Old Town

[Scoutdog]

Is "Old Town" worth a trip on a day-off from Disney? The photos of it remind me of Bagnell Dam area at Lake of the Ozarks-- only OT looks nicer. We have a 1-1/2 and 4 year old

 

[TotoToo]

Its mostly a tourist trap of shops. It has interesting architecture and there are some antiques and displays that are nice but it isn't a big deal. A few years ago we made it a regular stop (my daughter was younger and liked the slide that crossed between two buildings as part of a big play area - I don't even know if it's still there). We liked the 5 cent Cokes (!) - I'm sure those are no more - and we all liked looking through the shops. We dabbled at times with the go-karts and other rides but never spent more than a few hours there. It hasn't been a priority recently and I don't think we've actually walked around there in 5 years or more.

 

[utahkennedys]

Ten years ago I would have said "yes", now I say "no". I used to love it, now it is run down and depressing to me...maybe others have a different opinion, but it used to be upbeat and fun, but the last time we were there 1/2 of the shops seemed vacant and it had these very somber, sad feeling to me...Still love the one store something like "Black Market Mining" or something? But, not worth a trip just for OT to me...

 

[FLParadisevilla]

You could go to Old Town and Celebration in one day. That would be a nice day off from the parks. I have heard the car shows are nice at Old Town.

 

[lovindonald]

I don't think you would have enough to do for a whole day. It is really touristy and cute to drive through but other than a few amusements, I don't know what you would do. Maybe I missed something when we were there. We ate at the brand new Cici's there and at Moe's when we were there in August but other than that, we didn't spend any time there. I do know there is a trolley.

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

It can be fun for a few hours - but if you had to choose to give up a day at Disney - go to Disney. Old Towne can be entertaining for a few hours.

 

[jeff968]

We always go for the car show on Saturday night which is great!

 

[Figment22]

I have to agree with jeff968 that the classic car shows are awesome! Of course, I live with two total gearheads! (DH and DS17) It's much more interesting to hit Old Town as an evening attraction. Things are hopping from about 6:00 p.m. on. It's worth a couple of hours then.

Here's a link to the Old Town car show information:
http://www.old-town.com/classic.html

 

[isla bonita]

I have to agree with the posters Lisa and Jeff.

My guys not only like the cars but also the bikes.

 

[kilee]

As someone who isn't into cars- about 1- 1 1/2 hrs is plenty. There were some cute shops, but they were all pretty much just touristy shops. I don't think there'd be enough to do there for a whole day or even a 1/4 day though.

 

[Scoutdog]

ParadiseVilla,
What would you recommend doing in Celebration with small kids?

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We'll keep OT in mind for dinner on one of the days we're not going to the parks.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Well Celebration has a movie theater there that looks very new! They have a lake that you can walk around. I am not sure but maybe someone else knows if you can rent paddle boats or something like that.

Here is a list of thier scheduled events. I have not been to any before, but I will be going in May and will let you all know what I find when we are there. We did go for the Snow and dinner one night in December and it was fun to see the kids all jumping around and playing in the snow(soap bubbles) LOL

http://www.celebrationfl.com/press_room/index.html (these are old things but I will keep looking for new events.)

Another option, could be a day at the beach with the kids.
Or
http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/ (I have never been but it looks nice) Or Gatorland... we went in Dec it definately does not have the Disney effect, but it was worth the $20.00 to go for half a day.
I also want to go here on one of our trips http://www.manateecam.com/

 

[Goofysmate]

We always go to old town in the evening as everything is open late.
Towards the weekends they have classic car parades and live music. There is always something for all ages, so give it a go it's well worth it.

 

[dizchick]

I've been to Old Town once and wasn't a big fan. It is mostly touristy shops. They were having the car show while I was there and the people seemed to be having a good time, I'm just not into cars. I would say give it maybe an hour and a half at most...but again, it all depends on your interests!

They do have a big bungee sky cord (I can't think of what to call it!) that looks fun and a mechanical bull that's fun to watch people on. Other than that, we walked around for a bit and then headed out.

 

[dizzi]

We were just there at christmas, we just stopped for literally 5 minutes to do the Haunted House.
No the Huge slide is not there anymore, that was connected the play center, "YELLOW SUBMARINE" which is gone, gosh that brings back memeroies, when we lived there i used to take DD AND DS there who are now in college!
There are several rides on the far end of OT that will suck you way dry of money and not worth the time money or wait.
There are alot of shops, but the shops and atmosphere are better at DTD!

If you want soemthing really NON Disney to do and it is VERY cute and slow and enjoyable, there is a small out of the way place on I drive, across from WONDERWORKS, called Train land International, (adress 8990 I drive), we went at Christmas, i thought it was going to be really Lame, i loved it!