Fun Family Activities and Adventures in Central Florida

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Central Florida is full of family fun. Whether you are a Florida local taking a day trip or a visitor flying in for a week-long vacation, mix your trip up with our favorite family activities and adventures in Central Florida.

Disney Springs

1494 Buena Vista Dr Suite B, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Now you can experience a world full of color and M&M’s Characters at Disney Springs® in Orlando! The store is located on the West Side of Disney Springs and spans across 10,000 square feet of colorful fun. This fun family activity in Central Florida is delicious and fun!

The M&M’s store is an interactive shopping experience perfect for the entire family. You can customize your own M&M’s, too. Create a custom blend for any theme by choosing from over 20 colors, themed clipart, personal messages, or even a personal photo. The store also has a full rainbow wall of M&M’s where you can mix and match your own custom bag with over 100 mixing options. There are photo opportunities around the store to snap the perfect picture during your visit.

Chocolate Museum & Café

11701 International Dr suite 400, Orlando, FL 32821

The Chocolate Museum & Café on International Drive in Orlando is a delicious and fun escape. A guided tour of the chocolate museum is a delightful break from the traditional theme parks, and the café is perfect for a mid-day treat or dessert after dinner. The guided tour strolls you through the rich history of chocolate from a gallery of worldwide historic chocolate bar wrappers, the cacao origin, to the making of chocolate.

Then check out the sculpture area, where there are 25 chocolate sculptures of recognizable landmarks from around the world. One of our favorites is the Beauty and the Beast Castle sculpture, which is a popular landmark in Germany. Fun fact: this castle was the inspiration for the Cinderella castle in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park!

The tour is guided and is approximately 45 minutes. The best part of the tour is that it concludes with a delightful chocolate tasting. YUM!

Old Town

5770 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, Kissimmee, FL 34746

Looking for classic American fun family activities in Central Florida? Old Town is the spot! Shop, dine, ride an attraction, or attend one of the many events hosted at the Old Town Entertainment District. There is a variety of different carnival rides fun for all ages – the carousel, Ferris wheel, hangman challenge, arcade, roller coaster, paratrooper, a magic hall, and the Xtreme ninja challenge.

You are sure to work up an appetite after the rides, so go ahead and grab a pizza at Flippers or a burger and wings at Froggers Grill & Bar.

In addition to special events, Old Town has two weekly events that include the Car Show on Wednesdays at 5pm, Friday at 3pm, and Saturday at 1pm. The Old Town Farmers Market takes place on Wednesdays at 3pm and is focused on supporting locally sourced and created products. Admission into Old Town, the Car Show and the Farmers market is free, so drive on over and enjoy a day in a classic Central Florida favorite, Old Town!

Southern Hills Farm

16651 Schofield Road Clermont, FL 34714

Southern Hill Farms (SHF) is a family-owned and commercially harvested blueberry farm. SHF is locally known for its Blueberry U-Pick and Fall events but they offer so much more. True to SHF’s name, the family and team members at the farm welcome their guests with authentic southern hospitality. Throughout the years, the farm has expanded to include a Kids Zone, Bakery Eatery and Sweets, Private Pavilions, and Sunflower field.

This past winter, the farm debuted their Strawberry U-Pick with 4 acres. Locally known for their Blueberry U-Pick, Southern Hill Farms offers 40 acres of blueberries, 8 blueberry fields, and 6 different blueberry varieties. Blueberry season usually runs from mid-March/early April to late May. While visiting the farm, try the frozen blueberry lemonade and homemade donuts (seasonal flavors are strawberry, blueberry, and apple cider).

Lake Louisa State Park

11798 Compton Rd. Clermont, FL 34714

Lake Louisa is a natural theme park that has amazing diverse wildlife and many activities for the entire family. Their camping options are vast and include two available sites for campers, equestrian camping, 60 full-facility campsites, 20 fully equipped cabins overlooking a beautiful lake, and two beautiful glamping sites for those luxe outdoor lovers. One of the most popular activities is biking the 20 miles of paved multi-use trails. While you are visiting the park make sure you have time to enjoy one of their three lakes and all the fun activities; such as boating, fishing, geo-seeking, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, paddling, picnicking, playground, swimming, and wildlife viewing. We recommend when visiting the park to plan a full day here as just a few hours will not suffice.

Visit the Lake Louisa State Park website to book camping reservations up to 11 months in advance.

Sea Life Orlando Aquarium at ICON Park

8449 International Dr. Orlando, FL 32819

SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium is a snapshot of the underwater world located in Icon Park on International Drive. At Sea Life Aquarium you can find over 10 interactive exhibits to explore. SEA LIFE has an awesome 360-degree tunnel where you can see a variety of fish, sharks, turtles, stingrays, and many more sea life. A visit to this aquarium will spark the little one’s imagination. Something soothing and peaceful to see and listen to is the sound of the water. You can dive into marine life experience with a behind-the-scenes tour. Visit for the day or buy an annual pass and enjoy the aquarium all year round. Sea Life Aquarium is perfect to spend a rainy Central Florida day.

We recommend that you book your tickets in advance to skip any lines.

Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream – Fern Creek

1817 S Fern Creek Ave. Orlando, FL 32806

Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream is a local neighborhood gem and the perfect spot for a Florida cool-down and one of the best ice cream shops in the Orlando area. The location at Fern Creek is perfect for that Saturday evening family outing. They have amazing outdoor seating with picnic tables in a small courtyard, which is great for kids to run around after a delicious cold treat. At Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream you will find a variety of delicious flavors, with five monthly featured flavors, non-dairy options, delicious milkshakes, sundaes, signature, and custom ice cream cakes. Kelly’s has two other shops located in Oviedo and Audubon Park (Orlando). Must-try flavors at Kelly’s are the Cookie Monster (cookies & cream) and the Cake Batter & Sprinkles.

Crayola Experience Orlando

8001 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando FL 32809

Experience an indoor attraction that is sure to brighten your day! The Crayola Experience Orlando brings out the creativity in anyone that comes for the fun. You will be immersed in the world of color through simple coloring pages to composing your own digital characters and seeing them come to life. There are so many attractions to enjoy, but we have two favorites. One, is the “Rainbow Rain,” a digitally fun experience where rainbow wax is being poured on you and changes based on your movements. Our second recommendation is the “Be a Star” attraction; take a family photo, have it printed as a coloring page then color it with the crayons you can custom label and name.

Plan Your Family Fun Activities in Central Florida

There is so much to do in Central Florida – way more than we can possibly list in one article. The region is very lgbt-friendly with lots of activities to experience for families of all shapes, colors and sizes. For more info on what to do, see and experience in Central Florida, visit our complete guide to Central Florida.

Written by The Florida Comeback

Four hospitality professionals with a combined 45 years of creating unique experiences, showing you how to safely comeback to your fave Florida experiences.

**Disclaimer: There is a good chance that this post contains affiliate or sponsor links. If you make a purchase through them, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you (for which we are extremely grateful).

Also, while we do our best to highlight LGBTQ-friendly destinations and businesses, info provided is based solely on personal experience and recommendations by community partners. We hope that nobody experiences discrimination or homophobia while visiting Florida, but we make no guarantees. Please inform us if you experience discrimination or homophobia while visiting any destination so we can make updates to our recommendations.

Rachel Covello

Rachel Covello is an award-winning speaker, writer, diversity consultant, and LGBT advocate. She was the Founder of LGBT Equality Alliance, a Chester County, PA nonprofit organization. She is currently the Publisher of OutCoast.com and Producer of the OutCoast TV YouTube Channel, both of which highlight LGBTQ welcoming destinations in Florida.

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