Orlando area's best small attractions?

[GEM]

On our next trip, my husband and I are going to be staying four days off-site before we move to the Wilderness Lodge. We have done the Universal parks and Wet and Wild on previous trips. This time, we really want to check out some of the smaller, often over-looked attractions in the Orlando area.

We have already been to Gatorland, Old Town, and the Reptile World Serpentarium and we have played all the mini golf courses!

Any suggestions for smaller attractions we should visit this time?

 

[SimonV]

I would definitely spend some time Downtown and in Winter Park, just to the north. Downtown you have the Orange County History Center, the Orlando Science Center, Sak Comedy Lab (in the evenings) and the Mennello Folk Art Museum. It is also a lovely place to wander during the day, in the Lake Eola/Thornton Park districts. For more info, look up: http://www.downtownorlando.com

For Winter Park, there is a lovely one-hour boat tour, the Morse Museum and Rollins College, plus some great shops and restaurants, and two lovely parks, the Kraft Azalea Gardens and the Harry Leu Gardens. There are also a host of smaller museums and some lovely walks. Here's their website:

www.ci.winter-park.fl.us/

You could also try the Boggy Creek Airboats in Kissimmee (www.bcairboats.com) who I rate highly, or the wonderful Forever Florida ecotourism park south of St Cloud (www.foreverflorida.com). Further south, just off I4, there is Fantasy of Flight, an excellent aviation museum experience (with fighter simulators! - www.fantasyofflight.com), while you could travel a bit further afield and visit Cypress Gardens for a really relaxing day (www.cypressgardens.com). There is a lot of choice!