around, offers twisting tides, roaring rapids
and relaxing rivers. Whether navigating the nine water slides,
swimming with sharks and tropical fish or conquering waves in
the nation’s largest wave pool, this exotic paradise promises
maximum adventure in water heated to a pleasant 75-80 degrees
year around.
Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista. (407) 560-9283
- Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
- Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex
annually hosts more than 100 Amateur Athletic Union events, Atlanta
Braves spring training, Orlando Rays minor league baseball and
the Pop Warner Super Bowl. Spectator fun awaits with 200 acres
of courts and fields for more than 30 sports.
From Interstate 4, take Exit 65, old 26D onto Victory Way. (407)
363-6262
- Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede
- Debuting the ultimate dinner-show cattle
call in 2003, Dolly Parton's $28 million Dixie Stampede Dinner
& Show-Orlando is the fourth (and largest) of her stampede attractions,
also near Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., plus Branson, Mo.,
and Myrtle Beach, S.C. With 32 horses, dozens of cast members
and seating for 1,200 around a huge arena, the show blends fast-paced
acrobatic horsemanship, pyrotechnics, and music written by Parton.
Dolly tells folks to come hungry, since a four-course feast as
big as the show includes biscuits, vegetable soup, rotisserie
chicken and barbecued pork loin, corn-on-the-cob, potato, and
dessert. 8251 Vineland Avenue. (407) 238-2777
- Epcot Theme Park
- Fascinating cultures and numerous wonders
of the world are celebrated through dazzling shows, interactive
experiences and attractions. Epcot showcases the power of human
imagination with The Circle Of Life, Ellen’s Energy Adventure
and the Making of Me. Kids’ favorites include Cranium Command
and Food Rocks! By night, IllumiNations is a kaleidoscope of sky
artistry with more than 1,100 pyrotechnic bursts, accompanied
by music.
Walt Disney World Resort. Interstate 4, Exit 25. (407) W-DISNEY
- Fantasy of Flight
- Fantasy of Flight invites exploration
of flight nostalgia in self-guided "immersion" experiences zooming
through early aviation history. The North Hanger displays part
of the world’s largest private collection of vintage aircraft.
Also on tap are flight simulators and daily tours, including the
Back-Lot Restoration Shop Tour. Weather permitting, rare aircraft
take to the skies for Aircraft of the Day demonstrations.
1400 Broadway Boulevard, Polk City. (863) 984-3500
- Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum
- Exhibits of engines, armaments, American
warplanes, military memorabilia and views of the restoration process.
WACO open cockpit bi-plane air tours are available. Visitors can
monitor the restoration process, watching metamorphosis of these
nearly forgotten chunks of history returned to days of glory.
231 North Hoagland Boulevard, Kissimmee. (407) 933-1942
- Fun Spot Action Park
- Fun Sport Action Park, with free admission,
free parking and free rides for children with a paying adult,
lets guests "Drive the Ride" on multi-level go kart tracks. Fun
Spot has 17 hands-on action rides and more than 100 games in a
10,000 square-foot arcade.
5551 Del Verde Way. (407) 363-3867
- Fun World at Flea World
- Fun World at Flea World in Sanford has
more than 50 amusement rides and attractions, mini-golf, midway
games, batting cages, go-kart tracks and a 350-game arcade.
U.S. Highway 17-19, Sanford. (407) 330-1792
- Gatorland
- Gatorland is home to thousands of alligators
and crocodiles, a few wangling appearances in movies, television
shows and commercial spots. The 54-year-old park combines a petting
zoo, bird sanctuary, mini-water park, eco-tour and action-packed
outdoor entertainment, including daily alligator wrestling.
14501 South Orange Blossom Trail, between Orlando and Kissimmee.
(407) 855-5496
- Green Meadows Petting Farm
- Green Meadows Petting Farm provides a
two-hour guided tour of 300 farm animals, allowing opportunity
to pet animals, milk a cow, take train and hay rides, and ride
a pony. Picnic grounds are available.
1368 South Poinciana Boulevard, Kissimeee. (407) 846-0770
- Holy Land Experience
- The $16 million, 15-acre Holy Land Experience
re-creates the city of Jerusalem and its religious importance
between the years 1450 B.C. and A.D. 66 through themed costume
characters, dramatic enactments and high-tech presentations. Biblical
home to the Scriptorium, the museum has a collection of antiquities
dating to 2200 B.C.
4655 Vineland Road. (407) 367-2065
- Hot Air Balloon Flights
- Hot air balloon flights around Orlando’s
Disney World start at sunrise every day. The three-hour adventure
includes a pre-flight briefing before heading to any of 30 launch
sites, depending on wind, for balloon inflation. Flights last
an hour, followed by a champagne toast upon landing, and a buffet
breakfast at the Black Angus Steak House. Reservations are a must.
Black Angus Steak House on Hwy. 92. (407) 421-9322
- International Trolley and Train Museum
- The museum features 14 model railroad
trains with sound and lighting traveling through an indoor garden
with 12-foot high mountains, waterfalls, and more than 30 trestles
and tunnels. Also on display are toy trains from the 1920s to
the present. Catch a ride in a California Victorian Style half
open/half closed trolley or the 5/8 replica of an 1880 locomotive
(a Mason Bogey) with its passenger cars.
8990 International Drive, Orlando. (407) 363-9002.
- Jungleland
- Featuring 300 animals, including a pair
of Himalayan bears born in 2002, plus leopards, tigers, lions,
and more, Jungleland has gator wrestling and a petting zoo. The
seven-acre zoo also has a nearly mile-long path winding around
a natural lagoon with black swans and white ibis.
4580 West Highway 192, Kissimmee. (407) 396-1012
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
- On Florida’s Space Coast about 45 minutes
from Orlando and south of Daytona Beach, it’s possible to tour
launch areas, see giant rockets, train in spaceflight simulators,
and much more. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is open every
day except Christmas and certain launch days. Apart from the Astronaut
Hall of Fame, Space Center bus tours run every 15 minutes with
stops at an observation gantry and the Apollo / Saturn V Center.
Other guided tours include NASA Up Close, Cape Canaveral: Then
and Now, and Lunch With An Astronaut. Combo tickets offer maximum
access admission, plus one guided tour.
Follow signs from State Road 405 and State Road 3, east of Titusville.
(321) 452-2121
- Magical Midway
- Magical Midway features International
Drive’s only elevated go-kart tracks for extreme action with corkscrew
turns and high-speed jolts, along with classic midway rides like
bumper boats and bumper cars. The snack shop features fresh hand-tossed
pizza.
7001 International Drive. (407) 370-5353
- Old Town
- Eight affordable restaurants, 15 amusement
park rides and 75 shops make Old Town’s brick-lined streets a
retail and entertainment destination with family fun. Classic
car shows every Friday and Saturday feature hundreds of vintage
automobiles. Admission and parking are free.
5770 West U.S. Highway 192, Kissimmee. (407) 396-4888
- Orange County Regional History Center
- The History Center in downtown Orlando
features 12,000 years of Central Florida history, spanning from
the Seminole Indians to the present. Four floors of exhibits are
in the renovated 1927 courthouse building.
65 East Central Boulevard. (407) 836-8500
- Orlando Fire Museum
- Housed in the circa 1926 Orlando Fire
Station #3, the Orlando Fire Museum contains artifacts dating
to 1885, including a 1919 motorized ladder truck and a 1911 horse-driven
steam engine. Admission and parking are free.
Loch Haven Park, Orlando. (407) 898-3138
- Orlando Hauntings
- Orlando Hauntings Ghost Tours tantalize
with ghoulish stories as guides in period costumes carrying lanterns
spin tales. The 90-minute walking tour features "true" ghost stories
tied to local history. Tours depart from Guinevere’s Cafe on Fridays
and Saturdays at 8 p.m.
37 South Magnolia AVenue. (407) 992-1200
- Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf
- Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf has two
locations for fine-tuning skills in a setting of lush landscaping
and swashbuckling pirate themes. Putt through mountain caves,
over footbridges and under waterfalls. At each site, all ages
choose from three courses: Blackbeard's Challenge, Captain's Course,
or the 36-Hole Adventure Course.
- Pleasure Island Entertainment Complex
- With eight theme night clubs and more
in the works, Pleasure Island Entertainment Complex includes Pleasure
Island Jazz Company, with live vocal and instrumentals. PI’s two
main dance clubs are 8Trax Downtown Disney, with its huge revolving
disco ball amid ‘70s décor, and Mannequins, a tri-level enclave
with a rotating dance floor on the bottom, in a warehouse/rave
atmosphere. Rock 'N Roll Beach Club Downtown Disney has live music
from '50 and '60s hits to current chart-toppers. Comedy Warehouse
delivers laughs, while Adventurers Club has four rooms of live
stage shows, also heavy on comedy. Wildhorse Saloon has a barbecue
restaurant and a country dance club. BET Soundstage Club has multiple
levels of dance space and live hip-hp, R&B, reggae and jazz along
with urban dance hits. The PI complex is restricted to patrons
18 and older unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Patrons must be at least age 21 to enter Mannequins.
Downtown Disney, Lake Buena Vista. (407) 828-3058
- Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando
Odditorium
- Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando Odditorium
looks as if it fell victim to one of Florida’s infamous sinkholes,
since it’s housed in a building that appears decidedly whopper-jawed
and on the slide. Explore artifacts, collections, weird art/hobbies
and interactive exhibits in 16 odd galleries. For more than 40
years, Robert Ripley traveled the globe collecting the unbelievable,
inexplicable, and one-of-a-kind. His collections are housed in
27 museums in 10 countries.
8201 International Drive. (407) 363-4418
- SeaWorld Adventure Park
- SeaWorld Adventure Park features 200
acres of sea-themed rides, including Kraken, Orlando’s longest,
tallest, fastest floorless roller coaster. Visitors find themselves
face-to-face with a shark in Sharks Deep Dive at Shark Encounter.
Shows and animal exhibits include polar bears, killer and beluga
whales, manatees, sea lions, penguins, dolphins and more.
7007 Sea World Drive, Orlando Phone: (407) 351-3600
- Skull Kingdom
- Skull Kingdom, a two-story haunted castle
full of fright, subjects those brave enough to enter with robotics,
strobe, fog and other special effects, along with sudden encounters
with live monsters. Ghouls lurk in dark places around every turn,
and management makes no promises on odds of surviving this twisted
world.
5933 American Way. (407) 354-1564
- SkyVenture
- SkyVenture, Orlando’s high-energy vertical
wind tunnel, offers indoor skydiving as adventurers float on a
column of air. No parachute, no jumping and no experience is necessary.
The tunnel creates the exact sensation of free falling during
a skydive, giving participants 120 m.p.h thrills.
6805 Visitors Circle. (407) 903-1150
- Stallion 51 Corporation
- Stallion 51 Corporation provides the
opportunity to sign up for an orientation flight that lets guest
pilots fly the TF-51 Mustang fighter plane. Guest pilots are invited
to take over controls for most of the flight for an authentic
experience.
3951 Merlin Drive. (407) 846-4400
- Universal Studios
- Universal Studios takes guests beyond
the screen and into the world of television and film to "ride
the movies," with Men in Black, Alien Attack, Jaws, Twister, Back
to the Future, and Shrek 4-D. Experience an 'Earthquake', Jimmy
Neutron's Nicktoon Blast and many other attractions. The 444-acre
park also has a maze of stage sets with reproductions of New York
and San Francisco street scenes, and there’s even an opportunity
to get slimed at Nickelodeon Studios.
1000 Universal Studios Plaza. (407) 363-8000
- Universal’s Islands of Adventure
- Universal’s Islands of Adventure invites
guests to "live the adventure" with technologically advanced thrill
rides and attractions, including The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man,
Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Incredible Hulk and the Dueling
Dragons coasters. Cat in the Hat provides a journey through Dr.
Seuss’s popular book. Also hot Shrek 4-D, with that charming green
ogre.
From Interstate 4 and Florida’s Turnpike, take Exit 30 to Kirkman
Road. (407) 363-8000
- Walt Disney World Resort
- World-renowned Walt Disney World Resort
sets ever higher standards for theme parks, encompassing the Magic
Kingdom Park, Epcot Theme Park, Disney MGM Studios, Disney's Animal
Kingdom Theme Park, Blizzard Beach, River Country, Disney's Typhoon
Lagoon Water Park, Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort, Pleasure Island
Jazz Company, Downtown Disney's West Side, Downtown Disney's Marketplace,
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, The Disney Oak Trail Course,
and five championship golf courses.
Exit 25 off Interstate 4, on US. 192. (407) 824-4321
- Water Mania
- Water Mania, with more than 36 acres
of thrill slides, flumes, and pools, also has dry-land activities.
Water Mania has locker and tube rentals, and personal flotation
devices are subject to lifeguard approval. Picnics are welcome.
6073 West Irlo Bronson Highway (U.S. 192), Kissimmee. (407) 396-2626
- Wet ‘n Wild
- Wet ‘n Wild features a wide variety of
waterslides, a wave pool, water playground, child-size versions
of the most popular rides, and mini-golf. Among attractions are
The Storm, The Bomb Bay, Blue Niagara, Knee Ski and Wild One.
6200 International Drive, Orlando (407) 351-1800
- WonderWorks
- WonderWorks, within an eye-catching three-story
house that appears to have landed, upside down, atop a 1930s-era
brick warehouse, has more than 100 hands-on interactive exhibits
utilizing sophisticated audio and graphic techniques. Guests can
design their own roller coaster and then ride it, go hang gliding
in the Grand Canyon, or play in the world’s largest laser tag
arcade. Visitors experience the trembling of earthquakes and hurricane-force
winds.
9067 International Drive. (407) 351-8800
- World of Orchids
- Featuring thousands of blooms in an enclosed
tropical rainforest, World of Orchids is actually a working greenhouse
shipping orchids and other plants nationwide. A greenhouse covers
nearly an acre, and in this controlled warm, humid air some 1,000
orchids are displayed in a natural jungle setting, with streams,
waterfalls, and squawking parrots. World of Orchids also has a
1,000-foot-long boardwalk meandering off into nearby wetlands.
Admission is free.
250 Old Lake Wilson Road, Kissimmee. (407) 396-1887
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