Things to Do in Citrus Ridge

Celebrating the ship's 100th anniversary, Titanic The Experience's live actors, full-scale models, and 20,000-square-foot interactive museum faithfully recreate the poignant story of one of the world's most famous ships. One-hour guided tours of the museum led by trained performers immerse visitors in the mystery and lore of the ship's tragic tale. Actors donning garb from the early 1900’s portray such iconic characters as Molly Brown and the time-traveling Gilligan, amid full-scale recreations of the Titanic's grand staircase, promenade deck, and boiler room. History buffs can also feast their eyes on an 8-foot replica of the ship as it appears on the ocean floor today. More than 200 artifacts from the ship's history are on display as well, including memorabilia from the blockbuster film Titanic and an apology letter from the glacier.

From the outside, Professor Wonder’s WonderWorks laboratory appears to have flipped completely on its head. When visitors enter the upside-down edifice, they must first pass through the psychedelic, spinning lights of the Inversion Tunnel, which turns the building right-side up for families to embark on a full day of entertaining, educational activities. More than 100 interactive exhibits spark excitement around natural phenomenon, including replica space capsules that visitors can climb into, a gallery of mind-bending illusions, and the lab where Cabbage Patch Kids are grown in petri dishes.

Some of WonderWorks Orlando’s hands-on displays allow guests to experience the aftershocks of the San Francisco earthquake of 1989, throw a strike against Derek Jeter, and lie down on a bed of 3,500 sharp nails without so much as a scratch. Additional activities include the Indoor Ropes Challenge Course, which exercises bodies and minds as challengers navigate three stories of swinging beams and suspension bridges, and the XD Theater 4D, which transports viewers to swift canyon roller coasters, haunted mines, and Mars with full-motion seats and 3-D visuals.

Florida from a Kayak's experienced staff helps launch paddlers from the Jones Cypress Cove Marina shore on aquatic expeditions through Lake Minnehaha and the seven surrounding bodies of water of the Clermont Chain of lakes. Seasoned staff members stand by to offer counsel on appropriate safety measures and warnings against fraternizing with fishhooks as customers prepare to mount their watery steeds. They also help single or tandem kayak pairs tour the natural wildlife and scenery of the enchanting sequence of lakes and channels.

Florida from a Kayak's eco tours showcase the rugged beauty of the Lake County Blueways, inviting guests to dip oars into the glowing, moonlit waters during the Bioluminescent Night tour, or glide past the snaking roots and low-hanging terraces during the Mangrove Meandering tour. Instructors teach pupils to spiff up their paddling know-how in lessons, or customers can opt to cast off in a rented kayak or pontoon boat for leisurely, unguided meanderings along the teeming wilderness.

Inside Terror on the Lake's haunted confines, actors garbed in macabre outfits, detailed animatronics, and holographic projectors immerse visitors in a horrifying environment where scares lurk around every corner. Ghouls, ghosts, and madmen prowl the halls of the haunted house in search of fresh screams. The Buried Alive! simulator gives visitors a taste of being trapped inside a coffin that is being lowered into the ground. Zombies dead set on feasting on flesh stand poised to break through the grounds at the zombie-shooting gallery, where only the sharpness of players' sight can save them and their friends from becoming something's snack. The only safe area at Terror on the Lake is in the fortune teller's tent, defended by carved jack-o’-lanterns that keep monsters at bay by offering poor directions.

Trained at The Chouinard Art Institute by lauded impressionists Millard Sheets and Phil Dike, Lynne French conjures brilliant landscapes out of oils and watercolors. She often works brushless, letting the colors pool and blend on tissue paper through a meditative method called zen-tissue watercolor. Despite the time commitment of zen-tissue watercolor, French still exhibits her work in international galleries and fills her online store with a plentitude of paintings and limited-edition prints. She also has a gift for rendering evocative landscapes based on her patrons' memories and photographs, as well as on residue from their dream catchers.

Constructed in 1886, the residence now known as Haunted Grimm House sheltered the Grimm family funeral business until a triad of unfortunate events—the stock-market crash, a Grimm son's gradual descent into insanity, and a murderous butler—brought the clan to a macabre end. Nearly 100 years after the house's construction, the Old Town council⎯afraid to tear the building down lest they rouse wrathful spirits⎯decided to open the two-story home for tours.

…Or so visitors to Haunted Grimm House are told before embarking on 10- to 15-minute treks through the spooky structure's more than 4,000 square feet. Via winding corridors, patrons peek into the Victorian-style dwelling's 20 rooms, which claim to teem with ghouls, monsters, and chiropractors extracting the chills from spines.