8 Fun Things To Do in Orlando With Kids for a Memorable Family Vacation
8 Fun Things To Do in Orlando With Kids for a Memorable Family Vacation
Orlando is the perfect fun-filled family getaway. Whether vacationing with toddlers or teenagers, there are plenty of attractions for all ages your entire family will love!
We present the most fun things to do in Orlando with kids, including indoor and outdoor amusement parks, wildlife-watching activities, and live shows guaranteed to entertain you and your kids.
8 Best Kid-Friendly Activities in Orlando
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Spend a Day at the Cowboy Adventure Park
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Have a Magical Time at WonderWorks Orlando
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Play With Adorable Animals at a Ranch
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Ride Roller Coasters at Fun Spot America
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Explore Florida’s Wildlife on an Airboat Ride
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Speed Down Thrilling Slides at Aquatica
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Have a Unique Dining Experience at Pirates Dinner Adventure
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Come Face to Face With Alligators at Gatorland
From thrilling roller coaster rides and tall slides to exotic animal encounters, these activities will make your next Orlando vacation with kids unforgettable!
1 | Spend a Day at the Cowboy Adventure Park |
Make your kid’s cowboy dream come true at the Cowboy Adventure Park at Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo! Put on a cowboy hat and start exploring its numerous activities suitable for visitors of all ages.
The park offers various competitive family-friendly games like cornhole and racing on a tractor racetrack. You and your kids can put your strength to the test on the rock climbing wall or work as a team to find your way out of the maze full of twists and turns.
The fun at River Ranch can also be educational. Let your kids try to uncover precious stones and gems and learn about them at the Gold Panning attraction.
If you’re visiting with small children, they’ll love the Cowboy Convoy Train Ride around the whole Cowboy Adventure Park. Plus, they’ll have a blast jumping high on the larger-than-life bounce pad suitable for kids aged 3–12.
Hot tip: Take your kids on a Saturday Night Rodeo to watch barrel racing, trick riding, and even bull riding.
WHERE: 3200 River Ranch Boulevard, Lake Wales, FL 33867 │WHO: 863-692-1321
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2 | Have a Magical Time at WonderWorks Orlando |
WonderWorks Orlando offers the perfect combination of education and entertainment for the whole family. Over 100 hands-on exhibits across 28,000 square feet of indoor ‘edutainment’ will keep you and your kids mesmerized for hours.
This indoor amusement park is located inside a building that looks like it landed in Orlando upside-down. You can go through various fun zones, including extreme weather, space discovery, and physical challenges zones. Each zone lets you experience thrilling sensations like weightlessness, lying on a bed of nails, and being blown away by a hurricane!
Let your kids jump and create music on a giant piano in the light and sound zone, or visit the Imagination Lab to play in an interactive sandbox. You can also go through the Wonder Art Gallery to see captivating illusion art pieces and taxidermy sculptures of Dr. Seuss’s fictional characters.
WHERE: 9067 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819 │WHO: 407-351-8800
3 | Play With Adorable Animals at a Ranch |
Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo features a petting farm where your little ones can pet and feed farm animals like goats, horses, and cows and exotic critters like llamas and emus.
This unique experience is the best thing to do in Orlando with kids for free! Your children will get a chance to come close to gentle animals and learn fun facts about them. In the meantime, you can get your camera ready and capture amazing photos!
Besides meeting animals, you can surprise your kids with a true cowboy experience—let them ride the ranch's friendly ponies! Kids of all ages can ride ponies and mules in a circle around a live merry-go-round.
WHERE: 3200 River Ranch Boulevard, Lake Wales, FL 33867 │WHO: 863-692-1321
4 | Ride Roller Coasters at Fun Spot America |
If your kids love adrenaline-pumping rides, take them to Fun Spot America—a fantastic amusement park with rides for all ages! From bumper cars and multi-level go-karts to speedy coasters, you’ll have hours of fun exploring the park's attractions.
Fun Spot features the only wooden coaster in Orlando, and it can reach a speed of 48 mph! For those brave enough, there’s Firecracker—a ride that’s over five stories tall and rotates and bounces you up and down.
You can enjoy picturesque views of the park from a Ferris wheel or soar through the air on the Freedom Flyer—a family-friendly inverted coaster that twists and turns at high speed for an extra thrill.
If you’re coming with toddlers, there are also various rides for the youngest visitors, including a carousel, slides, and kiddie swings.
WHERE: 5700 Fun Spot Way, Orlando, FL 32819 │WHO: 407-363-3867
5 | Explore Florida’s Wildlife on an Airboat Ride |
Florida’s wildlife is one of its most fascinating attractions, and you can see it up close on an airboat ride at Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo!
Suitable for visitors of all ages, this 40-minute boat ride on the Kissimmee River is a chance to see alligators, turtles, and bald eagles. It’s also a fantastic educational activity for the whole family, as you’ll learn about the area’s history during the ride.
If you want to explore more wildlife, the ranch also offers Swamp Buggy Rides—a 40-minute family adventure through Florida’s unspoiled wilderness. Thanks to the Swamp Buggy’s massive tires, you’ll have elevated seats that provide panoramic views of nature as you ride through the ranch’s scenic trails. Keep your eyes wide open—you may see gators and other native species.
WHERE: 3200 River Ranch Boulevard, Lake Wales, FL 33867 │WHO: 863-692-1321
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6 | Speed Down Thrilling Slides at Aquatica |
The best way to cool off on a hot summer day during your Orlando vacation is to take your children to Aquatica—a thrilling water park with slides, pools, dolphin close-up tours, and water play areas for kids.
Challenge your family to a competition down Riptide Race—the world’s tallest dueling racer slide! You start your race on top of a 68-foot tower and zoom down a 650-foot-long slide through twists, turns, and high-speed tunnels.
Glide down an underwater slide with translucent cutouts and rings that let you see dolphins, sardines, and leopard sharks. Experience a fun family thrill sliding through a six-story maze full of twists, turns, and tunnels!
If you’re coming with young children, they’ll enjoy the Turi Kid’s Cove, which features a kid-sized wave slide, watering palm, and spray jets. They’ll also love the 60-foot-tall rain fortress—the park’s most popular attraction for kids.
WHERE: 5800 Water Play Way, Orlando, FL 32821│WHO: 407-545-5550
7 | Have a Unique Dining Experience at Pirates Dinner Adventure |
Why eat in an ordinary restaurant when you can have an extraordinary family-friendly dining experience? The Pirates Dinner Adventure offers live entertainment with a delicious meal for you and your kids!
This one-of-a-kind attraction keeps you mesmerized as you feast on a four-course gourmet meal. The show is set on an 18th-century Spanish galleon anchored in a 300,000-gallon indoor lagoon and features music, romance, action, and captivating areal acrobatics. You may even be invited to come to the stage and join the action.
As the story unravels before your eyes, you’ll enjoy delicious food, including menu items like beef tenderloin, surf and turf, or grilled salmon. There’s also a special kids’ menu with chicken nuggets and a pork meal. Plus, you can choose from many tasty desserts.
WHERE: 6400 Carrier Dr, Orlando, FL 32819 │WHO: 407-206-5102
8 | Come Face to Face With Alligators at Gatorland |
No vacation in Orlando is complete without visiting Gatorland—the alligator capital of the world. This family-friendly place provides hours of unforgettable fun, offering activities like animal encounters, a zipline adventure, and a petting zoo.
Sign up for an Adventure Hour and head to the Alligator Breeding Marsh to feed hungry gators! Soar through the air over the Alligator Breeding Marsh and the park’s Cuban and Nile crocodile attractions on a 1,200-foot zipline.
You and your child can meet, pet, and hold alligators and take photos in a safe, controlled environment. You can also feed gators during nighttime or sign your kid up for a Trainer-For-A-Day program for hands-on meetings with reptiles.
Besides gators, you’ll also see wild cats, capybaras, snakes, and tortoises.
WHERE: 14501 S Orange Blossom Trl, Orlando, FL 32837 │WHO: 407-855-5496
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Use Our Handy Map To Find the Best Family-Friendly Things To Do in Orlando
Frequently Asked Questions About Fun Things To Do in Orlando With Kids
What are the best free things to do with kids in Orlando?
The best thing to do with kids for free in Orlando is to take them to a petting farm at Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo. They can pet and feed farm animals like cows, goats, and horses, and meet peacocks, llamas, and emus.
What are the best family-friendly things to do in Orlando besides theme parks?
If you want to avoid theme parks, opt for the next best Orlando attraction—exploring Florida’s incredible wildlife. You can take your kids to Gatorland to meet, pet, and feed alligators or go on an airboat tour available at Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo for a chance to see alligators and other native species in their natural habitat.
What are some fun family things to do in Orlando for the weekend?
When spending a weekend in Orlando with kids, visit Cowboy Adventure Park and enjoy fun family activities like rock climbing, gold-panning, and tractor racing. The park is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
What kid-friendly activities in Orlando can we do besides Disney World?
There are numerous activities unrelated to Disney you can do in Orlando, but one of the best ones is visiting WonderWorks. This large indoor amusement park combines entertainment and education and offers a chance to experience unusual sensations like extreme weather conditions and weightlessness.
What are the best things to do in Orlando with kids for a fun-filled day?
You can spend a whole day at Fun Spot America. This amusement park features exciting rides for all ages, including a Ferris wheel, roller coasters, and bumper cars. If you’re visiting on a hot summer day, going to the Aquatica water park is also a fantastic option.
Orlando—The Ultimate Family Getaway
From camping in nature to visiting popular attractions like Universal Orlando, you’re guaranteed a wonderful vacation in Orlando! Try authentic Thai food, go skeet shooting, or take fun family day trips to explore the area! For more information on Orlando hotels and attractions, visit our Westgate Resorts Travel blog.
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At Westgate Resorts, when you Check-In, there's a LOT to Check-Out! Your Orlando vacation awaits! Explore our Branson resorts today or talk with a vacation planner at 888-852-2959 or 407-355-2690.
* Aside from Westgate River Ranch & Rodeo, Westgate Resorts is in no way affiliated with the attractions featured in this article. Items or places listed are current as of the publishing date of this article. Please call or visit the respective website for the most up-to-date offerings and details.
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