What's New in Florida

Each year more than 80 million visitors, representing all age groups and interests, flock to Florida. Its sun, sand, and sea are obvious draws, yet these account for only part of the narrow state's broad appeal. Theme-park enthusiasts come for first-class rides and attractions, while nature lovers find the outdoor options (ranging from snorkeling and fishing to boating and bird-watching) irresistible. Moreover, spring breakers, seniors, and sophisticated sybarites alike are lured by a diverse arts-and-entertainment scene. With such activities in play, the entire state exudes a vacationland vibe that keeps people coming back. For those returning, there's always something new under the sun.

Worlds of Magic

Just in time for 2012 Legoland will open its doors in Orlando on the 150-acre plot that was the home of Florida's first theme park, Cypress Gardens. Expect more than 50 family-focused attractions, including rides, playgrounds, shows, and, of course, make-you-go-oooh Lego displays. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure, bewitches Muggles with its near-perfect re-creation of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, where visitors down glasses of butterbeer and have a wands selected at Ollivander's. At this writing, Disney's Magic Kingdom's Toontown will be closed until 2013. Favorite characters have taken up temporary home on Main Street USA, and when they return, they'll have full-size replicas of their homes and castles, a Little Mermaid ride, an expanded Dumbo attraction, and a Tinkerbell fairy playground.

Call of the Wild

Going from zero to 60 mph in seconds is short work for cheetahs, the world's fastest cats. Now at Busch Gardens in Tampa you can see them in action at their 13-acre Cheetah Run habitat and feel their speed on board Cheetah Hunt, the park's newest (and longest!) coaster. Interactive learning displays and zoo trainers educate visitors on the show-stopping sprinters. For those with a need for speed, zip-line courses have been popping up across the state, combining thrills with the beauty of the great outdoors. Three alone landed in the Orlando area in recent years—Florida EcoSafaris at the Forever Florida wildlife conservation area, the arboreal obstacle course ZOOm Air Adventure Park at the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, and Gatorland's soar-over-alligators experience. Get up close and personal with the animals at Zoo Miami; a rhino encounter area, where you can stroke or scratch their backs, joined the enormously popular giraffe feeding station. At the zoo's Wacky Barn pet miniature horses and other exotic farm animals.

Making a Splash

Tourists may still cast a skeptical eye toward Florida's beaches in light of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, 2010, but all is well in the Sunshine state's waters. Cleaning crews quickly swept up an oil slick off the coast and tarballs that washed up on the Western Panhandle's shore, and all health advisories for swimming and recreational fishing were lifted by the end of summer 2010. Along the gulf and elsewhere, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has continued to build up artificial reefs, with roughly a hundred structures added each year. Those, along with intentional wrecks like the 2009 USS Vandenberg sinking and the maintenance of underwater archaeological preserves (museumsinthesea.org), have transformed the entire coastline into a divers' paradise. For a controlled environment, SeaWorld's Discovery Cove just unveiled the Grand Reef, a nearly million-gallon snorkeling zone with rare spotted eagle rays, zebra sharks, and venomous lionfish (the latter two separated from snorkelers by glass). And for armchair adventurers, plenty of high seas booty—including one of only two known Jolly Roger skull-and-bones flags —is in store at the Pirate and Treasure Museum in St. Augustine.

Must-See Museums

At a fitting time of 11:11 am on 1/1/11, the new Dalí Museum burst onto St. Petersburg's art scene, celebrating the surrealist with 2,971 of his pieces in its permanent collection. The building itself is a work of art with more than 1,000 different-size triangular glass pieces wrapping around the structure in an homage to the painter's melting clocks. Nearby, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Glazer Children's Museum, and the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park all opened on Tampa's Riverwalk. Farther south, the children's museum C'mon is making its debut in Naples with 13 galleries of interactive play exhibits. The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in central Florida, featuring the world's largest collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, doubled in size. Farther north, Pensacola's National Naval Aviation Museum, where thousands flock to see the famous Blue Angels stunt team in flight, will open the doors to the National Flight Academy in 2012. Miami is transforming Bicentennial Park into a museum campus with glittering LEED-certified facilities for the Museum of Science and Industry and the Miami Art Museum.

Let the Games Begin

The Orlando Magic's shiny new 875,000-square-foot arena will host the NBA's All-Star Weekend in February 2012. If you can't make it for that talent showcase, catch the Heat in action at their Downtown Miami arena, and judge the skills of Chris Bosch, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron James for yourself. The highly anticipated opening of the Marlins Ballpark in Miami's Little Havana will happen in time for the 2012 baseball season. The retractable roof and air-conditioning will solve two problems: the hot summer weather and frequent thunderstorms.

The Suite Life

You gotta give Florida's hoteliers credit for opening new properties—like Jimmy Buffett's 162-room Margaritaville Beach Hotel on the Gulf and Jacksonville's Aloft in Tapestry Park, a luxurious Starwood hotel—amid one of the worst recessions the country has ever seen. Many properties have also undergone massive renovations and expansions, including luxury destinations like Orlando's Peabody, which added a 35-story tower and English garden among other improvements.

Airport Facelifts

A whopping $100,000 million has been spent per year over the last several, expanding and adding to Florida's airports. But the biggest news is Miami International's soup-to-nuts overhaul. Every single inch of MIA has been renovated over a six-year period, and the huge Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), a public transportation hub, will hold all rental cars companies and Tri-Rail (a commuter train connecting southeast Florida counties), Metrorail (to downtown Miami), and Amtrak stops.