Three Days in Orlando, Florida | Dog-Friendly Travel Guide

What better way to spend your vacation at the most magical place on earth than with your best friend?

Another day, another adventure for Navy Corgi and family! Last weekend our family traveled to Orlando, Florida for a quick weekend getaway. Sure, traveling across four states may seem far, but you can fly from Washington, DC to Orlando, FL in less than two hours, and for relatively cheap.

When most people think of Orlando, they think of Disney World and Universal Studios. Orlando is so much more than just theme park attractions. During our short weekend trip we learned how truly dog-friendly Orlando is.

WHERE WE STAYED IN ORLANDO

Orlando is home to some of the best theme parks in the world, bringing countless hotels and resorts to the area. We chose to stay at the very dog-friendly Holiday Inn and Suites across from Universal Studio. The pro: this was the first hotel we’ve stayed at that had a dog park on site–how fun! The con: this hotel *choice* does come with a bit of a backstory and some drama…

As with all of our vacations, we try to ball on a budget. Zach and I were offered one of those timeshare marketing packages for our stay. Basically, we had to sit through a two hour presentation where a sleazy salesman tried to sell us a timeshare. Afterwards, we were promised a full refund of our hotel, plus $200.

The deal seemed worth it in our book…until the hotel reservation fiasco of June 2019. In short, because we booked our hotel as part of a marketing package, they could not guarantee us the hotel we selected (despite their three confirmation emails for this specific hotel). After 45 minutes of frantic back and forth and another 30 minutes on the phone with the marketing company, our reservation issues were resolved. Needless to say, it was not the best start of our vacation. However, the hotel was centrally located so it was fairly easy to get around.

ORLANDO DOG-FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES

Playdate at Barber Dog Park

We were pleasantly surprised with how many dog parks there were in the Orlando area! Our friends the Central Florida Corgi Group planned a meetup on Saturday at the Barber Dog Park to celebrate @pandatheauggie birthday. The park was divided into a large dog and small dog section with water fountains and obstacles in both.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate @pandatheauggie birthday and frap with us, @hellomisocorgi, @winstonfluffybutt, @corginamedkirby, @mochathewelshcorgi, @heathcliffthecorgi, @kazthecorgi, @poppetthecorgi, @thatcorgimochi, @molchjo_the_corgi, and @fletcherthecorgi.

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Visit Epcot!

No visit to Orlando is complete without a visit to Disney! Unfortunately both Disney and Universal Studios are not dog friendly. We booked a local sitter on Rover (with amazing reviews) to watch Navy for a few hours while we visited Epcot. Zach and I are not into rides so visiting Epcot was perfect. We “drank and ate around the world” in Epcot–highly recommended!

Orlando Farmers Market + Lake Eola Park
On Sunday we visited the Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola Park which is the heart of Downtown Orlando. The farmers market is only open on Sundays and very popular. We got to the farmers market a bit late and missed out on a few vendors.

Lake Eola park is also known for the swans and wildlife along the walking trail around the lake. Speaking of swans, you can also rent swan-shaped paddle boats (that are dog-friendly!) to take out on the lake yet the wait was over an hour. Luckily there were a number of dog-friendly patios in Downtown Orlando for us to choose from. We chose to eat (and drink) at Orange County Brewing. Well behaved dogs are allowed inside their taproom!

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After a lap around the lake we satisfied our sweet tooth at the Pop Parlour. How adorable the puppy pop Navy had?

Dinner and Dessert in Celebration

One thing I loved about visiting Orlando was that each little town is so different. Disney designed the adorable community of Celebration, FL with small town America in mind. The colorful buildings with brick-lined streets reminded me of photos I’ve seen of Charleston, SC. We had dinner at Columbia Spanish Restaurant, dessert at Kilwins, and Navy grabbed a treat at Woof Gang Bakery. It was truly an amazing night!

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Shopping and Lunch in Winter Garden

Winter Garden was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel in Orlando but well worth it. Our first stop was Woof Gang Bakery–they seem to be everywhere in Florida! After Navy had her snack we visited The Whole Enchilada Fresh Mexican Grill. Okay, I’ll admit it… I am a sucker for the ambiance of restaurants. But honestly, the food matched the ambiance at The Whole Enchilada. We loved the dog-friendly rooftop patio!

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Our friend @winstonfluffybutt recommended we visit Crooked Can Brewery while in Winter Garden. So…we definitely did not realize that well-behaved dogs were allowed inside the taproom. We stayed on the patio and got absolutely drenched during a surprise rainstorm. The kind staff helped us dry Navy off as we enjoyed another beer inside.

THINGS FOR NEXT TIME…

Wow! What a busy weekend in Orlando. Even though we did a lot in Orlando, we definitely saved a lot to cover next time. If we visit Orlando again I want to visit Winter Park and Wekiwa Springs. I’d also like to take dogs to Cocoa Beach!

Our friends from Central Florida, what did we miss? Let us know in the comments!

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Did you like this post? Read one of our other travel guides! Looking for pet-friendly travel tips? Read our 7 Questions to Ask Before Bringing Your Dog on Vacation post.

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