206 things to do in Orlando

Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a seasoned Orlando vacationer, this list will surely provide a few unique ideas for what to do in Orlando. I have done at least 40, what about you?

• Slip into the water with a beluga whale at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Sit on the back of a real alligator at Gatorland.
• Learn to surf without going to the beach at Ron Jon’s Surfpark, opening soon.
• Paddle a swan boat on Lake Eola.
• Smell the roses at Harry P. Leu Gardens.
• Cast a line for bass fishing with a guide.
• Marvel at Tiffany glass at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.
• Find Chief Osceola in the mural at Celebration Hotel.
• Touch a stingray at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Experience a night out in downtown Orlando.
• Count the manatees at Blue Spring State Park.
• Race your friends on go-karts at Fun Spot Action Park.
• Explore the headwaters of the Florida Everglades on an Orlando airboat adventure.
• Drive a stock car at 125 mph (201 km/h) at Richard Petty Driving Experience.
• Tour the world in under a mile at Epcot.
• Go whale watching at Port Canaveral.
• Dine at the world’s largest Hard Rock Cafe.
• View the stars from the largest refractor telescope in Florida at the Orlando Science Center.
• Get a taste of Hawaiian fusion at Roy’s Restaurant.
• Take a paddlewheel boat ride aboard the Indian River Queen.
• Treat yourself to “a little something” at Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Jimmy Choo or Coach at The Mall at Millenia.
• Feel the G-forces on a roller coaster at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
• Swim with the dolphins at Discovery Cove.
• Play golf on the same courses as Tiger Woods.
• Design and ride your own roller coaster at WonderWorks and DisneyQuest.
• Build your own teddy bear at The Florida Mall.
• Rock out to the sounds of hot new bands at the Florida Music Festival.
• See the weird and wild at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando Odditorium.
• Play glow-in-the-dark mini golf at Putting Edge in the Festival Bay Mall.
• Learn to water-ski at the Orlando Watersports Complex or Lake Buena Vista Water Sports.
• Go antiquing on Orange Avenue and in Mount Dora.
• Body surf at Wet ‘n Wild Orlando or Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park.
• See the Bible come to life at WordSpring Discovery Center and The Holy Land Experience.
• Uncover bargains at flea markets.
• Gamble in international waters on Sterling Casino and SunCruz Casino cruise lines.
• Jam at Bob Marley’s open-air house.
• Capture the grace of dance at an Orlando Ballet production.
• Be a pirate for a day aboard a giant, indoor galleon at Pirate’s Dinner Adventure.
• Take an art class at Crealdé School of Art or Maitland Art Center.
• Sample some of the nearly 150 wines sold by the ounce through high-tech Enomatic dispensing machines at The Wine Room in Winter Park.
• Recapture the history of the Seminole Indian War at Fort Christmas.
• Play in snow during Christmastime at Celebration.
• Be rescued by Arnold Schwarzenegger at Terminator 2: 3D.
• Visit Winter Park’s Park Avenue Shopping district.
• Watch golf greats at PGA Tour and LPGA Tour events.
• Pedal down the Atlantic boardwalk at Disney’s Boardwalk.
• Pick an orange from a tree.
• Glide gently back to solid ground after your first hang gliding experience at Wallaby Ranch Hang Gliding Flight Park.
• Battle comic villains with Spider-Man at Universal Orlando Resort.
• Sip a specialty martini at Blue Martini.
• Taste local wines at Lakeridge Winery.
• Test new toys at Disney’s Once Upon a Toy.
• Escape the Yeti on Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
• Cause a margarita volcano to erupt at Universal CityWalk.
• Be a clown during Cirque du Soleil.
• Dine with characters at your favorite theme park.
• Swim in 72°F (22°C) water year-round at Wekiwa Springs.
• Eat fries at the McDonalds with the world’s largest PlayPlace.
• Learn country line dancing at Cowboys Orlando.
• Visit the oldest African-American municipality – Eatonville.
• Catch Atlanta Braves’ spring baseball training or Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s NFL training camp at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
• Savor Italian ice cream at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel.
• Shake hands with the most famous mouse in the world – Mickey!
• Survive a psychological thrill on The Mummy at Universal Orlando.
• Pose for a photo with a four-story Big Wheel bike at Disney’s Pop Century Resort.
• Learn to Salsa and Merengue at Latin Quarter.
• Shop for surf gear 24-hours-a-day at Ron Jon’s Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach.
• Learn the delicate art of glass-blowing at CityArts Factory in downtown Orlando.
• Enjoy a carillon concert at Historic Bok Sanctuary.
• Find your birthday in the tile floor at The Mall at Millenia.
• Tour International Drive on an I-Ride Trolley.
• Meet the residents of Pine Valley, Port Charles and Llanview at ABC’s Super Soap Weekend held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• See the movies come to life at Universal Studios.
• Train like an astronaut at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
• Buy top goods at great prices at the area’s outlet centers.
• Savor the real key lime pie – it’s yellow!
• Dine outside year-round.
• Learn to sky dive indoors at SkyVenture Orlando.
• Trade pins at Epcot.
• Select a stogie from the 1.5 million cigars at Corona Cigar Company.
• Watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
• Touch an iceberg at Titanic ~ The Exhibition.
• Test your BMX skills at Vans Skatepark.
• View American folk art at House of Blues.
• Learn to hula dance at a luau.
• Shoot hoops at NBA City.
• Milk a cow at Green Meadows Petting Farm.
• Feel the force of an earthquake at WonderWorks.
• Come face-to-face with Jaws.
• Enjoy breakfast in bed – in public – at The Beacon, a trendy restaurant and nightclub in downtown Orlando’s Thornton Park.
• Ride the famous glass-bottom boats at Silver Springs.
• Build an animal, car or anything else at LEGO Imagination Center.
• Find animals in the Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
• Feel the “conga beat” at Gloria Estefan’s restaurant, Bongos Cuban Café.
• Parasail above Central Florida’s chain of lakes.
• Head under the sea in a clamobile with Nemo and his friends at Epcot.
• Marvel at mansions as you boat through lakes and canals in Winter Park.
• Grill your own pancakes in an old sugar mill at Deleon Springs.
• Relax at one of 16 destination spas.
• “Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits” at the gospel brunch at House of Blues.
• Enjoy a steak cooked to perfection at Hawk’s Landing Steak House while overlooking the 18th green at the Orlando World Center Marriott.
• Get married with Mickey as your best man or Minnie as your maid of honor.
• Drop 13 stories on Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Perform as a duck master during the Duck March at The Peabody Orlando.
• Putt-putt through wild animals and pirates.
• Cheer on a cowboy at Silver Spurs Rodeo.
• Be surrounded in your own in-hotel room theatre.
• Be a marine life trainer for a day at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Eat space food at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
• Wrap up in seaweed at one of the area spas.
• Be serenaded by a singing waiter at Bergamo’s Italian Restaurant.
• Get shrunk at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Take in a moo-ving play at the Mad Cow Theatre.
• Rev your engines at a NASCAR race.
• Become a part of the skyline at Manuel’s on the 28th.
• Taste gator bites and gator ribs at Gatorland.
• Purchase discount Tickets at Orlando’s Official Visitor Center.
• Shop at one of nine regional Shopping malls.
• Buy fresh produce at farmer’s markets.
• Discover the lost city of Atlantis at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Go hog wild and rent a Harley-Davidson.
• Work on your swing with Annika Sorenstam’s coach at the Annika Academy at Ginn Reunion Resort.
• Watch Walter Farley’s Black Stallion at Arabian Nights.
• Get chased by a chain saw gang during Halloween Horror Nights.
• Discover a bird’s eye view from a helicopter.
• Solve a mystery at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Shows.
• Try to find a straight line at Seuss Landing at Univeral’s Islands of Adventure.
• Plummet 125 feet (138 meters) on a water slide.
• Team up to protect your home base during laser tag.
• Share the spotlight at Sak Comedy Lab.
• Rock out to an impromptu concert by The Blues Brothers at Universal Studios.
• Dine in Cinderella’s castle at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
• Cook your own food at The Melting Pot.
• Walk down New York Avenue at Universal Studios.
• Launch into space on Mission: SPACE at Disney’s Epcot.
• Sharpen your golf skills at one of 23 academies.
• Improve your game with tennis lessons.
• Enjoy fireworks every night.
• See otters and manatees on a kayaking adventure.
• Be part of the pit crew at Daytona USA.
• Bask in the sun
• Enjoy the opera or the philharmonic.
• See the newest independent films at the Enzian Theater, home of the Florida Film Festival.
• View jewelry created by local artists at the Grand Bohemian Gallery.
• Buy your last-minute gifts at one of the airport’s many shops.
• Dance on a spinning dance floor at Mannequins.
• Drink a pint and eat fish and chips at Cricketers Arms Pub and Eatery or Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant.
• Observe downtown Orlando at night from its rooftop bars – Latitudes & Sky60.
• Become a Shamu “splash victim.”
• Feed and bark back at sea lions.
• Become a crash-test dummy at Test Track at Epcot.
• Watch top recording artists perform at House of Blues, Hard Rock Live or Amway Arena.
• Play Frisbee golf at Barnett Park.
• Go rollerblading at West Orange Trail.
• Ride the largest, fastest, tallest roller coaster in Orlando at SeaWorld Orlando.
• Come face-to-face with wild animals at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
• Come this close to a predator of the deep at Sharks Underwater Grill at SeaWorld.
• Eat sweet corn at the Zellwood Sweet Corn Festival.
• Hang out with Shrek at Universal Studios.
• See International Drive upside down from a window at WonderWorks.
• Dine with an astronaut at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
• Relax on a white sand beach.
• Learn how to draw a cartoon at The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Become a particle of food at the Orlando Science Center.
• Keep the beat with the incomparable Blue Man Group at Universal Orlando Resort, starting in June 2007.
• Gaze out on an African savannah at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
• Listen to rock ‘n’ roll music under water at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort.
• Fly through the air on the sky coaster at Old Town Shopping, Dining & Entertainment Attraction.
• Cheer on your knight at Medieval Times.
• Pose for the cover of your favorite magazine.
• Spot bald eagles and blue herons on Orlando’s lakes.
• Hear the tales of great African-American musicians at the Wells’ Built Hotel.
• Bring home a can of moon soup from Chalet Suzanne.
• Experience Central Florida’s natural beauty on horseback.
• Sleep in a castle.
• View the workings of a movie studio’s costume department.
• Bask in the moonlight during a pedicab ride on International Drive.
• Place your bet at a Jai-Alai game.
• Celebrate your heritage, whether Irish, Native American or Polish at local festivals.
• Learn more about the history of Orlando and the definition of a “cracker” at the Orange County Regional History Center.
• Go on an African safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
• Careen through the streets of Hollywood on Rock ‘n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Eat lunch or dinner at a drive-in theatre at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Enjoy a luxurious, citrus-themed spa treatment at The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Grande Lakes.
• Laugh along with the top names in comedy at the Orlando Improv and Dottie’s Orlando Comedy Theater.
• Set sail for a lunch or dinner cruise down the St. Johns River on the Rivership Romance.
• “Ooh and aah” during the famous water-ski show at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.
• Sing along with the crowd at a dueling piano bar at Howl at the Moon Orlando.
• Crash a hilarious Italian-American wedding at Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding, Orlando’s newest dinner attraction.
• Capture the checkered flag in a NASCAR simulator at Full Speed Race & Golf.
• Buy art off the walls at Café Tu Tu Tango.
• Get a make-over from a Fairy Godmother-in-training at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney.
• Share the “kitchen sink” at Disney’s Beaches & Cream Soda Shop.
• Defend the world against aliens at MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack at Universal Studios.
• Dine in a private “snug” at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant.
• Watch sea turtles hatch on the coast.
• Eat fresh, local strawberries in the middle of winter.
• Enjoy tea and an architectural tour of beautiful downtown Celebration.
• Have a psychic reading at the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp.
• See the caricatures of celebrities and famous Orlando residents at The Palm Orlando and Jack’s Place.
• Eat breakfast with Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants at Nickelodeon Family Suites.
• Picnic on the shores of Lake Eola.
• Accelerate to 120mph (201 km/h) in under two seconds at G Force Drag Racing.
• Get your face painted at one of many area festivals.
• Hang glide above California’s redwood forests at Epcot’s Soarin’.
• Spot sneetches on the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.