Things to do in Orlando (Miami, Tampa: how much, camping, living)

[andygump5]

I'll start with the obvious

Disney World
4 Theme Parks- Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios

2 Water Parks- Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon

Downtown Disney- shops, restaurants, shows

Numerous activities within Disney- sporting events, golf, miniature golf, boat rides to watch fireworks,canoeing, parasailing, pedal boats, sailboats, speedboats, hot air balloon ride, dinner shows, camping, biking, stock car racing,,,ahhh you get the picture, tons to do

[Granny Sue]

Orlando History Center
Orlando Science Center
Winter Park Boat tours
Bikes and Blades...Winter Garden station of the West Orange Trail.

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by andygump5

I'll start with the obvious

Disney World
4 Theme Parks- Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios

2 Water Parks- Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon

Downtown Disney- shops, restaurants, shows

Numerous activities within Disney- sporting events, golf, miniature golf, boat rides to watch fireworks,canoeing, parasailing, pedal boats, sailboats, speedboats, hot air balloon ride, dinner shows, camping, biking, stock car racing,,,ahhh you get the picture, tons to do

not into theme parks once you live here though because it gets old quite fast. It used to be a novelty if you were here on vacation and enjoyed them more before I moved here. Now the expense to enjoy the activities are so high it's cost prohibitive for locals.
Orlando lacks a lot of cultural amenities for those who don't want to do the theme park route.

[GLS2010]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

not into theme parks once you live here though because it gets old quite fast. It used to be a novelty if you were here on vacation and enjoyed them more before I moved here. Now the expense to enjoy the activities are so high it's cost prohibitive for locals.
Orlando lacks a lot of cultural amenities for those who don't want to do the theme park route.

theme parks aren't ment to visit everyday. Most locals do enjoy them including me, but I don't go every day more like a few times a year. Epcot never gets old especially with the world showcase. I can get a hands on taste of some of the worlds coolest countries including America during the revolutionary era without leving town. The World show case is as real as it gets without actually visiting the counties, they have native people from the contires who work there. The food and shops in each country are authentic, they have cultural preformances, and educational shows and tours about the countries which are very impressive. not to mention each country has the same architecture as the real country it's immitating. Of course going to the real country is better, but the world show case is a cool place to go to that's only a short drive away and has 10 diferent countries. Where else can you eat in japan then walk over to America to watch a show about it's history. It's a really cool place, I recommend it to anyone who's never been there.

And the city of Orlando does have arts and culture if you actually look you will find things to do. The winter park side walk art festival is coming soon, you should check it out. There is always some kind of event or festival going on in Orlando almost every week, you just gotta be involved with the community and check for things going on. another free downtown outdoor concert is coming up soon, I forgot who's preforming though. I went to the last one a few months ago when sugar ray was there, they aren't my favorite band but it was pretty fun, there were tents set up by local businesses which had games and food, and it is right on orange ave so you can walk around the best parts of downtown and still hear the concert in the distance.

[andygump5]

Orlando Magic
Atlanta Braves Spring Training

(I am going to ignore MiamiRobs post since he obviously misread the title)

[lr5497]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

theme parks aren't ment to visit everyday. Most locals do enjoy them including me, but I don't go every day more like a few times a year. Epcot never gets old especially with the world showcase. I can get a hands on taste of some of the worlds coolest countries including America during the revolutionary era without leving town. The World show case is as real as it gets without actually visiting the counties, they have native people from the contires who work there. The food and shops in each country are authentic, they have cultural preformances, and educational shows and tours about the countries which are very impressive. not to mention each country has the same architecture as the real country it's immitating. Of course going to the real country is better, but the world show case is a cool place to go to that's only a short drive away and has 10 diferent countries. Where else can you eat in japan then walk over to America to watch a show about it's history. It's a really cool place, I recommend it to anyone who's never been there.

And the city of Orlando does have arts and culture if you actually look you will find things to do. The winter park side walk art festival is coming soon, you should check it out. There is always some kind of event or festival going on in Orlando almost every week, you just gotta be involved with the community and check for things going on. another free downtown outdoor concert is coming up soon, I forgot who's preforming though. I went to the last one a few months ago when sugar ray was there, they aren't my favorite band but it was pretty fun, there were tents set up by local businesses which had games and food, and it is right on orange ave so you can walk around the best parts of downtown and still hear the concert in the distance.

THANK YOU!!
I always tell people the same thing. Be involved with the community and you'll see that there is always something going on in the area. My sister is a model, before she started I thought that the fashion world was practically non-existent in Orlando. Once she broke ground and got into so many gigs, I was so surprised to see how much was going on in the fashion world here and how many people from the whole metro area were involved.
The same can be said for food and film festivals. I met so many people at the fashion shows that were also involved in the film and food industries of the area. Seriuosly, once you get into something, more things come out, and you'll always have something to do.
Its almost as if the culture of orlando is to be focused on "what orlando doesn't have and what other cities do" and being involved in something is a sub culture or a taboo.

[Pete C]

Orlando is definitely a place where you need to read the paper, go to the downtown Orlando website, read Orlando Weekly, etc, to find all the cool cultural things going on. There is a festival of some sort every week during this time of year. If you are bored, you are not trying very hard. Even if we had some amazing museum here, which some people point out as a glaring flaw in Orlando, I would probably only go once a year at the most. I can drive 1.5 hours to Tampa and see all their new museums for my yearly fix. Do people really want to go to museums all the time? I seriously doubt it. Most locals barely ever visit their city museums.

As for the theme parks, it really depends on your level of theme park love. I have been a theme park nut my entire life, and living here hasn't changed that at all yet. Now, I still only go to the parks about 4 - 5 times a year, but I always have fun when I go. It doesn't get old for me, but I purposely do not go so often as to burn out on it. It's also fun just for a getaway to stay in one of the resorts for a couple nights...each resort is so different that you realize Disney is more than just the main 4 parks everybody knows about. Epcot is fun just to go in the evening for dinner, or for Food and Wine fest, which is expensive but a lot of fun. Universal caters a lot more to locals with all the concerts and events like Mardi Gras and HHN.

[JustinsMama]

I know if we ever make it down there as permanent residents, our love of theme parks won't diminish. In the summer alone I see us hitting at least one of the water parks most weekends...(oh please! oh please! oh please!).

[EndersDrift]

A few of my favorite parts of Orlando:
Enzian
Lil 500
Jai-Alai
Orlando Convention Center
Lake Lily
Fleaworld / Funworld
Crane's Roost
Cross Seminole Trail
Wekiva Springs or Rock Springs (think I actually prefer Rock Springs)
Black Hammock
Not exactly Orlando but the Strawberry Festival is worth noting especially since its coming up
The Sanford Zoo
Denning Park
Fleet Peeples Park (excellent new dog park, fun to visit even if you don't have a dog)
Tiffany Morse Museum
Sci-Fi City (in addition to being a huge store in itself it also has lots of different games going on)
Maitland Audubon (while you're there check out the Maitland art museum too, its not huge but its relaxing)

...I think thats good for now.

[imtfrenzy]

how about all of the beautiful natural springs just north of Orlando? We went to Blue Springs state park last weekend. Saw manatees, alligators, tarpin, all sorts of cool nature critter in Caribeann-like clear blue water bubbling up from a hole in the ground. Can't wait til the manatees go back out and we can snorkel in that water. (clearly we just moved to FL and are not here for theme parks.) Nothing beats Fishbone's 25 cent oysters for happy hour. Life is good. We are in lake Mary.