The one thing I am notorious for doing when planning a family vacation is making sure there is something for everyone to enjoy. I love activities that are great for all ages since my children are 21, 19, 17 and 9 years old. There are many times that we cater to my youngest son and appease him when he wants to enjoy a specific activity for his age. When I started to look at all the different things there was to do in Orlando, I made a list of local attractions that I think we would all enjoy. We also try to do things that we can’t do while we’re at home. The same goes for when we dine out at restaurants.
I’ll make a suggestion and if it’s something that we can do at home, we skip it and pick something else. We got to have a Coca Cola Orlando Eye Experience and I totally surprised myself. I’m afraid of heights and am prone to motion sickness. I did have to mentally prepare myself to go on the Orlando Eye. It was a great experience. It was moving slowly enough that it didn’t trigger my motion sickness and I was able to enjoy the ride. The kids are total adventurists and love height, speed and motion! I’m the odd ball! It takes roughly twenty minutes to go completely around the Orlando Eye.
We enjoyed the gorgeous 360 degree view when we were at the very top (400 ft. in the air) and were able to use the interactive tablets in our capsule to give us facts about the view and certain landmarks. You can view the Orlando skyline and Cape Canaveral. In case you were wondering, there’s a bench if you want to sit down and not stand the entire time. Each air-conditioned capsule can hold up to fifteen people. It was one of the best experiences and we’d do it all over again. We went during the day so, maybe next time we’ll enjoy a night view when the city and wheel is all lit up.
In the same area as the Orlando Eye you have access to Madame Tussauds Orlando, Sea Life Orlando Explore and the Skeletons: Museum of Osteology Orlando. There are so many things to do in one place, not to mention the variety of restaurants in the area to choose from. We also enjoyed some time at the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Odditorium and had a blast with all the weird exhibits and illusions. I think one of our favorite activities was going to see Transformers the Last Night in 4DX at the Regal Cinemas Pointe Orlando 20 & IMAX. I’m all about seeing action movies in IMAX 3D but this is on a whole other level. It’s like being on a ride for an extended period of time. The movie is 2 hr 29 minutes.
When you go and see a move in 4DX you are totally engaged in what’s happening because it’s happening to you at the same time! It’s a 4DX immersive experience that includes theater seats that move and environmental effects that happen throughout the movie. You can imagine that with Transformers there were lots of action and battle scenes. I felt every single motion that was involved due to the motion theater seats. I also felt wind, rain and mist. You can also feel water, bubbles, lightening, fog, rainstorm and snow. I honestly left the theater not wanting to see a movie any other way again!
This 4DX Movie Technology is definitely a game changer! My youngest son has seen ALL of the
Transformers movies and he by far loved this one the best because it was in 4DX. He loved the motion and environmental features like the mist, rain and wind. My son also liked that Bumble Bee got his voice back and he got to see Hot Rod (Bumble Bees Brother in Arms). I don’t think he wants to go back to watching regular movies either. I’ve just raised the bar for his movie theater experience expectations. Oh, I should also mention you can control the water feature with a on and off button on your seat. Overall, going to see Transformers the Last Night in 4DX was phenomenal and something we all enjoyed! I need 4DX technology to come to a North Carolina theater!
We absolutely had a blast visiting Orlando and there is so much more to do. I can’t wait to visit again and explore more of what Orlando has to offer. I’ll share our Disney adventure in a separate post.