Orlando Beyond the Parks: 5 Neighborhoods and Programs Surrounding the Entertainment Capital

Theme park capital of the world 🇧🇷 Orlando has the power to put big smiles on the faces of children and adults at any time of the day.

Along with the joy obtained from radical rides or presentations known around the world, the location is also famous for its outlets and shopping centers.

home of Walt Disney World Resort gives Universal Studios Florida of SeaWorld From premium outlets It’s from Florida Mall for example, it is a fact that these names are the stars of the city and invite millions of tourists annually to live experiences beyond special.

But, in addition to the parks and malls, Orlando still has special corners that are like a respite from routine.

In planned neighborhoods The small towns, these places offer a lot of tranquility for their picturesque streets and they also combine good gastronomy with cultural activities. Want a one-hour round trip from the city? It’s also possible with NASA’s operations center.

Proving to be more than just the city of fun, check out a selection of five programs in and around Orlando to be included in the itinerary and enjoyed without haste as a family:

Winter Park

Just 20 minutes from downtown Orlando is a serene destination adjacent to one of the most visited cities in the world. Winter Park is not a neighborhood or an area of ​​Orlando, but a small town of its own with about 30,000 inhabitants.

The city center is one of those ideal places to be discovered without haste weekends 🇧🇷 super nice to be traveled on foot the extensive park avenue the most important thoroughfare here, is heavily wooded and has wide sidewalks.

The address is also home to shops of all kinds, where it is not difficult to find nice restaurants of different nationalities: Italian canteens share the sidewalk with Mexican houses and even a Turkish restaurant is famous among tourists and locals.

decoration shops 🇧🇷 bookstore and stationary store complete the charm of this little part of Florida, where the alternative atmosphere conveys a feeling of relaxation and calm.

And wine fans, take note of the tip: one of the best known and coveted addresses on Park Avenue is the The Wine Room wine bar and restaurant that has more than 148 labels for tasting by the glass.

Customers purchase a card (US$3) that works like a debit card, to which they can add as many dollars as they want to try as many wines as they want. The bottles are connected to self-service machines, which, for different amounts to be debited, pour 30 ml, 70 ml or 150 ml into the cup.

Thus, it is a pleasant task to enjoy some labels in moderation, in which wines from the most different grapes and countries are available and are constantly changed to create new and different selections.

The good news is that all wines for tasting are also available for purchase – if your taste buds please, nothing fairer than opening a bottle right here or even taking it home.

To complement the appreciation of wines, the house also has a selection of cheeses and charcuterie.

If you visit the region on a Saturday, be sure to check out the Farmer’s Market a fair that takes place every Saturday from 8 am to 1 pm in Central Park Meadow, between New York Avenue and Morse Boulevard.

Fresh produce, baked goods and flowers can be purchased and enjoyed at local vendors’ stalls, as the market is one of the city’s most important social spaces, with a small-town American feel.

Winter Park is also crisscrossed by some lakes, which offer traditional walks on the water. Classic attraction around here, the Scenic Boat Tour there are boats of up to 18 people that pass through about three of the seven lakes that surround the city.

During the tour, it is also possible to pass through completely tree-lined canals, appreciate beautiful centenary trees and observe millionaire summer residences by the waters.

The tour runs every hour on the hour between 10am and 4pm and costs US$8 for children 11 and under and US$16 for adults.

Back on Park Avenue, if you have time to spare, one of Winter Park’s most important cultural haunts is the Morse Museum a space that tells the story and houses an extensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), American artist, son of the founder of Tiffany & Co.

In a ground floor and completely quiet space, visitors can appreciate works made in jewelry, ceramics, paintings, glass, lamps and even windows, in which a large part of his works fit into the exponent of Art Nouveau.

The museum portrays different periods of the artist and also brings some highlights closer to the visitor, such as the interior of a chapel made for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and also objects from his large private property on Long Island, called Laurelton Hall.

Exhibits are periodically changed to allow the public to see other parts of the permanent collection. Tickets for adults cost US$ 6 – children up to 12 years old are free and every Friday between November and April, from 4 pm to 8 pm, admission is free.

It is worth mentioning that one of the coolest parts of the museum is its little shop, with numerous interesting and well-curated objects that reflect the artistic aesthetics of the museum.

Downtown Orlando

Tall buildings, banks, cultural centers and city hall. These could be typical streets in downtown Dallas, New York or even Chicago, but this is also an image that matches Orlando.

Lesser known side to tourists within the city itself, Downtown Orlando this is the center of here, a region that is worth spending a few hours, especially in the late afternoon, to get to know this side that is less popular with visitors.

If you have a day off between adventures in the parks and shopping, an idea is to set aside some time for cultural activities here, a nice walk by the lake or, who knows, if you plan to watch some ask or even a basketball match.

On Magnolia Avenue, in front of City Hall, the doctor Phillips Center for the Performing Arts is the most important entertainment center in Orlando, opened in 2014 and which impresses from the outside with its grandiose and modern architecture. It is a very active building with different forms of art and that is also part of the daily life of the local community.

Occupying two blocks, the site is home to three different theaters, including one named after Walt Disney (focused more on traveling Broadway plays) and another that is one of the most acoustically advanced spaces in the world, the Steinmetz Hall.

With a bold design, the latter is worth the visit in itself. Technological, it still changes its format according to the occasion, be it plays or concerts, in which the four levels of seats can accommodate a maximum number that varies from 1,597 to 1,741 people.

Source: CNN Brasil

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