The Travel Sage

Orlando Girls’ Trip: Beyond Theme Parks

Heads Up: This page includes one affiliate link, which is marked by an “*”. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. But rest assured – my opinions are my own, I would never recommend something I haven’t or wouldn’t purchase for myself.

Looking for ideas on the best girls’ trip destinations? Consider Orlando if your travel plans are NOT between June and August. If you don’t live in the area, you probably think “Disney” when someone mentions Orlando. But there is so much more to do in Orlando beyond theme parks! A group of five of us did a weekend ladies trip to Orlando in February a few years ago to celebrate my friend’s 50th birthday, and it turned out to be a great choice! The thing about Orlando is that because there is such a variety of things to do, it is an excellent option for “girls” of all ages and interests. You’ll find resorts, nightlife, shopping, museums, sports activities, nature, endless restaurant choices, and of course theme parks. And Orlando is only an hour drive to Cocoa Beach! Check out some specific ideas of what you and your friends can do in Orlando beyond just theme parks.

Things to do in Orlando

No matter what you and your friends’ interests are, you’ll find plenty to do here. Of course if you love theme parks, you are definitely in the right place. But let’s consider other things to do with a group of friends in Orlando.

Get Sporty

If you and your friends enjoying being athletic and/or a little competitive, consider some of the following ideas.

Try out Some Water Sports

Visit Orlando Watersports Complex and try your hand at waterskiing, wakeboarding, tubing, kneeboarding, wakeskating or wakesurfing. You can get lessons while you’re there is you need them.

Photo courtesy of Matt Rini Waterski School.

And while you’re there, get silly playing on their inflatable waterpark. It’s not just for kids!

Photo courtesy of Commercial Recreation Specialists.

Play a Round of Golf

The entire state of Florida is known for golfing and Orlando is no exception. If you want to golf in the Orlando area, check out Golf Links list of 59 golf courses in the Orlando area.

Photo courtesy of Visit Orlando.

Try out a New Kind of Golf – Top Golf

If you want to hit some balls without spending hours on the golf course, consider a visit to Orlando’s Top Golf. I’ve never golfed, but recently went to a birthday party at a Top Golf in Atlanta. It was so much fun! It’s a great concept where you and your friends tee-off from an open bay that you rent (by the hour) in a multi-story building. Your balls have tracking devices in them and automatically record your score on a screen in your bay. And they have a great menu and full bar so you can eat, drink and golf at the same time!

Photo courtesy of Geek Wire.

Challenge Yourself to Some Rock Climbing

Even though Florida has a flat landscape, you and your friends can still have fun rock climbing in one of Orlando’s 11 rock climbing gyms.

Photo courtesy of RebounderZ.

Get Back to Nature

Orlando might be a big city, but there are still opportunities to enjoy nature.

Explore Gardens

Visit Harry P. Leu Gardens where you can explore a 50 acre semi-tropical garden with the added benefit of visiting a historical home. And it’s right in the heart of Orlando.

Photo courtesy of Orlando Magazine.

Walk a Nature Trail

If you’d rather to take a walk in a more natural Florida landscape, then consider a stroll along the Shingle Creek Trail.

Photo courtesy of Burnsland.

Go on a Boat Ride

Take a scenic boat tour in Winter Park. This might be a nice thing to combine with lunch and shopping.

Photo courtesy of Glassdoor.

Venture Outside of Orlando

If you are spending more than a couple of days in Orlando, consider taking a nature excursion day-trip outside of Orlando. If you don’t mind renting a car, then there are a ton of possibilities. But if you don’t want to drive yourself, below is a full day nature tour that will pick you up and drop you off in Orlando.

Snorkel with manatees, visit Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park, and go for an airboat ride* with Real Florida Adventures.

Photo courtesy of MilesGeek.

Photo courtesy of Marsh Landing Adventures.

Enjoy the Best Nightlife in Orlando

Do you and your friends like to party in the evening? If so, Orlando is an excellent option for your girls’ trip. Below are just a few of the many nightlife venues in the Orlando area.

Visit Locations With Multiple Night Clubs & Bars

Be sure to check out Universal’s City Walk on one of your nights in Orlando. City Walk is attached to Universal Studios but does not require a fee to enter. However, some of the bars do have cover charges. At City Walk you can sing-a-long at a dueling piano bar, do some late-night dancing, sing karaoke with a live band, and enjoy sipping drinks at a tiki bar. And if you’re feeling silly after you’ve had a few drinks, consider playing some horror movie-themed night-time mini-golf!

Photo courtesy of Attractions Magazine.

Another venue that includes multiple entertainment and dining options is Disney’s Boardwalk. The Boardwalk offers a charming atmosphere around a lake, with street performers, midway games, a dueling piano bar and a dance club.

Photo courtesy of Disney’s Food Blog.

Another multi-venue option is Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando. Here you’ll find bars with various themes, including steampunk, vintage carnival, and a tropical oasis. One bar, “Hooch”, is named for its variety of in-house flavored moonshines. You might find Wall Street Plaza to be fairly tame during the week, but on the weekend all the bars open up to a big block party.

Photo courtesy of Wall Street Plaza.

Party at One of the Hottest Nightclubs in Orlando

If you’d rather just focus on the hottest club in town instead of bar-hopping, then you’ll want to do more research. Take a look at Time Out’s list of the 12 best nightclubs in Orlando, or CuddlyNest’s list of the top 7 Orlando clubs.

Attend a Performance or Event

To find out what events are going on around Orlando, check out the events calendar on Visit Orlando’s website. If you are specifically looking for live music, then the Orlando Weekly is a good resource. Or consider one of the long-standing shows below.

Be Captivated by Cirque du Soleil

The Cirque du Soleil show in Orlando is put on by Disney at Disney Springs.

Choose one of the Many Orlando Dinner Theaters

The Outta Control Magic Comedy Dinner Show is rated the best dinner show in Orlando by Trip Advisor. Be sure to choose a night when their main act, Tony Brent, is performing. This might be a great option if you or any of your friends want to volunteer to get on stage as an assistant.

Photo courtesy of todaysorlando.com.

Medieval Times is one of the longest running Orlando Dinner Theaters. If you’ve never seen a medieval-themed performance with jousting and sword fights, then you might enjoy this. Note that this show is in a big arena, where you will sit and eat in rows.

Photo courtesy of Visit Orlando.

I’ve been to the Sleuths Mystery Dinner Shows several times. The characters mix with the audience, and the audience gets to ask questions to solve the mystery. Depending on which show you choose, you and and rest of the audience will be guests at a wedding, a lodge or some sort of party/event .If you are looking for serious detective work then you should look elsewhere. But if you and your friends are up for sipping wine and appreciating silliness, then this dinner show might be a good option.

If you’d like a dinner experience that allows you to step back in time, consider attending a Titanic Dinner Gala available on Friday and Saturday nights. Perhaps you and your friends might want dress up in clothes from the turn on the 20th century.

Another dinner theater in Orlando to consider is Teatro Martini. It’s described as an adults-only variety show. You can expect music, comedy, burlesque, improv and more.

Photo courtesy of orlandovacation.com.

Visit a Museum

Although Orlando isn’t known for world-class museums, there are a few options for museum lovers.

Visit an Art Museum in Orlando

The largest and most well known of the Orlando art museums is the aptly named Orlando Museum of Art. Its permanent collections include American, African, and contemporary art.

I really enjoyed my recent visit to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in nearby Winter Park. Its permanent collection revolves around the work of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Photo courtesy of Art Geek.

If you like sculptures, be sure to visit the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens which is also located in Winter Park.

Explore a History Museum

If you want to learn a little bit about the history of Winter Park and the Orlando area then consider a visit to the Winter Park History Museum.

Photo courtesy of 407area.com.

For something different, check out the Orlando Fire Museum. This little museum located in a 1926 firehouse gets great reviews.

If you are intrigued by the history of the Titanic then be sure to visit the Titanic Artifact Exhibition.

Since Orlando is a major tourist destination, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that you can find the usual tourist-oriented museums here. These include Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and Madame Tussauds.

Go Shopping

Orlando wouldn’t be a great girls’ trip destination if there wasn’t some fun shopping venues! So let’s talk about some of the best places to shop in Orlando.

Save Money at One of the Orlando Outlet Malls

If you are shopping for luxury brands, be sure to visit the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets. Here you’ll find 160 stores with brands such as Armani, Jimmy Choo, and Versace, just to name a few.

For those who don’t want to pay for luxury brands (even at discounted prices), check out the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores. This shopping plaza provides a complimentary shuttle to and from select hotels and resorts in Orlando and Kissimmee.

If You're Looking for a LOT of Stores, Visit One of the Indoor Malls

For a traditional mall experience, visit The Florida Mall which has over 250 stores and restaurants. But if you want something a bit more upscale, the Mall at Millenia is a great choice.

Stroll Some Local Boutiques

If the buying is less important than the shopping experience, then local boutiques are the way to go. And the best shopping experience in the Orlando area is definitely downtown Winter Park. Strolling along N. Park Avenue makes for a pleasant afternoon.

In case you want my recommendation… If I had to pick just one place in the Orlando area to spend a day with my girlfriends, I’d choose Winter Park. There are great restaurants, a nice little boat tour, unique shops for window shopping, and a handful of museums.

Where to Stay in Orlando

There is no shortage of places to stay in Orlando. First decide the type of place you’d like to stay. Do you want to spend your days relaxing by a pool, then a either a resort or a nice home with a pool are your best bets. If you want to keep your lodging costs down so you can spend more out and about, then a hotel/motel is a good option if there are only 2 or 3 of you, and an apartment hotel is a great choice if there are going to be more ladies than that. My friends and I stayed in the Floridays Resort. Although “resort” is in the title, this is not the kind of place I’m referring to when I talk about a resort. Floridays is more like a nice condo or apartment complex with a pool and a cafe. But the price is great if you are sharing the cost with several people. As of the time of this writing (Aug 2023), for most of the year prices for a two bedroom apartment are under $200 a night, and their three bedroom apartments sleep up to 8 people and are around $250 per night. Also, it’s in a great location right off of International Drive.

If you don’t mind paying more for a real resort experience, then consider some of the options below.

Disney Boardwalk Villas & Inn

Photo courtesy of Disneytips.com.

The Disney Boardwalk is a fun place to go in the evening with lots of restaurants and entertainment. So when I go there I always envy the people who get to stay in the villas or inn that are right on the Boardwalk. Prices Start Around $650/night for a standard room at the inn, or a studio villa that sleeps up to 5 people. However, there is another way to potentially book villas (including ones with 1+ bedrooms). Apparently, these villas are one of the options for people who join the Disney Vacation Club (DVC). They get a set number of points per year which they use to reserve the villas, but if they don’t use them, they sell them. If you don’t mind working a little to try to find a bargain, then check out the DVC shop where you can buy these points and immediately book a villa on available days. For more information on the Boardwalk Villas visit the Disney Tourist Blog.