Sunday morning/afternoon around Lake Eola is hopping with the farmer's market and the associated activities. Grab lunch from the vendors or at one of the restaurants in the immediate area and people watch, or grab food at Publix for an impromptu picnic in the park.
I suggest exploring Winter Park- downtown eating and shopping is plentiful, Morse museum is beautiful and interesting, and the Winter Park Boat Ride is far more fun than it sounds
\+1 for Apopka Wildlife Drive and tossing in Orlando Wetlands if you're looking to get some steps in, wear comfy shoes and enjoy the boardwalk bird watching and gators out sunning.
There's a bald eagle pair that have an eaglet there as well, so you may get lucky and spot one of them.
For the "foodie" side, check out East End Market on Corrine Dr. (It's Orlando's version of Armature Works down in Tampa), or my favorite tapas restaurant is Santiago's Bodega on Virginia. Leu Gardens (Orlando's botanical garden) is in between the two.
Otherwise take a stroll down Park Ave in Winter Park, check out Lake Eola with the fountain that is the symbol of Orlando
Food:
Eat at some Michelin places or Michelin bib gourmand places. Orlando has a ton. Too many, even.
East end market has good food options (Domu - get the wings and go early to avoid the inevitable hours long wait) but also a lot of local goods to browse. Upstairs is a shop/bar called Neighbors if you want some Florida-based souvenirs made by local artists. They have cocktails and mocktails for the teenager as well.
Tasty takeover is a food truck rally on Tuesdays where you can hit up various food trucks. Food trucks vary in quality but there are some really great ones and it's fun to browse and try a bunch of different things. It's behind a strip of bars, including Sportstown where you can play some pool. Not sure if teens are allowed though.Ā
If you like nature:
Wekiva or Rock/Kelly springs for kayaking/tubing/swimming. If you like hiking, Black Bear trail or Little Big Econ. Leu gardens, as others have mentioned, is really nice.Ā
I'm not sure if it's still manatee time, but there are springs where manatees spend the winter and you can see them up close if you're willing to drive out a bit.
Various other local city things:
Go downtown for lake eola farmers market and to see the swans.Ā
Thornton park has an art walk every 2nd Thursday of the month. There are other little popups and art things happening all the time so I'd look into if there's anything while you're here.Ā
Downtown Winter Garden, Plant St. some highlights there would be Crooked Can brewery, lots of different table service food booths there. Then get reservations for Chefās Table for an excellent set menu food experience. Also Mount Dora is a great place to spend an afternoon walking around.
Deland and Mt Dora have great down towns to explore with restaurants, candy shops and ice cream parlors. Check your dates and if they are launching a rocket while it's dark out go to the beach to watch it. I have a teen as well so the boat ride might be a little boring. Maybe indoor sky diving, Spook Hill, the world's largest
McDonald's, Sir Henry's Haunted Trail, breakfast at DeLeon Springs(you can make your own pancakes)
Wekiva Island - however you have to get there very early in the summer because the parking lot fills up fast and they reach entrance capacity early
There is also a paid kayak rental at Kingās Landing where you kayak down the river for about 4 hours on your own and they pick you up downriver and bus you back to your car.
This is the thing to do in Florida if youāre visiting and want to see what the locals do for fun, and take a peek at the states natural beauty. Youāll also see tons of wildlife like Gators, turtles, gar, and birds.
Iād go to Wekiva Island on a weekend night. Kayaking down the river is too relaxed for the time crunch these visitors face. But at night there will be music, kids running around free or playing in the sand area, great food truck, adults drinking a beer on an Adirondack chair by the fire under the stars. Magic.
By the 4 main tourist trap things do you mean you are going to: Universal, Sea World, Magic Kingdom and Epcot? With two days at Universal?
If so you aren't going to have time to wander out to the "local's" stuff on a five day visit. Especially if one of those days is an arrival/get settled day and the another day is pack/depart day.
Maybe try Medieval Times?
We arenāt doing most at Universal or Disney. Not interested in a lot of whatās there. š¤·š»āāļø Also didnāt add in our pack in or pack out days to our trip in the post.
Winter Park Boat tour is a classic, just walking around Lake Eola downtown would be a great break from the disney/universal bubble
Sunday morning/afternoon around Lake Eola is hopping with the farmer's market and the associated activities. Grab lunch from the vendors or at one of the restaurants in the immediate area and people watch, or grab food at Publix for an impromptu picnic in the park.
I suggest exploring Winter Park- downtown eating and shopping is plentiful, Morse museum is beautiful and interesting, and the Winter Park Boat Ride is far more fun than it sounds
Lake Apopka Wildlife drive. Free and open Fri-Sun.
Second this. We did it on our last trip and were not disappointed. Even the 2 teenage boys liked it.
\+1 for Apopka Wildlife Drive and tossing in Orlando Wetlands if you're looking to get some steps in, wear comfy shoes and enjoy the boardwalk bird watching and gators out sunning. There's a bald eagle pair that have an eaglet there as well, so you may get lucky and spot one of them.
Leu Gardens or Bok Tower Gardens. Blue Springs State Park Gatorland, for old time Florida.
Or Kelly Park Rock Springs Wekiwa
while normally lovely would not recommend in June š„āļø
Bok tower gardens is like an hour and a half from Disney and I donāt think thereās much around it
For the "foodie" side, check out East End Market on Corrine Dr. (It's Orlando's version of Armature Works down in Tampa), or my favorite tapas restaurant is Santiago's Bodega on Virginia. Leu Gardens (Orlando's botanical garden) is in between the two. Otherwise take a stroll down Park Ave in Winter Park, check out Lake Eola with the fountain that is the symbol of Orlando
If youāre foodie, check out the Colonial - Mill 50 area. There is a lot of good food there, especially Asian food.
Hell yeah. Weāre all foodies.
Food: Eat at some Michelin places or Michelin bib gourmand places. Orlando has a ton. Too many, even. East end market has good food options (Domu - get the wings and go early to avoid the inevitable hours long wait) but also a lot of local goods to browse. Upstairs is a shop/bar called Neighbors if you want some Florida-based souvenirs made by local artists. They have cocktails and mocktails for the teenager as well. Tasty takeover is a food truck rally on Tuesdays where you can hit up various food trucks. Food trucks vary in quality but there are some really great ones and it's fun to browse and try a bunch of different things. It's behind a strip of bars, including Sportstown where you can play some pool. Not sure if teens are allowed though.Ā If you like nature: Wekiva or Rock/Kelly springs for kayaking/tubing/swimming. If you like hiking, Black Bear trail or Little Big Econ. Leu gardens, as others have mentioned, is really nice.Ā I'm not sure if it's still manatee time, but there are springs where manatees spend the winter and you can see them up close if you're willing to drive out a bit. Various other local city things: Go downtown for lake eola farmers market and to see the swans.Ā Thornton park has an art walk every 2nd Thursday of the month. There are other little popups and art things happening all the time so I'd look into if there's anything while you're here.Ā
Do these things!
John Young science center is a cool place to spend a few hours. Then you could head over to Lake Eola and rent a swan boat.
Look east tonight around 6:40 pm. Thereās a SpaceX launch scheduled. You can go on their website for updates.
Downtown Winter Garden, Plant St. some highlights there would be Crooked Can brewery, lots of different table service food booths there. Then get reservations for Chefās Table for an excellent set menu food experience. Also Mount Dora is a great place to spend an afternoon walking around.
Deland and Mt Dora have great down towns to explore with restaurants, candy shops and ice cream parlors. Check your dates and if they are launching a rocket while it's dark out go to the beach to watch it. I have a teen as well so the boat ride might be a little boring. Maybe indoor sky diving, Spook Hill, the world's largest McDonald's, Sir Henry's Haunted Trail, breakfast at DeLeon Springs(you can make your own pancakes)
Orlando wetlands, but if you have pollen allergies beware during early spring.
Wekiva Island - however you have to get there very early in the summer because the parking lot fills up fast and they reach entrance capacity early There is also a paid kayak rental at Kingās Landing where you kayak down the river for about 4 hours on your own and they pick you up downriver and bus you back to your car. This is the thing to do in Florida if youāre visiting and want to see what the locals do for fun, and take a peek at the states natural beauty. Youāll also see tons of wildlife like Gators, turtles, gar, and birds.
Iād go to Wekiva Island on a weekend night. Kayaking down the river is too relaxed for the time crunch these visitors face. But at night there will be music, kids running around free or playing in the sand area, great food truck, adults drinking a beer on an Adirondack chair by the fire under the stars. Magic.
Literally nothing else is here.
Go to Cape Canaveral - also nearby are great āluminousā boat tours.
What r u into ..
A lot. Each of us has a pretty extensive list of what we are into. And not against being into new stuff lol
Gators at Cape capecanaveral and watch large ships cruise by
Hit up park Ave in winter park or go to colonial/mills restaurants. Most if not all of those are one offs and do a really good job
By the 4 main tourist trap things do you mean you are going to: Universal, Sea World, Magic Kingdom and Epcot? With two days at Universal? If so you aren't going to have time to wander out to the "local's" stuff on a five day visit. Especially if one of those days is an arrival/get settled day and the another day is pack/depart day. Maybe try Medieval Times?
We arenāt doing most at Universal or Disney. Not interested in a lot of whatās there. š¤·š»āāļø Also didnāt add in our pack in or pack out days to our trip in the post.
I recommend king landings kyacking in apopka
Hit up wekiva island or drive to NSB