Unique Gifts Help You Remember Your Orlando Vacation for Years to Come
When you vacation in Orlando, you'll make memories you can cherish for a lifetime, but it's always nice to bring home a keepsake from the destination to evoke those happy moments. If you'd like to treat yourself or your family members to a special vacation memento, or if you're searching for a gift for a loved one back home - besides the standard T-shirt or stuffed animal - you'll find a wide variety of unique items throughout Orlando for less than $100.
If you want to bring a taste of the Sunshine State home with you, don't leave without a healthy dose of Florida citrus from Orange Blossom Indian River Citrus on South Orange Blossom Trail. In season, choose from navel, temple and honeybell oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and tangelos as well as specialty food items like jellies, nuts and other fruits. The "Triple Treat" package is a perfect sampler, with 18 pounds of sweet Ruby Red grapefruit, Florida oranges and tangerines or tangelos for $31.99. Shipping is also available.
Citrus-themed items are just some of the goodies available at The Historium, the gift shop at the Orange County Regional History Center in downtown Orlando. You can purchase original, collectible citrus-crate labels suitable for framing for $3 to $60, as well as citrus-themed novelties like candles, lotions, teacups and tiles for $4.95 to $16.95. The Historium also offers a selection of books on Orlando and Florida, ranging from $12.95 to $45.
Florida is known for its alligators, so gator-themed gifts are a sure way to remember your visit. At the eclectic Art Angels Market near downtown Orlando's Lake Eola, you can purchase floating gator head candles for $8.99, a gators-on-the-beach picture frame for $9.99 or gator lollipops for $1.99. This shop also carries unique jewelry, beauty products, specialty foods and themed gift baskets.
Cigars are a rich part of Central Florida heritage, so it's no surprise that the area is home to the world's largest cigar store, the Corona Cigar Company's Superstore & Cigar Bar on West Sand Lake Road. The store stocks more than 1 million cigars as well as a variety of humidors and smoking accessories. At $49.95, the Cigar Trek Travel Humidor is a must for travelers - it's airtight, watertight and virtually indestructible.
Many people like to purchase Christmas ornaments from each place they visit to remind them of their travels throughout the year. Nelson's Holiday Enchantment in south Orlando is Central Florida's largest Christmas store, selling ornaments by Polonaise and Radko, collectibles by Department 56, trees, lights and more. Florida-themed ornaments include an alligator in a rocking chair for $7.50 or a Christmas tree sand sculpture for $6.75.
Central Florida is a haven for artists of all trades, and a piece of art makes a classy souvenir. Located in Loch Haven Park, The Mennello Museum of American Art, which showcases the folk art of Earl Cunningham, also maintains a gift shop that carries arts and crafts by local artists, notecards, as well as hard-to-find books such as Navajo Spoons: Indian Artistry and the Souvenir Trade, 1880-1940s by Cindra Kline for $29.95. Next door, the Orlando Museum of Art's gift shop offers notecards featuring artwork from the museum's permanent collections for $14.95. Be sure to check out the colorful hand-painted Picasso-style martini glasses for $20 each. With four designs to choose from, they make a great set.
At Discovery Cove, your one-on-one dolphin interaction will be an experience you'll want to remember for the rest of your life, so be sure to preserve those memories with photos, CDs and videos. Photos start at $15.99 for a 5x7, and keychains and magnets are also available. A CD with five photos costs $100 and enables you to print additional photos from home. VHS videos are $59.99. True dolphin lovers can remember their playful new friends with a bronze dolphin statue ranging from $39.99 to $89.99, or with a Fossil watch bearing the Discovery Cove logo for $89.99 for men's or women's. The statues and watches are available at Tropical Gifts.
Any little girl will treasure the opportunity to design her own porcelain doll at Allura's Treasure Trove at the Waterfront at SeaWorld Orlando. This store features the world's only porcelain design-a-doll program. You choose your doll's ethnicity, hair color, eye color, clothing and accessories, and each doll comes with a birth certificate. Doll prices range from $65 to $85. The store also carries an exclusive line of SeaFairy dolls, a whimsical cross between a mermaid and a fairy, starting at $12.99. The Under the Sun gift shop carries a wide assortment of Capodimonte porcelain flowers, an exquisite line of Italian artistic pottery, ranging from $14 to $100.
You'll find all kinds of special treasures at Universal Orlando Resort's Islands of Adventure theme park. At Island Trading Company, you can buy a collector's edition watch, one of only 2,000 pieces, bearing the Islands of Adventure logo for $65. The watch comes with a miniature statue of the park's signature lighthouse. Marvel Super Hero fans will want to snap up limited edition Super Hero lithographs for just $30. A new lithograph is unveiled each month and they are sold exclusively at Marvel Super Hero Island. For $100, you can purchase limited edition Dr. Seuss collectibles signed by artist Ron Lee. Available in characters like the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch, the collectibles are sold in the Mulberry Street Store.
Walt Disney World Resort offers a world of themed merchandise, toys, household items, specialty foods and collectibles for Disney fans of all ages. One of its most popular items is personalized mouse ears for $7.50. Those looking for a special treasure will cherish Disney's elaborate snowglobes, like one that showcases the many incarnations of Mickey Mouse from his inception to the present and plays the "Mickey Mouse March" for $85. Serious collectors will delight in the Armani-crafted Seven Dwarf figurines at The Art of Disney for $99. The cookbook, Cooking with Mickey & the Disney Chefs, makes a great gift or memento of your trip for $19.99, with recipes like Fantasia Cheesecake.
Those looking for specialty foods unique to the area will want to try the signature soups and sauces at Chalet Suzanne in Lake Wales. These soups were made famous by NASA - early astronauts ate these soups on their missions. Chalet Suzanne offers a "Soupery Twelve" sampler of 12 soups for $34.95, including classics like Gumbo, French Onion and New England Clam Chowder. Collectors will get a kick out of a can of NASK water for just $12.95. An acronym for "Nuclear Attack Survival Kit," NASK water was canned during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. It is still "impervious to nuclear fallout" after 40 years.
For the person who just "needs his space," Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offers a variety of clothing and memorabilia at its Space Shop. You'll look like a real astronaut in a zip-front, royal blue aviator jacket adorned with a shuttle program patch, NASA logo patch and American flag for $99.99. For $49.99, kids can don the entire flight suit. Your desk at the office will suddenly look official bearing a finely crafted space shuttle model detailed to 1/200th actual size for $89.99.
Female motorcycle enthusiasts will go "hog wild" for Orlando Harley-Davidson's new Harley Metropolitan handbags and totes with studded accents and vintage prints for $30.95 to $36.95. For the little ones, they carry Harley-themed games like Yahtzee, Monopoly, Dominoes and playing cards for $3.95 to $36.95. True fans will want to deck their halls with the Harley Cherry Eagle Wall Clock for $85.
After taking a few laps around the track in an authentic stock car at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, you'll want to tell the whole world about your ride. Better yet, show them. For $65 you can commemorate your experience with a Driver's Plaque featuring photos of you inside and in front of the racecar - decked out in your fire-retardant racing uniform and helmet - as well as a photo of "the King" of racing, Richard Petty.
For the budding basketball star in your family, an Orlando Magic Dwight Howard or Steve Francis "swingman" jersey is an awesome gift. At $85, the swingman jersey is not quite authentic, but is higher quality than a replica. Of course, the Orlando Magic Dancer calendar offers a year-round reminder of your visit, and is available for just $14.
Like its counterparts in other cities, Hard Rock Café Orlando at Universal Orlando is famous for its destination T-shirts, but it also offers many more special gifts and souvenirs. The Limited Edition Hard Rock Barbie is not the sweet, innocent dimestore Barbie you grew up with - she's a bonafide rock star with a price tag of $60. New in 2005 is a line of sleek, sexy Fender watches with a rock 'n' roll theme for $100.
For something simple and tasteful, pick up a unisex Orlando-logo polo shirt available at Orlando's Official Visitor Center at the corner of International Drive and Austrian Row for $20.04 for white or $22.05 for black, including tax.
Of course, you can't come home without a special treat for Fido or Fluffy. Stop by the Bark Avenue Bakery on West Sand Lake Road for a homemade healthy treat for your dog or cat. An assortment of treats is available for $8.99.
Whether you're shopping for a gift for the folks back home or looking for a special reminder of your Orlando vacation, you'll find plenty of tempting and affordable options wherever you go. Many stores will ship items to your home and many items can be purchased online. Prices on all items mentioned do not include tax, excluding the Orlando-logo polo shirts.