Deb

We're planning to visit Florida this spring. What are some attractions, often missed by tourists. We do plan on going to the Magic Kingdom. There must be some usually missed by tourists---attractions. We have two children 9 and 12. Thanks.

tim jamieson

florida is big state.. try to be more specific about area and interests

Polly

I can't imagine anything more fun in Florida for your group that a day at Ichetucknee Springs Just off I-75 north of Gainesville (on Route 41 West). No amusement park here...just nature at its finest. You rent an inner tube, jump off a wooden pier into a spring-fed, crystal clear, icy cold stream and float for about an hour or so under live oak trees streaming with moss. A wonderful way to enjoy nature and companionship with family. Not much in the area as far as accommodations, so stop at KFC and buy a picnic lunch to enjoy under the trees at the end of the journey. There is camping in the area and, frankly, other things might have built up since I have been there. Maybe others in the area can expand on this for you. Truly...we have been there twice over 20 or so years of vacationing with both my children. It is the adventure that we talk about most often!

Mike Miller

If you're looking for nature in the Central Fl area here are some good spots to explore. Blue Springs State Park in Orange City. Great place to see manatees in the winter. Gemini Springs County Park just outside Deltona - one of our regions gems. Alexander Springs and Juniper Springs State Parks in the Ocala National Forest. Alexander is just outside Astor on State Rt 40 and Juniper is 10 miles west of Astor on St Rt 40. Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge - run by NASA. If you want to see gators in the wild - they're here. Hontoon Island State Park - just outside DeLand off of St Rt 44. You have to take a small ferry boat to get to this park. Another fantastic trip is only 1/2 mile from the park at Hontoon Landing and that is a St. John's River cruise that goes to Blue Springs, stops for 1/2 hour so you can see the manatees and then goes back - a truly beatiful trip.

P. Jernigan

I do not know how much traveling you want to do...NW Fla is about 8 hours away from Disney and our beaches are Gorgeous. The Pensacola area has beautiful beaches that your kids will enjoy. We also have Ft. Pickens which is on the beach and everyone enjoys walking around and looking at the old forts. The sand is sugar white and a lot of fun to walk through. Spring is usually pretty busy, so make reservation early. Your kids would enjoy the NAS Museum which has an Imax theatre,a flight simulator,
and lots of old and new aircraft. The history of the aircraft is very interesting. You could spend hours there and still not see all of the planes. There are also a lot of places where you could let your kids fish...freshwater or saltwater. Not too far away from the beach,(about 40 min.) in the Blackwater River area, you could rent a canoe and enjoy the scenic view down one of the rivers like Blackwater River or Cold Water Creek ...Plan to visit. I am SURE that you would love our area.

NGail

ttt

aliska

Ngail, assuming you have topped this and are looking for recent info. This isn't exactly "off the beaten path", but the Kennedy Space Center is about 90 min from Orlando. Our kids were 14 & 10 when we went there (2 girls). My husband had dragged us (kicking & screaming) because he really wanted to go. We girls thought we would appease him for an hour or 2 and move on. SURPRISE! We got there at 9 a.m. and stayed until 6 p.m. It was incredible, both passive (I-MAX theatre) and interactive/hands-on at the same time. A bonus was that we saw a family of alligators crawling out of the salt water marsh onto a highway service drive as well. Highly recommend it!

ajcolorado

Not exactly a state secret but our family loved St. Augustine, FL. We also really enjoyed Sunset at Pier 64 in Clearwater Beach.

Here's a Disney semi-secret: They have a sing-along with Chip & Dale followed by an outdoor Disney movie over at the WDW Fort Wilderness Campground. We thought it was great fun. We bought the s'mores kit and everytime we put our marshmallows over the flames, the sky would open up and soak us to the skin. But it was a warm summer rain and we thought it was fun. You can also rent canoes at the Fort Wilderness Campground - you don't have to stay there to do these.

Binthair

Go see some manatees. There is a free and very nice viewing area at the power plant at Apollo Beach (Tampa). We saw probably 60 or 70 there last week. Other ideas: consider a baseball exhibition game at spring training camp, and consider a county fair such as the one in Sarasota: excellent midway and relatively uncrowded as county fairs go.

architectlink

Since you will be in Orlando, there is a ton to do for a week that will be within an hours drive. You don't want to spend the entire time in the car and being between two coasts you can get to either coast easily within 2 hours. Also the WP BOAT TOUR for $8 is a blast and leaves every hour on the hour and you can see the mansions and hear the history as you float by. There is so much to do in Orlando that is healthy that I could go on and on and on...have fun.

JJ5

I second the Blue Springs. We had a delightful day there out of Orlando. They have a private tour boat trip through the park which is one of the best nature tours I've ever been on. The docent had great knowledge of the bird life. Manatees were all there and fun to watch.

Justmom

Capt. Tom's Wild Monkey Tour near Ocala:

Wildside: Wild monkeys living near Tampa Bay!

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=21237

Tampa Bay, Florida - If you did not know it, there are monkeys living north of Tampa Bay. Possibly thousands of the primates are living along the silver river. And their numbers appear to be growing. How did they get here? Wildside guy Randy Rauch introduces us to Captain Tom who takes us face to face with the monkeys.

For more information, you can email Captain Tom at: [email protected]