Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Florida offers countless attractions and adventures for the whole family to enjoy. Known primarily for its theme and water parks, Florida has much more to offer its visitors, including nature, beaches, and sunshine. Many adventures and emotions await you in Florida! And not only in Orlando, where the most famous theme parks are located. You will find many other exciting cities to visit with your family in Florida. Today we tell you what to do in Florida with children so that you can discover the best of the «Sunshine State.»
Best time to visit Florida with children
Considering that Florida has a subtropical climate, mild winters, and sweltering and humid summers, it is not highly recommended to visit its theme parks during the hottest months (between May and September). In addition, from mid-May, the rainy season begins in Florida, usually accompanied by powerful storms and hurricanes. The rains typically last until the end of August or mid-September. If you want to enjoy Florida to the fullest with children without your plans being ruined due to storms and rain, it is best to travel to Florida between November and April.
Florida Theme Parks
Apart from the beaches, Florida’s theme parks are the main attraction of this state in the United States. They are always full of people, so we recommend you buy special passes to skip the line. They are expensive passes but worth it, especially if we travel with children. If you travel to Florida with children, these are the theme parks that they will surely love to visit.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
universal-Orlando
If you visit Orlando with children, you will find the most popular theme parks in Florida, such as Universal Orlando. Universal’s rides are geared more toward older kids and adults, but it also has kid-friendly rides and attractions, like the Dr. Seuss-themed ride and rides like the Minions and Shrek. Universal is divided into two parks: Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, where the world of Harry Potter is located. If you buy the «Express Pass,» you can skip the line at almost all the attractions.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Walt Disney World Resort
DisneyWorld Orlando has themed areas: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. The park opened in 1971, but in 2012, New Fantasyland was created, another location within the Magic Kingdom with new attractions and two castles. The park has constantly added new worlds and interests, such as the World of Avatar, Toy Story Land, and Star Wars Land. To skip the lines, they offer the “FastPass +,” a free pass you get by visiting some attractions, but they run out quickly, so you have to request them when the park opens.
Legoland Florida
Legoland Florida is located in Winter Haven, about a 45-minute drive from Orlando. It is a theme park that children up to approximately 12 years old love. It has themed areas, interactive attractions, shows, restaurants, roller coasters, and shops. In addition, next to Legoland, you will find a water park and several Lego-themed hotels. To avoid wasting time queuing, you can buy the “Premium Play Band” for all the attractions or the “Awesome Awaits Pass” for a single interest.
Sea World Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando is a marine animal theme park with attractions for all ages, including attractions with animals such as Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin, the Manta Aquarium, shark encounters… They also perform shows with marine animals such as killer whales, seals, and dolphins. If you don’t want to wait in long lines, you can buy the “Quick Queue” pass for the attractions or the “Signature Show Seating” to see the shows. They also have a key available that is good for both the interests and the performances.
Busch Gardens
Busch Gardens is a theme park and also a zoo. It is located in the city of Tampa, just over 1 hour from Orlando. In Busch Gardens, you can see animals and enjoy exciting attractions such as roller coasters. There is “Safari of Fun” for the little ones, a Sesame Street-themed area with rides and shows. If you buy the passes, you can enjoy the park in a single day, so you don’t have to queue at the attractions and shows. Busch Gardens is a famous amusement park, especially for those who love roller coasters.
Gatorland
You cannot leave Florida without having seen crocodiles before. One way to do this is to visit the Gatorland crocodile and alligator theme park, which combines a zoo and bird sanctuary with an adventure park. Visiting the park you can do different activities, most with animals, such as an eco-tour, shows with a lot of action, zip line, taking photos with crocodiles, feeding animals… In addition to crocodiles and alligators, you can also see birds, reptiles, and panthers in Gatorland.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Dinosaur World Florida
Dinosaur World is a dinosaur theme park between Orlando and Tampa in Plant City. It is a park that will especially delight children who love dinosaurs. Walking through Dinosaur World, you can see more than 150 life-size dinosaur sculptures, do interactive activities, and play in a dinosaur-themed playground with slides and swings… It is a small park that opened in 1998, but it is worth visiting if your children like dinosaurs. Those who will enjoy the park the most will be them.
Florida Museums and Interactive Centers
Florida also has many fascinating museums and interactive centers to visit with children. Our favorite is Kennedy Space Center, the NASA space center, but there are plenty of other fun places to visit as a family. These are the ones you will like the most to go with children.
Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, located in Cape Canaveral (1 hour from Orlando), is the NASA Space Center Visitor Complex and an enjoyable place to visit with children in Florida. They will be able to learn more about space and space missions through interactive exhibitions, rooms with artifacts and spacecraft, attractions… In one of the rooms, you will find a moonstone that has been in space and that you can touch. You can also see and handle rockets that have been in play. Visiting this NASA center is an experience that the whole family will love, especially if you like astronauts, spacecraft, and space.
wonderworks
WonderWorks is an interactive center in Orlando that offers more than 100 interactive exhibits for children to learn more about science and nature in a fun and entertaining way. The exterior of the building where it is located will catch your attention since it is upside down. Inside WonderWorks, you will find six different spaces:
- Extreme weather zone
- Physical challenge zone
- Space discovery zone
- Art gallery
- Light and sound zone
- Imagination laboratory
Crayola Experience
Also, in Orlando, you can enjoy the Crayola Experience with children, a lovely and colorful Crayola activity park. The Crayola Experience offers more than 25 interactive activities related to the famous Crayola colored pencils. Kids will have a blast drawing, playing, and doing fun activities like wrapping a Crayola crayon and naming it. There is also a restaurant and a Crayola store with souvenirs and brand products.
Ringling Circus Museum
The Ringling Circus Museum in Sarasota is a must-see museum to visit with kids in Florida. The museum offers different rooms with exhibitions where you can see the costumes, old circus posters, a miniature circus, the original private train in which John and Mable Ringling traveled when they toured the country with the circus… The Ringling complex has the circus museum, the winter residence of the Ringlings, gardens, and a pink Renaissance-style palace that houses an art museum.
Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum
The St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum (Museo de Los Piratas y Tesoros de San AgustÃn in Spanish) is a very entertaining museum to visit with children in Florida. It is located in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, founded by the Spanish. This original museum is dedicated to the artifacts of Piracy. If you visit the historic town of San AgustÃn with children, you should also visit the Castillo de San Marcos, a fortress built by the Spanish to protect the city.
Science Museums in Florida
If you travel to Florida with children, they will surely like to visit a science museum, such as the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, an interactive museum in Miami that offers science-related exhibits, a planetarium, and an aquarium. In Orlando, there is also a science museum: Orlando Science Center, with four floors with interactive rooms, laboratories, workshops, theaters, an observatory… In Daytona Beach, there is the Museum of Arts & Sciences, also known as MOEA. And in Fort Lauderdale, you will find the Museum of Discovery and Science, one of the largest science museums in Florida.
Florida Water Parks
You will find the best water parks in Florida in Orlando or some nearby cities. These are the best known to visit with family.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Volcano Bay
Volcano Bay is the newest and most popular water park in Florida today. It belongs to Universal Orlando and has very advanced technology. The Volcano Bay water park is located in Orlando with a tropical theme. It offers almost 20 aquatic attractions in its four themed areas: the Volcano, Wave Village, River Village, and Rainforest Village. There are also six restaurants and cabins that can be rented. The park’s icon is a 61-meter-high volcano known as “Krakatau,” with slides of different types inside and around it.
Disney Water Parks
In Orlando, you will also find 2 Disney water parks: Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon, which represents a tropical paradise transformed by a colossal storm into an oasis of aquatic adventures; and Disney’s Blizzard Beach, a water park inspired by an old ski resort that, when melted, has formed an underwater paradise. You’ll find the largest wave pool in the United States at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. And at Disney’s Blizzard Beach, you’ll find one of the world’s tallest and fastest free-fall water slides.
Aquatica
Aquatica is another water park located in Orlando and belongs to SeaWorld. What sets it apart from other water parks is combining up-close animal experiences with thrilling water rides. The park has several water areas for little ones, such as Kata’s Kookaburra Cove and Walkabout Waters. There are also attractions for the more daring, such as giant water slides and capsule slides.
Legoland Water Park
Located in the city of Winter Haven, next to Legoland park and about 45 minutes from Orlando or 45 minutes from Tampa, you will find this other perfect water park for children: Legoland Water Park. Opened in 2012, the Lego Water Park is designed for children between 2 and 12. They will have a great time playing in the wave pool, strolling through the lazy river, sliding down the slides, or playing in the different interactive LEGO areas for children.
Florida Natural Parks and Springs
If you want to enjoy the nature of Florida, you can visit its natural parks, springs, or beaches with children. Never swim in a lake or swamp in Florida, as they often have crocodiles, even if you can’t see them. The springs are perfect for swimming, kayaking, diving… as the water is icy, crocodiles don’t like it. You can see manatees in the springs of Florida, especially between October and April.
Florida springs
There are many springs of great beauty in Florida, with crystal clear turquoise waters and perfect for swimming with children, kayaking, or even enjoying water attractions such as taking rides on a “lazy river,” sliding down slides… The most popular springs from Florida are Devil’s Den in Williston which is inside a cave, Ginnie Springs in High Springs, Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Spring Hill, or Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon, among others.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Weeki Wachee
In addition to being an ideal spring for families because it has a lazy river and water slides within its spring, you can see “real mermaids” in Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. It will be an exhilarating experience for the little ones. Underwater mermaid shows have been held since 1947 and are of excellent quality. It is always full of people, so you will have to get to the park early, before it opens, or wait for the last show of the day, which is usually less crowded.
Florida State and National Parks
Visiting the national and natural parks is the best way to get to know the fauna and flora of Florida. You can see the National Parks Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park in Miami. You can explore the swamps of the Everglades in an airboat. And in Key West, you will find the Dry Tortugas National Park. Some highly recommended state parks in Florida are Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola, Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, Sebastian Inlet State Park in Sebastian, and Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, although there are many more.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
Florida beaches
Some of the best beaches in Florida to enjoy with the family are the beaches on the west coast (Gulf of Mexico), with wonderful white sand and calm waters. On the east coast of Florida, there are golden sand beaches with stronger waves, perfect for surfing, such as the beaches of Sebastian Inlet State Park and Cocoa Beach. Another option is to sail to a small island, such as Caladesi Island in Dunedin, to enjoy more pristine beaches. Sanibel Island is a perfect beach for shell hunting, with more than 400 varieties of shells. Or, if you prefer to find fossilized shark teeth, be sure to visit Venice Beach.
Parque Kelly, Apopka
Si se pregunta cuáles son los mejores lugares para excursiones de un dÃa en Florida, visite Kelly Park, un paraÃso de aguas termales y arroyos perfectos para practicar tubing.
Los niños y los padres pueden pasar fácilmente un dÃa aquÃ, con sus áreas dedicadas a picnics, un área de juegos para los más pequeños, un campamento y una estación de concesión. También puede alquilar un tubo y explorar los manantiales, bucear, nadar o participar en peleas de pistolas de agua.
Para una experiencia verdaderamente única, acampe en el lugar; el sitio sirve como una opción popular de base de operaciones entre las familias que desean pasar unos dÃas explorando las delicias de Kelly Park.
Sunset Celebration at Pier 60, Clearwater Beach
Beach days with the family are a must in Florida, and even more so in Clearwater Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the state. With a pristine 3-mile coastline and tons of water and land activities, there’s no shortage of fun here!
Clearwater offers free nightly events every night at Pier 60. The area is pedestrian-friendly, and the crowds are worth it when you consider the vibrant scene that comes to life as the sun goes down, with street performers and musicians on every corner.
Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales
Sightseeing in Florida is fun, but covering places can be exhausting! Head to Lake Wales’s beautiful Bok Tower Gardens for a relaxing day.
One of the most popular places in Florida, Bok Tower Gardens is known for its singing bell tower, all 205 feet, and the beautiful carillon with 60 bells.
The garden is a riot of color, as flowers such as camellias, Cinnamon Cindy, and azaleas bloom, accompanying you on your exploration of the garden’s many pathways, beautiful grounds, swan-filled pools, and many dedicated resting places.
Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo
A visual treat awaits visitors to John Pennekamp, ​​a family favorite for exciting diving and snorkeling, often considered one of the best in the state.
There are many activities on offer here for children, from exploring the underwater park to snorkeling around the coral reef and spending time observing and learning about the many colorful schools of fish and diverse aquatic flora and fauna that thrive in the park.
Additionally, John Pennekamp has the distinction of being the nation’s first underwater park, as well as being home to the only living coral reef in the entire United States.
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Best fun things to do in florida with children in 2023
