Fun things to do for teens in and around Orlando?

[2mickeys1minnie]

Heading down to Orlando for a week in July and I'm wondering what there is to do for teens? We are traveling with our 18, 16 yo boys and 12 year old girl. We are doing Bush Gardens one day and maybe Aquatica. Any suggestions for other fun things to do? My boys love go karts and jet ski's - any place within a reasonable driving distance you would recommend? Other suggestions?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We rented jet skis from Makaio Watersports in August 2014, and it was our then 18-year-old's favourite activity of the trip. We had several lakes we could pick from, and chose the Lake Minneola/Lake Minnehaha region which was an easy drive frm our villa in Lake Buena Vista to the lake in Clermont (maybe 30-40 minutes?). I can't recommend Makaio highly enough....their customer service was excellent.

Fun Spot America has multiple go-kart tracks at each of their two locations. We prefer the I-Drive location over the one in Kissimmee, though. You can sometimes find discounted admission to Fun Spot on Groupon, and their all-day admission bands include unlimited go-kart rides (as well the other rides in the park....and at the I-Drive Fun Spot, also admission to Gator Spot).

Have you also considered Madame Tussaud's at I-Drive 360? Or the combo pass that includes the Eye, Tussauds, and Sea Life Aquarium? It might be worth a look.

https://www.officialorlandoeye.com/tickets-prices/

 

[TwoMisfits]

Heading down to Orlando for a week in July and I'm wondering what there is to do for teens? We are traveling with our 18, 16 yo boys and 12 year old girl. We are doing Bush Gardens one day and maybe Aquatica. Any suggestions for other fun things to do? My boys love go karts and jet ski's - any place within a reasonable driving distance you would recommend? Other suggestions?

We don't do karts, but K1Speed is highly rated AND indoor in Orlando (not the cheapest, so I would look for a deal)...https://www.k1speed.com/
Another highly rated activity is not jet skis, but is on the water - paddleboarding at Paddleboard Orlando (again, not the cheapest, but even better rated... http://www.paddleboardorlando.com/wp/
I would also take them all to an Escape Room or a Mini Golf course...and then I'd do an evening show (either Blue Man Group, Cirque Du Soleil, or Titanic Dinner Gala, whichever is in their wheelhouse...

 

[PrincessLily_]

When we go to Orlando we always make time to squeeze in a trip to Gatorland as it's my brother's favourite place (he'll be 16 this June). As a family we all love it and it's such a fun place to go to. It's a half day kind of park with shows (including gator wrestling and gator jumping which is awesome!) and loads of different kinds of animals, not just Gators! My brother's favourite thing is feeding the gators hot dogs that you can buy for them They used to do an evening thing as well which is reaaallly good, where you could go to the park at night and go into the swamps with flashlights, find the gators and feed them and then afterwards they put on a BBQ buffet for everyone but I'm not sure if that's still going. I think it's about $20 for kids and $25 for adults if I remember rightly and only about a 20 minute drive away from Disney/Universal. I'd definitely recommend it for teens!

 

[sk8jdgca]

River tubing at Kelly Park should be good for them. Here is the link but read up on them on trip advisor.
http://www.ocfl.net/cultureparks/parks.aspx?m=dtlvw&d=22#.V0zJpJCs-K1
There are a couple more state parks nearby that look good and a way to cool off in July.

My kids love mini golf and there are often coupons on groupon or living social.

 

[GEM]

My 13 year old's favorite thing last trip was renting the little speed boats (used to be called Water Sprites or Water Mice...but I think they are called Sea Raycers now) at the Polynesian. He was THRILLED to find out he was old enough to take his very own boat out on the water and race around Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake on his own. A HUGE thrill for a kid that age.

 

[crjack]

We just returned from our trip and our kids and their friends loved The Escape Room. We had busy days at the parks so wasn't sure about night plans but everyone really enjoyed this.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

As a few others said, there are two indoor electric karting facilities in the Orlando area. K1 Speed and I-Drive NASCAR on International Dr. I-Drive NASCAR has a little more in their building to offer off track than K1 Speed does. I have done junior driving clinic at both locations and the kart are good, fast and a lot of fun for people of all ages.

There is always Dave & Busters as well on I-Drive which is just a large arcade & restaurant. No go karts but they have a lot of racing games in there.

I highly recommend either of the karting facilities!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

My 13 year old's favorite thing last trip was renting the little speed boats (used to be called Water Sprites or Water Mice...but I think they are called Sea Raycers now) at the Polynesian. He was THRILLED to find out he was old enough to take his very own boat out on the water and race around Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake on his own. A HUGE thrill for a kid that age.

DO you remember how much the water mice were? We haven't done that in years - when they used to be half hour free with an hour purchase. I looked at Disney's site and its such a hot mess now, I can't a thing.

 

[GEM]

DO you remember how much the water mice were? We haven't done that in years - when they used to be half hour free with an hour purchase. I looked at Disney's site and its such a hot mess now, I can't a thing.

I think it was around $30 for a half hour, $50 for an hour. If you have a Disney Visa, DVC, or AP there are some discounts offered.

 

[keishashadow]

Heading down to Orlando for a week in July and I'm wondering what there is to do for teens? We are traveling with our 18, 16 yo boys and 12 year old girl. We are doing Bush Gardens one day and maybe Aquatica. Any suggestions for other fun things to do? My boys love go karts and jet ski's - any place within a reasonable driving distance you would recommend? Other suggestions?

is this your first trip to Orlando? Just asking as when my boys were tweens/teens, it was all about the parks with a beach day thrown into the mix. They enjoyed karting, jet skis, etc. but agreed they could just as well do those activities at home. They talked me into branching out to Universal as part of a split trip from WDW, no looking back now lol.