Orlando, 2 small kids, fun day trips??
 

I am looking for some things to do with our family other than the big parks in Orlando. We are up for anything that can be accomplished with 2 small adventurous kids. Gators, Manatees, anything that you thought was worth your time and money. First week in May, staying at the JW Marriott.

Wekiva Springs State Park is about 45 minutes away; nice place to picnic, swim, etc.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/wek...gs/default.cfm

If it's gators you want to see then Gatorland is the place. www.gatorland.com All the gators and crocs you'd ever want to see.

Cocoa Beach is only about an hour away and has some very nice parks on the beach (Jetty Park and Lori Wilson park both have nice facilities).

Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa and Brevard Zoo in Melbourne are both good for families. Lowry Park Zoo has a manatee exhibit, and Brevard Zoo currently has a dinosaur exhibit.

Have fun!

I forgot to mention Fort Christmas, a park with a replica of a fort built during the Seminole wars. http://www.nbbd.com/godo/FortChristmas/
A great place to let the kids run off some steam!

I second Gatorland - it is just the sort of tacky/funny place you expect in Orlando - so different than the polish of Disney, but worth the trip. You used to enter thru a giant plaster gator mouth and one of the highlights was wtching big gators jump at raw chickens strung on a line across their pond.

Thanks! We'll add a few of these to the list and let you know what we think.

You could also visit one of the natural springs in the Ocala National Forest.
http://www.ocalacc.com/visitor-center/forestry.asp

Kennedy Space Center is great if the kids are old enough (5 and up?)...and you can visit Cocoa Beach the same afternoon.