FREE Things to Do in Orlando Florida

As the summer season winds down, Orlando is offering some great deals on lodging and attraction tickets. Vacation homes are renting for lower than ever and activities are priced at affordable rates that make a vacation in Orlando budget-friendly. Plus, there are several FREE things to do in Orlando that are plenty of fun too!

1) It’s your birthday and you’re FREE if you want to be! Take advantage of the birthday promotions at area attractions like Disney World Theme Parks and Pirate’s Dinner Adventure. Both attractions let guests in FREE on their birthdays.

2) Universal Orlando Resort’s CityWalk is a great place to spend time with friends and family, and admission is absolutely FREE day or night. Fantastic shopping, dining and entertainment are always available.

3) Visit Downtown Disney, a unique area that is home to more than 70 shops, eateries and Disney-centric entertainment. Nestled along the shores of Village Lake, Downtown Disney offers some beautiful scenic views at its restaurants.

4) Tour the Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts. The museum celebrates the Floridians contributions to the arts, as well as the material culture of people of African descent.

5) Stroll the streets of Celebration, Disney’s town that is as close to perfection as a town can get. Admire the old-fashioned properties and let the kids play in the interactive fountain. Experience the pleasant atmosphere and beauty of a town only Disney could create.

6) The Harry P. Leu Gardens features three miles of paved scenic walkways that take you through fifty acres of southern styled gardens. FREE admission is offered every Monday morning 9am-noon through September 30, 2009. From October on, FREE admission is offered from 9am-5pm on the first Monday of each month.

7) Window shop at some of Orlando’s fantastic shopping locations. Choose from Mall at Millenia, which features high-end stores like Gucci, Fendi, Tiffany and Mont Blanc or scour the stores of The Florida Mall, of which there are over 270.

8) Visit Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando. This 43 acre park offers spectacular views of the city as well as FREE events throughout the year.

9) Explore the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany items. Everything from lamps, to pottery, to stained glass windows to dining sets is displayed. Visitors are FREE on Fridays November – April from 4pm-8pm. Otherwise, admission is $3 for adults and $1 for children.

10) Take a walk in Big Tree Park, the home of “The Senator,” a 118 ft. tall, 3,500 year old Bald Cypress tree.

Downtown Disney Opens Paradiso 37 Restaurant

Paradiso 37, a high-energy restaurant and bar featuring cuisine from North, South and Central America, will welcome guests in May at its location in Pleasure Island at Downtown Disney.

The lakeside eatery will offer a variety of menu offerings representing the 37 countries of the Americas, plus an international wine bar, 37 varieties of tequila and 10 signature frozen margaritas.

The new concept was developed by Orlando-based E-Brands Restaurant Group, a multi-concept restaurant group which currently owns and operates Timpano Chophouse, Samba Room, Taqueria Canonita, Aquaknox, David Burke, Salsa Orlando and Canonita Express in a number of locations across the United States.

The Downtown Disney restaurant will feature nightly entertainment and will be open daily from 11 a.m. until late night.

Disney Announces New Attraction, Sports Venue

Buoyed by surging attendance and other growth markers for its Central Florida theme parks, executives of Walt Disney World Co. outlined several new projects and initiatives Wednesday tailored to sustain momentum during tough economic times.

Not that everything's sunshine and buttercups - Disney's Pleasure Island nightclub venue, part of its Downtown Disney entertainment complex, is shutting down after Saturday night's performances.

Disney officials remain mum on what will replace the six nightclubs that debuted in 1989, but they insist the closing is more about a fresh change than the economic downturn.

"Guests tell us they're looking for a different experience," said Michael Griffin, vice president of communications for Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney World's attendance figures shot up 7 percent and per-guest spending was up a more modest 3 percent during its fiscal second quarter, which ended March 29, the Orlando Sentinel reported in May. The attendance figure was a year-over-year comparison.

Wednesday's mood was decidedly upbeat as officials enumerated plans for opening a new Magic Kingdom attraction to coincide with the Oct. 28 DVD release of "Tinker Bell." The attraction, set to open Oct. 24, will target young girls.

Coming sometime in 2010 is a 100-lane bowling alley to attract professional-level tournaments at the popular Disney's Wide World of Sports complex - soon to be rebranded ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

A recent addition to the complex, the 80,000-square-foot Jostens Center, features six full-size basketball courts.

Already the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves, the complex attracts 250,000 athletes a year, mostly youths, along with 1.2 million spectators, mostly relatives, said Ken Potrock, senior vice president of Disney Sports Enterprises.

Beefing up its sports venues makes sense, Potrock said, given considerable growth in youth sports, "Eighty-five percent of the people that compete would not have come to Disney or Central Florida without this business," he said.

Information courtesy of Orlando Sentinel

Downtown Disney & Pleasure Island Release More Information Regaring Upcoming Changes

Over the next year, the 120-acre entertainment-shopping-dining complex known as Pleasure Island will add a number of one-of-a-kind, immersive experiences for guests. Downtown Disney will even get its own iconic attraction, in the form of a giant, tethered balloon that will take guests 300 feet into the air to view the amazing vistas of Walt Disney World Resort. Other new experiences include:

In fall 2008, guests will enter a world of prehistoric creatures at T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure. The dinosaur-themed family eatery will serve up pizzas, pastas, seafood and more, and will feature life-size animated dinosaurs that dwell among bubbling geysers, waterfalls and a fossil dig site.

Also this fall, a design-your-own t-shirt store from Hanes will add to the growing collection of merchandise guests can personalize at Downtown Disney.

- E-brands Restaurants, an Orlando-based, multi-concept restaurant group, will premier its newest concept at Downtown Disney in spring 2009. The high-energy, casual eatery will feature authentic Central and South American cuisine, specialty drinks and live music along the waterfront.

- Guests also will enjoy a brand new mix of shopping and dining experiences at Pleasure Island as it is transformed over the next two years. To complement these new experiences, many popular Downtown Disney locations will undergo enhancements.

- Beginning this summer, Portobello Yacht Club will be transformed into a Tuscan Country Trattoria. The refreshed menu features authentic Italian dishes and signature favorites and a re-designed interior along with an outdoor dining space.

- This fall, Goofy's Candy Company will add a special new room that will enable families to host one-of-a-kind birthday parties at Downtown Disney.

- The Marketplace Stage will be completely replaced with a larger, covered stage this fall to welcome even more entertainment to Downtown Disney and serve as a new premier venue for Disney Magic Music Days.

- Fulton's Crab House will update its interior fixtures and furnishing and exterior in Spring 2009. The enhancements include a refreshed third floor deck dining area to offer additional Disney guests and larger private parties the traditional Fulton's experience.

- Next year, Wolfgang Puck Café will update its interior fixtures and furnishings and will feature an enclosed glass patio offering guests a year-round outdoor dining experience.

- These efforts come on the heels of recent enhancements at World of Disney, Wolfgang Puck Express, Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop, Earl of Sandwich and Cap'n Jack's Restaurant.

Information courtesy of DISBoards.com

Image courtesy of Orlando Sentinel