Anyone visit an orange grove?

[eliewriter]

Not sure if we'll actually have time for this but if there's an orange grove anywhere near the places we're visiting, I'd love to stop and take my kids on a quick tour.

We'll be near Disney, of course, also taking a trip to the Atlantic coast (I think Canaveral Beach is what they call it?). Going to Lakeland and the Gulf Coast one day too.

Anyone know of a tourable orange grove near any of those places, just in case we can fit it in?

Oh, and I also saw there's a citrus candy/goatsmilk fudge place a little south of Kissimmee. Anyone know if that's worth a stop?

Thanks, I really appreciate all the good insight on this board!

 

[GOLFDISNEY72]

When we were kids we stopped on our way to Disney world and picked oranges. I am going to monitor this thread because now I'm curious

 

[sympatico]

There's this place that's a little bit north of the Walmart on Route 27.
http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/index.asp

 

[isla bonita]

We have picked fruit from there many a time.

There fresh squeezed OJ is worth the trip alone. We have had lemons and limes the size of a baby footballs. They made some very good Margarita's and real lemonade I might add.

We have made some good fresh fruit smoothies.

 

[eldres]

I went there back in november to get some oranges,worth the trip.

 

[MinnieForMe]

We've been to Showcase of Citrus too! I believe it's family owned. We go back every year. Unfortunately, we never pick oranges (we see the grove) but we have them shipped. My kids enjoy looking around their outside stand.

 

[KerriMc]

We always go there to get oranges as well as we are fairly close to it. We went to pick last year though and all of the oranges were WAY up high. We could only access rotten ones The kids weren't impressed with the yucky bugs flying around the rotten ones ... lol!! So we went back in and picked them out of the bins!!! The orange juice is AWESOME!!!

Kerri

 

[eliewriter]

There's this place that's a little bit north of the Walmart on Route 27.
http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/index.asp

Thanks, all, this is great. Any idea how close Showcase of Citrus is to Disney World/Kissimmee (or maybe I should ask in terms of travel time instead of distance)?

 

[eliewriter]

We have had lemons and limes the size of a baby footballs. They made some very good Margarita's and real lemonade I might add.

We have made some good fresh fruit smoothies.

I originally pictured picking a couple of oranges just for the experience but now we HAVE to go! All this planning is making me wish I had the makings for a fresh mojito right now! (Smoothies sound good too, in their own way).

: )

 

[sympatico]

Thanks, all, this is great. Any idea how close Showcase of Citrus is to Disney World/Kissimmee (or maybe I should ask in terms of travel time instead of distance)?

If you were going to leave the Citrus place and drive to Disney it would take about 15 - 20 minutes. It says on their site that their 10 min from Disney. That might be a little low.
It's #186 on this map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...28.40182,-81.674767&spn=0.068252,0.11055&z=13

Here's the review page from Trip Advisor:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...iews-Showcase_of_Citrus-Clermont_Florida.html
Here's a news report done about it with a slide show.
http://www.wftv.com/travelgetaways/18243673/detail.html#-

 

[Grumpy's_Gal]

We were just at Showcase of Citrus last week! The pepole that were there were just so nice and friendly! We bought a small bag of oranges, tangerines, and pomelos (sp?) that we picked from the bins. It was too cold and windy the day we went to go out to the groves. I'm definitely going to go back next trip!

(BTW - I thought the shipping was really high, so I took my chances that I would be able to carry the oranges on the plane as one of my carry-ons. Airtran didn't question me at all.)

Lori

 

[Parkers_girl]

Florida's Natural, the orange juice company is based out of Polk county and it's about 45 minutes from Disney. They have beautiful groves and a cute visitors center. http://www.floridasnatural.com/visitor_center.php

 

[Cloudboy]

About how much does it cost to pick Oranges? Is it really expensive?

 

[sympatico]

I don't think you have to pay to pick, just pay for the fruit that you pick. The Swamp Buggy ride is extra though.

 

[eliewriter]

I'm so happy that the groves are so close. I wasn't sure if they were farther south so it sounds like it will be pretty easy to go.

Since Showcase of Citrus sounds like it may be closest, how much time would you recommend we allow there? We're budgeting so I don't think we'd do the swamp buggy ride, maybe just pick a few oranges and smell the orange blossoms, taste some fruit and juice and pick up some marmalade.

 

[MinnieForMe]

I'd give Showcase a call and see what the minimum number of oranges you can pick is. We've never spent more than an hour there but the buggy/4 wheeler wasn't working during our visit last year.

They also sell a little plastic device that you push into an orange and you can drink the juice right from the orange. I think it was a quarter. My kids got a kick out of it (doesn't take much).

 

[thorphin]

I have some vague recollection from my childhood of driving past orange groves on the way to WDW, coming from the north. Obviously, things changed in 20 years, but I was just wondering if anyone is aware of groves that might be "on the way" to Disney for someone who would be coming down I-75. Truly, I don't even care about stopping, I'd just like to drive by if they aren't way out of the way -- it's just fun for this Illinoisan to see crops that aren't corn and soybeans!

 

[isla bonita]

I originally pictured picking a couple of oranges just for the experience but now we HAVE to go! All this planning is making me wish I had the makings for a fresh mojito right now! (Smoothies sound good too, in their own way).: )

I do not think you will be sorry.

Take my word fo rit the OJ is to die for and I am not a fan of it.

 

[TinkerBellToo2]

There's this place that's a little bit north of the Walmart on Route 27.
http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/index.asp

We visited this place this passed December. Even though it was snowing in New England It was Orange Picking time here. Great place. They give tours and also have a area where you can pick your own oranges, and a little shop where they sell other thing too.

 

[dsnymomof4]

We would also like to visit an orange grove on our drive up from Vero Beach to WDW in August. Unfortunately, it says on their website that the u-pick is closed during the summer. Does anyone know of another place that we could pick oranges in August?