Daniel and I have visited Orlando twice since we’ve been married, and on both trips, we noticed the giant Ferris wheel looming over International Drive. When we visited in June, I noted it off in the distance as our Lyft took us to our hotel and decided I’d look into it further if we had some free time. That’s how I discovered Icon Park!
Originally, I thought the Ferris wheel was just a one-off attraction, but it’s actually part of a large, festive area known collectively as Icon Park. It has 8 main attractions on-site, plus many restaurants, boutique shops, and unique hang-out spaces!
I’m so excited to share everything about this cool place with you for your next visit. (Don’t forget to save this post for later so you can access it again when the time comes!)
Watch Our Full YouTube Video on Icon Park!
Everything You Need to Know About Icon Park
FAQS About Icon Park
Where is Icon Park?
Icon Park is on International Drive, right down the street from the world’s biggest McDonald’s! The exact address is 8375 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819. It’s 10 minutes from Sea World and Universal Studios, and 15 minutes from Disney World.
When did Icon Park Open?
Icon Park is actually a fairly new addition to the Orlando scene. It opened in 2015, and thankfully, it still has that new feeling to it.
How Much Does Icon Park Cost?
Icon Park is actually free to enter, and it even offers free parking at the on-site garage! Guests are welcome to shop, eat, and play at their leisure, which means it only costs as much as you want it to.
When Does Icon Park Open and Close?
There’s unfortunately not a straightforward answer to this question. Icon Park officially opens at 12 pm each afternoon and closes at 10 pm. However, those are just the hours for certain attractions inside The Wheelhouse Market.
For example, the StarFlyer is open from 10 am to 2 am (yes, a.m.) every day, and Madame Tussauds is open from 11 am to 7 or 8 pm, depending on the day. And when we visited the arcade, we were there until close to midnight. So as you plan your day, check the hours for the things you want to do, and be sure to prioritize the ones that close earlier. You can always save the StarFlyer for last and hit it at 2 in the morning!
How Long Does Icon Park Take?
You could quite easily spend a full day here, shopping, playing, and trying out different restaurants. However, I’d set aside 6 hours for all 8 attractions, lunch, and a little bit of shopping. This could go faster or slower depending on the lines and how much time you want to spend in the museums and aquarium. But, you have 30 days to use your pass, so you can always split up your visit between other activities!
Yes, You Should Get the Icon Park Play Pass
Icon Park is fun to walk around, but if you want to enjoy more than 2 of its 8 attractions (and you should), the Play Pass is a great deal.
The Play Pass allows you one-time access to 7 of the park’s attractions for 30 days after purchase. This includes the Icon Wheel, the Starflyer, the Museum of Illusions, Madame Tussauds, Sea LiFE Orlando, the 7D Theater, the Pearl Express. It also gives you exclusive discounts on dining and shopping within Icon Park and $5 to spend at the arcade! It only costs $69 per person, and we felt it was completely worth it!
For example, the Icon Wheel alone costs $28 to ride, while visits to Sea LiFE Orlando and Madame Tussauds will cost $34 each or $44 together. There are other combination packages available that will save you money on certain attractions, but we loved the flexibility of the full Play Pass.
The 8 Attractions of Icon Park
The Icon Wheel
The Icon Wheel is probably the first thing you’ll see from the park, as it’s visible from quite a ways away. This towering Ferris Wheel takes guests 400 feet high in climate-controlled cars with glass walls. You can even connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth to play your own music during the ride!
The ride takes about 18 minutes, so you have plenty of time to soak in Orlando from the sky. You can see many popular landmarks, including Disney World, Universal Orlando, the Kennedy Space Center, and more!
The Orlando StarFlyer
For an even more exhilarating experience, take a ride on the Orlando StarFlyer, which towers over the city at 450 feet tall! This swing ride is one of the tallest of its kind in the world, and it definitely feels like it when you’re up at the top!
The swings reach speeds of up to 45 mph as you spin above Orlando in an open-air swing. Guests are secured with seat belts and harnesses, so don’t worry–it’s completely safe!
7D Motion Theater
Inside The Wheelhouse Market, one of the first things you’ll see is the 7D Motion Theater. This cool experience is actually a first-person shooter-style game…but it takes things to a whole new level. With the help of 3D glasses, moving seats, and light, sound, wind, and smell effects, you’ll become completely immersed in the action!
There are several games to choose from, so you can play several times for completely different experiences.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
Madame Tussauds realistic wax figures are world-renowned, and you can experience them right here in Orlando! This stunning museum has a vast collection of wax figures featuring famous people (and movie characters) from throughout history.
The first few rooms only feature one or two prominent people in detailed settings, such as Walt Disney in his studio, presidents Obama and Trump in the Oval Office, and Albert Einstein in his study.
Walt Disney 
Albert Einstein 
Andy Warhol 
Martin Luther King Jr.
Further in, the rooms are larger with more figures from collections. Some of my favorites were the Justice League, famous athletes like Shaquille O’Neal (full-height, I might add!) and Serena Williams, and Dreamworks characters from Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda.
Shrek 
Kung-Fu Panda 
The Flash 
Wonder Woman 
Superman 
Serena Williams
The final room features a huge collection of incredibly realistic movie stars, including Channing Tatum, Johnny Depp, Will Smith, Ryan Reynolds, Zac Efron, Emma Watson, and many others!
Selena Gomez 
Johnny Depp 
Channing Tatum 
Steven Spielberg
Take a Tour of Madame Tussauds Orlando with Us on YouTube!
SEA LiFE Orlando
I’ve been to SEA LiFE in Charlotte, and it instantly became one of my favorite aquariums. The Orlando branch was equally pleasing, with immersive exhibits, incredible sea creatures, and fun nooks and crannies to explore.
One of my favorite aspects of this branch was the cool central tank that you could see from so many different angles. However, there are dozens of different tanks to explore here, from small ones with just sea horses to giant aquariums with thousands of fish. There’s also an array of eels, several tunnels (including a 360-degree ocean tunnel) sharks, a rescued sea turtle, an octopus, and a full room on axolotls!
The aquarium takes quite a while to appreciate fully, so you’ll definitely want to set aside at least an hour to get through it.
Take a Virtual Tour of SEA LiFE Orlando with us on YouTube
The Museum of Illusions
This attraction is the newest addition to the Icon Park Play Pass, and it is fantastic! The whole museum is dedicated to crazy sights that really mess with your brain.
You’ll go through a series of rooms with trick mirrors, crazy lighting, upside-down furniture, puzzles, and so much more! There are also lots of small exhibits like a mirror that shows your true face, paintings with eyes that follow you, puzzles, and a galaxy tunnel that makes you lose your sense of balance.
Mind-bending shapes 
Interlocking puzzles 
Altered realities
This museum only takes an hour to go through, but every second has something new to discover.
(I’ll be doing a full blog post on this museum soon, so stay tuned!)
Take a Virtual Tour of the Museum of Illusions Orlando with Us on YouTube!
In the Game
The play pass includes $5 to spend at Arcade City/In the Game. This medium-sized arcade is located in The Wheelhouse Market and has a great range of games from an AR arena to claw machines and everything in between. There’s also a mirror maze you can go through for an additional fee.
The arcade is free to enter, but the $5 is still nice! And we found it went a surprisingly long way to earning us tickets! The prize selection isn’t fantastic, but it’s average for an arcade. And the fun of playing is the most important part anyway, right?
The Pearl Express
The final attraction at Icon Park is the Pearl Express. This adorable train takes guests on a tour of the park, starting at The Wheelhouse Market. It is definitely more of a children’s attraction, but it advertises rides for “small children to those who remain young at heart.”
It’s definitely a hit for kids, but the small cars may be a bit of a hassle for adults to get in and out of.
Daytime Visit Vs. Nighttime Visit
Because SeaWorld Orlando closed at 7 pm and we’d reserved our final morning/afternoon for exploring, we were able to visit Icon Park both at night and in the day. I’m so glad we did because each time period had very different vibes.
Nighttime
At night, Icon Park was definitely a hotspot. Everything was vibrantly lit by the flashing rainbow colors of the Icon Wheel and Starflyer and bright strings of lights crisscrossing the streets. The brick streets were busy but not crowded, but all of the bars and outdoor hang-out spaces were packed with people enjoying a late night out.
We decided to ride both the Icon Wheel and the Starflyer at night, and we had phenomenal views of Orlando from 400+ feet in the air! Plus, the rides continuously change colors at night, which I loved. The only downsides were that we had to wait quite a while for the Starflyer due to the long line, and some of the attractions were already closed for the day.
However, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the fun atmosphere. Plus, we had the main building (The Wheelhouse Market) with the arcade and 7D Theater mostly to ourselves.
Daytime
The park seemed to settle down a bit outside in the daytime, while The Wheelhouse Market became busy with visitors enjoying the A/C. The central Icon Park building is the hub for 6 of its main attractions, plus the food court, so it’s no surprise that the traffic picked up here. However, since there are 6 attractions, all that traffic split up pretty well, and we didn’t have to fight any crowds to enjoy ourselves.
Outside, we discovered many things we’d missed during our night visit, including a Shake Shack (yes, please!), the Museum of Illusions, and the overall charming aesthetic of Icon Park. My favorite scene was right in front of the large fountain, where we got a full view of the Icon Wheel in all its glory.
If you’re looking for a calmer visit when all the attractions are open, a daytime visit is the best choice for you!
That’s Icon Park in a nutshell! If you have any additional questions for me, please feel free to drop them in the comments! And if you’re interested in learning more about any of these attractions and want a full blog post on the subject, let me know! I’m going to do one on the Museum of Illusions, but I’d also be happy to share more on SEA LiFE or Madame Tussauds.
Planning an Orlando Vacation? You May Also Enjoy…
A Complete Guide to SeaWorld Orlando 2021 for Adults
How to Make the Most of a Busy Day at Aquatica Orlando
Best of the Park Guide to Islands of Adventure, Orlando
Best of the Park Guide for Exploring Universal Studios, Orlando
A Magical Day in Discovery Cove at Sea World
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You’re in my stomping grounds! 🙂
If only I’d known when we were down there! 🙂 Such a fun area to live in–although I bet the tourist traffic gets old fast! haha