Now See The ‘Other’ Orlando

huge welcome to florida sign on the wall with image of a gator on and below there is a statue of an alligator stood up smiling and waving. Next to the statue there is an old sofa with old images above.

By AttractionTickets.com’s Florida Experts, Susan and Simon Veness

When you’re ready to explore the more offbeat and quirky parts of Orlando, we have the secret recipe for an alternative look at our city.

We often think that the vast majority of visitors to Orlando never actually see Orlando. Not Orlando the city, as opposed to Orlando the Theme Park Capital of the World.

That’s partly because the theme parks are all in one relatively small corner of the area that we know as Orlando, and partly because the travel brochures and other freely available info about this fab holiday destination don’t usually highlight what else is on offer.

But, having lived here for 20 years (and been visitors for another 10-plus years before that!), we know there is more to Orlando than actually meets the tourist eye. Much more. And it’s something we have been charting for at least the past 10 years.

Image of river flowing between overgrown trees.

What we wanted to do was highlight out of the way and unusual places that truly get under the skin of this Florida hotspot and showcase the history, art and culture that underlie The City Beautiful (its official nickname). Along the way, we decided to pin-point the fascinations, quirks and oddities that have built up over the past 150 years. Welcome to ‘The Other Orlando!’ So we wrote a new book about all of them, and it will be published next month. *

And here’s a sneak preview, our short-list of top hidden hot-spots that most visitors never see, but which we think help to add, significantly, to the overall Orlando experience. Let’s dive right in.

Dining: Everyone knows by now that our city boasts an amazing line-up of restaurant choice, but it also has an array of offbeat offerings, too, and our top three would be as follows: Yellow Dog Eats, a superb sandwich specialist in the suburb of Gotha, just north of Disney; Maxine’s on Shine, a chic little hideaway in a residential part of downtown that is rated No.1 for weekend brunch; and the soul-food extravaganza of Nikki’s Place, a totally down-to-earth diner in the Parramore district, boasting unpretentious, but delicious, Southern cuisine.

Brown building with a red and yellow sign saying "Yellow Dog Eats". There are two signs outside saying "eat no2 at Yellow Dog Eats" and "now hiring" with two trees on either side.

Nature: This is an area most visitors now realise is Orlando’s “secret sauce,” with an array of nature centres, parks and preserves that are genuinely startling in their range and diversity. They include the following three rich experiences: The Paddling Center at Shingle Creek, where you can take kayakas, canoes or paddleboards into the headwaters of the distant Everglades; Wekiva Island, a superb opportunity to explore the crystal-clear upwelling of the Wekiva River in laid-back, sustainable style; and Kelly Park, an opportunity to go “rump bumping” down the spring-fed waters in rented inner tubes among pristine cypress forest.

History: If you’d like to discover some of the essential history of Orlando, which dates back to its incorporation as a town in 1875, then there is a genuine history trail for you to follow, including three key heritage sites: start at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown, where you’ll get the full overview of this Central Florida region; then sample The Pioneer Village in Kissimmee, where you’ll learn how settlers managed to survive in the harsh conditions in the 19th century; and Disston Sugar Mill, where the amazing story of the visionary Hamilton Disston is an 1890s stunner.

Deserted street with a white house on the corner and behind there is a grey building which has a pointy roof, looks like a church. There are small trees on the side of dirt track road.

Relaxation: If you’d just like to discover a few new places that will allow you to relax a bit amid the frenzy of the theme parks and let you slow down and breathe a little, then we’ll recommend another trio of worthy spots that are only 30 minutes or so from the theme parks: there’s beautiful Lake Eola Park in downtown; historic Hannibal Square in the Winter Park city suburb, which tells the story of the local African-Amerian community; and Tibet-Butler Preserve, which offers a gentle walk through a small nature preserve just 10 minutes from Disney property.

Now, the eagle-eyed readers at this point will say “Aha! You’ve already written about some of these places in the AttractionTickets.com blog.” And they’d be right. In fact, we’ve been banging the drum for the likes of Wekiva Island, Lake Eola Park and, especially the alligator-rich Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, for quite a while now.

Because, when it comes down to it, the ‘Other’ Orlando is just as fascinating and compelling as the one with all the rides and attractions. It has other, alternative attractions that have been around much longer in many instances, and which are free to visit in some cases.

Dirt track with huge truck on painted with tiger stripes on. There is a wooden shack next to it with an American flag on it. Behind there are lots of trees.

There are also the Central Florida attractions that are reminiscent of the roadside venues that people used to visit before the theme parks came along, places that are PD, or Pre-Disney. And there are a surprising number of them. They include Gatorland, with its Screamin’ Gator Zipline; the airboat rides and safari experience of Wild Florida; the iconic 1950s edifice of the Citrus Tower; the old Florida experience of The Showcase of Citrus; and the mind-boggling model that is housed in the Presidents Hall of Fame in Clermont, a 1960s gem that is still eye-popping today.

As for getting under the skin of this beguiling destination, we’re happy to point out the attraction and variety of Orlando’s growing Districts and other distinctive locations that are well worth discovering for a true taste of the city vibe, which has taken on vastly diverse and extensive features in recent years.

There is a shop with a sloped blue roof and on the front wall next to a shop window, there is a painting mural of Freddie Mercury with his one arm up, a black armband on it, and his mouth shaped like an o and his black hair slicked back. This is his iconic pose from his Wembley performance.

These include more dining delicacies such as the East End Market (where you’ll find the original and delectable Gideon’s Bakehouse, which has branched out to be a Disney Springs phenomenon), and Plant Street Market (home of the essential Crooked Can Brewing Company). And then there’s the totally wacky view of Freddie Mercury’s Hairy Armpit (yes, really), among the distinctive murals of the Mills 50 District.

And, for those who crave a genuinely unique experience, we think there are several dozen or more that act as the perfect counter-point to the theme parks, locals’ haunts just waiting to be discovered by a visiting audience. They include somewhere that you can meet and cuddle some super-cute alpacas (LunaSea Alpaca Farm in Lake County); a one-off nursery and butterfly encounter (Lukas Nursery in the suburb of Oviedo); and a chance to go free-swimming in a classic Orlando lake with a bunch of seriously dedicated early-morning swimming fans (Lucky’s Lake Swim, which is held every day just a few miles north of Universal Orlando.