Aside from theme parks, what are the other must do’s in Orlando?

[hrhdhd]

Except it is the only place that serves Toasted Ravioli ... I grew up in St. Louis and that is unique for the Italian neighborhood Restaurants on the Hill. I also love the Zuppa Toscani soup and the salads and the breadsticks and the tiramisu when I eat at the Olive Garden.

Mmmmm, Zuppa Toscana. That soup is my crack.

 

[ChanaC]

Just be aware that the rocket launches often get delayed, sometimes by a few hours, sometimes by a few days. If you go out to the coast to see it, make sure to plan other stuff in the area like the beach and lunch/dinner. That way if the launch doesn't happen you can still have a nice day and not feel like you wasted it.

For reference, you can usually see the launches really well from the Orlando area. I've even seen quite a few even from South Florida. Just make sure to find an area where you can get a good view of the horizon. Standing on a tall building really helps. Night launches are also really cool because the fire/exhaust really lights up the sky. I remember back in the days of the space shuttles the entire eastern sky would glow orange.

 

[Breezer4]

Just be aware that the rocket launches often get delayed, sometimes by a few hours, sometimes by a few days. If you go out to the coast to see it, make sure to plan other stuff in the area like the beach and lunch/dinner. That way if the launch doesn't happen you can still have a nice day and not feel like you wasted it.

For reference, you can usually see the launches really well from the Orlando area. I've even seen quite a few even from South Florida. Just make sure to find an area where you can get a good view of the horizon. Standing on a tall building really helps. Night launches are also really cool because the fire/exhaust really lights up the sky. I remember back in the days of the space shuttles the entire eastern sky would glow orange.

Can you see a launch from Disney? I know it’s not nearly as exciting as going over to Cape Canaveral, but I’m curious if you can see anything.

 

[ChanaC]

Can you see a launch from Disney? I know it’s not nearly as exciting as going over to Cape Canaveral, but I’m curious if you can see anything.

Yep! I've definitely seen them from my time visiting and working there, plus going to school at UCF (although that was east of Disney so technically closer)! Yes, Disney is not nearly as exciting as being on the beach or coast but if you are from out of the area and never saw them before it's still really cool! One of my favorites was from nearby-ish at Give Kids the World Village. I was volunteering during one of the Falcon tests when they launched and then tried landing the rockets on the barges. It happened to be during one of their nightly parties and we were able to tell the DJ it was happening and he was able to announce it to the families over his mic. It was a night and you could really see the flames! GKTW has wish kids from all over and you could tell a bunch of them were excited to see it, kind of a fun bonus they didn't except to experience on their wish trip! I also happened to be in South Florida nearly 200 miles away this November and I was able to see the Falcon 9 launch last year very clearly. Like I said in the previous post, I was at UCF in the last few years of the shuttle program and there was absolutely no way you could miss the launch if you were outside. Before you could even see the shuttle and the exhaust the night sky started glowing orange, and by the time the shuttle was in view it was like watching a fireball.

My suggestion is that if you are going to look for it, plan on being on a tall building or somewhere with a lot of clear horizon space. Off the top of my head, two good places would be on the Grand Floridian beach looking east over the lake or on the top of the Disney Springs parking garages, once again looking east. Even if you are at a moderate or value resort you could probably go the top of the eastern most building and look east. I personally think a night launch is easier because the flames really stand out. Of course, a clear day with no/barely any clouds is preferred, but they don't tend to launch on cloudy/rainy days anyway. These days SpaceX does a livestream of their launches so it's easy to watch and thus know when it's going up. If I remember correctly in Orlando you can see things pretty immediately, but in South Florida we had to wait about 30-60 seconds for the rocket to get high enough to be visible. Of course the bigger rockets are the exciting things, but it seems like they are doing a few launches every month so keep an eye on the calendar. And remember about the delays. If you are with children you may need to remind them to be patient. Sometimes they get delayed by an hour or two, sometimes it's a day or two. I've even seen them cancel a launch with only a few seconds left on the clock. So have a backup plan if necessary.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

My kids love fun spot Orlando. Mostly for the go cart tracks. They have 4. Groupon has unlimited tickets for $40. It was kinda sad after 4 days at Disney and 1000s of dollars we decided to check out fun spot. My kids said this is so much fun it's better than Disney mom. I know they dont really mean that but we went at 10 am and they just opened there was only 100 people there so no lines and the kids were able to ride over and over with little to no wait.