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city guides
Orlando-Daytona
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Happening Now
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August 8, 7pm to 10pm:
St. Cloud Beach Party.
Break out the hula hoops, and then kick up your heels for the Boggy Creek Band’s popular mix of country rock and oldies. This beach party with a back-to-school theme is free for all, with school-supply donations accepted for area teachers. Children won’t want to miss an exhilarating dive into the bounce house. Recreational boat displays provide an I-dream-of-cruising décor against the vast lake backdrop. In St. Cloud. (website) Hide details
Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL Training Camp.
The national obsession with football can kick off right here when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers flex their pre-season prowess for fans, young and older, who want a close-up look at the players in action. Bucs head coach Jon Gruden and your favorite Bucs players punt, pass, and tackle their way through twice-daily workouts free to all who attend. Bring the camera and autograph books for autograph sessions with players, cheerleaders, and even Bucs mascot Captain Fear. At Disney’s Wide World of Sports. (website) Hide details
Popcorn Flicks in Central Park: The Goonies.
A blanket, a picnic basket of goodies, and a big screen beneath stately oaks in the park summon grandparents' memories of drive-in theaters. Take the grandchildren for film fun with The Goonies, featuring the fast-paced adventure of young brothers hoping to save their homes from demolition by finding the buried treasure of a 17th-century pirate. Presented by the Enzian Theater. At Central Park. (website) Hide details
Hot Summer Boat Show.
You and the grandchildren can enjoy one of the Southeast’s hottest boat shows where you can climb aboard and check out just about any vessel imaginable: yachts, sailboats, cruisers, family boats, pontoon boats, fishing boats, canoes, runabouts, and personal watercraft. Children’s activities include a special Kid Zone area. At the Orange County Convention Center. (website) Hide details
SeaWorld AfterDark.
When the sun goes down, the action speeds up in and on the lagoons of SeaWorld during its breezy summertime AfterDark activities. Shamu the killer whale gets down to an electric-guitar rhythm during the nighttime Shamu Rocks show. An irreverent cast of sea lions, walrus, and otters parody other popular SeaWorld shows in the Sea Lions Tonight laugh riot. The new Bayside Ski Jam takes extreme skiing and water acrobatics to new heights, and Mistify wraps the night in a display of fireworks and dancing fountains. At SeaWorld Orlando. (website) Hide details |
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Help With This Page
In the City Guides section, you'll find the best things to do with your grandchildren. To get started, choose a city below or select from among movies, home activities or things to do in the car. Whatever you do, have loads of fun with your grandchildren.
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| | In addition to the obvious attractions like Disney World, Sea World and Universal, we've found plenty of magic to keep grandchildren busy and entertained inside and outside of the kingdom. —Compiled by Jennie Hess | |
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Aunt Harriet isn’t happy that you aren’t eating your meat loaf, and she’s not afraid to say so. Maybe that’s because you can’t take your eyes off the “I Love Lucy” episode spooling on the black and white TV by your table. Better be careful, or Aunt Harriet (yes, she’s your server) won’t bring dessert. One of Disney’s best themed restaurants, the Prime Time Café serves food just like Grandmom’s, including a tasty meat loaf, scrumptious chicken pot pie, and a peanut butter and jelly milkshake to die for. So play along with your bossy aunt, and maybe you’ll get that plate of s’mores you’ve been eyeing for dessert.
Hours: daily 11am-8pm, 9pm or 10pm, varies by season;
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Kid Friendly Eats
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You don’t have to be an artist to have fun making your own pottery at All Fired Up. Choose a piggy bank or cereal bowl for your grandchild and they can design a picture frame or a mug for you. Draw freehand or stencil in designs on your raw piece, then choose paints from a rainbow of color samples. Let Picasso or Monet be your muse, and create an original. Be daring with colors and challenge your grandchild to do the same. We all have a bit of the artist in us, so take pride in your masterpiece. Pick up the fired pottery one week from your studio session.
Info: Admission: ages 13 and older $8, students and 12 and younger $6; Pottery: $2-$60
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11am-11pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-12am, Sunday 12pm-6pm;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Classes & Workshops
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On your way to a Saturday picnic at one of Orlando’s awesome parks or beaches? Stop by the Apopka Farmer’s Market and pick up some al-fresco staples like fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, just-squeezed juices, and assorted artisanal breads and cheeses. Sure, it’s more fun to spoil grandchildren with ice cream floats and burgers, but instilling some foodie-sensibility in them can be just as rewarding.
Info: Admission: free
Hours: Saturday 8am-1pm;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Outdoor Fun
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SeaWorld Orlando made a big splash this year with the opening of Aquatica, a water park where dolphins swim past as you hurtle down tube slides and where children can escape to a “rain fortress” of fun. Separate from its sister SeaWorld and Discovery Cove theme parks, Aquatica welcomes the swimsuit crowd with a water-park experience based on its critter know-how and featuring 36 water slides, six rivers and lagoons, and 80,000 square feet of beach. Between raft rides and wild slides, you’ll meet exotic creatures like kookaburras and anteaters at in-park animal encounters. On the Commerson’s Dolphin Slides, you’ll speed through acrylic tunnels surrounded by a lagoon populated with cute, speedy dolphins that look like tiny Shamus. Kids will crave time scrambling around the 15,000-square-foot play area with storybook fortress, water cannons and tot-friendly rafts and slides.
Info: Admission: ages 10 and older $38.95, 3-9 $32.95
Hours: May 24-September 1, 9am-10pm; hours vary seasonally;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall
Age: Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Attractions & Landmarks
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Arabian Nights
3081 Arabian Nights Boulevard
Kissimmee, FL 34747
(407) 239-9223
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Based on Walter Farley’s best-selling Black Stallion book series, Arabian Nights is far more show than dinner, though you and your grandchildren will have your choice of steak, chicken breast, vegetable lasagna, or chicken tenders. Garlic mashed taters, veggies, and drinks are included as you enjoy the action and drama unfolding in the arena. This elegant spectacle showcases the beauty, glittery costumes, and talents of riders and their dazzling Arabian, Andalusian, Belgian, Percheron, and Quarter horses. There’s a wedding theme to the story, with drama, black magic and some slapstick comedy mixed in, and you get a slice of the wedding cake for dessert.
Info: Admission: ages 12 and older $44, 3-11 $21
Hours: show times vary;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Live Performances
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Injured and orphaned raptors get a new lease on life at this well-run wildlife rehabilitation center that handles the largest volume of eagles, owls, falcons, hawks, and kites east of the Mississippi River. Since opening in 1979, the center has treated more than 12,000 birds of prey and released more than 40 percent back into the wild. Together, you and your grandchildren can stroll along Hawk Walk and other paths where enclosures house 21 species. You’ll learn how to rescue an injured or baby raptor and how birds are rehabilitated and taught to fly before release to their original habitats. Later, you and the grandchildren can go to the web site and become conservationists by adopting a bird to help the center.
Info: Admission: ages 13 and older $5, 3-12 $4
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-4pm;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Local Unique
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Bahama Breeze
8849 International Drive
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 248-2499
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Start off by treating your grandchild to a tropical fruit cooler like the Raspberry Surfer or Apple Breeze rather than the standard juice or soft drink. This will get everyone in “zee island mood, mon,” and before you know it, you’re all digging into appetizers of West Indies beef patties in a crispy pastry or sweet-savory coconut shrimp. Who needs the kids’ menu with the usual suspects? Share the grilled or almond-crusted fresh fish or the Bahamian steak kabobs and savor the fantasy of your island escape.
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11am-1am, Friday-Saturday 11am-1:30am;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Kid Friendly Eats
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Blue Man Group
6000 Universal Boulevard
Orlando, FL 32819
(888) 340-5476
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Art, music, comedy and multimedia theatrics merge when Blue Man Group takes to the stage with a brand of entertainment that’s making waves across the globe. The newest production at Universal Orlando is custom-designed to include elements of the group’s other shows mixed with material exclusive to Orlando. These cobalt blue paint drummers spread plenty of joy on a comedic canvas speckled with social commentary. The music rocks too, which grandchildren will surely appreciate.
Info: Admission: ages 10 and older $59-$69, 9 and younger $49-$59
Hours: daily, show times vary;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Live Performances
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Depending on the time of year, you and your grandchildren can see a Broadway show on tour, float along with the exquisite dancers of the Orlando Ballet, or let the Festival of Orchestras carry you along on a new instrumental journey. When the holiday season rolls around, be sure to book tickets early for a perennial favorite, the Orlando Ballet’s version of the The Nutcracker. Sweet dreams, grandchildren!
Info: Admission: varies
Hours: Performance times vary;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Toddler, Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Live Performances
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The sun peeps above the eastern horizon as you watch a balloon crew pump 120,000 cubic feet of hot air into an enormous bright red balloon. Once you climb into the balloon's basket, you and the grandkids are soaring with FAA licensed pilots on a tranquil journey across the Central Florida landscape. The peacefulness of your journey is palpable. Occasionally you'll hear a bird twitter or see a deer when you dip close to the rooftops. Then, you're 1,000 feet above the Earth where noise pollution muted and you can enjoy sweeping views of Disney and Orlando marshes, orange groves, and other habitats populated by wild turkey, hogs, and the like. The entire adventure, which includes an exciting, somewhat bumpy, landing and a champagne brunch (juice for the kids), lasts about three hours, and the flight itself is about one hour.
Info: Admission: $175; under 90 pounds $90 persons
Hours: daily daybreak flights, weather permitting; some winter flights in late afternoon;
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Age: Child, Pre-teen, Teen
Outdoor Fun
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