Things to do in Orlando: Author Seeks Assistance

[rolanni]

Asyouknowbob, Steve and I will be guests of honor at Oasis 23 in Orlando, May 28-30, 2010. We plan on arriving the Thursday before the con, and we know that we don't want to be on or near an Amtrak train on Monday, May 30, Memorial Day. We hope to set up some book signings and promotional things, like we do, but! The question is if we want to take an "extra" day and have a, what do you call that thing? A vacation day.

I have never been to Florida, and wonder what there is to do in Orlando (yes, yes, but I can't imagine having enough money to actually pay for admission to SeaWorld or Happy MouseLand, or that I would actually have very much fun at either). I like aquariums, zoos, art museums, public gardens, amusement parks (though not Insanely Crowded amusement parks), antique carousels, and walking around and staring at things.

Suggestions? Comments? Warnings?

Abundant Spanish Aunts.

Comments

[paulcory.livejournal.com]

If you can rent a car, Wekiwa Springs State Park is close to Orlando:

http://www.floridastateparks.org/WekiwaSprings/

[sraun]

iraunink and I tried to do Orlando without a car. Never again. If they want to leave the hotel at all, rent a car!

[keristor.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember there was an aquarium in Orlando. But that was many years ago so I could be wrong. Otherwise, not much I'd be interested in seeing either (oh, I'd have liked to see the swamps and Really Big Dangerous Aquatic Life in the wild, and to drive one of those boats with a big fan on the back, but that's not considered 'touristy' enough).

The big studio entertainment places are something like amusement parks, but IMO were Insanely Crowded as well.

Oh, and there's that little place with spacecraft but that's a way out of town as well...

[thejunebug.livejournal.com]

Get on 50, go west for about 70 minutes, and go to Weeki Wachee (http://weekiwachee.com/main/) to see the mermaids. :D It's my hometown!

[thefoxglovelady.livejournal.com]

There is a Pirates dinner show on Independence near the parks that is well worth the money (and the blonde bar-lady is suceptible to flirting for rum punch in fancy light up glasses for nearly free souvenirs). My family went this summer and the pre-show was good, the facility was very nice indeed, the food was REALLY good (especially for being served to 200 folks at once), and the show was very entertaining indeed.

Much better than Medieval Times or the other shows in town. My brother does the theme-park-thing every summer, so he's been to all of them, and this is the best "evening out" he's found in years, and we all agreed when we saw it too.

[tweetybookgirl.livejournal.com]

I did the pirate Dinner show and it was pleasant. I did Epcot twice and my father drove me to Kennedy Space Center (an hour? drive)when we were down there (the month before Columbia went on its last mission - we saw it on the launch pad) and we really enjoyed that.

Robin Greene

[victorthecook.livejournal.com]

You're within driving distance of Cape Canaveral -- the tours of the Kennedy Space Center are a little peculiar, but interesting (or were last time I was down there). And if you're lucky, you can see a rocket launch.

[(Anonymous)]

There is a shuttle launch scheduled for the middle of May, 2010. Depending on the weather, other delays and the delays of other launches, it could occur later. In fact, programming at Oasis 22 (last year) had to be shuffled DURING the convention. A couple of programming participants work at the Cape and were recalled due the shuttle's late return from its mission.

Susan
Orlando

space launch is time eater and Mouseland transportation info

[(Anonymous)]

lots and lots of people want to see space launch, so the lines to NASA and line for tour tickets can be long and tedious. But payoff is good for to shivery feeling of seeing the real thing. But time eater.

Mouseland, Universal, Seaworld can all be expensive, but they do give value for money.

Downtown Disney has no admission price (except parking) from there you can hop on a bus to the property hotels and gawk at the decor. Animal Kingdom Lodges have African herd animals roaming for free looksee. Wilderness Lodge has Yellowstone geyser effects. Fort Wilderness has campfire story nights.

Comtemporary has monorail running right through the lobby.

Just put on a tourist T shirt and mingle with guest and hop on bus to where you want to go.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

I second the "if you can get over to Kennedy Space Center" suggestion. I got to see Columbia land the last time I was there (which tells you that the visit was a while ago). If you could rent a car? or perhaps the hotel has some sort of sightseeing tour available.

The Orlando Art Museum has a really nice Pre-Columbian ceramics collection. And there is a really pretty lake in the downtown that is surrounded by skyscrapers so a nice juxtaposition. Cannot remember the name but Google comes to the rescue ... it is called Lake Eola Park. It is only a few blocks from the con hotel.

Had some good Cuban food at Numero Uno Cuban (near corner S Orange and W Michigan). Very small place but it had good food.

[redpimpernel.livejournal.com]

Kennedy Space Center is definitely worth a visit, if you are at all into space stuff. (Gee, why would we think SF authors might be interested in space stuff?) I just visited the Houston Space Center and just walking along the old huge Jupiter rocket and the photo displays of the various Gemini and Apollo missions made me tear up. It just makes you so proud to be a human.

Aside from all of the glitz & showmanship, the Disney properties do have incredible grounds and landscaping. Topiaries that are not to be believed and unsurpassed attention to detail. One need never set foot on a ride and still be greatly entertained. Disney's Animal Kingdom is supposedly one of the best "zoos" around. They do a lot of important research there, too.

I'm not sure if it's the "best" aquarium in Orlando, but Sea World is an incredible place too. It has fabulous fish collections (i.s. huge tanks, lots of fish). It's not all about the killer whales. In fact sea world is one of the places where you can pet wild dolphins and smaller whales (pilots, for example) that are there being rehabed after accidents in the wild. Of course, you must be wiley while feeding them fish to get them close enough to touch, but it can be done. So one of the few places where you can interact with wild sea critters.

I was going to suggest a walk along the beach (after you drive to the coast) but then realized that the ocean is not a novelty for you.

Sorry I can't suggest actual places that are free or inexpensive, which is what you asked for. I've always wanted to see Okefenokee Swamp myself, but I don't think that's near Orlando..

[(Anonymous)]

Spend the bucks--go to Epcot. It is a cultural experience, if nothing else

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Alas, we're talking writer disposable income. I really can't fork over $100/per for the two of us to wander around a theme park for a couple hours.

Things to do in Orlando

[(Anonymous)]

From what I remember, Kennedy Space Center wasn't that expensive - the problem is getting there. There are bus excursions, I'm sure, but if you have a car anyway it would probably be the most cost effective way to go.

There's also a murder mystery dinner theater that was a real hoot! More expensive than McDonald's for dinner, but the food was actually quite good (considering the number of people the kitchen is serving at one time) and the price wasn't THAT bad. (Of course, I was there a couple of years ago now....)

Mary

art museum?

[disassembly_rsn]

(Hmm...you're coming too late in the year for the Winter Park art festival (http://www.wpsaf.org/), which is held in the same area in March.)

You might like to try the Morse museum in Winter Park. $3 admission for adults (unless you happen to hit one of their periodic bouts of free admission).

The Morse museum has a lot of Tiffany stained glass. (They've got other stuff but that's the most memorable thing for me). In particular (i.e., the thing I like best), they've got a chapel that used to be in New York but got neglected, then eventually got into the museum's possession and got refurbished. It looks ancient (Byzantine, maybe) but it's all Tiffany.

[rummage] Here's the link, so you can see for yourself: http://www.morsemuseum.org/

The colors in the website's banner photo for the chapel are a little off but it gives you an idea of what the altar area of the chapel looks like.

Re: art museum?

[disassembly_rsn]

Should also mention that the Morse museum is in the Winter Park shopping district near Rollins College, so if you like the window-shopping type of walking around looking at things, that's also something available in that area. (The used bookstore that should still be in that district somewhere takes a bit of hunting for - it's buried in a back court on a long street of shops. The shops are a mixed bag - includes antique shops and such.)

If you're driving out Winter Park way from Orlando (and if you've not been here before you may not realize there's all that much separation between Orlando and Winter Park; it's not like it's a long drive), you'd have to pass both http://www.leugardens.org/ (Leu Gardens) and http://www.osc.org/ (the science museum).

Re: art museum?

[(Anonymous)]

Winter Park and Orlando share boundaries. The only way to tell when you leave one for the other is the "Welcome to" signs. I was going to suggest either (or both) the Orlando Museum of Art or the Morse Museum, both are inexpensive and certainly worth a few hours. Unfortunately, they are both closed on Mondays. However, Leu Gardens is both inexpensive, open on Mondays, and worth a visit.

St Augustine

[tessie614.livejournal.com]

If you have the time visit St Augustine - it's NE of Orlando but most things are free. Visit St George's street for walking/shopping, there is a ghost tour at night, visit the Fort and possibly see dolphins in the bay.

St Augustine is the oldest city in the nation (yes older that new england) it was settled by the spanish and still retains that character. You can also visit Ponce De Leon's Fountain of Youth for a small fee.

And it's only 40 miles south of me (Jacksonville) in case you want to stop in for a rest - you're welcome to my home. I can't offer you a cat fix but would two small dogs help you out for some extra love.

Edith

if you have an extra day...

[k-10b.livejournal.com]

consider driving west about 2-3 hours to Sarasota. This is the charming town where the Ringling circus used to winter ... there's the Ringling museum, the clown school (maybe?), some lovely gardens, and some of the best beaches in the continental US. My inlaws used to live there, and it was a great vacation each year.

Re: if you have an extra day...

[k-10b.livejournal.com]

here's a link about local attractions: http://www.sarasota.com/attractions.htm

carosel at Universal

[(Anonymous)]

I actually photographed the Caro-Seuss-el at Universal Islands of Adventure for you; I'll get those photos to you somehow. The Dr. Seuss land is something very cool to see, though pretty pricey.

I actually didn't think the aquariums at Sea World were all that good, compared to Boston or Baltimore. I loved petting the dolphins, but that, too, was expensive.

Have a great time, whatever you decide to do.
Kate the book pusher

the Cape and Cocoa Beach

[(Anonymous)]

Merritt Island, where Kennedy Space Center lives, is also a big wildlife refuge (yes, I do wonder what the critters think of the rockets). Nearby is the town of Cocoa Beach, with a lovely little pier and beach. Nice little cafe on the pier, at least there was back in 2000ish, when I was waiting out yet another shuttle launch.

The tour of Kennedy is worth it, as is wandering about the exhibits at the visitor center (there's a Saturn V lying on its side - walking around it
makes you realise just how BIG the sucker was). I
don't remember the cost being as much as a visit to Disney, Seaworld or that African place in Tampa.

Sometimes there are airshows going on in the area - I mean the kind with barnstorming rides and old planes and acrobatics, etc.

The drive from Orlando/Kissimmee to Merrit Island is about 1.5 hrs.

Lauretta@ConstellationBooks

[(Anonymous)]

You guys are interested in knives. At least, your sub-creation Val Con yos'Phelium is. Randal Made Knives is one of the great knife shops of the world, since Bo Randall started making knives for his sons and other soldiers to carry during WWII. Their knife works are situated in Orlando. Visit their display shop and museum. Alas, there are no Clutch Turtles involved. But it’s still worth a look.

Randall Made Knives
P. O. Box 1988
Orlando, Florida 32802
Phone: 407-855-8075

[(Anonymous)]

You learn something new everyday!

From the Randall Website:
"Museum--What are the museum and showroom hours?
Museum and Showroom hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, and on Friday 7:00 am to 1:00 pm. The museum collection includes old and current Randall models and many other knives are presented along with numerous articles of interest."

Didn't even know they had a museum. I have seen their business sign and passed their location many times. But I assumed it was all done mail-order since the gate to the property was always closed and generally chained when I passed by. I will need to look into this. It is only a 15 or so minute drive from our convention hotel.

[filkferengi]

Leu Gardens rocks! If you have access to a car, Bok Tower & Gardens is excellent, & only an hour away. No carousel, but they have a carillon that plays every day. There's a fabulous Salvador Dali museum in St. Petersburg, but it's closed on Mondays.

Lake Eula is in a park in downtown Orlando; walking around it is a nice 15-20 minute walk. Also downtown, the public library has a permanent Friends Of The Library bookstore, but would probably no be open on Monday; could you get there Thursday?

Things to do around Orlando region

[(Anonymous)]

If you are interested -
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
www.morsemuseum.org
for a fabulous Tiffany collection

Blue Spring State Park
www.floridastateparks.org/bluespring/
for a view of Manatee in the wild.