Sabrina has been in Orlando for years, long enough to stop seeing it the way visitors do. The theme parks are still there, obviously. She takes her son sometimes. But the city she lives in, the one she’s built a community around through Meet Other Moms Orlando, is a different place entirely: quieter, more interesting, and almost completely invisible to anyone who arrived wearing a set of mouse ears.
She’s a UGC creator and a first-time mom, which means she’s spent a lot of time figuring out where you can actually relax in Orlando while a small person runs circles nearby. Read on for her top tips.
Explore beyond the theme parks
Sabrina’s perfect day starts early, before the thick Florida humidity sets in. Coffee first, ideally with another mom, from somewhere local. Then a walk, because Orlando mornings in spring and fall are genuinely lovely if you catch them right, and summer has its own strange beauty in the golden hour when the temperature finally backs off.
By evening she’s looking for a festival, something with good food and a band playing, because Orlando has those, too (and almost nobody visiting ever finds them).
The number one mistake she sees families make here is an obvious one: too much, too fast. “Packing the entire trip with back-to-back theme park days and ending up exhausted,” she says. Locals treat the parks differently. One big day, then something easy. A park, a café, somewhere the kids can run without a lanyard around their necks.
What surprises people about Orlando, once they’ve lived here long enough, is how much of it has nothing to do with the parks. “There are incredible resorts outside of Disney and Universal, amazing hidden gems for food and drink, and so many incredible things to do outside,” she says. The city is generous if you stop expecting it to only be one thing.
“We have incredible restaurants and activities outside of the theme park bubble,” she adds—with the patience of someone who’s explained this many times.
Jump in, the water’s fine
Is it obvious? Sure. Negotiable? Definitely not. During the summer season, some kind of water moment is the thing that makes the rest of the day survivable. Pool, cabana, lazy river—pick your favorite. For a little more action, test out the FlowRider surf simulator at the Gaylord Palms. When it comes to poolside activities, Orlando has it all.
For days that need to work for both Sabrina and her son simultaneously, she goes to The Burrow Café and Play. It’s one of those rare finds where the kids are occupied and the adults aren’t just white-knuckling it through the next hour. She can order a drink and open her laptop; everyone is fine.
For food, the Southern Box Company Food Hall eliminates the argument about where to eat, because there is no argument when there are enough options. She always ends up at the pizza spot (you should, too).
And when Sabrina needs to reset properly, she goes to the Hilton Orlando. Pool, spa, a drink from Tropics Pool Bar and Grill, nothing on the schedule. “It’s my little secret to the best staycation,” she says. “Lounging by the pool, ordering something good, and just relaxing.”
The Hiton’s eforea Spa there was ranked number two Best Day Spa by Orlando Magazine, and on a reset day that’s the whole point: she gets to be a person who goes to a nice spa in a nice hotel, not just a mom running logistics.
Sabrina’s picks: Top ResortPass properties in Orlando
Sabrina’s go-to reset: Hilton Orlando
The pool complex alone justifies the trip: an 892-foot lazy river, a waterslide, a zero-entry pool, hot tubs, a kids’ splash pad, and private cabanas with service from Tropics Pool Bar and Grill. Then there’s the eforea Spa, 19,000 square feet of treatments, steam rooms, and relaxation lounge, sitting right there on property.
For a family water day: Gaylord Palms Resort
Three acres of water park. Four slides. A FlowRider surf simulator. An action river, a zero-entry pool, a separate kids’ water playground. The Cypress Springs Water Park at Gaylord Palms is the kind of place where you arrive with a plan and abandon it immediately because there’s too much to do. Located in Kissimmee, close enough to most of Orlando to be an easy half-day out.
For an escape that feels removed from everything: Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes
Five hundred acres, a AAA Five Diamond rating, and a lakefront pool called the Solaire with full-service cabanas and poolside dining at Bleu. The spa has three stories, 40 treatment rooms, and a private lap pool. USA Today voted it the number one Best Hotel Spa in the country. It’s the kind of resort that makes the idea of leaving feel like a personal failure.
For an all-in-one luxury reset: Rosen Shingle Creek
Four seasonally heated pools, a full-service spa, an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, a nature trail along the actual headwaters of the Everglades, and over ten dining options including A Land Remembered—one of Orlando’s most celebrated steakhouses. It sits on 255 acres. You could spend an entire day here and never feel like you’ve run out of resort.
