Going to Orlando: recommend stuff to do/see/eat

We fly out tomorrow and it’s only the second time I’ve been to the US, and the first time on the east coast.

It’s a family holiday so naturally we’re doing Disney World and Universal Studios but I’d love to know what other things I ought to be checking out while I’m there. Figured you folks would be good to ask!

@Mysterio, you’re a local right?

Can you get over to the Kennedy Space Center? About an hour’s drive from Orlando.

I don’t see why not as we’ll have a few hire cars. Not sure how far we’ll be venturing but an hour doesn’t sound bad at all.

I’m in Tampa, so on the west coast of Florida. If you’re into board games, you can always visit CoolStuffInc, which is close to Disney World.

A tour of the Space Center is well worth it, then, in my opinion.

There are also a couple of launches scheduled during you visit. Even if you are in Orlando, it is worth taking a look east when one goes up. That same spaceflightnow.com web site is usually updated in real time about launches, so you can at least know exactly when to look (if you’re in Orlando, it will take a couple of minutes for the rocket to get high enough to see - don’t give up too soon). You are least likely to have a clear enough view to the east if you’re in Disney or Universal, so don’t worry too much about trying to catch a launch if it gets in the way of having fun in the park. On the other hand, if you can arrange your trip to Canaveral for one of those days if would be cool. Just be well aware that those launches get delayed all the time for all kinds of reasons, so don’t expect a launch, just figure you have a chance. https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/events/events-calendar/see-a-rocket-launch

Man, I’m jealous now @geggis! I did a tour of the KSC last May, but there were no launches for a few weeks on either side.

Set aside a day and do the tour. You can see a Saturn 5 if you do the bus tour, and touch a piece of regolith.

Downtown Orlando is actually pretty cool, once you escape the theme park and strip mall nonsense. I especially like Winter Park. The Morse Museum of American Art is a beautifully curated way to spend a couple hours. As for food, I had one of the best meals of my life at The Ravenous Pig… I’d highly recommend trying to get in for dinner.

Just remember it’s not an old European city steeped in rich culture and history. It’s a giant highway and strip mall that sprouted around Disney World and air conditioning.

I’d go in expecting to embrace the touristy stuff. It doesn’t look like rain so you should be okay on that front.

Escape Rooms are fun, there are a bunch of those there.
Lots of water parks, mini-golf, etc. Tourist trap stuff. Shopping, etc.

Whatever you’re in the mood for, unless it’s high-falutin’ travel involving old buildings and history.

You’re also going to be an hour and a half from some great beaches on either side of Florida.

Yeah, I’ll parrot some of what the others said, but the Morse museum has the biggest collection of Tiffany lamps and glass, if that’s your thing.

Kennedy Space center is 1 hour-ish away and it’s even better if you can be there when there’s a rocket launch. You can pay extra for seats closer to the action or look at it from the general museum area.

Sea World has its rich-people section, Discovery Cove, where you can splurge extra and get solo time swimming with dolphins.

I had a blast at Medieval Times, which is one of those medieval jousting dinner shows. Kids will love that.

Celebration is a “perfect” planned community, with pristine houses and old-timey shops that was dreamed up by Walt Disney, but now unrelated to the park. It’s an actual village, not an attraction, but with lots of strict rules to conserve it’s “perfectness”. It’s great for a stroll.

Excellent, thanks everyone, it’s much appreciated.

Yeah, I had a look at the Morse Museum site earlier and was sold immediately on reading ‘The Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany’. We’ve been fans of his work for years.

Kennedy Space Center seems like a no-brainer if there are some launches, and yeah, I think Medieval Times would go down a treat. I’d not heard of Celebration before but it sounds unusual and something I’d like to check out.

The Space Center is a no-brainer as long as you have transportation to get there, a launch would just be gravy. The Rocket Garden alone is worth the trip. As is the (real) Shuttle. And the bus tour with the Saturn V. And seeing the scale of the Vehicle Assembly Building in person.

Hint: Its big. also really cool to see the shuttle transport vehicle. Thing has wheels the size of houses.

I’m a local. Been here for almost 20 years. If you have any questions on something in the area, I’ve probably been there.

KSC is great. Also a trip to the beaches if you’re inclined.

Unless you want to go shopping I’d stay as far away from International Drive as possible. Though there are some interesting food choices there.

Right next to the Morse Art center is the Orlando Science Center. Also a cool way to spend a few hours. And not packed with tourists.

Oh yeah, I drive has some good restaurants…

This place is really good but the food is anti-healthy and ridiculous (kind of stereotypical American food):

Food pics:
Sage fried chicken & waffles

i.e. Chicken and Waffles (those are “full size” waffles at the bottom):

“Hammered” Pork Tenderloin sandwich:

Tu Tu Tango (some kind of Latin American fusion thing) was pretty good too:
Baja fish tacos

Steak and potato chimichangas:

And if you want something totally laid back, Q’Kenan (Venezuelan) is awesome:

Arepa de Pabellon

Chorizo arepa:

See, shit like this is why I had to vote Trump. USA #1 FOREVER YOU DEEP STATE INFIDEL 🇺🇸

So in the end we stuck with family and didn’t go very far afield. Crammed an awful lot of the parks into 10 days as well as Clearwater, some glow in the dark crazy golf…

Google Photos

…an airboat ride at Boggy Creek to see some 'gators and Ripley’s Believe It or Not. The parks were way cooler than I expected with Islands of Adventure topping the lot. I’m not a massive Harry Potter fan but I was totally won over by the Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade station linked by a Kings Cross Platform 9 3/4 Hogwarts Express train ride from one to the other. So much attention to detail and this just looked so damn cool:

Two of my more obscure favourite things were the beautiful (and massive) mosaics of Sleeping Beauty under the Disney castle…

…and this guy who blew me away:

I wish I’d asked him to play Scott Joplin’s The Cascades but he was so content playing I couldn’t bring myself to waltz over there and ask. His name’s Jim Omohundro and he’s been playing there for nearly 35 years. Much like the mosaics most people seemed to just saunter by!

Edit: here’s him from 1989 on blistering form: https://youtu.be/ZJOBwtAvq3Q

A few other things though: Do people rest in restrooms? Auto-flushing toilets? Blinking red lights for indicators instead of orange ones? Number plates not on the front of some vehicles? No PIN numbers for authorising credit card payments? No half pints (or 6oz drinks on tap)? Adding tax at the till? Toll stations on every other strip of freeway? Biscuits and gravy?

Anyway, I had a terrific time and thanks for the suggestions even if I didn’t get to check many of them out.

Florida only has rear plates. The tolls are a pain but if you get Sunpass (which should be on a rental) you have lanes to drive thru without stopping. In the US, PINs are for debit cards.

Since no one uses their turn signals, we don’t care what color(colour?) they are! :)

One of our rentals did but the others didn’t apparently. I mean, it’s not much, but yeah, it’s a pain having to pull up and root about for loose change.

I forgot my credit card PIN y’see (it’s the only one I’ve ever had and I’d got it specifically for spending in dollars) so for a good chunk of the holiday I thought we were restricted by our cash budget. It was only near the end of the holiday when folk were filling up gas and going shopping that they realised that they weren’t having to use their PIN numbers. Lesson learnt!

Zing!

Orlando is absolutely terrible for toll roads. A lot of the US (even in Florida) is less toll-heavy.