Favourite Things To Do In Central Florida

By James | Last updated August 18, 2023

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It is very difficult to draw up a single list of favourite things and memories from Central Florida but here are our top 25 personal favourites (in no particular order):

  • Sitting on a lanai by your own private villa, on a beautiful warm still morning, eating breakfast with a glass of cold orange juice in your hand, gazing out over the pool to a lovely lake beyond
  • Taking an airboat ride on the lakes and swamps around Lake Tohopekaliga, rushing between tall grasses, jumping over banks and then the driver doing a high speed 360 degree handbrake turn when you least expect it
  • Visiting Walt Disney World. In particular, Disneyโ€™s Hollywood Studios, when the sun is shining, songs from the movies are playing on the tannoy system throughout the park and singing along to them
  • Going to a Red Lobster restaurant for dinner and gorging yourself on the cheesy biscuits
  • Watching a shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral from the NASA causeway, and then hearing it arrive back a few days later with a double sonic boom
  • Watching the fireworks display at Disneyโ€™s Epcot at the end of a super day
  • Walking through the herb garden at Cypress Gardens [NOW CLOSED] on a baking hot day and smelling the gorgeous scent of rosemary oozing from the hedges
  • Doing the Star Tours simulation ride at Disneyโ€™s Hollywood Studios โ€“ one of the best rides in Orlando!
  • Shopping at Walmart and feeling you have got some of the best bargains ever!
  • Riding the Jungle Cruise at Disney Magic Kingdom โ€“ the atmosphere and the patter from the drivers is great entertainment
  • Coming home from an exhausting hot day at the parks and sitting on the edge of the swimming pool, feet dangling into the cool water, and drinking a cold black cherry wine cooler
  • Kissing a dolphin called Diego at Discovery Cove
  • Visiting Homosassa Springs State Park and finally getting to see Rosie the Manatee (whom we adopted many years ago) for the first time
  • Shopping for Christmas decorations at specialist Christmas shops at Easter time when the temperatures are in the 90โ€™s
  • Eating Frozen Yoghurt cones at the shopping village at Downtown Disney
  • Sitting on Daytona beach at Spring Break watching the students cruising along the beach in their cars and pickups โ€“ boy do they fancy themselves or what?
  • Going to the Muppets 3D show at Disneyโ€™s Hollywood Studios โ€“ it is the best!
  • Watching the Shamu shows at Seaworld; especially the evening one
  • Having lunch at Cinderellaโ€™s Castle in Disney World Magic Kingdom โ€“ the waiters are so entertaining and the butter even comes in Mickey shaped pats
  • Riding with the driver in the front of the Monorail train [NO LONGER POSSIBLE] and going right through the middle of the Contemporary Resort hotel
  • Watching the โ€œHoney I Shrunk the Audienceโ€ show at Disneyโ€™s Epcot and reacting to the effects
  • Visiting Ron Jons Surf shop at Cocoa Beach, and wondering if itโ€™s really busy at 3 oโ€™clock in the morning (itโ€™s open 24 hours a day)
  • Watching the Indiana Jones Show at Disneyโ€™s Hollywood Studios โ€“ it is still fantastic, no matter how many times you see it
  • Having lunch in the Colonial Restaurant in Busch Gardens, with the waiters all in their whites and looking over an African landscape
  • Eating at Fast Eddies in Dunedin on the Gulf Coast (now called Eddies Bar and Grill)

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