2. In August, Orlando Grand Prix opened in a 70,000-square-foot, air-conditioned facility in south Orlando. Guests can test their driving skills in Italian electric pro-karts that reach speeds of 50 mph on either the quarter-mile Grand Prix track or the super slick Monster Energy Drift Track. The venue can accommodate groups of as many as 100 people and has three private rooms for groups that want to add a meeting or party to the experience. Group bookings can be done per person or per hour for full track rental.
3. Get your team thinking creatively with an outing to Painting With a Twist, which opened in May. Groups with at least 10 people pay $35 per person for a two-hour class or $45 for a three-hour class. Painting With a Twist provides the paint, the canvas, the brushes, and an artist who gives attendees step-by-step instructions on how to complete their artwork, chosen from a selection of more than 1,000 paintings. Groups can bring in light food, and the facility sells wine, beer, and nonalcoholic beverages.
4. Go bicycling above the treetops on the Cypress Canopy Cycle, which opened in July at Florida EcoSafaris at Forever Florida. Each guest rides in his own reclining cycle, suspended from a network of high-tension steel cables, traveling as high as 25 feet off the ground over forested wetlands. The one-hour adventure costs $45 per person. The Cypress Canopy Cycle is the only ride of its kind in the United States, and the second in the world.
5. Waldorf-Astoria Golf Club is home to the new Waldorf-Astoria Golf Academy, led by Golf magazine Top 100 instructor Brian Mogg. The academy can coordinate corporate outings and clinics for groups, with a 5-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Options include comprehensive half-day, single-day, and two-day golf school programs ranging from $275 to $1,150.
6. California rolls, chinois chicken salad, pumpkin ravioli, and bananas Foster are on the menu for private cooking classes at Wolfgang Puck Café at Downtown Disney. Classes last about one hour and include each attendee’s lunch being prepared and explained by a chef, as well as recipes for each course. The cost is $40 per person, plus a $300 event fee. Minimum class size is 30.
7. Hard Knocks, an indoor combat simulation arena, has added authentic weapons-grade military combat simulators to its arsenal. The facility can customize teambuilding experiences for group of eight to 1,000 people. Group pricing is tiered and based on the size of the party and which portions of the facility are used. Hard Knocks has a private room with seating for 25 at two large conference tables, a 52-inch TV, and full kitchen.
8. Wildly Different has created a teambuilding activity that adds a new twist to corporate philanthropy. In “Dollar Daze,” the host company or group decides in advance how much money it would like to donate. During the game, teams of participants compete in nine different 60-second challenges, each with a monetary theme (such as stacking pennies on the end of a Popsicle stick held in one team member’s mouth, or a relay delivering money bags from one location to another without using hands).At the end of the competition, the top team is able to make a donation to the charity of its choice equivalent to $1 for every point it earned in the game. The entire activity lasts from one to two hours and costs $50 per person.
9. Farris and Foster’s Chocolate Factory added a new location in July, just a short distance from the Orange County Convention Center and International Drive. Groups of at least five people are invited to come in for a hands-on lesson in chocolate-making. The cost is $22 per person, and each guest gets to make one pound of his or her favorite confection to take home. The store can also add a problem-solving element to the activity for an additional $3 per person.
10. SeaWorld Orlando has created Discovery University—a customizable education program for private groups. Choose from a roster of speakers who can share how their experiences at the theme park relate to your group’s reality at work. Options include the opportunity to learn how SeaWorld’s creative development teams bring new shows, attractions, and rides from conception to development to opening. Prices ranges from $5,000 to $7,500.
