While we are pretty familiar with most major Orlando attractions, this week we got to see them from a whole new perspective: from 700 feet above the ground! We booked an adventure with a local Helicopter tour company thanks to Andrew’s family getting him a gift certificate for his birthday. Fun fact: while Andrew has his pilot’s license (make sure to check out some of our articles about flying too!) he has never been in a helicopter before and was pretty excited. Read on to learn more about this unique experience and check out plenty of our views of the parks from a bird’s eye view…
About Orlando Heli-Tours
Orlando Heli-Tours (International Heli-Tours) is a premier helicopter operations and touring company offering aerial views of both Orlando and Kissimmee and their world famous attractions. The company provides a high level of safety and service while taking a trip in a Robinson R44 or R66 helicopter. The helicopters can fit up to 4 people plus the pilot and they also emphasize they are the only company to offer air-conditioned flights. The three locations include:
Orlando – Next to Premium Outlets
12651 International Drive
(407) 239-8687Orlando – Next to Orlando Eye
8990 International Drive
(407) 354-1400Kissimee
5071 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway
(407) 507-2682
We visited the Premium Outlet location for our tour. It opens at 10:00am and is open until sunset. (The other two locations open at 11:00am). You can reserve a time for your tour or walk-ins are accepted too. It’s good to note that you may have to wait for the party in front of you to finish their flight, but flights don’t take very long.
The Orlando Heli-Tour location near Premium Outlets.
Flights start as low as $25 per person.
A view of the tour helicopter.
Helicopter Tours Available
Orlando Heli-Tours offers over 15 tour options depending on how long guests want to spend in the air, what they want to see, and how much they want to spend. The tours range from $25/person for the shortest tour up to $175/person for the longest flight.
The shortest and least expensive option is dependent on where you choose to start your tour. From the Premium Outlets location on International Drive, the least expensive option was a quick spin over Sea World and back ($35/person and less than 10 minutes in the air). The longest and most expensive flight from this location is the Celebrity Grand Helicopter Tour ($175/person and 25 minutes) which takes guests over all three major theme parks, the Butler Chain of Lakes and the homes of some of Florida’s most famous residents.
Below is a map showing the flight paths for the various tours offered from the Premium Outlet location. They range from shortest to longest starting with Tour #1 in orange (Sea World) up to the longest Tour #7 in yellow (Celebrity Grand Tour). We chose Tour #6 which was $125/person and about 20 minutes in length. It was jam packed with many sites to see.
Map of available tours from the Premium Outlets Location on International Drive. We did Tour 6.
The Orlando Heli-Tour Facility
As we mentioned above, we only saw the Premium Outlet location but all three look similar. The building looked really cool and almost like an air traffic control tower. The building was clean and modern and included a small store with some neat aviation themed merchandise. There are restrooms and both indoor and outdoor seating areas to wait for your flight and watch the helicopters come and go.
The Heli-Tour gift shop.
The outdoor seating area.
The Helicopters
Orlando Heli-Tours operates two very similar helicopters, the Robinson R44 and R66. The only real difference that guests will notice is that the R44 holds 3 passengers plus the pilot where the R66 holds 4 passengers. One of those passengers can sit up front next to the pilot.
We were in the R66 which was a very comfortable and smooth ride. They provide comfortable headsets for every passenger so noise is not an issue and every helicopter is air-conditioned. The windows are large and clear for good views of things below.
Ready for lift off!
Taking off over Andrew’s orange Jeep.
Our pilot was very friendly and knowledgeable.
Our Flight
We arrived just as another group was getting ready to take off so we waited for about 20 minutes for them to return. The helicopter was only on the ground for a few minutes to let them off before we were loaded up.
Andrew’s family had given him a gift card for his birthday and they splurged for the Grand Park Adventure Tour. This one hits all the major theme parks as well as some other well know landmarks. The helicopter flies fairly low to get a great view of everything. We stayed around 600-700 feet for the entire flight. To give readers an idea of how hight that is, the Wheel at ICON Park is 400 feet tall.
Our tour started with the following sites:
SeaWorld
Aquatica
the Convention Center
area hotels such as the Rosen Centre
A view of SeaWorld. See the trees in the lake?
We even saw a dolphin jump as we flew by!
A view of the convention center and many area hotels.
We then flew over:
Universal Studios
Islands of Adventures
more area hotels
A view of Universal Studios.
Volcano Bay and hotels below.
I-Drive and the Wheel at ICON Park.
We then flew over Disney property with view of:
Disney Springs
Epcot
Hollywood Studios
Animal Kingdom Park
plenty of Disney hotel properties
other hotels such as Hilton Bonnet Creek
It’s good to note the tour company can not get very close to the Magic Kingdom. There is something called a TFR, which is a Flight Restriction Zone that extends out 2 miles in each direction from the castle. We could see landmarks in the distance such as the Contemporary but it was too far to capture good pictures.
Spaceship Earth and the Harmonious barges.
The Boardwalk and Swan and Dolphin hotels.
Here is Disney Springs and a bit of the Saratoga Springs property.
The Tower of Terror and Fantastic arena.
Our DVC home: Animal Kingdom Lodge
EXTRA COST: There was a photographer that took pictures of us before we got into the helicopter, once we were in but before we took off, then as we took off. The cost of all the digital photographs was $26 and they can either email them to you or if you have an iPhone, Airdrop them directly to your phone. We didn’t think the cost was too bad compared to other similar souvenir photo opportunities in the past.
Final Thoughts
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience with Orlando Heli-Tours. While our time in the air was approximately 20 minutes we saw so much. Most of the landmarks came up quickly but the pilot did a great job of pointing them out ahead of time so we didn’t miss a thing. Some may think the cost is high for such a short trip, but knowing the expense of the aviation industry (vehicle, gas, pilot, etc.) we think it’s a fair price for what you get. Our personal opinion is it is probably worth doing this once and splurging for the full tour, vs getting a tease with a super short one. It was neat to get such a unique perspective of areas we know so well from the ground, and think this is a great experience for Orlando locals and visitors to try. We give this adventure two thumbs up!
You read that right, we bought an airplane! There is a backstory on the plane and who will be flying it so for those who haven’t known us for a long time, you are probably about to learn a few things about the DINKs…