I don't know of any, I think Orlando is a bit too far north to see anything really cool. The land exhibit in Epcot is worth checking out. They have a few jackfruit that are fruiting now in there and some other cool plants. I think they will do a private tour as well. I have never done the tour but it sounds like it would be pretty interesting.

There is Leu Gardens. You can spend a few hours there and not see everything. You can see Jackfruit and several other tropical fruit trees, citrus grove and other horticultural interests. If you happen to be around on the first Monday of the month, then admission is free.

There are also several nurseries in the area. Lukas Nursery has a butterfly exhibit.

-Tom

Here is a link that might be useful: Leu Gardens

Thanks for the info. I checked out the Leu Gardens site, not as tropical as I'd like, but still pretty cool, at least they have jackfruit growing. Do you know of any markets (supermarkets, outdoor farmer's,...) to get tropical fruits?

You'll want to check out the Little Saigon area on Colonial and Mills. Saigon Market usually carries tropical fruits that are in season.

There's also the big Asian supermarket around 5100 W Colonial DR. Across the street is the Caribbean supermarket that may have some tropical fruits. And further down the road heading east a few blocks, is the outdoor market open on weekends.

Thanks pepperot! Looks like our family will be there some time in the next 2 weeks.

I looked at Orlando on Google map, and noticed that there are so many lakes, so does FL have more lakes than Minnesota? 8-))

You got me to wonder about this.....

According to the fabulous internet:

Minnesota has 11,842 named lakes larger than ten acres

Number of Lakes greater than 10 acres in Florida - Aprox. 7,700

But....that is numbers of and not acres of. I couldnt't find a quick answer to the acreage question. We do have the second largest fresh water lake in the US (completely within the state boundary) in Lake Okeechobee.

Harry

Newgen,
If you're up for it, Excalibur is only a 2 1/2 hour drive South of Orlando if you speed. If you let me know in advance I could possibly meet you there and take you around the nursery.

On the subject of lakes, Florida has 7,569,920 acres of water within its borders. I am not sure how much of that is lakes as opposed to rivers and canals though.

murahilin: Thanks for the kind offer. However, I will be stuck in Disney World and Universal Studios with 2 young boys and the wife. I WILL go to Leu Gardens just to get my fix.

Little late, but I'm in the area - other side of town from Disney - very close to Lukas actually. Leu Gardens is definitely worth a visit. If you'll be over on my side of town you are welcome to come by to see my tropical trees.
Angela

I've done the "Behind the Seeds" semi-private tour of the Epcot Land attraction. We thought it was worth the time and money....but it wasn't cheap. My kids enjoyed it too.

Harry