Visiting Offbeat Attractions in Orlando

With so many attractions competing for every honeymoon vacationer’s limited money and time, some of Orlando’s attractions have endeavored to become ones that you will visit by offering an experience that is truly out of the ordinary.

Gatorland may be one of the oldest and most unique attractions in Orlando. The park began as an alligator farm in 1949 and has grown ever since. The Godwin family has owned the park and they have continued to expand the park to what it is today. Gatorland is a conservation center and education tool, while at the same time it entertains and amazes visitors with views of alligators and reptiles in their natural everglade habitat.

The park recently added a water park to its 110 acres and recently raised admission to $23 for adults and $15 for children. This price also includes all day entrance into the water park. This still keeps it as one of the least expensive amusement parks/attractions in Orlando. At the end of 2006, Gatorland suffered a major setback when a fire broke out from a faulty heating devise. The gift shop was completely lost, as was the famous front entrance to the park, the enormous alligator’s open mouth that visitors walk into to enter the park. Within 3 weeks, the park reopened and they are currently open while at the same time repairing and rebuilding. The new buildings are set for a completion date of June 2008.

Another different sight to see is next door to Orlando, in Kissimmee. It is called the Monument to the States. This is a 50-foot tower that plays tribute to every state in the union. Each stone that the tower has been built from was cut and brought from each state and represents characteristics and fossils from that area. Viewing the monument is free, as it is publicly displayed in Historic Downtown Kissimmee. The monument is made up of over 1500 stones and was put together in 1943. Since then 22 countries from around the world have also contributed stones.

Orlando is the home to one of the largest museum for oddities; Ripley’s Believe It or Not! This museum is full of items from Robert Ripley’s trips around the globe searching for the world’s wonders and oddities. The building itself is odd. The massive museum looks as though one end of it is slowly sinking into the earth. The museum is set up as a self-guided tour that allows you to study the unusual items at your leisure.

Two other more unusual attractions in Orlando have religious themes. The Jesus Film Project is a 2-hour movie of the life of Christ that has been seen by over 5 billion viewers since it debuted in 1979. The other attraction is the Holy Land Experience. This attraction allows the visitor to walk through an ancient Jerusalem as authentically costumed actors portray people from the Bible re-enacting various Bible stories.

Consider another attraction that is a re-creation of another event.
Titanic: The Experience allows you to become one of the guests on that fateful trip as crew members act as guides showing you many of the areas of the ship and explaining what happened.
WonderWorks is another odd sight to see. The building itself looks as though it fell from the sky and landed upside down. An exhibit includes a mock up of the space shuttle and allows you to try your hand at attempting to land the space/aircraft. In the same way, you can enter flight simulators of other aircraft to see how you would fare “up in the wild blue yonder”. In one exhibit you can get inside an actual astronaut’s space suit and in another, you can step in front of blue screens and see yourself as famous sports figures scoring the winning basket, touchdown or goal. They also have an earthquake simulator and a room that allows you to create bubbles of all sizes. It even has a simulator that lets you create and then ride on your own roller coaster.
As you can see, a trip to Orlando does not have to revolve around the major three parks of Disney, Universal and Sea World. If you are looking to experience something a bit more out of the ordinary, consider any of these choices.

Orlando, Florida: A Budget Guide To An Awesome Honeymoon Trip

It is always a nice to break away from all the stressful demands of our workplace, isn’t it?  Most of us are dying to get out of these nerve-racking workloads. If you’ve spent the last year of your life planning your wedding and juggling all the details, you’re probably down to your last nerve right about now.

A pleasant honeymoon or vacation will have to do; however, not all of us can afford to go on a weekend trip primarily because we are short on budget. In fact, with all the doom and gloom in the financial news, you may even feel guilty or even fearful for even planning any sort of trip let alone a honeymoon. But do not worry, there are thousands of places you can go for a honeymoon trip without spending too much.

In fact, here in the United States, you can find vast number of affordable  honeymoons or vacations to choose from. The same dire economic news actually works in your favor right now. We have come up with ten top bargain honeymoon destinations that will definitely not only save you money, but more importantly will give you the best honeymoon or vacation ever. Orlando, Florida, one of the most visited cities in the United States, is high on the list mainly because of its numerous vacation offers.

Cheap way to Orlando

If you are planning to fly, try booking air tickets in advance, and never book during peak-seasons since prices are higher during those times. There are a lot of Airline websites that offer low cost plane fares. Try using the search engines; these will help you compare prices of different airlines. Cheap airfares range from $ 200 to $ 300 depending on your departure area.

Or if you want, you can also drive all the way to Orlando. Renting a car is a good way to save money and to cut on travel costs. Prices still range from $13.95 to $15 a day depending on your departure area. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that the car rental agencies have some discounts to encourage business.

Affordable packages

There are hundreds of travel agencies that offer special packages going to Orlando, try to look up them up on the internet, this will definitely help.

Here are some best hotel deals you would like to consider:
Stay at Howard Johnson Maingate Resort West located 3.5 miles from Disney World. They offer standard hotel rooms for only $ 9.99 per night during Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The good thing about this place is that it is situated on 15 tropical acres, a really nice way to relax after a long exhausting tour in the city.

Or, you may want to stay in Orlando’s Quality Inn & Suites Universal Studios with rooms amounting to as low as $50 per night. You need not drive long hours and spend more on gasoline just to get to the city’s major attractions. This hotel is centrally located and in close proximity to Universal Studios and Disney World parks. Two of the must *see* destinations on any honeymoon or vacation to Orlando.

Another good way to enjoy your money in Orlando is to avail yourself of package deals. These will save you a lot on your honeymoon trip. Book a room in a chain hotel where they will give you cut-rate access to Orlando’s many popular places and activities.

How about a guided tour around some of the amazing tourist attractions of the area like the Kennedy Space Center’s guided tour where they will provide you entry to all the Visitor Complex movies, shows, and even limitless IMAX films. Or, discover America’s first launch sites from the 1960’s, take an excursion around the Missile Museum and Air Force Space Center. This guided tour would only cost you as much as $38 to $58 per individual.

Of course, no trip to Orlando would be complete without a tour of Disney World and Epcot. For about, $219.95 per person a day you can enjoy Disney’s vast properties. Nearly 31,000 acres of fun-filled activities and the home of Mickey Mouse. There is so much you can’t do and see everything here in one day.

Definitely, the city of Orlando has a lot of attractive activities. Enjoy the sights and scenes of this spectacular city without even thinking of spending too much on your honeymoon or vacation!