As one of Florida’s top vacation destinations, Orlando offers no shortage of exciting attractions to fill your itinerary. World-renowned theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando provide days of thrills. But beyond the big theme parks, Orlando also boasts an array of museums, gardens, wildlife encounters, and outdoor adventures.

Attraction	Description
Walt Disney World	World’s largest theme park complex with four different parks offering various themed experiences.
Universal Orlando	A theme park with movie-based attractions, including Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
Kennedy Space Center	NASA’s launch headquarters featuring interactive exhibits, rockets, and astronaut presentations.
Gatorland	A wildlife park with thousands of alligators and crocodiles, shows, and a zip line.
Harry P. Leu Gardens	A 50-acre garden with a variety of plants, including a tranquil Japanese garden.
WonderWorks Orlando	An indoor amusement park with over 100 interactive STEM exhibits.
Airboat Rides at Boggy Creek	Exciting airboat tours through Florida’s Everglades, showcasing local wildlife.
Pirate’s Dinner Adventure	A pirate-themed dinner show with interactive performances, stunts, and special effects.
Icon Park	An entertainment complex with an observation wheel, drop tower, and various dining options.
Morse Museum	Houses a comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, including stained glass and pottery.
Wekiwa Springs State Park	Offers outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and swimming in a natural spring.

From airboat rides in the Everglades to strolling a blooming garden paradise, there are many incredible things to experience in Orlando. Here are 12 of the top attractions you won’t want to miss when visiting Orlando.

Table of Content

Walt Disney World

Name and Location: Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

History and Significance: Opened in 1971, Walt Disney World features 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, sports, dining, and entertainment. It’s one of the world’s most visited resorts.

What to Expect: Ride thrilling rides and enjoy immersive themed lands across its parks like Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. See beloved Disney characters.

Visitor Information: Purchase single or multi-day tickets online. Parking, shuttles available. Stay on-site or off-site.

As the largest and most visited theme park complex worldwide, the Walt Disney World Resort deserves a spot at the top of any Orlando itinerary. The massive resort includes four separate Disney theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.

Each park immerses guests in themed lands filled with innovative rides, shows, restaurants, and experiences. Favorite attractions range from Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle to runaway train ride Big Thunder Mountain to new Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. With so much to see and do, Walt Disney World could occupy your entire trip.

Universal Orlando

Name and Location: Universal Orlando Resort, 6000 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819

History and Significance: Opened in 1990, Universal Orlando features immersive themed parks like Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, with additions like Volcano Bay water park.

What to Expect: Ride cutting-edge thrill rides and enjoy entertainment across two theme parks and a waterpark. Experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Visitor Information: Purchase single or multi-park tickets. Parking, shuttles available. Stay at on-site hotels or off-site accommodations nearby.

For an immersive theme park experience focused more on movie-based thrills than Disney magic, visit Universal Orlando. This resort complex includes two parks: Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.acceleration park featuring pulse-pounding attractions like the Incredible Hulk Coaster and Jurassic Park River Adventure.

Guests can explore themed lands and rides based on favorites like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Transformers, and more. With exciting attractions for film fans of all ages, Universal Orlando makes for an adrenaline-filled vacation.

Kennedy Space Center

Name and Location: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953

History and Significance: This NASA facility opened in 1967 for public tours. It has launched spaceships from Mercury to the Space Shuttle. Home of the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

What to Expect: Take bus tours to launch areas. See rockets, spacesuits, and space shuttle Atlantis. Experience immersive astronaut training simulators.

Visitor Information: Admission around $57 for adults. Open daily from 9am. About an hour drive east of Orlando.

No trip to Florida is complete without visiting Kennedy Space Center, the NASA launch headquarters located just 45 minutes from Orlando. Interactive exhibits let you get up close with massive rockets, touch an actual moon rock, and climb aboard space flight simulators.

Don’t miss seeing the colossal Saturn V rocket on display, the only moon rocket designated a national historic landmark. Daily presentations from veteran astronauts provide personal perspectives on past NASA missions and the future of spaceflight. For an inspiring and educational experience, Kennedy Space Center is out of this world.

Gatorland

Name and Location: Gatorland, 14501 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL 32837

History and Significance: This classic 110-acre theme park opened in 1949 featuring thousands of alligators and crocodiles. It promotes conservation.

What to Expect: Get up close views of gators on walking paths, shows and exhibits. Ride the zip line over gator-filled waters and roar with dinos in the Stompin’ Gator Off-Road Adventure.

Visitor Information: Admission around $30 for adults. Open daily from 10am-5pm. About 20 minutes south of downtown Orlando.

Calling itself the “alligator capital of the world,” 110-acre Gatorland provides nonstop family fun with its up-close encounters with thousands of gators and crocodiles. Visitors can view the massive reptiles from safe boardwalk paths or dare to get closer from a zipline crossing over breeding marsh areas.

Gatorland offers shows like the Gator Wrestlin’ Show and educational Gator & Crocodile Talks throughout the day. The Screamin’ Gator Zip Line at night provides added thrills. For a full day of wetlands wildlife excitement, Gatorland satisfies gator lovers of all ages.

Harry P. Leu Gardens

Name and Location: Harry P. Leu Gardens, 1920 N Forest Ave, Orlando, FL 32803

History and Significance: This 50-acre oasis is one of Florida’s most beautiful gardens, opened in 1961.

What to Expect: Stroll hand-in-hand through rose, butterfly, and tropical gardens overflowing with color. Don’t miss the giant bamboo forest.

Visitor Information: Admission is $12 for adults. Open 9am-5pm daily. Free on first Mondays.

Covering over 50 acres in Orlando, the stunning Harry P. Leu Gardens provides a tranquil escape into perfectly manicured gardens. Wander through diverse sections showcasing palms, camellias, azaleas, roses, butterfly plants, bamboo, and desert flora.

The tranquil Japanese garden with arched bridges and flowing water features adds serenity. Stop by the Leu House Museum & Cafe set in a restored 19th century mansion. Nature lovers and garden enthusiasts will especially appreciate the beauty of Harry P. Leu Gardens.

WonderWorks Orlando

Name and Location: WonderWorks Orlando, 9067 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

History and Significance: This family edutainment attraction combines an amusement park with interactive learning experiences when it opened in 1998.

What to Expect: Explore upside-down exhibits focused on space, physics, math, and more. Try the 4D XD motion simulator ride, Laser Tag, Ropes Course and over 100 hands-on activities.

Visitor Information: Admission around $30 for adults. Open daily from 9am. Located near Orlando’s major attractions.

With its upside-down exterior meant to look like a tornado ripped through a research lab, WonderWorks delivers hands-on fun letting kids explore the physics and science governing our world. This massive indoor amusement park contains over 100 interactive STEM exhibits.

Airboat Rides at Boggy Creek

Name and Location: Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, 2001 E. Southport Rd, Kissimmee, FL 34746

History and Significance: Providing airboat tours of the Central Florida wetlands and swamps since 1971.

What to Expect: Ride a thrilling airboat through the marshes to spot alligators, birds, and other wildlife up close at high speeds.

Visitor Information: Admission around $50 for 30-minute tour. Open daily from 8am-6pm. Located 20 minutes south of Orlando.

Experience the thrill of gliding across Florida wetlands aboard a powerful airboat tour from Boggy Creek Airboat Rides. Experienced captains take visitors on exciting hour-long rides through the Central Florida Everglades packed with protected marshes, cypress domes, and lush vegetation.

Along the journey, you are likely to encounter alligators, turtles, eagles, and other wetland critters. For a safari-like adventure and glimpse of the region’s wilder side, airboat rides provide an unforgettable voyage accessible from Orlando.

Pirate’s Dinner Adventure

Name and Location: Pirate’s Dinner Adventure, 6400 Carrier Dr, Orlando, FL 32819

History and Significance: This immersive dinner theater has entertained families with swashbuckling entertainment and food since 1988.

What to Expect: Enjoy a multi-course pirate-themed meal while watching acrobatic stunts, sword fights, and high dives performed on ships and water.

Visitor Information: Ticket prices start around $67 for adults. Evening shows daily. Near International Drive tourist area.

For swashbuckling family fun, catch a lively show at Pirate’s Dinner Adventure. Guests enjoy an interactive pirate-themed performance with tons of stunts, special effects, aerialists and staged sword fights as they dine on a hearty pirate’s buffet dinner.

Between multiple actors performing daring feats simultaneously across a huge arena, there’s always something exciting happening. Kids are encouraged to come dressed as pirates and participate, making for lively interactive entertainment the whole family will enjoy.

Icon Park

Name and Location: ICON Park Orlando, 8375 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819

History and Significance: Opened in 2015, this entertainment complex features the 400-ft observation wheel plus attractions, restaurants and shops.

What to Expect: Ride The Wheel for panoramic views. Experience thrill rides like the Orlando Slingshot. Enjoy dining and entertainment options.

Visitor Information: Free admission, pay per attraction. Open daily. Parking garages charge a fee. Located on International Drive.

This dining and entertainment complex at the heart of Orlando’s International Drive provides fun for all ages. Families can soar 400 feet on the observation wheel The Wheel, plunge from the 400-foot-tall free-fall drop tower The Drop, or tackle a variety of obstacle courses at Orlando Ninja Experience.

Plenty of dining options like Tin Roof Orlando satisfy post-adventure appetites. With its mix of amusement park thrills off the beaten theme park path, Icon Park shouldn’t be missed.

Morse Museum

Name and Location: Morse Museum, 445 N Park Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789

History and Significance: This museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, opened in 1942.

What to Expect: Be awed by Tiffany’s stained glass windows, lamps, vases and jewelry. Centerpiece is a dazzling chapel interior he designed.

Visitor Information: Admission $6 adults. Open Tue-Sat 9:30am-4pm, Sun 1pm-4pm. Closed Mondays.

Located in Orlando’s cultural hub of Winter Park, the exceptional Morse Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by American designer and artist Louis Comfort Tiffany. Stunning stained glass windows, lamps, glasswork, pottery, and jewelry fill the galleries.

The centerpiece is the chapel interior Tiffany designed for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair meticulously reconstructed with over a million pieces of glass. For lovers of art and design, seeing this unparalleled Tiffany collection is a must.

Wekiwa Springs State Park

Name and Location: Wekiwa Springs State Park, 1800 Wekiwa Circle, Apopka, FL 32712

History and Significance: Located along the Wekiva River, this 13,000+ acre park offers pristine wilderness access and wildlife viewing.

What to Expect: Hike trails, swim in the spring, canoe/kayak the river.

Just north of Orlando, Wekiwa Springs State Park provides a refreshing outdoor escape with its crystal clear spring, miles of trails, and abundant wildlife. Guests can hike, bike, canoe, kayak, swim, fish and camp within the nearly 14,000 acres of scenic natural landscapes.

The park offers ranger-led educational programs on topics like birdwatching, ecology, and wildlife. For a picturesque day surrounded by Florida’s nature and beauty, Wekiwa Springs State Park is a perfect choice.

Conclusion

From world-famous amusement parks to airboat rides through the Everglades to strolling lush gardens, Orlando offers incredible variety when it comes to attractions. Thrill-seekers, nature-lovers, science fans, and artists alike will find exciting experiences that capture their interests.

Anyone visiting Orlando for the first time or the tenth time is sure to discover new adventures and make unforgettable memories.

Top 12 Attractions in Orlando