Beyond Theme Parks
Once you’ve posed for pictures with Snow White at Disney World or been splashed by Shamu at SeaWorld, here are some sights and activities where you can immerse yourself in the Central Florida lifestyle:
Thornton Park (just east of Lake Eola in downtown Orlando): A tree-lined area of renovated homes, alfresco European-style cafes, bookstores and coffee shops ideal for adults that want to escape the syrupy, no-worries ambiance of the theme parks. This area is one our favorite places to sip coffee or beer and people-watch our fellow citizens.
The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art: This has to be the best museum deal in America. For $3 adults, $1 students (kids under 12 are free), you can wander through 11,000 square feet of the best collection of Tiffany glass on the planet, from stained glass to vases and lamps. www.morsemuseum.org
Blue Spring State Park: About 45 minutes east of Orlando in Orange City, Blue Spring State Park is my favorite place to see manatees. From mid-November through February, all boating, swimming and snorkeling are suspended while the manatees are in residence. www.floridastateparks.org
Aquatica by SeaWorld Opens
SeaWorld Orlando’s Aquatica water park opened its doors on March 1, becoming the first major theme park addition in Orlando in about eight years. Located across the street from SeaWorld Orlando, the new park’s design was inspired by the South Seas and offers 36 water slides, six rivers and lagoons, more than 80,000 square feet of beaches, and a diverse group of animal and wildlife inhabitants, from Commerson dolphins and giant anteaters to exotic fish and birds.
Aquatica also features several restaurants, picnic areas, lockers, showers and changing rooms and a nursing mother’s station. Cabanas are available for rent. Admission is $38.95 plus tax for adults, $32.95 plus tax for children ages 3 to 9, children 2 and younger are free. Car or camper parking is $10.
Dine With the Locals
Here are recommendations to some great places I send my visiting friends to dine. Read the Orlando Family Dining article for top spots for travelers with kids.
Seasons 52, tel. 407-354-5212, www.seasons52.com: If you want to hang with the locals, this is one of Orlando’s busiest restaurants. The menu changes weekly depending on seasonal crops. Everything is made with fresh ingredients and the ambiance is contemporary and casually elegant.
Spoodles, tel. 407-939-3463: A Mediterranean-fare restaurant at Disney’s Boardwalk where the lemon-pepper shrimp and steak kabobs refuse to leave my culinary memory bank.
Texas de Brazil, tel. 407-355-0355; www.texasdebrazil.com: If you’re famished after a day of theme park hopping, this Brazilian-style churrascaria on Universal Drive offers huge quantities of excellent food. Giant skewers of grilled meat are the draw here.
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