ORLANDO · FLORIDA
The theme park capital, and the wild Florida around it.
Disney and Universal tickets, airboats through gator country, crystal springs you can paddle in a see-through kayak, rocket launches on the Space Coast and the best dinner shows in the state. Reviewed, priced and ready to book.
Only here
Three days you can only have here.
The roller coasters get the headlines, but the clear springs, the airboats through gator country and a real rocket launch on the coast are the parts of Central Florida you can’t pack into any other trip.
72° all year
Crystal-Clear Springs
North of the parks, a chain of springs pushes millions of gallons of glass-clear water a day to the surface at a constant 72 degrees. You paddle a see-through kayak over the boil at Rock Springs and Rainbow Springs, drift past manatees in the cooler months, and come back after dark for the LED glow tours. Florida has more first-magnitude springs than anywhere on Earth.
- 1 Rock Springs 2-Hour Glass Bottom Guided Kayak Eco Tour
- 2 Glass Bottom Kayak Eco Tour through Rainbow Springs
- 3 Glass Bottom Kayak Tours of Silver Springs
Gator country
Airboats & Alligators
Twenty minutes past the resorts the suburbs run out and the sawgrass begins. A flat-bottomed airboat skims inches above the water at Boggy Creek and Wild Florida, out among wild alligators, wading birds and cypress hammocks. This is the original Florida, and none of it was built for tourists.
- 1 Florida Everglades Airboat Tour and Wild Florida Admission with Optional Lunch
- 2 Orlando: Everglades Airboat Ride and Wildlife Park Ticket
- 3 90 minute Everglades Airboat Tour near Orlando Florida
The Space Coast
Where Rockets Launch
An hour east, the Space Coast is the only place in America where you can stand beneath a Saturn V, ride out toward the launch pads, and — if the schedule lines up — feel a real rocket leave the ground. Day trips run from Orlando with transport included, and the launch calendar is public.
- 1 Kennedy Space Center with Transport from Orlando and Kissimmee
- 2 From Orlando: Kennedy Space Center Trip with Transport
- 3 Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral Admission
Start with the favourite
The one experience the most travellers book.
More Orlando visitors build a day around this than anything else on the list. If you only add one thing to the parks, start here.
The classics
Orlando's Most Popular Tours & Tickets
Theme-park admission, airboat rides, spring kayak trips and the Kennedy Space Center run. The days most travellers come to Florida for.
Where to begin
What an Orlando trip is built around.
Park tickets, airboat rides, the spring kayaks, the Space Center run, the dinner shows and the ICON Park boardwalk. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big decision
How to do the parks.
Six major parks, a dozen ticket types and prices that swing by hundreds of dollars. Here is how the tickets break down, and where each one actually makes sense.
Central Florida
Crystal water at a constant 72°.
A short drive north of the parks, spring-fed rivers run so clear the kayak looks like it is floating on air. Rock Springs, Rainbow Springs and Silver Springs pump out millions of gallons a day at a steady 72 degrees, glass-bottom and see-through kayaks glide over the boil, manatees move in for the cooler months, and the LED glow tours light the water up after dark.
Read the guide: the best spring kayak tours near Orlando →An hour east
Where America goes to space.
The Kennedy Space Center sits on Cape Canaveral, a straight run east from Orlando. Ride out toward the launch pads, stand beneath a Saturn V rocket laid on its side, meet a veteran astronaut, and watch the schedule for a real launch lighting up the coast. Day trips run from the resorts with transport included.
See the Space Center day trips →The real Florida
Sawgrass, cypress and a million alligators.
Drive twenty minutes past the resorts and the theme-park sprawl gives way to open wetland. A flat-bottomed airboat skims inches above the water out among wild gators, herons and cypress hammocks at Boggy Creek and Wild Florida, while Gatorland puts the reptiles up close on dry land. This was here long before the parks, and it has not changed.
Airboat rides & gator parks →After dark
Dinner and a spectacle.
Orlando does the all-in evening better than anywhere: jousting knights and a feast you eat with your hands, a Cirque-style show built with Disney, sleight-of-hand magic over dinner and pirate stunt battles in an indoor lagoon. One ticket covers the meal and the show, and most are minutes off International Drive.
- 1 The Outta Control Magic Dinner Show in Orlando
- 2 Drawn to Life presented by Cirque du Soleil and Disney
- 3 Orlando: Pirates Adventure Dinner Show with Drinks
By pace
Pick your day, by pace.
Orlando does every speed, which is why it works for the whole group. Slow and easy when you need a break from the parks, classic Florida in the middle, and full-throttle when somebody wants the adrenaline.
Take it easy
Shows, springs and slow boats.A dinner show with magic or jousting knights, a lazy float down a spring-fed river, a pontoon across the Winter Park lakes.
Classic Orlando
Parks, airboats and gators.A day inside the theme parks, an airboat skim across the wetlands, and the alligators at Gatorland and Wild Florida.
Full throttle
Coasters, zip lines and flight.Record-breaking coasters, zip-line canopy courses, a helicopter over the parks and indoor skydiving on I-Drive.
International Drive
The boardwalk between the parks.
ICON Park anchors the I-Drive strip: the 400-foot Wheel turning over the skyline, the SEA LIFE aquarium and Madame Tussauds at its feet, and a run of restaurants, mini-golf and arcades either side. It is the part of Orlando you can do on foot, after the parks close, without a ticket booked weeks ahead.
See all 10 ICON Park attractions →By place
Central Florida, six ways.
Orlando for the parks and I-Drive. Kissimmee for the airboats and the gateway resorts. ICON Park for the Wheel. Winter Park for the lakes. The Space Coast for the launches. And the Gulf beaches, a day trip west.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
Airboat if you want the wetlands fast. Spring kayak if you want the water clear and cool. Helicopter for the parks from above. Or a dinner show, an escape room, a ghost walk downtown.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Orlando? Here is a long weekend that gets you well beyond the gates without a wasted hour.
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