With theme parks, epic bars and sci-fi conventions, Orlando’s a hotspot for all things geeky and great. Whether it’s humans, elves, dragons or droids that float your boat, you’ll find everything from themed bars to entire fantasy lands right here. So without further ado, we've rounded up five of the best places to unleash your inner nerd...
Build your own lightsabers at Walt Disney World®
You don’t have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to get your Star Wars fix in Orlando – just to
Disney’s Hollywood Studios®. There’s not much you can’t do or won’t find at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. You’ll step into – or onto – the planet Batuu. Here, you can board the Millennium Falcon and zoom through hyperspace on Smuggler’s Run, or join the Resistance for a secret mission on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. But it’s not just the rides that will send superfans into hyperdrive, it’s the attention to detail throughout.
At Oga’s Cantina, you can order seriously inventive intergalactic cocktails, like Fuzzy Tauntaun and Jedi Mind Trick. And you can upgrade to a light-up acid-spitter orb – a cup that looks just like a crystal orb and lights up with a button. Plus, live music comes courtesy of droid DJ R-3X. But one of the best activities you can do while at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is to build your own lightsaber. Savi’s Workshop is the place to be for Jedis in training. You can construct your own lightsaber with help from the Gatherers. Or, you can design and build your own droid – you’ll even get a remote control to activate them and bring them to life.
Go retro at Player 1 gaming bar
Gamers and beer drinkers alike will love Player 1 Video Game Bar. They bill themselves as Orlando’s ultimate gamer lounge. And they’re not wrong – they’ve even been nominated for a Best of Orlando award. Craft beers, cocktails, video games – what’s not to like? A pretty thrifty $8 gets you entry and unlimited access to their huge range of vintage arcade games and consoles, from just about every era. Think Mortal Kombat and Ms Pac Man to Donkey Kong and Tetris. If you can think of a game, they’ve probably got it. And when you’ve worked up a thirst, there are over 150 local and international beers to choose from, as well as a separate menu for mead, cider and cocktail cans. What’s more, they host regular events, like Trivia Tuesday and Bingo Oni-chan every Thursday. You could easily swing by after a day at Disney, too – the bar’s located at the Vista Centre Shoppes on Palm Parkway, a five-minute drive from the parks.
Hop into Hogwarts™ at Universal Orlando Resort
Potterheads can go full-on geek at Universal.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ here spreads out over both theme parks – Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. And you don’t need a letter from Hogwarts to enter. Here, you can shop, eat and ride your way around Hogwarts Castle, Diagon Alley and Gringotts – to name just a few. The designers have left nothing untouched. You can dine on bangers and mash at the Leaky Cauldron, sip Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, buy your own wand from Ollivanders, stock up on sweets from Honeydukes and snap up silly souvenirs from Fred and George’s joke shop.
You can even exchange your dollars for Gringotts bank notes, which you can then use to buy stuff at Diagon Alley and
Hogsmeade. To get there, catch the train from King’s Cross Station at Universal Studios to Hogsmeade Station at Islands of Adventure. Well, not just any train – it’s the Hogwarts Express, of course. And then there are the rides themselves. And the queues are enough of an experience alone – they’ll let you explore under Gringotts, into the Gryffindor common room and around Professor Sprout’s greenhouses. No fan of the boy who lived will be disappointed, that’s a promise.
Relive your favourite films at Universal’s themed escape rooms
Calling all Jurassic World junkies and Back to the Future fanatics, you can now immerse yourselves in the films at Universal’s Great Movie Escape. These cinematic escape rooms, at Universal CityWalk, are perfect for superfans who aren’t keen on adrenaline-inducing rides. You can get your brain going instead with plenty of puzzles and themed rooms to solve. The Back to the Future-inspired escape room is packed full of iconic props, music and locations that you’ll remember from the Eighties classic. The puzzles are prop-heavy and rely on your memory and lots of lateral thinking, as you follow Doc’s clues to find his stolen time travel device. Meanwhile, the Jurassic World experience is more screen-based, as you land in a secret genetics lab on Isla Nublar, trying to stop an escaped Indominus rex.
Meet your fantasy icons at MEGACON
Fans of Comi Con, listen up. Orlando’s got its very own offering for fans of all things comic, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming. MEGACON is one of the biggest-of-its-kind events in the whole of North America. So grab your best outfit (the weirder, the better) and get yourself to the Orange County Convention Centre on International Drive. The location’s a hop, skip and a jump from the theme parks, too, if you want to do a bit of both. You can look forward to four days of demos, workshops, competitions and celebrities. There’s a chance to meet your favourite film, TV or gaming icons. Some of the A-list stars that popped by for 2024 include Tom Hiddleston, Ewan McGregor, Susan Sarandon and Marisa Tomei. When you’re not celeb-spotting, you can also snap up exclusive art and rare collectables, or mingle with the other superfans, just like you. The multi-day convention is held every spring and 2025 tickets are already on sale.
Get your geek on and check out our bespoke package holidays to Orlando today. 
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