Florida summer trip advice

[secondcor521]

Hi all,

My two young teenagers and I are going to Orlando this summer for a week in August, and I'm looking for any input.

We're staying at a condo via AirBnB in Kissimmee somewhere.

Activities we want to do include:

  Parasailing on Daytona Beach
  Aquatica
  Wildlife Sanctuary (West Palm Beach)
  Islands of Adventure
  Typhoon Lagoon
  Discovery Cove / dolphins
  Ripleys
  Walt Disney World
  Disney Animal Kingdom

And possibly:

  Jungle Island (Miami)
  Beach
  Epcot

General questions I have:

1.  Are any of the above items/ideas truly duds?
2.  How long would you spend at each place?
3.  Any package deals / tricks / coupons to get good deals on admissions?  For example, I know if we do the dolphin swim at Discovery Cove we get free admission to Aquatica, so I'll probably do that.  We also have several free passes to WDW; I'm not sure where else they might be used - I think maybe Disney Animal Kingdom and Epcot.
4.  Given the above list is what my kids want to do, are there other things that we should consider?

Thanks everyone!

[surfhb]

https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Blue-Spring

[wordnerd]

I haven't been to most of those places, but if you're going to be in south Florida (since you mention Miami), I'd suggest the Everglades. They were much cooler and more diverse than I expected. I also enjoyed driving through the Keys. There are some interesting sights down there, including old forts, beaches, and nature reserves.

[southern granny]

I would recommend an air boat ride in the everglades.  It was a blast.  Have you ever been to Florida in August?  The heat is brutal and kicks up a rain/thunderstorm just about every day.   We go almost every year, but we try to do our activities in the early morning and spend the afternoons on indoor activities or lounging in the pool. If you go to Disney be sure to stay until the night time activities (fire works, electric parade, laser show) Enjoy your vacation!

[secondcor521]

OK, our trip is planned for next week, and I need some advice on one thing that maybe someone can help with.

I've decided to rent a very fancy car and drive it around because my 15 year old is utterly entranced with fancy cars at the moment.  Does anyone have any recommendations for fancy car rental places in Orlando?

Kind of car I'm talking about is a Lambo, Ferrari, McLaren, etc.  There are apparently places where you can rent them for a day.  I know it's rippin' expensive, and I'm going to be 100% sure on insurance and 1000% sure on being careful, and 100,000% sure the 15 year old isn't driving it.  But it's a special trip, which I only do once every few years, so the money isn't too big of a deal.