Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Sanford Florida

The Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens in Sanford, Florida has over 400 exciting animal attractions and a great mix of education and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy! Have a close encounter with the the elephants at feeding times. Take your swimsuit, towel and suncream to experience the Wharton-Smith Tropical Splash Ground – a unique water playground featuring animal inspired water fountains, rain trees and a fun water tunnel.

With a separate charge, you can visit ZOOm Air Adventure Park – explore the surrounding forest from an animal’s perspective on the aerial treetop adventure course with rope bridges and thrilling ziplines.

Visit the ZOOm Air Treetop Adventure Park website for prices and further details here.

The Central Florida Zoo is about 60-90 minutes away from most of our Orlando rental villas and is located just off junction 104 of Interstate 4 (I4) and is a very easy drive.

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Harry Potter World – Universal Orlando

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a feature of theme park Universal’s Islands of Adventure is a must see for all Harry Potter fans. There’s rides for all ages and family members: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (voted best new attraction of 2010 by ThemeParkInsider.com), Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff.

Experience the excitement first hand soaring above Hogwarts castle grounds on a ride in this iconic location you’ll recognise from the books and films. As part of this spectacularly themed environment, you can visit the Three Broomsticks for a unique dining experience. Here you can try the butterbeer, the favourite drink in the books – people queue up in anticipation of tasting this famous brew! It’s non-alcoholic, so family friendly and the sweet taste is likened to shortbread and butterscotch.

Visit the shops of Hogsmeade, along the streets you’ll find Dervish and Bangs, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods, Zonko’s joke shop and the Owl Post Office! There’s a lot that will captivate your imagination and you might want to bring home a souvenir – perhaps a ‘sneekascope’. Watch the video here of the ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. For directions on how to get to Universal,  from I-4 Eastbound (Disney/Lake Buena Vista/Kissimmee) take exit 75A, or from I-4 Westbound (Downtown Orlando) take exit 74B.

April events at Celebration, Orlando

We’ve featured the town of Celebration previously, but thought its worth an update as there’s some events coming up in April which you may want to fit into your holiday in Florida. Celebration is such a pretty, traditional American district with a quaint village style setting – there’s boutique and souvenir shopping, restaurants and bars and an old fashioned cinema set around the pretty lakeside.

On the weekend of 9th-10th April the Great American Pie Festival returns to Lakeside Park in Celebration. Thousands of pie lovers will gather for this 10 year running event. If you take the family there you won’t want to miss the highlight, the Never-Ending Pie Buffet and Pie Eating Contest, or let the kids make their own pies at the Kids Creation Station. Events times – Saturday 9th 11am – 7pm and Sunday 10th 12pm – 5pm.

Here is video from last years festival to give you a taste of whats to come…

Also held on 9th April in the town centre, the now world class Exotic car festival hosted by the Ferrari Club of America, benefitting children’s charities, is an event showcasing 250 cars  – from racing cars to the exotic and unique vehicles, with some you’ll recognise from famous movies and TV shows. This year you’ll see the Lamborghini Diablo from Jim Carey’s film ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and the DeLorean – famous as the ‘Back to the Future Car’ – a great day for photo opportunities for car and film enthusiasts and a keepsake from your Florida holiday. Admission is free.

Soak up the noise and atmosphere from last years car show with the below videos.

Legoland Florida

Legoland Florida will have it’s grand opening in October 2011! If you’re booking a Florida villa holiday at this time, you might want to fit this new attraction into your trip. Hosting interactive attractions, shows, over 50 rides, restaurants and shopping  – this is expected to be a great family theme park geared for families with children aged 2-12. This will be Legoland’s 5th park in the world – others currently in Denmark, London, California and Germany and at 150 acres of education, adventure and fun it will also be Legoland’s largest park built to date. Interestingly, for some background on how ‘Lego’ came into being, it all started in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen who started making wooden toys in his small workshop in Billund, Denmark. He later decided to name his trademark toys and workshop ‘LEGO’ with the Danish meaning ‘play well’ and in Latin it means ‘I put together / I assemble’. The park will feature Fun Town, Miniland USA, Duplo village, imagination zone, pirates cove and Lego city to name a few. This latest attraction for Florida will be located in Winter Haven, just 45 minutes south-west of the Orlando theme parks. At the time of writing this, the prices are $65 plus tax for adult one day admission and $55 plus tax for children (aged 3-12) and seniors (aged 60+). We have found a preview video for you to take a look at.

The Cheesecake Factory – The Mall at Millenia, Orlando

The Cheesecake Factory - The Mall at Millenia

For those with a sweet tooth who like to indulge every once in a while, we urge you to head on over to the legendary Cheesecake Factory for a real treat. Located at The Mall at Millenia (lower level close to the Main Entrance).

The vintage ‘Original’ cheesecake, proudly quoted as the ‘one that started it all’ is an infamous creamy cheesecake with a cracker crust and sour cream topping – is simple but delicious! We think you’ll take some time to read through the menu and with over 20 varieties to try you will feel very spoilt for choice. How about the ‘Ultimate Red Velvet Cake’ cheesecake, the ‘Chocolate Tuxedo Cream’ cheesecake or the fruity ‘Dutch Apple Caramel Streusel’? If cheesecake is not your preference – you could try the ‘Black-out cake’ which is their deepest, richest chocolate cake with choc chips! These decadent deserts are a real treat not to be missed while you rest your tired legs from wandering round the designer and well known chain stores at The Mall at Millenia. It’s even worth a trip in its own right! Aswell as sweet delights – the Cheesecake Factory offer an extensive menu of mouthwatering appetisers, specialty pizzas, pastas, seafoods and salads – not forgetting the ‘glamburgers’! Yum yum…Be warned, portion size is on the generous side, so maybe go with an elasticated waistband!

The Cheesecake Factory is located in The Mall at Millenia which is just off Interstate 4 at exit 78 (Conroy Rd) and only about 30 minutes from most of the Florida holiday villas we have to rent.

Opening times are Mon-Thurs 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12:30am & Sun 10am -11pm. You’ll find self parking readily available – closest is Parking Lot A.  Table reservations can be made Monday – Friday, call (407) 226-0333. If you’re in a rush, take out dining is also available. Outside seating available. Click here to visit the Cheesecake Factory website