Ya’ll know we love a good trip to ICON Park! I have shared with you many times from restaurants located there to the always fun Wheel at ICON Park, there is just so much to do in this area.
What I haven’t touched yet about ICON Park is that there are two great spots located right inside the Wheelhouse. SEA Life Aquarium and Madame Tussaud’s are two spots right next to The Wheel that are a total must visit. We went this past weekend and the kids had a total blast. From a fun behind the scenes tour of seeing how the aquarium is run to getting to take pictures with our favorite “celebrities.” There was never a dull moment!
I’m going to tell you more about both of them!
SEA Life Orlando Aquarium
First up is the SEA Life Aquarium where the sea life here is very well taken care of! SEA Life Aquarium has the best of the best accreditation and they pride themselves on that. They take extremely good care of all of the sea life there and feed them only human grade food. I’m talking, a sea turtle gets his veggies delivered from Publix. No, I am not joking.
There are so many different fishes to see and the kids were fascinated with them all. You get to see the sea life that lives in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean and even the Everglades plus so much more. Around every corner is an interactive thing for the children plus there is a board where you get to learn all about the animals that you are currently looking at. It’s a pretty large facility with a aquarium in every single area.
It was so fun learning all about the animals through the information posted on their tanks but also really getting to learn about how the aquarium as a whole runs by doing a Behind The Scenes tour. For about $10 extra dollars, you can upgrade your ticket for a BTS tour. A very small tour that is only allowed 12 people, you get to visit where the food is prepped for the animals and see their massive menu chart for each animal/area in the aquarium, learn all about how they take care of the babies born there at SEA Life and also get to learn how they make their own ocean water and keep it running.
We even got to go up top where you can see where the divers keep their equipment and also what it all looks like with how they actually get the ocean water to all of the main tanks. It’s so fascinating! At the end of the tour, we got to feed some tropical fish and the kids really enjoyed that part. It was definitely a tour and trip that we will continue to remember.
If your littles are into sea life then this is definitely something that you need to check out if you are in Orlando! There was something for everyone from sharks to turtles to sting rays. Plus a super cute little tank that had shrimp it that we got to watch walk across their habitat. At the very end of the aquarium, we got to touch some starfish and sea anemone’s.
After our aquarium trip, it was time for a quick bite to eat at The Wheelhouse.
We snagged a quick bite to eat and rested our feet for a few before heading across the way to Madame Tussauds. I am not kidding when I say it is literally right across the way. You don’t have to leave The Wheelhouse at all to get to the next attraction.
Madame Tussauds
Everyone knows about wax museums and that they exist but have you ever been inside one? Your mind will be BLOWN! Madame Tussauds in Orlando is seriously amazing. I had never been before or to any wax museum for that matter so I had no idea what to expect and if the kids would even understand what it all was that we were looking at but it was something that I knew we had to do at least once. And I can promise you, if you don’t at least do it once you are totally missing out.
When you walk in you are met with Pitbull on a the back of a Yacht and instantly you’re like okay this guy looks insanely real. As you walk through you get to see important figures in history such as Abraham Lincoln, Marting Luther King JR., Thomas Edison, and even Walt Disney!
Once you get passed the important figures in history, there is then a wax figure of Madame Tussaud’s herself and an area where you can make your own wax hand. Due to COVID, this area was still closed.
After that, we then get to the sports figures which is where my husband was like a total kid in the candy store. He saw David Beckham, Peyton Manning, and Dale Earnhardt JR. He was just in total heaven. I saw a Derek Jeter wax figure and being the Yankees girl that I am, had to take a photo with him. Giovanni also did too!
After that area, you pass into the musical figures where you can take a photo with Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Michael Jackson and even Taylor Swift. There are more as well! The realism on them is INSANE.
Then we passed into the TV show area where my husband again was met with a couple of his favorites from How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory. Totally had the same vibe as when he saw his favorite soccer star and football star. It was so fun to watch him get excited.
After that area, we walked into Metropolis where Giovanni was just in pure heaven. From Wonder Woman to Batman, they all were there and he was seriously so excited. They had a button you push next to Batman that put up the Bat Signal. Total starstruck moment for him!
Past that was the movie area where I was absolutely starstruck myself with a scene from my all time favorite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Robert saw it before me and knew that I would be so excited. He instantly asked me for my phone and when I saw why he just told me to turn around. Enough said!! There were figures from E.T. to Shrek and it was so much fun to see them all life sized and “real.”
Of course, the last section is full of all the great actors like Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, etc. Robert had to take pictures with the couple ones that he loved. I think he enjoyed this trip, what do you think?
All in all, both places are so much fun and worth the trip to ICON Park! We always have so much fun we go and love trying new things when we do. Our tradition is to end our trip there with some Ben & Jerry’s which we did just that! Nothing like some ice cream to cool off during these Florida summers!
ICON Park has so much to offer! Add these two attractions to your list during your next visit to Orlando!
This looks like such a fun orlando trip that’s kiddie friendly! We love Disney but we’re always looking for new places to try. My toddler is OBSESSED with sea creatures and everything ocean related so the sea Life Aquarium is a must see that i’m adding to our travel bucket list. thank you!