Happy First Day of Fall from Orlando!
Fall may look a little different here in Central Florida. Our palm trees aren’t suddenly turning orange, and there’s a good chance we’re still wearing shorts — but that doesn’t mean we don’t love this time of year.
The temperatures slowly start to ease, our outdoor season gets even better, and Orlando fills up with food festivals, Halloween events, pumpkin patches and plenty of reasons to get outside. After the heat and afternoon storms of summer, those first hints of cooler weather are always very welcome!
So, to celebrate the first day of fall, we’re sharing a few of our fall favorites around Orlando — including a couple of ways we love showing visitors the Florida that exists beyond the theme parks.
Get Outside: Take a Florida Airboat Ride
One of the best things about fall in Florida is getting back outside — and there aren’t many experiences more quintessentially Florida than an airboat ride.
Leave the busy attractions area behind and head out onto Central Florida’s wetlands, where wide-open landscapes replace roller coasters and the soundtrack becomes the rush of the airboat across the water. Along the way, keep your eyes open for alligators, turtles, wading birds and some of the other wildlife that calls this part of Florida home.
Gray Line Orlando offers transportation and airboat experiences at both Wild Florida and Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures, with options ranging from a quick 30-minute ride to longer airboat adventures. It’s an easy way to escape the theme parks for a few hours and experience a completely different side of Central Florida.
Fall is an especially nice time to do it. The Florida sunshine isn’t going anywhere, but as the intense heat of summer begins to ease, spending time outdoors becomes much more enjoyable.
And yes, sunscreen is definitely still required — this is fall in Florida, after all!
Take the Scenic Route: Orlando & Winter Park Highlights
If an airboat ride shows you Florida’s wild side, Winter Park shows you a completely different side of Orlando.
Just north of Downtown Orlando, Winter Park is known for its tree-lined streets, beautiful homes, lakes and the boutiques, cafés and restaurants of Park Avenue. It’s the kind of place that’s made for slowing down for a few hours — particularly once the temperatures begin to cool.
Our favorite way to experience it is from the water aboard the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour. The one-hour cruise travels across the Winter Park Chain of Lakes and slips through narrow, tree-lined canals along the way. You’ll pass waterfront homes, lush gardens and Rollins College while hearing some of the stories behind this historic Central Florida community.
The Scenic Boat Tour is one of the highlights of our Orlando City Tour, which explores the city beyond the famous attractions and gives visitors a chance to discover some of the places Orlando locals know and love.
There’s something about cruising beneath the trees on a beautiful fall morning that makes this experience particularly special — even if those trees aren’t quite giving us the red and orange leaves you’ll find farther north!
🎃 Celebrate Fall — Orlando Style
And the fall fun doesn’t stop there. Across Orlando and Central Florida, the season brings a packed calendar of food festivals, Halloween celebrations, pumpkin patches and special events — giving visitors even more reasons to get out and explore.
For food lovers, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival continues throughout much of the season, bringing flavors from around the world to World Showcase. If you’re looking for something a little more local, fall is a great time to wander the beautiful Harry P. Leu Gardens, spend an afternoon around Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando, or head outside the city in search of one of Central Florida’s pumpkin patches, corn mazes and fall festivals.
And then there’s Halloween — and Orlando certainly doesn’t hold back when spooky season arrives! 👻 For serious scares, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort transforms select nights into an after-dark world of haunted houses, scare zones and live entertainment. Families can get in on the fun too at SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular, with trick-or-treating, costumes and kid-friendly seasonal activities included during the daytime park experience.
For a Halloween celebration with a distinctly Florida twist, head out to Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures for their second annual Halloween “Terror 2” event, combining seasonal fun with the outdoor setting of the Florida Everglades headwaters. From haunted houses to trick-or-treating and Halloween fun out in the Florida wilderness, there’s a spooky-season experience for just about everyone in Orlando.
We may do it a little differently here — swapping sweaters for T-shirts and colorful leaves for palm trees — but the season still brings that same feeling of wanting to get outside, try something new and enjoy where you are.
Take an airboat ride. Spend a morning in Winter Park. Grab something delicious at a fall festival. Find a pumpkin patch. Get scared at a Halloween event. Or simply enjoy that first Orlando morning when you walk outside and realize the humidity has finally given us a little break.
Happy Fall from all of us at Gray Line Orlando!
One more thing! With the Fall officially arriving it also means the holidays are on their way and we have started taking advanced reservations for our Night of Lights St. Augustine Trolley Tour as well as our Snow, Ice, & Lights! Orlando Holiday Tour. Grab your space now as capacity is limited for these Orlando holiday getaways!
Social tagging Airboat Ride, All, Boggy Creek, Holiday, Orlando, The Bucket Life, Wild Florida
