Kissimmee
About 20 miles south of Orlando, Kissimmee is a popular overnight destination for groups that are visiting the major theme parks and looking for more affordable hotel accommodations outside the city. But it isn’t just a bedroom community; this town offers its own attractions worth exploring.
Kissimmee is surrounded by wetlands that are populated with many wild alligators, and groups can learn about these reptiles at Gatorland, a park that bills itself as the Alligator Capital of the World. Visitors can see hundreds of alligators, crocodiles and other wild animals in the park, or soar above the alligators on the Screamin’ Gator Zip Line. Travelers see more of the swamp up close on Wild Florida Airboat Tours. These excursions use high-powered fan boats to glide across the waters of the Everglades, where visitors see many examples of the area’s wildlife in its native habitat. They get an even closer look at the company’s on-site wildlife park, which is home to more than 200 animals.
While you’re there: Numerous after-hours entertainment options in and around Kissimmee will keep the fun rolling after young travelers leave the parks. Capone’s Dinner and Show features music, dancing, action and comedy, along with a buffet dinner, and Medieval Times combines eat-with-your-hands dining with chivalry, horseback stunts and more in a re-created 13th-century castle.
Space Coast
Anyone who has watched space exploration has likely seen images of spacecraft launching from Cape Canaveral on Florida’s central Atlantic coast. For travelers, a visit to Kennedy Space Center affords an opportunity to see launch pads, landing strips and other NASA sites in person.
Kennedy Space Center is a large visitor complex that serves as the tourist gateway to NASA’s Florida base. The center is the size of a small theme park, with numerous exhibit buildings and interactive rides that replicate some of the sensations astronauts experience when blasting off or floating through space. Perhaps the most spectacular display is the new Atlantis exhibit that opened last year to house the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
For real space enthusiasts, the visitor center is just the jumping-off point for a tour of NASA’s operations. The two-hour Explorer Tour takes groups out onto restricted territory to see the assembly buildings, launch pads and runways used in dozens of shuttle missions.
While you’re there: The space exploration facilities in this part of Florida are surrounded by waterways, forests and wetlands, as well as 72 miles of Atlantic Ocean beaches and Indian River Lagoon. Outdoor enthusiasts can explore the lakes, rivers and wetlands on various air boats or scenic cruisers, on kayak tours or while hiking in some of the nearby wildlife sanctuaries.
Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach has made a name for itself through the decades as a coastal destination where sand, waves and resorts are the primary attractions. But your young travelers may get the most thrills out of a treetop adventure at Zoom Air.
Located in Tuscawilla Park, an inland area lush with tropical plants and mature trees, Zoom Air is a zip line and aerial obstacle course that gives participants a chance to test their strength, balance and agility while snuggly harnessed to a safety line. There are three separate adventure courses at the park, and each takes about 45 minutes to complete.
Each course features a number of “games,” such as swinging bridges, suspended planks and rope swings, that adventures must traverse to pass from one treetop platform to another. Scattered among the games are zip lines, giving riders a chance to lean back, enjoy the breeze and experience a bird’s-eye perspective of the area as they glide through the park.
While you’re there: The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse offers visitors a look at a distinctive element of Florida history. Built in 1887, the 175-foot-high red brick lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and one of the tallest masonry lighthouses in the country.
