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Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf

Attraction | "Christmas in the Summer?"

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Family miniature golf courses are a popular form of entertainment around Orlando Florida and as you would expect Disney has some brilliant examples to keep the family entertained. One of these golf centres is the Winter Summerland course which is located next door to Blizzard Beach Water Park.The course is not signposted until you actually reach the car park so follow the Disney signs to Blizzard Beach. The free car park is very small but extra parking is available at the water park and there is a short footpath from there is the entrance.The story of the courses is that Santa had his elves help build fun golf courses for them to play and since some of them loved the Florida ...Read More

Family miniature golf courses are a popular form of entertainment around Orlando Florida and as you would expect Disney has some brilliant examples to keep the family entertained. One of these golf centres is the Winter Summerland course which is located next door to Blizzard Beach Water Park.

The course is not signposted until you actually reach the car park so follow the Disney signs to Blizzard Beach. The free car park is very small but extra parking is available at the water park and there is a short footpath from there is the entrance.

The story of the courses is that Santa had his elves help build fun golf courses for them to play and since some of them loved the Florida sunshine and some revelled in the winter wonders of the North Pole that there would be two different courses so that all the elves would be happy.

On arrival you choose which course you want to do. The Christmas theming is really fun and there is fake snow and Christmas decorations all around the cabin as you enter to pay. When we visited it was about $12 for an adult to play one of the 18 hole courses including hire of clubs and balls. There was a discount offered on production of the receipt for another round at any of the Disney crazy golf courses.

We decided to play on the Winter course as it was such a contrast to the Florida heat. We had to wait a few minutes until we were allowed to tee-off as the courses were quite busy. Due to lots of reflection from all of the white surfaces we may have been wiser to choose the other course as the sun was very strong.

Each hole was an interesting challenge, there was music played and special scenes would pop-up when you got the ball in the right place. Each hole had elves or Disney characters to decorate them and there was a rhyme to give you a clue about what way to hit the ball. The ideas varied from having to wend your ball through a downhill slalom to finding your way through the Christmas presents and into the fireplace before Santa dropped from the chimney. Some of the holes were really easy but some proved tricky and we were there for quite some time on some holes. The final hole was quite complicated and you ended up being squirted with water by the snowman which was quite welcome on a hot day.

After the 18th hole you received a special message from Santa when you putted your ball.

The courses were very well maintained and all of the holes and features worked properly which was nice as we have been to some poor courses where lack of maintenance takes away the fun.

We had a quick look at the other course which seemed to be covered with surf-boards and palm trees so it had a really different look.

The courses are open daily from 10am until 11pm and I imagine they are good fun in the dark. The prices are quite high but they are certainly entertaining courses that add more Disney magic. As we handed in our clubs we were each given a Christmas candy cane and a golfball with a little picture of Tinkerbell on it.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on January 22, 2025

Disney's Winter Summerland Miniature Golf

Orlando, Florida 32830
(407) 560-3000

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Boggy Creek Ride

Attraction | "Beware of the Alligators"

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I have always had a yearning to visit the Florida Everglades and travel on an airboat. However as my family and I are Theme Park addicts we never seemed to have been able to afford the time for the journey to the Everglades. However before our last trip I read a guidebook which said that Boggy Creek Airboats were as good an experience as the Everglades. I don't know if this is true but I can give you a review of our trip. There are quite a lot of Airboat companies operating around the Orlando area. I did some research before we travelled and I found the best recommendations, especially for safety, were for the Boggy Creek Company so that was where we headed. The Bog...Read More

I have always had a yearning to visit the Florida Everglades and travel on an airboat. However as my family and I are Theme Park addicts we never seemed to have been able to afford the time for the journey to the Everglades. However before our last trip I read a guidebook which said that Boggy Creek Airboats were as good an experience as the Everglades. I don't know if this is true but I can give you a review of our trip.

There are quite a lot of Airboat companies operating around the Orlando area. I did some research before we travelled and I found the best recommendations, especially for safety, were for the Boggy Creek Company so that was where we headed.

The Boggy Creek Airboat company have been in business since 1994 and now run at two sites in Orlando. There is one at the East Lake Fish Camp and then there is one at South Park Road. When we visited the Fish camp was closed for refurbishment so we had to travel about 20miles to the Southpark road site. However I have heard that this does tend to have better wildlife so is worth the extra drive. The place opened at 9 and we arrived early as we had heard that is when you can see the most wildlife (except for nighttime).

When we arrived there was free parking and you had to go into the gift shop to buy the tickets. It was $25 for adults and children under 11 were $19 , we paid slightly less than this as we had vouchers that gave us a discount. (Voucher books can be picked up at any hotel or diner.) The staff were lovely and engaged my son in converstaion and showed him a joke bag of rattlesnake eggs which he thought was great fun.

The rides run every half an hour, this time starts from when the first customers arrive so you should never have to wait longer than 30 minutes. We were shown to our airboat which can seat up to 17 passengers. They cannot take wheelchairs on board but if a person can transfer they will do their best to accomodate their needs. Every passenger is given ear protectors which you have to wear all the time the engine is running as the noise is INCREDIBLE! Children under 6 must wear lifejackets and everyone else is told where the lifejackets are. You really need to wear glasses to protect your eyes from insects and waterspray, there were some people on our boat that spent the whole journey with their eyes closed as things kept blowing into them!

The airboat left the dock quite slowly and I was beginning to be disappointed but then the captain told us that there was a speed restriction near the lake shore. Once we got out into more open water the boat travels upto 45mph. The captain was very knowledgable. Every now and then he stopped the boat (so we could take off the ear-protectors and hear what he was saying!) and pointed out things to us. We saw a couple of alligators that I would never have spotted lurking amongst the grass. We also saw a Golden eagle which was very impressive and lots of water fowl. The lake is surrounded by cypress trees, it is a truely beautiful and incredible peaceful place (when the engines aren't running). Skimming quickly through the long grass was exhilarating. Unfortunately it began to rain on our trip which meant we couldn't see quite as much and the rain actually HURT when you were travelling fast!

When we got off the boat we were sent out via a "photo opportunity" spot where they let you handle a baby alligator and you could buy a photo as a donation to their protection fund. I usually find these things really annoying but actually the handler was very informative and there was no hassle. Both of my children held the alligator (I declined!) and when I said I didn't want the photo there was no hard sell and we were pleasently wished a nice day in true US fashion.

It is possible to go on Night rides but these have to be pre-booked. There are also 6 seater airboats which you can hire as a private excursion. It is wise to cover yourself in insect repellant before you go. We wore shorts which meant even though it rained we could just brush the water off and its much more comfortable than wet trousers! I felt that the whole operation was based on safety and although my son was scared to death at the start of going on an alligator he had such a good time he wants to do it again! I would certainly recommend this to anyone tarvelling to Orlando and my only regret is that I hadn't done it before!

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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 25, 2025

Boggy Creek Ride
2001 E. Southport Rd.
Kissimmee, Florida 34746
(407) 344-9550

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Kennedy Space Center

Attraction | "Doing the Tour"

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Kennedy Space Centre is located on the East coast of Florida on Merritt Island and is an easy one hour drive from the tourist centre of Orlando. The current admission price is $41/ £25 and a ticket gives an additional days entry within a 7 day period and it also gives admission to the Astronauts Hall of Fame which is a separate attraction a few miles away from the main centre on the route back to Orlando. This is government property and they are strict on security. Large bags are not allowed to be brought in and all bags are given a thorough search and you also have to go through a metal detector the same as you do at airports.One of the newest additions to the Space Centre is...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on November 3, 2025

Kennedy Space Center
NASA Parkway East State Road 405
Orlando, Florida 32899
(321) 452 2121

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Walt Disney World Resort Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course

Attraction | "Miniature Golf with Mickey!"

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Disney offer four miniature golf courses and two those can be found at Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course.Fantasia Gardens is located near the Swan and Dolphin hotels near EPCOT and it has a free car park. It is open every day from 10 in the morning until 11 at night so it is a nice way to round off a busy theme park day. It was $12 (2010) when we visited and if you buy one round you can keep your receipt and claim 50% off another round here or at Winter Summerland within a short time (24 hours I think).The helpful staff gave us our clubs, balls and score sheet and then we were sent on the course. We visited on an exceptionally hot day and there was no-one else ...Read More

Disney offer four miniature golf courses and two those can be found at Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course.

Fantasia Gardens is located near the Swan and Dolphin hotels near EPCOT and it has a free car park. It is open every day from 10 in the morning until 11 at night so it is a nice way to round off a busy theme park day. It was $12 (2010) when we visited and if you buy one round you can keep your receipt and claim 50% off another round here or at Winter Summerland within a short time (24 hours I think).

The helpful staff gave us our clubs, balls and score sheet and then we were sent on the course. We visited on an exceptionally hot day and there was no-one else there so we could take as long as we liked as there was no-one behind us.

There are two courses here but Fantasia Gardens is a traditional Miniature Golf course with lots of excitement whilst Fantasia Fairways is also 18 hole but is based on a more traditional golf course so requires more skill.

Fantasia Gardens was really good fun. There were a lot of water elements which was great considering how hot it was as there is very little shade on the course itself. All of the holes are based around the award winning Fantasia film with Mickey as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. There were rhymes at each hole and lots of recognisable features like the dancing broomsticks. None of the holes were frustratingly difficult but they were challenging enough to make the round last a reasonable time and to engender some competition between family members! The finale was at the 18th hole with Mickey providing a wonderful fountain and music for the successful golfer.

As you would expect from Disney the courses are well-maintained and all the staff members were very helpful. The Gardens course is fun but if I was playing again I would be more likely to return to Summer Winterland as it is probably more entertaining.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on January 24, 2025

Walt Disney World Resort Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf Course
Walt Disney World Resort
Orlando, Florida 32830
(407) 560-8760

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Cap'n Jack's Marina

Attraction | "Water Fun"

Quote:

Downtown Disney offers something a little bit different by the way of Cap’n Jacks Marina. Here you are able to rent a variety of boats to enjoy exploring the enormous lake between Downtown Disney and some of the rest of the resort. You can take boats out for single people right up to larger vessels for 10 people. You can take them out for half an hour or a full hour.The marina opens from 10am until 7.00pm but tends to be busiest in the late afternoon and evening.You need to be over 18 to rent a boat but obviously adults can take children out with them. You need to have either resort ID for WDW or a driving license or passport.Prices start at about $25....Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on January 12, 2026

Cap'n Jack's Marina
Downtown Disney Marketplace
Orlando, Florida

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Walt Disney World Resort Magic Kingdom

Attraction | "Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party!"

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Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is held on selected nights from September to the end of October at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. This is a separate ticketed event which means that even if you have a park entry ticket for the day you will need to leave the park by 7pm and will only be allowed to stay if you have purchased the extra ticket. If you don’t have a normal park ticket for that day you are usually allowed park entry from about 4.30 with your Halloween ticket.On arrival you are issued with a coloured wristband to prove that you are a party guest, if you are already in the park you get one of these wristbands by showing your party ticket to a cast member at the Stitch a...Read More

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is held on selected nights from September to the end of October at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. This is a separate ticketed event which means that even if you have a park entry ticket for the day you will need to leave the park by 7pm and will only be allowed to stay if you have purchased the extra ticket. If you don’t have a normal park ticket for that day you are usually allowed park entry from about 4.30 with your Halloween ticket.

On arrival you are issued with a coloured wristband to prove that you are a party guest, if you are already in the park you get one of these wristbands by showing your party ticket to a cast member at the Stitch attraction where they will also give you a programme of the evening’s entertainment and a map to show places to trick or Treat.

Many of the rarer Disney Characters can be found around the park at the character stops. Photographers are on hand to take your memorable photos which can be added to your Disney photo pass. We had a brilliant time seeing Snow White with all the Dwarfs, Cinderella in her glass carriage and Tarzan with his side-kick monkey. These characters are not normally available for photo opportunities so queues can build up but they are well managed.

Every guest at the party is given a Trick or Treat bag which is usually printed with the latest Disney release. However guests are also welcome to bring in their own bags. There are Candy trails all around the park and the cast members are very generous when handing out their treats, especially towards the end of the evening if they have lots left. We all returned home with more than 100 treats each which considering we didn’t even go to all the candy stops was quite impressive.

The highlight of the evening for us was the Boo To You Parade. This took place twice in the evening. We saw the second one as we had heard it was not quite as crowded as the first, considering how busy it was I am glad we had opted for the second one but we still had to stake out a good spot about an hour before hand. The parade was brilliant, all of the characters were dressed in their Halloween finery and there were lots of floats, it felt much longer than the daytime parade. The start of the parade was heralded by the ride of the Headless Horseman which some very young children found a little scary but most seemed to love. The dancing was excellent and the gravediggers with their sparking spades were something to behold. Once again bags were quickly filled with candy by cast members along the route.

After the parade were the fireworks. We have seen the Wishes display at Magic Kingdom many times and I have always thought it was fantastic but Hallowishes was absolutely stunning. It was a very long firework spectacular and it felt like fireworks were going off all around us as the Trick or Treat Halloween story centred around the castle was told in music. I have never experienced such a stunning display.

The atmosphere for the whole evening is lovely. We visited near the end of October and the vast majority of party goers, both adult and children, choose to dress up. Disney are quite strict and people are not allowed gruesome or very scary costumes and they are also not allowed to make themselves look like a proper Disney character as this would make it difficult to ensure guest safety if they were not sure if someone was an employee or not. This means that you can dress as your favourite Disney character if you wish but as an adult you must make it obvious that you are not impersonating that character. Costumes can be on any theme and we went as Star Trek characters and we were well received by everyone!

This was an expensive evening and I only purchased it as a special treat but we enjoyed it so much that it might become a regular thing for us. We loved everything about it, the atmosphere, the music, the characters and then the parade and fireworks; it was truly a night to remember.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on February 7, 2025

Walt Disney World Resort Magic Kingdom
Interstate 4 At U.S. Highway 192
Orlando, Florida
(407) 824-4321

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Finding Your Way

Story/Tip

Quote:

As a British tourist in Orlando it can be quite tricky to find your way around as we are not used to the road systems and it seems difficult to get your bearings. Your best bet is to invest in a good map before you go. We have worked our way through several maps over the years but we find most of them lack enough detail as we are only interested in quite a small area so before purchasing a map it is best to make sure that it is particularly relevant to the themepark cente of the world! An orlando tourist map is your best bet and some of them are coated so that they are a little tougher and withstand a lot of use. One of the best map companies now offers an iPhone app as well which I haven't tried ...Read More

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