DK Travel : Orlando : Outdoor

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Atlanta Braves Spring Training

Catch baseball’s Braves in pre-season training.
Bay Hill Invitational

Golf legend host, Arnie Palmer, plus players like Tiger Woods are the draw.
Big Tree Park

The main pull here is the Senator, a 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree, a testament to the life-giving virtues of Central Florida’s swamps. It is 17 ft (5 m) in diameter, 47 ft (14 m) in circumference and 125 ft (38 m) tall. The park has picnic tables and a board-walk through the cypress swamp.
Blizzard Beach

In the battle for water park supremacy, Wet ’n Wild’s main competitor is this sizeable Disney park. It’s what a ski resort would be like if it started to melt, with water slides replacing ski runs. Geared to teens and young adults, the park offers seven water slides and excellent rides, a wave pool, and kids’ areas. If park capacity is reached early (as it often is), it closes to new admissions until later in the day. (see Water Parks).
Boating

The man-made lakes around Walt Disney World are perfect for idling away an afternoon. Several of the resorts have small motor-boats and pontoon boats for hire. There are also paddle-boats for people who like a more rigorous work-out.
Buena Vista Watersports

This friendly facility, which is home to Dave’s Ski School, offers water-ski lessons, water-ski and wake-board charters, and rentals of personal watercraft (such as Waverunners and Seaddoos). The center, on the shores of Lake Bryan, is geared to beginners, and kids as young as three can join in. Nonskiers and spectators can use the lakeside beach, volleyball net, and picnic area.
Canaveral National Seashore & Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

These two federal preserves bordering the Kennedy Space Center are home to scores of species, including endangered ones such as sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, alligators, bald eagles, and ospreys. Explore Canaveral’s beaches (including a naturist one, Playalinda) and Merritt Island’s trails, driving route, and observation deck (see Merritt Island).
Celebration Golf Club

The father-and-son team of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Jr. came up with a course that has water on 17 of 18 holes thanks to natural wetlands, so bring an extra ration of balls. There’s also a three-hole junior course for 5-to 9-year-olds. (Max yds: 6,786 [6,205 m]. USGA rating: 73.)
Champions Gate

Greg Norman created two 18-hole courses (the National and the International) located in this resort community southwest of Disney, featuring a terrain of woods, wetlands, and open land. Between them they have 13 water holes, and share double greens at the 4th and 16th holes. (Max yds: 7,048 [6,445 m] and 7,407 [6,773 m], respectively. USGA rating: 75.1 & 76.3.)
Cycling

Get away on Disney’s scenic bike trails. You can rent single, multi-speed, and kids’ bikes at the Fort Wilderness Resort’s Bike Barn. Tandems and cycles with baby seats and training wheels are also available.