10 Great Places to See for Free in Orlando

We know you’ve spent a fair bit of money on your Orlando visit, and you may want to avoid many more major expenses while you’re in town. We get it. It’s a balance between providing that “Holiday of a lifetime,” and making sure you can still pay the bills when you get home!

That’s why we always like to recommend places and experiences where you won’t need to shell out much more to enjoy a day out in this vast vacation playground. Only a few years ago, we highlighted a whole collection of things you could do without shelling out a cent, and we know that went down well with many of our customers. Well, with that in mind, we’re ready to point out another 10 of our favourite locations that provide a unique experience for free, including two Orlando Airport “secrets” that are well worth discovering, and you’ll probably be surprised at the amount of history many of them represent.

Monument of States

Kissimmee is very much an all-action tourist center, but would you be surprised to know it’s been that way for almost 100 years? Back in the 1930s, the wildly eccentric Dr Charles W Bressler-Pettis was a one-man promotional campaign for the area, driving a gold-and-purple Cadillac around the country with the slogan “Tourist paradise – Kissy-Me, Florida.” At the outbreak of World War II, he came up with another bright idea – a national monument of solidarity after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Amazingly, he got all the then 48 states, plus President Roosevelt, to contribute something to it, from rocks to fossils and other oddities. It reached 50ft high and is topped with the words “World’s Most Unique Monument. Find it at 300 E. Monument Avenue.

Blue Jacket Park

More War history is commemorated in Blue Jacket Park, which honours the city’s role as a major US Navy training centre from 1940 to the mid-1960s. It features three outstanding sculptures – including a 10-panel Naval history wall – harking back to the days of the Blue Jackets, the Navy trainees who numbered more than half a million recruits through what the Baldwin Park district is now.

Disney’s Wilderness Preserve

What’s this? Disney? And for free? How can that be? Well, it all started in 1991 when the Walt Disney Company proposed the new town of Celebration just south-east of their theme park resort. Environmentalists protested building on a wetlands area, but a compromise was reached when Disney proposed to buy and take care of 8,500 acres of derelict farmland and turn it into a nature conservancy project to restore a huge area of native wetlands to the south of Kissimmee. It now offers nine miles of natural hiking trails and various endangered animal habitats.

Orlando Airport

OK, so the airport itself isn’t technically free (there is a parking fee, and you usually need to be flying somewhere), but it does house two remarkable sights well worth pointing out. B-52 Memorial Park is a tribute to the airport’s origin as McCoy US Air Force base in the 1950s and 60s, when it was home to several B-52 squadrons (which explains why the airport’s call sign is MCO, by the way). Today, a B-52 is the headline exhibit in the free-to-enter park that sits within the airport grounds. Finally, as you leave Orlando for your return flight, take a moment – and a selfie – with the unique work of art known as The Traveler. You’ll know it the moment you see him!

Downtown Art

The city of Orlando has a lot to recommend it, and one of its many highlights is the amount of large-scale public art sprinkled through the downtown area. Much of it is centred on Lake Eola Park, where you’ll find five of the nine SeeArt project artworks, most notably the wonderful Muse of Discovery and Take Flight. Our favourite, though, is in the plaza outside the Orange County Regional History Center, where Global Convergence is a cool take on environmental issues.

Rollins College

When you’re visiting the delightful city suburb of Winter Park, make time for a tour of the serene campus of this liberal arts college, where the beautiful layout features some eye-catching architecture as well as the must-see memorial to Fred Rogers, a beloved US TV star from 1968-2001. There is a free self-guided walking tour that culminates in the superb A Beautiful Day for a Neighbor sculpture.

Lucky’s Lake Swim

Ready to try something different? Like, really, really different? Let us introduce you to Lucky (aka Dr. Meisenheimer), who owns a home on pretty Lake Cane. Six days a week, Lucky leads a merry parade of eager swimmers from his back garden across the lake, and back, a dedicated open-water swim of one kilometre. It is open to all-comers – although you must be a competent swimmer, and sign a waiver to that extent – and runs every day, except Sunday, from 6.30am (7.45 on Saturday).

Tibet-Butler Preserve

Get a taste for the natural local Florida at this charming 440-acre nature preserve just a few miles from Disney (on Winter Garden-Vineland Rd). There are 20 miles of gentle hiking trails through the pine flatwoods and forest wetlands, highlighting some of the local flora and fauna, culminating in a boardwalk overlooking tranquil Lake Tibet. Don’t miss the Environmental Center for the basic info and layout.

Mills 50 Murals

Like many cities these days, Orlando has a penchant for murals, and these are taken to new heights in the Mills 50 district of downtown. You can hardly go a block or two without coming across an elaborate masterpiece of some kind, including a version of the popular “Wings” variety, which invites a million selfies. There are almost 50 to discover, most notably the fabulous Freddie Mercury tribute on the side-wall of Floyd’s 99 Barbershop at 842 N. Mills Avenue. And, when you’re ready for lunch or dinner, you are spoiled for choice in this district.

Colonel Joe Kittinger Park

Learn about a famous Central Floridian who set the record for the world’s highest parachute dive in 1960 (102,800ft) at this small memorial park adjacent to Orlando Executive Airport in downtown. Col Joe was a US Air Force pilot from 1950-1978 and served three tours of duty in the Vietnam War, which included being a prisoner-of-war in 1972. His F-4 Phantom jet-fighter is the centrepiece of a moving memorial to the veterans of the Vietnam conflict and highlights a remarkable individual.

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