Even though I have lived in Orlando for over 15 years now, I am always looking for new and exciting things to do around the area. So when I was contacted by Vimbly to try out their service I was really excited. What is Vimbly you ask? Well it is kinda like one stop shopping for fun things to do in over 25 cities, one of which is Orlando.
Vimbly shows available times for thousands of local activities, date ideas, and things to do — any of which can be booked directly with a best price guarantee. These include dance, cooking, glassblowing, pizza making, wine tasting, learning to DJ, improvisation, scotch pairing, samurai sword fighting, persuasion class, airplane rides, and more. You can browse by category, day/time, price, or location. You can easily see reviews and convenient times that work for you. One of the best things is that you have access to all sorts of tour providers that you may not have known about otherwise.
Vimbly is super easy to use!
Once you pick your city from the drop down menu at the top of the website, you can find your activities either by choosing a day or picking a category from the menu across the top. If you click on “See All” you can easily search for activities that are happening next week or even next month.
You have the ability to pick a category and search from there, or narrow down your search by specific date/day, part of town, time, or price.
Once your list of options pops you have a short description of the activity along with the length of your adventure and the price.
When you click on an activity it gives you more details and the ability to book right then and there. Vimbly doesn’t charge you an booking fees, so you are getting the best deal on your tour or activity. All you have to do is click on the Book Now button and you are all set!
For my tour I decided that I wanted to check out the nearby town of Mount Dora. I’ve been there plenty of times for shopping and art shows, but I was shocked at all the other amazing activities they offer. After a little bit of time on the Vimbly site I picked the Land, Sea, & Air tour (not currently available) which included an 1.5 hour boat ride, a 15 minute seaplane ride, and a ride on the Orange Blossom Cannonball train. Sounds cool right? Well it totally was and for only $93 per person it is quite the great deal as well.
We got on the boat behind the famous Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora. The trip with Premier Boat Tours takes you across Lake Dora and through some amazing canals that you may not have even known existed. The folks running the tour are awesome and tell you all about the area and the plants and animals you see on the tour. We learned so much about the area!
If you are doing the Land, Sea, and Air tour they drop you off in nearby Tavares for the air portion of the tour. The plane only holds 2 people, so you also have time to grab lunch while you are there. Mom and I grabbed a quick bite at a nearby restaurant and were back at the dock with plenty of time for our flight. The folks from Jones Brothers Air and Seaplane Adventures were great. Our pilot told us all about what we were flying over and we got to see a lot in a short period of time. My mom hadn’t been on a small plane before, let alone a seaplane, and had a great time!
The last part of our tour was a ride on the Orange Blossom Cannonball train back to Mount Dora. The train station was just a short walk from the dock, so you are able to head right there after your plane ride. You get to ride in the actual train cars that stared in over 20 movies, including: “True Grit”, “Appaloosa”, “3:10 to Yuma”, and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?.” And ride in the actual coaches where famous stars such as Robert Redford, Johnny Cash, and George Clooney once performed. Cool huh?
The train drops you off in Downtown Mount Dora just a couple blocks from where your day began. So you can either continue you day and explore downtown, or get back to your car. Mom and I of course had to hit up some of our favorite shops in downtown before calling it a day.
I love how easy it was to find a great tour and book it through Vimbly. The tour itself was a lot of fun and the tour operators involved were great. Once we signed in for the boat ride at the beginning of the day it was smooth sailing (ha ha) from there. Our names were on all the lists where ever we arrived and we didn’t even need to print out tickets. I will definitely be using Vimbly again for activities in Orlando and other cities that I visit.
*I was provided with a free tour from Vimbly in exchange for this blog post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
