Orlando FL

[Groucho]

Going to Orlando in a couple months. Doing the tourist things. Disney World, NASA, some lighthouses. Anything worth doing or seeing thats not on the websites? How about places to eat? I have a hankering to try gator tail, any place I have been that serves it has always been out of stock. Gotta buy some plaid shorts and black socks to wear with my sandals

[elkhills]

Tagged, cuz I'm doing the same in Oct. Disney, Harry Potter, Space Center and I gotta dip a toe in the Atlantic at some point!

I've had fried alligator a few times- think overcooked popcorn chicken and you'll be pretty close.

+1 on the black socks w/ sandals. Gotta find me a flowery Hawaiian shirt and a safari helmet though.

[shrapnel]

For FSM's sake, bring sunscreen. More than you would think you would need. Apply on a similarly frequent basis. Also, stay hydrated- you'll be here after the worst of the heat, but still, October is frequently quite warm.

That's how we know tourists- they all look like lobsters. And also the uniform, which y'all are apparently going to be kind enough to purchase for easy identification.

I live in Tampa, so I don't really know what places in Orlando are good. If you end up in the Tampa area (which is huge, and I only know a corner of it) I can recommend some places. Otherwise, we do have some Orlando ZSers, and perhaps they can be of more specific assistance.

[maldon007]

A cool place to go in Orlando is Downtown Disney, and its free! Yeah, its full of shops and places to spend money... But we often go there just to walk around, and even with 3 kids we often only buy food.

Basically connected to it/next door, is pleasure island, which is a more grownup play area, Harley shop, comedy club, etc.

Best places to eat there- Bongos (cuban), Rain forest Cafe, Wolfgang Puck, etc.

Also, for FREE you can ride a ferry to a couple of the Disney resorts and use their playgrounds, tour their grounds and generally dick around, again spending bupkis.

Also in orlando you got a big ol' Bass pro shops outdoor world, and a Gander Mt.

Uno's Pizza is also in the area...

Another neat place near by is called Old Town, it's in Kissimmee... Cool shops, weekend car shows, laser tag, carnival type rides, etc.

[DementedDigital]

One piece of advise I can offer about Disney is to make lunch reservations immediately when you get to the park in the morning. If you wait until lunchtime, you won't be able to get into the restaurant you want.

[RickOShea]

If you do a lot of driving around, especially if you go to the Space Coast and back, make damn sure the light turns green after you throw your money into the toll booth funnel BEFORE you drive on through.

We used to hangout a lot at Universal Studios City Walk. Just remember that all the bars close at 2:00 AM.

[Scott Free]

I went to Orlando with my family in January. We went to Discovery Cove. You snorkel with fish and rays and stuff. If you pay more you can swim with dolphins, but we didn't do that. It's owned by Sea World and you get a ticket to Aquatica, Busch Gardens Tampa, or SeaWorld Orlando free with your purchase.

It's kinda expensive, but it's like an all inclusive all day thing. They feed you. You have to pay for fancy drinks, but beer's free.

[Groucho]

Orlando turned out to be a good trip overall. Never enough time to see every thing of course. Airline lost our bags and took 24 hours to get them to us. Some other airline BS. Car rental gave away our reserved car. The hotel was really good. Disney kicked my butt. With the heat and all I ended up feeling like I had been hiking all day. The monorail doesn't run completely around the park. Saw Daytona Beach, couple lighthouses, couple spanish forts. Those folks sure take lightening storms serious. Finally broke down and bought a digial camera, that was different not lugging around my 35mm cameras. Minmum sunburn. Herself is a serious disney fan so I'm sure I'm be back in a couple years.

[Groucho]

Orlando had a place to go shoot automatic weapons. $50. I didn't have time to check it out, don't know type of weapons or how many round. I know Las vegas has one also.

[Anthonykillszombies]

The wife and I will be in Orlando November 25 to play for a day, then we are boarding for our cruise! I'm excited, I am not sure what we are going to get into, but I know it will be awesome. Orlando has tons of stuff to do

[Zombie309]

Don't count out Epcot either, it's very nice to drink/eat in 14 countries in one day.

[maldon007]

Old ass thread, but since it's up... Just got done "camping" at Disney's Fort Wilderness campgrouns for a very long weekend (5 days/4 nights). Very cool place for those who dont like the yucky outdoors, but want to try camping... Lots to do, very few bugs, decent neighbors (but very close neighbors), great for kids... If you want any details on the best/cheapest stuff to do, pm!