If you’re in or around Orlando, Florida before or after your cruise or you’re otherwise in the area,
there are many attractions and activities available as
alternatives to spending a full day at a theme park.
A lot of them are what we call “Quick Wins,” which are family attractions and
activities that won’t break the bank and can be completed in a few hours.
In this video, we’ll provide a quick overview
of eight “Quick Wins” that we enjoyed during our Summer 2021 visit to Orlando.
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Fun Spot America has two locations: one in Orlando and another nearby in Kissimmee.
Admission and parking to the attractions are free and both locations are open until midnight.
Individual ride tickets or all-day passes can be purchased to enjoy the rides.
Both parks feature family rides,
multi-level go karts,
kiddie rides,
thrill rides,
a midway,
and roller coasters, including the only wooden coaster in Orlando.
Before visiting the parks, we recommend visiting the company’s website
to check ride availability and height requirements.
And read about the complimentary chauffeur pass if you have a child under 54 inches tall.
Our family had a great time visiting both park locations
and the experience reminded me and Daddybean of the fairs we went to in our younger years.
And JellyBean rated the Freedom Flyer as one of her all-time favorite coasters.
SEA LIFE Aquarium is located in the heart
of International Drive, at The Wheelhouse at ICON Park.
The aquarium includes nine exhibits that feature a variety of fish and sea
creatures, including sharks, turtles, octopuses, stingrays, and seahorses.
The touchscreen displays located throughout the aquarium
provide additional information about each of the creatures.
The highlights for our family, included:
walking through the 360 Ocean Tunnel, with sea life above, beside, and below us;
posing for photos with our heads inside the aquarium bubbles;
and touching various creatures in the touch tank.
Madame Tussauds -- which is billed as the world’s greatest wax museum -- is
also located at The Wheelhouse at ICON Park.
Known for their shockingly lifelike wax sculptures of celebrities,
historical figures, and other well-known people, the original museum was opened in London in 1835.
The Orlando location is one of several museums located in major cities around the world.
During our visit, we had a blast posing with many TV and movie celebrities,
sports stars, historical leaders, and famous musicians.
Another attraction located at ICON Park is the Museum of Illusions, which features over 50
mind-bending exhibits that reveal a lot about how our brains interpret reality.
Make sure you have your phone fully charged because you’re
probably going to take a lot of photos.
In fact, during our visit, there were some exhibits where the 3D illusion
wasn’t complete until we took a photo.
Farris and Foster’s Famous Chocolate Factory
is located in Baldwin Park, about 10 miles north of the Orlando International Airport.
The store allows guests to make their own chocolate
during 90-minute chocolate parties that are scheduled throughout the day.
We visited Farris and Foster’s for Family Night,
which allowed us to take home a total of one pound of chocolate, as a group.
The staff brought melted milk, dark, and white chocolate to our table, which we used in
combination with a variety of molds, fillings, and ingredients to create our individual chocolates.
In addition to making molded chocolates, a conveyor belt was available to create
enrobed chocolates with ingredients such as cookies, pretzels, and more.
Our family had a great time dreaming up our unique and delicious chocolate creations and
we’ve definitely added this gem to our list of places to revisit the next time we’re in Orlando!
Maybe next time, we’ll decorate the tops of our molded chocolates.
The Slime Factory is located in the Florida Mall
and was the perfect surprise stop for Jellybean, who loves making slime.
The shop provides lab coats for kids to wear while they make their slime.
For our experience, Jellybean got to select the color of her slime and the mix-in.
After the creation process was complete, she added a small bit of her slime
to the Slime Wall and then played for a bit in the very large pool of pre-made slime.
The whole experience lasted about 30 minutes.
Disney Springs is a large Disney-themed shopping, restaurant, and entertainment complex
that has over 150 merchants as well as free live music that can
be heard from a number of stages. Self-parking is available for free.
Some of the places we visited at Disney Springs include:
The Coca-Cola Store’s Rooftop Beverage Bar.
We ordered the 16-drink Around The World Tour and had a hilarious time urging each other
to take additional sips of drinks we didn’t like so we could capture our reactions on video!
If you do visit and sample the Around The World Tray,
please comment below and settle our family debate about whether the Smart
Sour Plum drink from China tastes like barbeque sauce or an ashtray!
Gideon’s Bakehouse.
Known for their popular cookies, Gideon’s can have a wait time of several hours.
We got added to their virtual queue and explored more of Disney Springs
before it was our turn to order.
The good news is that the cookies were delicious and definitely worth the virtual wait!
The LEGO Store.
In addition to a wide variety of LEGO products,
the LEGO Store also features a Minifigure Factory, where visitors can create a custom minifigure.
We reserved a time slot online for Jellybean and she designed -- and named -- Lola!
The M&M’s Store.
The store features a wide variety of M&M’s
products as well as a “Design Your M&M’s” experience,
where you can put a design -- including your face! -- on your own batch of M&M’s.
We put our logo and some designs selected by Jellybean on pink and blue candies.
Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company.
If you’d rather have your face -- or other design -- on your coffee, Joffrey’s has Latte Art.
Select from a variety of designs they have available or upload your own design.
For our visit, we put our logo on our latte!
Everglazed Donuts & Cold Brew.
This shop features outrageous donuts with unusual toppings that
are perfect for posting to social media to scream, “I’m on vacation!”
For an over-the-top experience, order a Topper, which is a coffee topped with a donut,
like this Peanut Butter Topper.
Our eighth and final “Quick Win” is Gatorland, which was founded in 1949.
The 110-acre wildlife preserve features alligators, crocodiles, tortoises,
nature trails, a petting zoo, and more.
During our visit, one of the big highlights was having the opportunity to feed some alligators.
We also enjoyed the Swamp Walk, where we saw
animals in their natural habitat, including turtles,
and a Florida Cottonmouth, that was located just off the path.
Thankfully, Gatorland had a staff member standing nearby
to alert guests and keep the venomous snake off the path.