Things to Do in Doctor Phillips
Recommended Things to Do by Groupon Customers
With its toothy alligators and mangrove-filled swamplands, the Florida Everglades is rife with uniquely American landscape and folklore. At Big Toho Airboat Rides, visitors can speed through the storied wetlands aboard airboats powered by brawny aircraft engines. From their perch, they'll search for glimpses of the area's famous wildlife, keeping eyes open for eagles, osprey, and deer donning rain boots. They'll also witness large Florida alligators in their natural habitat, even posing with a smaller alligator for a memorable photo op.
A snowball’s throw away from the Disney World and Universal Studio theme parks, The Ice Factory of Central Florida extends the season of winter sports to a year-round festival of open-skate sessions and pickup or youth-league hockey matches. During public-skate hours, patrons lace up hockey or figure skates before hitting the NHL- and studio-size rinks to learn the ropes or gracefully carve the name of their favorite zamboni driver into the ice. Weekend DJ skates enliven outings with interactive games and prizes on Saturday afternoons and musical stylings on Saturday nights. After a fun-filled workout on the rink, grownup guests can unwind with a frosty beverage at the rinkside bar and lounge, and kids pass the time at the pool table or ring in birthdays with sodas, pizzas, and bouquets of balloons.
Novice skaters of all ages can master the skills and techniques of icemanship with beginners’ lessons or mock nature’s clearly defined seasons with ice-skating summer camps.
“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Al Roker!” is what someone might have said if they were at Wallaby Ranch when the _Today Show_’s own weatherman chose it as the launching pad for his first hang-gliding experience. Al Roker’s flight was just one of more than 30,000 safe and incident-free excursions launched under the watchful eye of veteran hang-glider pilot and owner of Wallaby Ranch, Malcolm Jones. Together with a permanent crew of nine other pilots, instructors, and technicians, Malcolm leads aerotow hang-gliding flights above the lush Florida landscape of his ranch. The fleet of planes tows hang-gliders into the air, at which point they are released to float above the trees and drift smoothly down to the ground like a sleepy eagle.
Wallaby Ranch has full camping and RV accommodations on site, allowing groups and families to plan extended stays as they learn to master the aerial art. The crew prepares fresh community breakfast and lunch, and a 27,000-gallon swimming pool cools off visitors after a hard day’s glide. Guest can clamor up the climbing wall, while children can caper about the playground. Mountain-bike and walking trails abound, winding through the terrain and plunging hikers into the surrounding, native wildlife.
As part of the national Experienced Based Learning network of outdoor tours and ziplines, Zip Orlando safely sends its visitors zooming 65 feet in the air over the treetops and fields of a 2,700-acre Kissimmee cattle ranch. Through extensive training and membership in the Professional Ropes Course Association, guides strictly adhere not only to safety guidelines, but also to green course construction and tour practices. The company’s regular operations include minimum-impact trail paths; eco-friendly tree trimming; and carbon-neutral, human-powered zipline transportation.
Daily zipline tours traverse 300 feet of midair suspension bridges and hurtle down eight ziplines that range up to 950 feet in length. Moonlit and sunset tours might give visitors a sky-high glimpse of fireworks at the distant Disney resort. At ground level, ATV expeditions ferry passengers in the cabin of a Polaris Ranger past up-close views of the verdant Florida backcountry.
Originally set afloat as the Florida Athletic Club in 1968, the Orlando Rowing Club promotes paddle sports through a variety of competitive and recreational offerings. Introductory rowing courses establish a buoyant foundation for more advanced levels of the sport, familiarizing students with fundamental equipment, techniques, and safety basics, such as the proper handling of boats saddled with a crippling fear of water. Serving as a testament to the club's dedicated instructors, previous members have splashed their way to the rowing world's apex by winning national championships and regional races. The club also offers classes in sculling and dragon boating as well as team-building services, which provide a bruise-free alternative to building inverted human pyramids to enhance office unity.
