What would you do with five weeks near Disney?

[Iam.Goofy]

I am renting a pool house villa off property near Disney for five weeks this summer. I have a car and we have two sons: 11 and 15. My year pass into Disney expires after two weeks, leaving me three weeks with nothing to do. I don't want to renew the year pass because renewing is very expensive. I am looking for things to do that might not be very expensive. If you had three weeks living in the Disney area, what would you do?

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

The state parks are good places to visit (and cheap at around $6 entry fee). Go to the beach, or a few spread out over the weeks. Go to some different places like Celebration, Mount Dora or Winter Park.

Would you consider a Seaworld pass or Universal?

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Kelly Park is a great way to spend the majority of a day. Only a few bucks to get in per car, and there is a tubing run that is very popular with locals and some tourists. You can bring stuff to grill/have a picnic and either rent tubes outside the park or bring your own. The only catch is you must arrive early (probably no later than 8am in the summer) because it fills quickly and will shut down until 3pm.

Other ideas include spending time in Winter Park (brunch, farmers market, shopping, the boat tour). Mount Dora is another small town that is nice to visit. In Orlando, the latest trend are escape rooms and there are a bunch all over the city. Food trucks are also very popular, and Tasty Tuesdays in the Milk District is a very popular event. There are also various venues that host outdoor movies, like Leu Gardens, the Enzian and I think somewhere around Lake Eola as well.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Discovery Cove (with or without the dolphin swim....go with just the day resort admission if money is tight). A great experience all on its own, and then you would also have two weeks of complimentary admission to both Seaworld and Aquatica (two fantastic parks).

Or....annual passes to the Disney waterparks. We had them a few years ago, and it was only $100 pp then, so hopefully they still should be a similar price. Parking is free at the Disney waterparks, too.

In your situation, I would also do a couple of beach days (Cocoa or Daytona....or both).. I would also keep my eye on Groupon for some deeply discounted other things to do,.

 

[bearzabout]

I suggest just getting the annual pass to Seaworld and / or Aquatica. I just love Aquatica's Roa's Rapids. In the summer heat, access to a water parks would be a great idea. These two parks are much cheaper than Disney. Tampa is a great place to go to on a day trip. Consider adding Busch Gardens to the annual pass. We get the two year passes and they are very cheap per year compared to Disney.

Day trip to Titusville (Kennedy Space Center / Merritt Island / Coral Beach).

Harry P Leu Gardens is free a few days a month. So it the Orlando Science Center for Bank of America customers. Winter Park has a cute downtown area.

 

[spiceycat]

gatorland is still reasonable
http://www.gatorland.com/public/the-park/hours-prices/index.cfm

silver lake
https://www.floridastateparks.org/hours-and-fees/Silver-Springs

other parks
https://www.floridastateparks.org/

okay now if you are talking free things those are harder to find.

I am assuming you are staying in Kissimmee
http://www.experiencekissimmee.com/

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

I would spend one day at Gatorland. It's not very expensive and it's a pretty neat place to go. We enjoy it.

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I will look for a cheap cruise for a week. I know it's probably a waste with the villa rental, but it's great to visit some islands.

 

[NinaBella]

With kids ages 11 and 15, you should be able to fit in some day trips. Get up early drive a couple hours to see a new area, then drive back. Tampa is definitely a possibility. There are always the beaches. Not sure if you would want to drive to St. Augustine for a day trip or one night stay? Is there a way to shorten your villa stay so you can have other options for the rest of your vacation?

 

[staceyrhood]

Wekiwa Springs is fun... it is a state park close by, we live in Celebration and it takes us about 40 minutes to get there. We also like to go to Jetty Park Beach at Port Canaveral for the day, about 45 minutes away...it is a great beach owned by the port authority, they have a snack bar and a fishing pier, and you can see the cruise ships leaving the port. Since you have 2 boys Orlando Tree Trek is a new zipline park, it is right by Reunion Resort....it looks like a lot of fun.

 

[4under4]

Cape Canaveral would be fun for the kids too, and a fairly easy day trip.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Visit some of Orlando's downtown neighborhoods. There's some really pretty areas around with great restaurants and parks.

Check out Winter Park and stroll along Park Avenue. Ivanhoe Village, College Park, Audubon Park and Thornton Park have some cool stores and cafes. Winter Garden is closer to Disney and has a really nice downtown area. Check out Plant Street Market.

There's a bunch of parks to check out- Lake Eola, Leu Gardens, Mead Gardens . Pick up a copy of Orlando Weekly (or check out the website), and that will give you a list of events going on. There's plenty of Farmer's Markets around; there's a big one at Lake Eola on Sunday's and the Winter Park one is on Saturdays I believe. Audubon Park has a community market on Monday evenings.

 

[kathy884]

I'd get the season to SeaWorld and Aquatica (pretty good value), try out some of local suggestions, and maybe do two or three day trips to the beach too (Clearwater and Coco)