Things to do in Orlando

[Canada 02]

will be in Orlando for a about week in August for work and play.

No kids, so not interested in Disney theme parks.

Suggestions for things to see, places to eat, beaches within reasonable driving distance. My wife and I love outdoor activities, if there are things of that nature that come to mind

TIA

[PIMking]

Beaches in Orlando? LOL

Hit up UCF's campus and check out the local scenery....

[troutman]

Kennedy Space Center

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html

When you explore Kennedy, you will get a good look at how the space shuttle is processed today. A trip to the Air Force Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will take you back to NASA's beginnings and past the launch structures that were used to launch the Mariner, Explorer, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft to the planets. And as you watch future launches and landings, you can remember back to the day you explored Kennedy Space Center.

Kennedy Space Center is located about 35 miles east of Orlando International Airport in Brevard County, Florida. We've provided maps and directions to KSC from Orlando

[Yasa]

Whaaaaat! No interest in Disney World? You don't need kids for it to be awesome, in fact it's even more awesome without kids. Universal is even better, with more mature-themed rides. Although I guess if you don't like rides then I understand. I mean, I understand that you have no soul.

[TurnedTheCorner]

If you have no kids, why are you going to Orlando?

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by PIMking

Beaches in Orlando? LOL

that's why I said within driving range. Would have no problem driving an hour or two to a nice beach for water skiing, jet skiing or just laying out on the beach

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

If you have no kids, why are you going to Orlando?

work and play as mentioned in the op. I'll be there for a 6 day conference. Will have at least 2 days completely free, and parts of the remaining 4 days partly free, and all evenings past 5pm

[getbak]

If you do roller coasters, both Universal and Disney have good ones. They're not just for kids. Also, there's Busch Gardens in Tampa. The schools in the south go back around the middle of August, so the crowds aren't too bad past the 15th.

You can get to either coast in about 2 hours (depending on where you are in the area). I believe the Gulf Coast side by Tampa has nicer beaches, but I've only gone in the winter time, so beaches weren't a high priority.

I think there are a few swamp boat gator tours around, if that's your kind of thing.

Most of the attractions in the area are geared towards the people who are there for Disney, so high-class isn't top of the list. There are some nice restaurants at the higher-end Disney resort hotels, plus themed places at Downtown Disney and Universal City Walk.


If you're there for business, and your business isn't tourism, you'll probably be on the north side of town, away from all the touristy stuff. Also, if you're there for business, I'd ask the locals you're working with for advice because they'll know where to go to avoid the tourists.

Honestly, if I wasn't interested in Disney, Orlando would be pretty low on my list of places to visit. It would be like trying to plan a trip to Vegas while avoiding all the casinos...Which reminds me....There are apparently some world-class golf courses in the area because so many PGAers make their home there. I believe Disney World has a few top courses.

[underGRADFlame]

Originally Posted by troutman

Kennedy Space Center

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/index.html

When you explore Kennedy, you will get a good look at how the space shuttle is processed today. A trip to the Air Force Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will take you back to NASA's beginnings and past the launch structures that were used to launch the Mariner, Explorer, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft to the planets. And as you watch future launches and landings, you can remember back to the day you explored Kennedy Space Center.

Kennedy Space Center is located about 35 miles east of Orlando International Airport in Brevard County, Florida. We've provided maps and directions to KSC from Orlando

2nded

This was my Disney World! It was awesome!

[PIMking]

Prepare to be extremely hot too.

[Josh]

Human Slingshot, I wasn't "right" for the rest of the day after going on it.

LINK

[fundmark19]

St pete beach beachs! nuff said! Nice white sand lots of beach bars nothing but good times

[Devils'Advocate]

A friend was going to Orlando for a 1 day conference. The company gave her 2 tickets to bring a spouse, friend, relative... whomever. She asked if I wanted to go. So I had 1 free day in Orlando, but no car.

I took the bus to Miami.

Orlando seemed a great place for a family to have fun.
Miami seemed a better spot for a single guy to have fun.

I did stop at the Everglades to check out the alligators.

I would have gone to Kennedy except there was no inexpensive tour bus going out that way on that day.

[BigBrodieFan]

Cocoa Beach is about an hour from Orlando, I guess it's southeast- it's right by Cape Canaveral. Cocoa Beach is my favourite beach in Florida. There is so much to do there as far as restaurants and night clubs. The original Ron Jon's surf shop is there, and there are a ton of places to rent boats/jetskis, etc. I think the closest other place with a good beach would be Daytona. Have fun!

[Bigtime]

Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Centre all the way, still have fond memories of that (and the trip was back in 1995).

[getbak]

Originally Posted by PIMking

Prepare to be extremely hot too.

Yes, the humidty will kick your ass if you're from Calgary (or probably anywhere, but we're really not used to it). You walk outside and it's like someone threw a heavy wet blanket on you.

I've been to Vegas in 100+ dry weather and Orlando in the high 80s with humidity, and Orlando was much less comfortable.

Central Florida also gets insane flash thunderstorms in the middle of the afternoon. There's a reason Tampa's hockey team is named the Lightning. The storms come and go out of nowhere, but when they hit, they hit hard.

The first time I went down there, I spent my last day at Disney World and it was a beautiful sunny day all day. Then I headed to the airport for my flight home and it was still sunny. Got to the airport - still sunny. Boarded the plane - no problems. Left the gate on time, then taxied out to the runway and we were third in line to take off when it started raining. We finally took off 2 hours after we had pulled back from the gate.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

No kids, so not interested in Disney theme parks.

I've been there once as a kid and once as an adult, and I actually had a better time as an adult. They do have a fair amount of adult oriented stuff.

If you're avoiding Disney, Busch Gardens is decent if you like rollercoasters. While in Tampa you could always catch a baseball game, too.

Kennedy Space Centre is great.

Richard Petty Driving Experience was pretty fun. You get to drive (or ride along) in a nascar. But it's not cheap.

We drove down to the Keys from Orlando once. Wouldn't recommend that to anyone.

[Ace]

There is an all you can eat Lobster place in Orlando. I've never seen that anywhere else before. Was well priced if I remember...

http://www.bostonlobsterfeast.com/RestaurantIndex.cfm

[ken0042]

Just got back from Orlando. There was quite a bit to do for a couple of guys for a week.
We went to Tampa twice for MLB and NHL. We ended up just staying in Orlando and making the day trips to Tampa. It's only ~150 km.

Other things to do:
- Sea World
- Water Parks
- Indoor skydiving
- Kennedy Space Center

Every hotel has a big display of things to do, and most offer shuttles to different places.

One more thing I will mention; be carefull of what charges the car rental place tries to throw at you. They tried to tell me that my Canadian rental coverage on my own car insurance only covered the car; not PLPD.

They were also pretty slick on trying to word the "pre-pay for gas" scam. How that one works is you "return the car empty, and get charged $3.75 per gallon." However they charge you for the total capacity of the fuel tank; so if the tank holds 18 gallons and you return it with even 2 gallons left; you still get charged for 18 gallons. I don't know about you; but I don't like driving around a strange city in a strange car on fumes. Never mind that you may not use a full tank, or how much a PITA it is to buy gas in the States. You have to pre-pay then get a refund; and Canadian credit cards don't work at the pump because you need your Zip Code.

Next scam; pre-pay for tolls ($36). We put almost 1000 miles on our rental; and the only toll we faced was the $1 toll to get back to the airport.

[Canada 02]

thanks for the suggestions

we might get lucky, as there is a NASA rocket launch scheduled for Aug.5th. If conditions cooperate to get in their launch window, I'd love to see that in person

[rd_aaron]

I'm going to Orlando next week for a 3 day course and then the gf is flying down and we have ~4 extra days.

We're discovering there is way too much to do there, and you just have to pick and choose and be content with missing out on some things.

We are doing one Disney theme park one day, Universal one day, a water park and shopping/touring around International Dr. (where we're staying) area one day. Haven't completely figured out the last half day but we're doing the indoor skydiving in the morning.

We really wanted to get out to the Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach but it started to get expensive and time consuming. Because it's over Easter weekend, renting a car was extremely expensive and some of the bus tours out to the space center are nearly a full day excursion. We decided we'll leave that to another time.

I'm also considering getting tickets to an Orlando Arena Football game, and maybe trying to get tickets to a Magic game. They'll be in the playoffs though so it might be tough to get tickets.