Other things we should do besides Disney?

AngieInOH

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Mar 24, 2005
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My DH grandparents have a place in FL in the Tampa area and are more than happy to board us for a couple of days. :flower: Is there anything in the orlando/tampa area that are must do's? After spending a couple of days with them we will be off to Disney for 6-7 days.

I've heard people talk about how wonderful the air-boat rides are. I've searched the net but have found this board is usually the best source of info! :banana:
 
Definitely Sea World and Busch Gardens!!!!

You can get a 3 day/2 park pass that includes both.....

Teresa :flower:
 

If you want to venture up the coast a bit, the Mermaids at Weeki Wachee are fun (my grandmother lives 5 minutes away and we go whenever we visit)-they have a llittle show with "mermaids", a nature boat ride and they also have a water park.

Up the road a piece (same road the mermaids are on) there is the Homosassa Springs Wildlife park-that is a lot of fun, too. The main attraction there are the manatees but they have a lot of native Floridian animals. And if you see somewhere in Homosassa or Brooksville advertised as a Doll Hospital with tours, don't go. They no longer have tours and is just a show room for really expensive dolls by a designer (I can't remember his name)
 
We are taking a side trip to Kennedy Space Center and Cocoa Beach. Should be fun!
 
We have a Sea World just a couple hours from where I live, so if FL is like all the other ones I'd rather do something else. Universal....well we thought we might take a break from Disney to do that. Any other suggestions? Maybe something that wouldn't be so "busy". Has anyone ever done the airboat thing?
 
AngieInOH said:
We have a Sea World just a couple hours from where I live, so if FL is like all the other ones I'd rather do something else. Universal....well we thought we might take a break from Disney to do that. Any other suggestions? Maybe something that wouldn't be so "busy". Has anyone ever done the airboat thing?

Well, I was going to say Seaworld ;) but....

My second would have to be Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center :thewave:
 
Last May DH and I visited an aviation attraction called "Fantasy of Flight" in Polk City. It's an aviation themed attraction. You can visit their website using the attraction name I listed. We really enjoyed our visit. :flower:
 
Definetly go to Kennedy Space Center, take either of the bus tours, check out the IMAX movies. Well worth the time, lots to learn about.
 
If you are thinking of doing other things, you might want to consider the flex ticket. You can get into either 4 or 5 parks for a set price unlimited for 14 days. The parks are Universal, Island's of adventure, sea world, wet and wild and for the 5 park busch gardens. DH and I were thinking of that but decided to just go to Kennedy spance center and Universal.
 
Perhaps, just a suggestion... If your in the Tampa area there is an aquarium there that looked nice from the outside. Also your near the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area. We visited there and went to the St Petersburg Pier. It was nice, had a few shops, a mini aquarium in the pier, and we ate outside in a cafe for lunch. After that we drove back north and would stop out and visit the beaches. Lots of shell shops, and themed shops etc along the way. We would stop and ask locals of any "nice places/points of interest" also.. Explore the gulf coast a bit. See what kinda relaxing trouble you can find. Again, just a suggestion... :sunny:
 
If you are looking for something different (and less expensive) I would recommend the Orlando Science Center. Our hotel recommended this on a rainy day, and my kids loved it!
 











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