Chilling Days

We are off to Orlando in August for our 4th visit. This time we are determined to have some chilling time and not try and see every last square metre of every park in the fear that we have missed something. Other than the obvious of relaxing by the pool at the villa can you suggest things to do that are not as frenetic as the parks but interesting to do with 4 teenagers. If it helps we (OK my wife) has all the shopping places planned, we expect a day at Cocoa beach and of course we have the villa to relax in but other suggestions would be appreciated[msnsmile2]

Have breakfast or any meal at Celebration and then walk around the lakes, it's wonderful :)

Why not try ATVs 4x4 Dune Buggies, Bass fishing and Water Skiing at Revolution? Have a look at www.revolutionoffroad.com

If you go the The Polk Out Post on the 27 just South of the junction with the I4 you will find some more suggestions about non-theme park activities in Polk County

Lynne

Go to the air boats at SOUTHPORT it is a nice day and you can see lots of wildlife .
There is a man made beach at ST CLOUD and a restaurant called CRABBY BILLS for eat in or take out .
Have a day at DAYTONA and look in the shop at the speedway also if no racing on you can go to sit and look at the race track .
There is a winery at clarmont called LAKERIDGE WINERY worth going there and the wine is exellent .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

Try the Mini golf at Disney's Fantasia or Winetr Summerland, or have a ride at Boggy Creek Airboats.

Go bowling on 192 or drive in movie at Lakeland.

keep them all coming it all sounds good [msnwink]

As already said, Boggy Creek is worth a visit.

Cirque du Soleil is a fantastic entertainment experience. If you haven't been before, it is a must see attraction.

Nuala

We love the state parks there are lots to pick from and most have BBQ's so picnicing is easy plus a vairety of things to do from boat trips, swimming, lazing about plus space to play football or ultimate frisbee.

Canoeing at Wekiwa Springs
Boggy Creek Airboat Rides
A laid back park like Cypress Gardens
Bird watching over at Merrit Island or almost anywhere.

Disney's Boardwalk nice food, walk round lake, shops, call at the bar!

There is a winery/vineyard up on Highway 27 called Lakeland, it is free and they have tastings, in the summer months they have several events such as a strawberry fair and a jazz weekend.

Also prior to that is Lake louisa, great day for the real Florida state park

Have a great time

Its Lakeridge Winery on the 27 and they have an event called the August Stomp with live music and grape treading. This is not a sophisticated affair just locals really. I think entrance was just a couple of dollars last year.

Haven't done any of these ourselves as our kids are younger, but these might appeal to teenagers:

Blue Man Group at Universal Orlando Resort.
Sunday gospel brunch at the House of Blues.
Live music at Hard Rock Live.
Vans Skatepark at Festival Bay Mall.
Indoor surfing at a place in the Florida Mall (name escapes me at the moment).
Classic car watching at Old Town on a Saturday night.

Check out the website of the Orlando Visitors Bureau for more ideas - they have a page titled 208 things to do in 2008, plus an events calendar and lots more.

Sandra

Cheers guys. I would like to add we are only going for 2 weeks !![msnembarrased] Seriously thanx for all the suggestions it is appreciated

There is also the Kennedy Space Centre and perhaps also a trip to Merrit Island to see the wildlife.

Shaun there is always the next time make a ledger and put them all in for the future[msnsmile2]
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by shaunboxer
Cheers guys. I would like to add we are only going for 2 weeks !![msnembarrased] Seriously thanx for all the suggestions it is appreciated
[/quote]

THIS time you may only be going for 2 weeks but I bet once you're there it'll be the same as the rest of us and Arnie "I'll be back" Schwarzennegger. :)

It changes and evolves so much over there all the time and there are always new things we want to try but run out of time so have to keep going back to see if we can see them this time. The difficulty is we also still want to revisit the favourite places.

Mount Dora, Crystal Springs, the list is endless. Instead of a day at Cocoa beach which is the Atlantic, why not have a trip over to the Gulf coast St.Petersburg and drive over the Skyway bridge, always think it is worth it to Sarasota, lovely day out.

Val

We tried both the Atlantic beaches and the Gulf, the Gulf beaches were much better, the water seemed warmer too and there were shark teeth to collect too![msnsmile2]

It just comes down to; 'so much to do, so little time' [msnwink]

Have a great stay and plan to be back :D

Spot on Nina[msnwink]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Nina A
It just comes down to; 'so much to do, so little time' [msnwink]

Have a great stay and plan to be back :D
[/quote]

Hi everyone, going on from the theme of chilling days, we arrived in orlando friday before last and have visited theme parks every day including a near 12 hour session today at Busch Gardens. Whilst we all love the parks i am thinking we need to lighten up for a couple of days to avoid burn out. i was thinking of taking a picnic somewhere and wondered if anybody knew of some places just to sit on the grass and relax perhaps by a lake or where we can have a not too strenuous stroll. by the way we are having a great time and even though the weather has been extremely hot in the parks especially last week, there is no place i would rather be than here. any sugestions would be much appreciated.
Tony

Lake Louisa State Park - it's lovely and peaceful. They have bbq's that you can use just take along your coals and food also a beach.

Well, we've been here since last Saturday, first two days were great, however, all it's done for the last 4 days is RAIN RAIN RAIN, we went shopping for two days! [msnsmile2] Yesterday it seemed like it had eased up so we went to Holywood Studios at disney, the rides were great, but at about 4pm it started to rain again and it didnt stop until this morning, we sat in the rain for over an hour waiting for fantasmic only for them to CANCEL it. I couldn't believe it. They should have cancelled it before they let everyone in. Disney has seriously gone down in my professionalism books!

So here we are again, wondering what to do today. The rain has eased up and we're thinking of going to epcot this afternoon.

Any ideas for things to do in the DRY!

Hi Mark,
Last year we did the 'Meal & a Movie' deal at Universal. There are lots of good movies out at the moment including the new Batman movie - 'The Dark Knight'(which we saw this year at Downtown Disney).Highly recommended if you haven't already seen it although it's not suitable for young children!
Fingers crossed for more sunshine for the next few weeks -we have friends staying in our villa at the moment & my sister joined them last night!
Jeanette