The Top 10 Summer Must-Do's In Orlando!

The summer is calling and you Gotta Go Orlando! With picture perfect blue skies, the best theme parks in the world, and a never-ending choice of attractions, and activities, Orlando is the perfect place to enjoy summer.

Summer is just around the corner, and top of the list for endless summer fun is of course Orlando, where the world comes to enjoy theme parks, water parks, attractions, and so much more!

It's time to break out the swimsuits, shorts and shades, and get ready to dive into the best things to do in Orlando this summer.

The Top 10 Summer Must-Do's In Orlando!

1: You Gotta Visit A Theme Park

As the undisputed theme park capital of the world, Orlando is home to the world's best theme parks, and best of all there is always something new to experience, and this year is no exception!

From the magical adventures at Walt Disney World, to the epic theme parks at Universal Orlando Resort, there is a whole world of fun and excitement for everyone to enjoy here in Central Florida's awesome theme parks.

Recent additions at Walt Disney World include TRON Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom, Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana and an all new fireworks show, Luminous The Symphony of Us at EPCOT, plus the highly-anticipated Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is scheduled to open this summer at Magic Kingdom! Also new at Walt Disney World for summer is a limited-time FREE DRONE Show at Disney Springs.

Over at Universal Orlando Resort, while we wait for an entirely new theme park, Epic Universe in 2025, this year you can enjoy the recently opened Illuminaton’s Minion Land. Plus, meet favorite characters from Shrek, Trolls, and Kung Fu Panda at DreamWorks Land, set to open this summer at Universal Studios Florida. Also at Universal Studios Florida, a new daytime parade and nighttime drone show is in the works to open later this summer.

The fun continues with SeaWorld Orlando where you can experience ocean animals together with thrilling shows and rides, and this year SeaWorld is celebrating its 60th Birthday with a new parade, special meet and greets and more. Plus hit the waves at the recently opened Pipeline Coaste, then brave the all-new Penguin Trek: an immersive indoor/outdoor family launch coaster!

Plus, the fun doesn't stop there, we have LEGOLAND Florida in Winter Park, where you can enjoy Lego rides, shows and attractions plus Legoland's little theme park for little visitors, Peppa Theme Park! New this year at LEGOLAND Florida is the brand-new LEGO Ferrari Build & Race experience, plus later this year, a new Sealife attraction is coming to the park!

Enough fun? No way! Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is where the fun is thrilling with wild animals and even wilder rides, and new for this year is Phoenix Rising, a new family inverted roller coaster

Fun Spot America is a popular choice for wasting away a few hours on its rides and attractions at its two locations (Orlando and Kissimmee), with both parks offering thrilling fu for all ages. Parking is FREE at Fun Spot America as well as FREE admission. Pay by day in advance or by ride at the park.

2: Enjoy Outdoors Adventures In Orlando

For those seeking adventure in Orlando this Summer, you have an almost endless choice of things to do! Highlights include riding an airboat through the swamps in search of gators at both, Wild Florida or Boggy Creek Airboat Rides, or soar above the trees on zip lines and tarzan ropes at Orlando Tree Trek Adventure Park! 

Looking for something a little more laid back? Enjoy a sunrise hot air balloon ride over Orlando with Painted Horizons Hot Air Balloon Rides, or enjoy an 8-minute tethered adventure in the world’s largest hand-painted helium balloon at Disney Springs. Aerophile Balloon Rides will give you a birds eye view of Walt Disney World!

A must-do in Orlando is a Swan Paddle Boat Ride around Lake Eola! Or for a complete change of pace, The Lazy H Ranch offers horseback scenic trail rides through hundreds of acres of pristine Florida ranch lands. Mosey along and ride across the Kissimmee Valley, through hundred-year-old oak trees and along the shores of beautiful lake Tohopekaliga.

For a wild outdoor adventure, The Showcase of Citrus’s Park Rangers drive guests aboard monster trucks into the vast Florida Outback. Guests will explore Native Woodlands, Citrus Groves, and Bigfoot territory. The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, located on Lake Osceola in the quiet suburb of Winter Park, offers hour-long, guided cruises through narrow manmade canals on the tranquil Winter Park chain.

Another fun option is a thrilling jet ski ride on a Sea Doo Jet Ski from Luxe Jet Ski Rental, or captain your own personal catamaran across some of the cleanest waterways in all of Florida - pushing the throttle at up to 25MPH while enjoying some of the best scenery you can find during a 2 hour adventure on the Clermont Chain of lakes with Catboat.

Play award-winning miniature golf at Congo River Golf, with locations on I-Drive, Kissimmee, and Altamonte Springs. Also on I-Drive you'll discover Bonanza Golf featuring two 18-hole miniature golf courses with an Old West mining theme.

Experience Central Florida's most outrageously themed miniature golf - Hollywood Drive-In Golf at Universal CityWalk Orlando! Inspired by the 1950's era, guests enter a classic drive-in theater box office area where they select either a "single feature" (18-holes) or "double feature" (36-holes) with a choice of two family friendly courses, "The Haunting of Ghostly Greens" and "Invaders From Planet Putt."

3: Cool Off In An Orlando Water Park

Of course, one of the best this to do in Orlando during the hot Summer days is to cool off in a water park! Experience miles of lazy rivers, massive wave pools and some of the most thrilling water slides imaginable at Orlando's awesome choice of water parks!

Highlights include Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World, and the amazing South Pacific themed Volcano Bay at Universal Orlando, while SeaWorld Orlando of course specializes in all things aquatic and their water park Aquatica is amazing.

LEGOLAND Florida's Water Park features Lego of course and is so much fun, while over at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay you'll discover Adventure Island!

Plus, for even more splashing fun in the sun, a must-visit is Island H20 Water Park at the Margaritaville Resort in Kissimmee, plus in addition to the awesome Orlando water parks, check out these water adveture park, well worth splashing into! Nona Adventure Park in Lake Nona features an inflatable aqua park/obstacle course, and 60’ climbing tower/ropes course/rock walls, while over near Orlando International Airport you will discover Orlando Watersports Complex, one of the largest cable wakeboard parks in the U.S.

4: Enjoy The AC at Orlando's Awesome Indoor Attractions

Orlando offers a never ending choice of fun experiences for everyone to enjoy, young or old and no matter what you're interested in, you'll find all right it here, and when you can't stand the heat any longer, head indoors and chill out at Orlando's awesome indoor attractions

Discover Kings Dining And Entertainment offering bowling, billiards, bars and more, all in a spacious retro-chic setting. I-Drive also offers Florida's largest indoor attraction, Dezerland Park with so much to enjoy including bowling, go-kart tracks, axe throwing and a huge auto museum.

Take a walk on the weird side at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Orlando with kitschy oddities on display, including shrunken human heads & rare skeletons. Then visit Orlando's upside down house, WonderWorks, an amusement park for the mind with 35,000 square feet of “edu-tainment”, the attraction combines education and entertainment with more than 100 hands on exhibits that challenge the mind and spark the imagination.

Andretti Indoor Karting & Games features indoor karting, 12 lanes of boutique bowling, more than 120 arcade, prize games, two-level laser tag arena, six virtual reality racing simulators, 7D interactive motion theater, an extreme ropes course and more!

At Topgolf Orlando, enjoy climate-controlled hitting bays for year-round comfort with HDTVs in every bay. Using complimentary clubs or your own, take aim at the giant outfield targets and our high-tech balls will score themselves. Discover the dream of flight at iFLY Orlando! Experience the true free fall conditions of skydiving without jumping from an airplane. iFLY's vertical wind tunnel technology creates a wall-to-wall cushion of air on which you can safely float.

5: Meet Wild Animals At Orlando's Amazing Animal Encounters

This Summer come on out and enjoy all the alligator awesomeness of a day at Gatorland, “The Alligator Capital of the World!” There isn’t a better place to see alligators and crocodiles of all sizes, from babies, also known as grunts, to the 14-foot monsters that call our Breeding Marsh home. We even have the largest collection of extremely rare white leucistic alligators. But, Gatorland is more than just a gator park! Enjoy the free-flight aviary, petting zoo, one-of-a-kind animal shows, and more

You can also enjoy a road trip through the Wild Florida Drive-thru Safari Park where you and your family can see more than 150 exotic and native animals roaming freely. In addition to exploring the drive thru safari, there are also a variety of animal encounters and experiences you and your family will enjoy. From feeding to painting with the tallest living animals on Earth, this adventure will definitely reach new heights.

Wild Florida Alligator Park gives visitors the opportunity to watch, touch and even feed native Florida animals, various species of tropical birds and exotic animals from all over the world. See more than 500 animals, including rare and endangered species at Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, as well as 23 acres of lush natural beauty. Discover more than 900 animals from around the world set within the natural beauty of Florida landscapes at Brevard Zoo in Melbourne.

6: Chill With An Ice-Cold Treat

When the temperature sizzles, here in Orlando we have some of the best ice cream shops around. From organic gelato, funky soft-serve and old-fashioned sundaes served at the city’s best ice cream shops, locals and visitors have a yummy list of scoop shops to choose from.

Kelly's Homemade Ice Cream is a local, handcrafted ice cream shop. They make all their ice creams and sorbets at their shops right here in Central Florida. In addition to dairy ice creams, they also offer non-dairy alternatives!

Described as Orlando's little ice cream boutique, a visit to Greenery Creamery is a must in downtown Orlando or Sanford. The shop offers a range of dairy and plant-based flavors, some of which are gluten free. of course, no visit to Orlando is complete without soft serve from Twistee Treat, just look for their giant cone buildings! Also serving up yummy soft serve delights is Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard. The much loved brand has local locations on International Drive, Lake Buena Vista, Winter Garden, and Kissimmee.

Jeremiah's Italian Ice serves up tasty frozen treats with a smile! The menu hosts refreshing Italian Ice (available in over 40 flavors), rich & creamy soft ice cream, and the Jeremiah's Gelati - the perfect layering of any flavor Italian Ice with soft ice cream! Find Jeremiah's at tons of locations throughout the Orlando area!

7: Spend The Day Exploring ICON Park

ICON Park is a must visit on International Drive, offering fun adventures for the whole family.

Located in the heart of the Orlando Entertainment District, the complex encompasses entertainment attractions, over a dozen world-class restaurants and bars, nightly live music, retail stores and an outdoor marketplace – all anchored under the 400-ft icon of the Orlando skyline, The Orlando Eye, a stunning observation wheel giving you a view of Orlando like no other.

In addition to The Orlando Eye, there is lots of inside attractions at ICON Park including Madame Tussauds Orlando, here you get up-close and personal with the hottest celebrities and enjoy the glitz and glamour of Hollywood life. Next door is SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium where you come face-to-fin with thousands of fish, sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, and many more. Prepare for a world of glittering scales, humongous tentacles, and razor sharp teeth.

Also at ICON Park you can enter the fascinating world of illusions at the Museum of Illusions Orlando and you will be thrilled because nothing is what it seems, especially not HERE!

Next to Museum of Illusions you will discover Max Action Arena, the perfect place for friends and family to hang out during the rain, competing and exploring together. This is an extreme fun center featuring free-roam Virtual Reality, Axe Throwing, Adventure Rooms, Escape Room and more.

The fun never stops at ICON Park, you can enjoy great attractions including a stunning Mirror Maze, 7D Motion Theater, breath-taking Virtual Reality experiences, great games, prizes, and more at In The Game Orlando,  located inside the Wheelhouse at ICON Park. Right in the middle of all the action!

You won’t go hungry at ICON Park, either, thanks to amazing restaurants including Blake Shelton’s Ole Red, Tapa Toro Tapas Bar & Paella Pit, Tin Roof, and Yard House, plus Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips and legendary Key West saloon Sloppy Joe’s.  

Ready to dance? Ole Red and Tin Roof also offer live music to dance the night away!

8: Enjoy A Themed Dinner Show

Orlando offers an amazing choice of dinner shows perfect for a family get together after a day of fun in the sun this Summer.

Kissimmee boasts two very popular dinner shows, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament is all about jousting, horsemanship and falconry, and Capone's Dinner and Show is a fun and unique experience full of comedy, action and adventure.

International Drive loves it's dinner shows too with an awesome choice including Pirate's Dinner Adventure offering swashbuckling thrills and sword fights, Mango's Tropical Cafe Orlando offers a uniquely Latin themed experience not to miss and Orlando Improv Comedy Club & Dinner Theatre features a night of nonstop laughter.

Also on I-Drive is Titanic Dinner Show featuring a one of a kind dinner parties aboard Titanic plus Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show is a world of comedy where you become the detective.

9: Shop Till You Drop This Summer In Orlando

Orlando really is a shoppers paradise, discover fabulous malls, amazing value outlet shopping, and exclusive specialty stores, truly something for everyone!

Disney Springs offers an eclectic mix of unique stores including M&M's World, Coca Cola Store, The Lego Store, Ron Jon Surf Shop and of course the world's largest Disney Store, The World Of Disney.

Outlet shopping is very popular here in Orlando and we're lucky to have our fair share of outlets, including Orlando International Premium Outlets and Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, which both feature Orlando's only official Walt Disney World outlet stores.

Mall shopping continues to be ever popular here in Orlando with The Florida Mall a must visit, featuring over 270 retail stores, it's the areas largest shopping destination. The Mall at Millenia is a world class shopping destination boasting 150 of the finest stores, it's popular for upscale shopping here in Orlando.

10: Chill Out At Disney Springs

Disney Springs is a wonderful place to waste away a few hours or more on a hot summers day, and it's free to visit, and parking is free too.

Stroll through Town Center at Disney Springs to view vibrant displays from talented artists at the Art Walk, while everyone will love checking out a unique collection of stores including The Coca Cola Store, M&M's World, Lego Imagination Center and more.

You can take a break at The Welcome Center with air conditioning, comfy chairs and free ice water before enjoying the free entertainment at multiple locations throughout Disney Springs, with musicians and bands perform in the evening, plus House of Blues frequently offers free live music at its Front Porch Bar, oh and Raglan Road usually has free live music on their patio most nights.

The kids will love the interactive fountains, perfect to run through and cool off on a very hot summer day! Plus, on a Saturday morning there is even a free kids club with lots of entertainment to keep the kids happy.

Another great free things to do is jump on the free Water Taxi from Disney Springs to Port Orleans or Old Key West and back, along the Sassagoula River.

So there you have it, our summer top 10 must do's in Orlando, what is your summer top 10 must do's in Orlando? Let us know in the comments below.

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