Things to Do in Longwood

Run by a staff of alligator gurus that has been featured on Animal Planet and The Learning Channel, Gator Golf combines the civilized sinking of putts with the visceral carnage of live alligator feedings. Glass walls line the 18-hole mini-golf course, which sees putt-putt posses walking over turbulent waters churned by the chomping jaws and thrashing tails of more than 200 live alligators. To foster interspecies harmony, players can purchase special gator food to toss into the gallery of scaly spectators, who express their gratitude by passing on ancestral tales about life on earth 20 million years ago.

A fearless coterie of gator wranglers enter the lagoon during shows and impart wisdom about how to handle the predacious reptiles in Alligator Academy classes, during which students can personally grapple with the gators. Guests of all ages can pose for pictures with smaller gators whose snouts have been taped shut to prevent biting and to preempt quips about players' putting form.

In 1976, busy California mother Joan Barnes wanted nothing more than to find a play place where she and her kids could enjoy age-appropriate, educational activities. Finding none, she developed her own innovative play environment within a developmental-based program structure now known as Gymboree Play & Music. Today, kids tumble and learn in more than 650 locations in 33 countries around the world, engaging in open play and classes designed to build cognitive and motor skills. As parents participate in their children's development, their kids learn to paint, play music, and interact socially outside of their preschool knitting circles.

Designed by prolific course architect William W. Amick, Fairways Golf Club's par 70 course takes golfers careening across 18 holes of pristine Florida landscape. Though it has a relatively short layout, the course compensates for its diminutive length with winding fairways flanked by multiple water hazards, where a tribe of merpeople raises sunken golf balls as their own. Expansive bunkers populate the course's fairways and fringes, their dazzling white sands further shrinking golf balls' safe landing zones and attracting droves of disoriented sunbathers. Along with its fun but challenging course, the club promotes score-shaving practice with an onsite driving range and peddles stylish birdie-hunting apparel and accessories at the pro shop.

Certified golf instructor Chris Bonner draws on more than 14 years as a professional teacher to tailor lessons for each player's unique tendencies. Thanks to his flexible teaching style—perfected while teaching for three different Golf Digest Top 50 instructors—Chris feels right at home with golfers of all stripes. Lessons begin with proper fundamentals and move into swing mechanics, always taking into account the player's personal goals and abilities.

The seven fields at Paintball World Sports Complex cater to playing styles ranging from quick assaults to studied campaigning. After outfitting combatants with equipment, the staff turns into referees and oversees play on fields such as Big Fort, a collection of plywood shelters connected by a wooden bridge and sheltered by overhanging trees. Elsewhere, field terrain includes inflatable cover, upturned tractor tires, and pieces of giant corrugated tubing. An FAQ page anticipates visitors' questions, such as "What should I bring?" and "How much to rent an invisibility cloak?"