Besides a private boat, there is no better way to explore the beautiful lakes and canals of Winter…read morePark! Here is what you need to know: - Time Investment: One Hour (In my opinion, the perfect amount of time) - Investment: $20 for adults, $10 for children. Truly a deal and enjoyable for all ages. - What you will see/learn: If you like history, nature, or just getting a really good tan you will not be disappointed. The true highlight was getting all the tea about the beautiful houses that line the canal and their owners. - Tips: Bring water, sunscreen, and a good hat. If you are hard of hearing, sit near the front. There is a bathroom right before you purchase the tickets and a small covered seated area if you come early. The ride is very gentle and my four year old took a nice little nap as soon as the motor started running. It can get really hot so I recommend booking an early or late afternoon tour if you are sensitive to the sun. We all had lots of fun.

My mom absolutely LOVED this! We brought her for her birthday and she had the best time!…read more Firstly, I recommend getting there with plenty of time to park and check-in. The tours are on a first come, first serve basis and leave every hour on the hour. One of the canals was closed for construction when we went but it was truly still so lovely. Our tour guide provided so much history and information! Pro-Tip: SUNSCREEN, handheld fans and water. The boats are not covered and it can get very hot. They do not allow umbrellas for cover. This tour has been around for a while and I can't believe this was my first time taking one. I absolutely had the best time. Looking forward to bringing more visitors to do something so very central Florida! It's grand!

Captain Dale was a great guide. Got to see a mother and her babies as well as another gator back…read morein the low tide. Very knowledgeable and was able to take us to areas where bigger boats couldn't go! Spirit of the swamp offers 6 man boats. This helps with getting into tighter areas and low water areas! It was very fun to slide around the marsh!

This was one of our best stops on the trip, by far. We toured with Captain Ryan, who was…read moreknowledgeable, friendly and skilled. Before going out, we got a comprehensive safety brief and were informed of an area to keep our belongings. As we were cruising, we wore headsets with speakers in which captain Ryan was speaking about the surrounding environment. The headset also had microphones in which we would reply to him. As we got into the swampy area, the ride was smooth and as someone who is scared of water, I felt completely safe. Captain Ryan brought us to some wonderful hidden gems such as a few alligator nests where he explained their structure in detail and answered any questions with complete answers. We got very close to alligators and baby alligators (freshly hatched the day before) and it was an amazing experience. Captain Ryan made us feel confident that we were not in danger and if we were, he would be able to handle it. As we were finishing our tour it started to pour and we switched our headset out for a water friendly version. Rather than bringing us directly back to the docking area, we sat under an overpass to prevent getting completely drenched and possibly hurt. We made it back and Captain Ryan made sure we were all safe getting off. Overall, a truly wonderful experience. More than worth the price. It was beyond what we expected in the best ways.

The Chocolate Museum is awesome. Dave was the tour guide and took us through the history of how…read morechocolate is made. He was great and so funny. I would highly recommend. I was not a fan of the cafe. The food was not very good to me, but definitely may be my personal taste.

Dave was a fantastic tour guide loved his humor it was amazing chocolate samples were top tier so…read moredifferent and exotic The service was great everyone was kind and attentive The inside of the store is beautiful

Captain Alyssa was great! She gave us the perfect tour- we saw baby gators, Mama gators guarding…read moretheir nests, and some really cool birds. She was knowledgeable about the lake and it's inhabitants. She was patient to let us get the photos we wanted, and she kept an eye out for the types of birds that my husband preferred to see. Highly recommend! 10 out of 10 would do it again!

Super fun time. Captain Cabe was great! Highly recommended to both us full time Floridians and…read morevisitors alike!

My husband and I were visiting from Pennsylvania, and this was our first time on an airboat. It…read moreturned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of our trip. The captain was fun, knowledgeable, and made the entire ride unforgettable--we'll definitely be talking about it for weeks. If you're in the area, I highly recommend giving it a try!

The place itself was clean and organized, and the airboat ride was okay overall, but we were still…read moredisappointed with the experience. We were a group of 7 people, and unfortunately it did not meet our expectations. We only saw one alligator swimming in the water during the entire tour. Instead of wildlife, the driver mostly showed us horses and cows from a farm across the resort, which was not what we came for. What made the experience worse was that the driver kept intentionally driving us into thick grass areas several times. He also stopped the boat in an area full of mosquitoes/gnats, and we kept getting bitten until we asked him to move immediately. Unfortunately, he repeated this more than once, which made the ride very uncomfortable. Overall, the experience was not worth the money for us. We would not return and would not recommend it.

ORLANDO, FL: one of the best attractions we did on our trip was a haunted walking tour with…read moreOrlando Haunts! Leashed and friendly dogs are allowed to join as you walk through downtown and stop at buildings that have history of supernatural events! Our guide, Korben, was fantastic in telling the stories of ghosts, mysteries, and history that you wouldn't even know are right here in the city! A graveyard under a movie theatre, a college campus that was a former morgue, murders, mafia crimes, and more! This was such a unique experience and we had a great time! The tour is about 60 minutes covering 1 mile and features a few stops! Policy as of 4/26/24: "Pets are welcome as long as they do not disrupt or distract from the tour." You can also find these ghost tours in over 40 cities in the U.S.!

100-year-old buildings, historic saloons, gothic cathedrals…read more Not all of Orlando is all about Mickey & Minnie, Harry Potter's World and warm beaches but there is always something enchanting about listening to ghost stories. We attended a walking ghost tour in Orlando on a Sunday evening. For a Sunday night the restaurants, bars and clubs all seem to be operating as if it was the start of a weekend... although the on-and-off rain has reduced the "usual" crowd there were still a lot of people out, we actually walked to some shady parts of DTO which was more scary than the ghost stories... but wait, I'm still getting started with the actual ghost tour. Our meeting place was outside the Orange County Regional History Center in Downtown Orlando. We did a lot of walking so wear comfy shoes. Our guide talked about haunted buildings focusing on: 1- The Beacham - a ghost of an old woman is seen somewhere near the stage, always accompanied by drastic temperature drops. 2- The Cheyenne Saloon is one of the most popular venues in Orlando, but it has a spooky past... 3- Church Street 4- Ceviche - guests will see an out-of-place woman dressed in 19th century garb, standing behind them in the reflection 5- Hamburger Mary's Bar and Grille, originally a hardware store. Apparition of a young girl dressed in Victorian clothing 6- Kress Building - Kres Chophouse is considered to be a paranormal hot-spot by Central Florida ghost hunters 7- St James Catholic Cathedral - they even conduct their own ghost tour inside 8- Orange County Regional History Center - we learned about one of America's most prolific serial killers, Ted Bundy. The building was the location of Bundy's murder trial in 1979 My daughter purchased the Bonus Extended Tour Upgrade which was up to 4 additional haunted locations. These were all interesting and cool. Thank you to our tour guide, Tabitha.) Review #2781

The Winter Park Downtown Historic District is a fantastic neighborhood with its roots tracing back…read moreto 1881. The neighborhood has some great restaurants and shopping options and is close enough to downtown Orlando to make it convenient, yet far enough away to embrace its own identity and be a lot more laid back. The streets are cobblestone and just adds to the ambiance. This is a nice upscale neighborhood and gives a cool, almost small-town feel in the midst of the city of Orlando, Florida. I would definitely recommend a visit to this cool neighborhood.

Winter Park began as 8 acres of land purchased by David Mizoram Jr. in 1858 who called his purchase…read moreLakeview. The town of Winter Park was plotted when Loring Chase and Oliver Chapman purchased 600 acres in 1881. Life was given to the new town when the railroad was persuaded to extend it's line. The railroad depot built in 1882 was the towns first building. A store was built at Park Ave and Morse Blvd that housed a mercantile, post office, and assembly room. The building still stands. The town was chartered in 1887 and became a retreat for wealthy northerners looking to escape the cold climate in the winter, hence the name of the town Winter Park. The towns economy was built on entertaining winter tourists. Rollins College, the oldest college in Florida was founded here in 1885. The city was incorporated in 1925 and is governed by four city commissioners and a mayor. Today Winter Park is 9 square miles and home to approximately 28,500 residents. The town is known for it's lakes, parks, museums, and shops and restaurants along historic Park Avenue. My favorite restaurant is the Briar Patch. The Winter Park Historic District includes buildings constructed from 1882 through 1965, and it runs along Park Avenue from Canton to Comstock Avenues. Winter Park has held on to its old small town charm. Popular past times here include a boat ride on Lake Osceola, a meal on Park Avenue, and a trip to the Morse Museum. Favorite festivals include the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival and the 4th of July Celebration in Central Park. The Winter Park Historic District is a delightful mixture of the new and the old and just like in the 1800's you can still arrive by train.

Want to spend 3 hours on a guided stroll down Park Ave stopping in restaurants, shops and learning…read moreabout some history? Check this out! Nice for locals and visitors. Having seen a lot of post cards for this event around Park Ave, we decided to give it a try this past weekend. We went with the Saturday tour and unfortunately, we were interrupted with some rain during our tour so we didn't get the full history and stroll that usually is part of it. Bummed but we didn't let it stop us from having a good time. Reid was our guide for the day and also a founder of this Food Tour. He was fun and very lighthearted throughout our experience. I do feel that since there was rain we missed most of what the tour was trying to accomplish, which was to give us a history lesson as well. I do have to say, I didn't learn much but since we were scurrying to each location, I know it was difficult. They do warn you of the rain, I mean, hello! It's Florida! So they recommend bringing an umbrella! Do yourself a favor and do that if there is more than 30% chance! You will be glad you did. For a $47 price tag, check out the stops we headed to and keep in mind, they are the same stops for each tour but they will be adding a new tour of the other end of Park Ave in the next few months. This is a tour of 6 businesses which consist of: Prato Ancient Olive The Spice & Tea Exchange Orchid Thai Cuisine Kilwin's Sassafras Sweet Shoppe Prato I have been various times so I already knew it was going to be a great kick-off to the tour. When you booked, there were an option of Wine or Beer. I went for the wine and a red wine was waiting as we were seated at the table. We tried 2 of their pizzas and had their house bread as well. It was lovely as you really can't have a bad experience in Prato. However, I think this would have been a great opportunity for someone from Prato to chat about their business but Reid did a pretty good rundown. Ancient Olive By far, Ancient Olive took the cake for being the highlight of the tour. WOW! Not only does this shop rock in it's own right, they know how to host a tour of people who love food and want a taste of local. We had someone from Ancient Olive walk us through an Olive Oil & Balsamic tasting, think Wine tasting but with Olive Oil & Balsamic. They also had some tapenade and a goat cheese spread with balsamic and almonds to snack on. They carry a local all-natural beverage mixer as well, Bungalow23 and we had the Prickly Pear. Just when we thought we were already in heaven, another door opened: Ice Cream with Olive Oil and salt... OMGGGGG... I could have stopped the tour here and taken a bath in this. You are not supposed to shop on this tour but it was raining and I spent almost $70 here. Such a great stop. The Spice & Tea Exchange They have so many teas, salts, spices and peppers than you could ever imagine. The best part is they have kick-a recipes to use and we tasted two of them on this stop. Beer cheese dip and an orzo pasta. The pasta was delicious! We also had one of their cold brew teas. Lovely stop. I did feel a little rushed from here on out but that may have been because the rain kept us at the 2nd stop for a long time. Orchid Thai Cuisine I have been here and unfortunately, everything we tasted, chicken satay and their appetizer platter was everything I have had here before. Didn't get much of a new experience here and didn't really learn anything about the business except they have been there for 6 years. Kilwin's My least fav stop on the tour. Not sure why we went with Kilwin's since it's not local. When we arrive, we really didn't learn anything about the business and no one from there interacted with us. We had a taste of the Winter Park Mud, vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and carmel. It was good but the ice cream wasn't very smooth, it was more crystalized. I am not into fudge so I gave mine away. It was the turtle fudge. Sassafras Sweet Shoppe I adore this store so I was excited to see this on the stop. However, we only spent about 2 minutes in here and grabbed cotton candy and went and ate it under an awning outside and were sent on our way. A very abrupt ending but it was still raining out so I guess we couldn't expect too much. Overall, wasn't blown away but I did it with 2 friends and the others that were on the tour were fun as well. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon even if the stops and content didn't blow me away.

Good food, new friends, perfect weather. What more could you want on a Saturday afternoon?…read more We had a great tour of Winter Park with Kiel. He's very knowledgable about the area and locations where we made stops. We also had great service at each of our stops, as Kiel is on a first name basis with everyone on Park Ave. I highly recommend this tour for out of town guests or if you'd just like to get to know your neighborhood a little bit better.

Had an amazing time! The tour was great and I got to learn so much more about beer. I wasn't aware…read moreas to how many places we had around us, but now I do. It was a great experience - got to meet new people, tried beer I've never had before, went to breweries I didn't know we had and enjoyed the ride. Our guide, Kevin was awesome! He was very knowledgeable and fun to be around.

What an amazing experience! Hop On is a great way to explore Orlando's best breweries on the…read morecoolest bus in town! I have been on two tours with Hop On! now, and I have to say that I've loved every minute of it! Kevin has been my tour guide for both tours, and he is so friendly, personable and knowledgeable about beer and the local breweries here in Orlando. With multiple packages and options to choose from, and a fun friendly atmosphere, there is something for everyone to enjoy. All of the tours start off at Broken Cauldron, located in Downtown Orlando near the Orlando City soccer stadium. I went on the Seminole County tour, and got the chance to check out four awesome breweries and learned so much about the history and culture of the brewery scene in Orlando. Hop On has partnered with the Central Florida Ale Trail, and has a variety of tours to take you to the various stops on the Ale Trail, and even provides you with a map to let you track where you've been! The tours include the Seminole County, Downtown Orlando, and Winter Park brewery tours, with special tours and special events available as well. The tours give you the option to include a beer at every stop, or you can just pay as you go. Now lets talk about the bus itself. The bus is a 14 passenger bus, which provides for a more intimate and friendly atmosphere. It is decked out with cool brewery stickers, super comfy seats, and even has a cooler in the back to store any purchases you might like to take home with you from the breweries. The tour guides take you through the evening recommending beers to try, doing beer trivia, and playing awesome music. It is a great way to meet people, play games, and have fun, all while enjoying some amazing brews. Overall, I think that a Hop On tour is an amazing activity to do with friends or even just for a fun date night! They offer tours Friday-Sunday but also host special events like Birthdays, Bachelor/ Bachelorette parties and more! If you are in the Orlando area and want to try something truly special, you've GOT to check it out!

I have been wanting to go on the Barbara Lee for YEARS and we finally did it! I decided I wanted to…read morecelebrate my birthday during their Italian Night with a wine pairing. Our party ended up being 20 of us and we were able to share a unique link for purchasing tickets so our party was all linked together as one party. When we first boarded, there really wasn't any direction as to what to do or what we could do so we just sat down at our table and waited for someone. We weren't sure if we could or should go to the bar to order drinks or if we could walk around before dinner. It took a while (10+ minutes) for anyone to approach our table.) Once someone approached our table we ordered drinks and then walked around the boat. We went to the top deck to take some photos and watch the sunset before dinner started. Once dinner started we were able to go the buffet as munch as we wished. Since it was Italian night they had all Italian dishes, none of the dishes really stood out but nothing was bad. It was good, but not like wow! While eating they started pouring our wine samples. We got two red and two white samples and a sommelier talked us through each sample. After the first two samples they gave us a break to walk around, go to the bathroom, etc. I would have preferred a shorter break in the middle of dinner and more time in the beginning so that we could spend more time on the deck while the sun set. Tickets for this event were $65 and in my opinion it was worth it. We had a great time and it was something I could check of my bucket list!

Came for a drag show on the boat. I'm not sure this is the right space for this idea. We knew it…read morewas first come first served for seating and arrived about ten minutes into doors but still had to find a seat in a back corner on the second floor. I didn't feel like we were able to get a real show because of the location and I'm not sure it helped the queens either. They did try! Plus I appreciate that a company in the Sanford area was willing to host the show! From a river ship standpoint...the ship is showing its age and I'm not sure I heard or saw any safety protocols or briefings. I have to believe there were some because I would think that's a requirement but I must have missed it. The goldfish on the tables were a nice touch but a bit stale. Our drinks weren't weak so that was nice too. The server who came to the table was nice and able to get us what we asked for in a timely manner. Someone at our table had the pretzel and it looked decent, but I didn't try it myself.