What instantly comes to mind when you think of Orlando? Beaches and theme parks! Disneyland, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Universal Studios – it’s a memory to make! However, for local Floridians or others who have already been there and done that or travelers who are on a tight budget here is a perfect sidequest to Orlando’s theme parks!

International Drive, by Sea World, hosts these three different attractions that can be bought at discount through their various websites. The wax museum Madame Tussauds, the light-up Ferris wheel the Orlando Eye, and the Orlando Sealife Aquarium. Being a Florida Resident will get you into three of I-Drive’s biggest attractions for only $35 on top of getting to skip the line while everyone else pays $40. You also have 30 days to actually experience the attractions either one or two at a time, or all together.

Alongside my girlfriend, we rendezvoused with our two visiting Kiwi friends who had won a trip from New Zealand to Texas and Florida through a radio contest. We saved a few bucks parking at the adjacent shopping plaza instead of the parking garage but being fashionably late we had to save the aquarium for another day. However, we came up with the spontaneous idea to supplement it with the Sugar Factory, a high end bar and diner connected to an ice cream/candy store.

A fun fact about the Orlando Eye is once it starts it doesn’t stop and is continually revolving. A couple took advantage of this and waited until they got a quarter of the way going and then proceeded to have sex. The ride can’t be sped up so they got to finish the deed before getting arrested and everyone just had to watch the car accident happen.

I would highly recommend stopping at the Sugar Factory especially with there being no cover charge there is no excuse not to stop in this unique hybrid of a high-end bar and restaurant jointed with an ice cream and candy store.