On our last trip to Orlando in February this year (2012) we decided to try something a little bit different and I plucked up the courage to book a zipline experience at Zip Orlando. I have to admit to being frightened of heights so you might think this was a strange thing for me to do, but it appealed to me as one of those things you might have on your “bucket list” so I added it to my own list.
The zipline tour was booked with Zip Orlando who are located on South Orange Blossom Trail in Kissimmee . The treetop canopy course was completed in the Spring of 2011 and offers thrill seekers eight different cables and three suspension bridges. The cables range from 225 to 950 long and are about 65 feet off the ground and once you have climbed up to your first platform you then zip to the next platform reaching speeds of up to 30mph .
All of the tours are completely guided and we were so impressed with our two guides who explained everything and talked us through the safety instructions. There are some limitations on participants weight with 70 pounds being the lightest and 270 pounds being the heaviest. Everyone was fitted out with full safety gear and harnesses and were given a full briefing on the safety aspects of “zipping”. Where they excelled was with those in the group who had never done anything like this before and were extremely nervous – me! They were patient and let me take my time to psyche myself up to take off for the first time. Well, I loved it and didn’t want the tour to end.
There are three tours available – daytime, twilight and moon zip and our daytime tour took well over 2 hours to complete. There were eight of us in the group and not everyone had been on a zipline before, but by the end all of us agreed that we would be back. High above the ground in the trees we took in the views over the nearby wetlands and one of the guides pointed out an owls nest just alongside one of the platforms where we could just see a head peeking out above the rim of the nest.
I felt a whole range of emotions from fear, excitement, exhilaration to sadness when we finally touched down on the last zip line. It was a fantastic experience and one I will be repeating in the future. If you are looking for something different to do on your trip to Orlando then this is the perfect daring escape.
The zipline tour was booked with Zip Orlando who are located on South Orange Blossom Trail in Kissimmee . The treetop canopy course was completed in the Spring of 2011 and offers thrill seekers eight different cables and three suspension bridges. The cables range from 225 to 950 long and are about 65 feet off the ground and once you have climbed up to your first platform you then zip to the next platform reaching speeds of up to 30mph .
All of the tours are completely guided and we were so impressed with our two guides who explained everything and talked us through the safety instructions. There are some limitations on participants weight with 70 pounds being the lightest and 270 pounds being the heaviest. Everyone was fitted out with full safety gear and harnesses and were given a full briefing on the safety aspects of “zipping”. Where they excelled was with those in the group who had never done anything like this before and were extremely nervous – me! They were patient and let me take my time to psyche myself up to take off for the first time. Well, I loved it and didn’t want the tour to end.
There are three tours available – daytime, twilight and moon zip and our daytime tour took well over 2 hours to complete. There were eight of us in the group and not everyone had been on a zipline before, but by the end all of us agreed that we would be back. High above the ground in the trees we took in the views over the nearby wetlands and one of the guides pointed out an owls nest just alongside one of the platforms where we could just see a head peeking out above the rim of the nest.
I felt a whole range of emotions from fear, excitement, exhilaration to sadness when we finally touched down on the last zip line. It was a fantastic experience and one I will be repeating in the future. If you are looking for something different to do on your trip to Orlando then this is the perfect daring escape.