A movie tour of Orlando, Florida

Aerial photo of the Florida Citrus Bowl, where parts of
the 1998 movie "The Waterboy" starring Adam Sandler
were filmed. Photo by The Gent Family Photos

Orlando, Florida went through a period of booming film production in the 1990's when it earned the nickname "Hollywood East". It's home to two movie-centered theme parks, Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Universal Orlando Resort. The area's film schools include the highly regarded entertainment industry institution Full Sail University. And Central Florida plays host to one of the most internationally respected film festivals, the Florida Film Festival.

So where are all the movie hotspots?

Though Orlando is not vast in locations made famous (or even more so) from being featured in a movie, plenty of locations around the Orlando area were used as filming grounds for well-known movies. Some are local landmarks, while others are more obscure. So get your cameras ready as we take a trip through some of Orlando's film locales.

Jaws 3-D (1983)

Parts of the third and final installment of the "Jaws" trilogy were filmed at SeaWorld Orlando, but some environments that exist in the film do not exist at the theme park in reality.

D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)

The computer room at the military base, prominently featured in the movie, was filmed in the backstage computer rooms at Epcot in Walt Disney World.

Parenthood (1989)

Kevin's birthday party was filmed at the Mystery Fun House, one of the first attractions to open in the area surrounding Disney, which opened in 1976 and closed in 2001 because it suffered from competition with the major theme parks. Much of the original building that housed the Mystery Fun House remains intact and the sign still sits out front as a reminder of the attraction's memory. Parts of the building, located off South Kirkland Road on Major Boulevard, are currently occupied by the timeshare company Westgate Resorts while the rest is used for storage.

Ernest Saves Christmas (1989)

The movie was almost entirely filmed in Orlando. Many city landmarks including Orlando International Airport, Lake Eola and the Orlando Amtrak Station are visible during the course of the film. The Orlando Children's Museum in the movie was filmed in the original Orlando Science Center building, which moved to a new facility in 1997.

My Girl (1991)

Though the movie is set during the summer in Pennsylvania, it was filmed in the Orlando area because of its winter production schedule. The Sultenfuss Parlor extensively featured throughout the film is the Stanford Inn, a bed and breakfast in Bartow, a community located 40 miles outside of Tampa. The creative writing class scenes were shot at Plant City High School in Plant City, neighboring Tampa and Orlando. The various scenes of Vada and Thomas J bonding by the lake were filmed at Mirror Lake in Clermont.

The movie's last scene, when Mrs. Sennett meets Harry and Vada outside a cafe, was shot in historic downtown Sanford, with the clock on the corner of 1st and Park visible in the background. The location used for the cafe is currently home to the seafood restaurant Two Blondes and a Shrimp.

Scene begins at 4:24.

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

In the opening scene of the movie, Riggs accidentally sets off a bomb that demolishes the ICSI Building, barely escaping with his partner Murtaugh. The demolished building was Orlando's old City Hall. As the smoke clears, a building with a Coca-Cola sign mounted on top of it (which was removed since) appears; this is the current Orlando City Hall building, located on 400 Orange Avenue. If you look closely you can also spot the SunTrust Building and the OUC Building in this scene. Adding to the local color, the officer who says "Bravo" towards the end of the scene is Bill Frederick, who was Orlando's mayor at the time of the movie's filming.

Passenger 57 (1992)

Starring Wesley Snipes, who grew up in Orlando before moving to New York, much of the film's exterior footage was filmed at Orlando Sanford International Airport, including the Navy hangar scenes and the runway shots.

Apollo 13 (1995), Contact (1997) and Armageddon (1998)

All three of these movies featured the Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island near Cape Canaveral.

The Waterboy (1998)

In the Adam Sandler movie, the University of Louisiana Cougars' home stadium is the Florida Citrus Bowl on Church Street in Orlando. Bobby Boucher's house is located off the Lake Minnehaha Canal in Clermont. Some of the inside and outside footage of the film's North Central Louisiana State University was filmed at Stetson University in DeLand.

The South Central Mud Dogs' stadium is the Spec Martin Memorial Stadium on East Euclid Avenue in DeLand, where the DeLand High School Bulldogs and the Deltona High School Wolves play.

The Bourbon Bowl scene was also filmed at the Citrus Bowl. Most of the extras used in the scene were UCF students.

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

The Terror Incognita coaster featured at the beginning of the movie is actually the Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster at Universal's Islands of Adventure. The movie opened in theaters five months after Islands of Adventure opened.

Scene begins at 6:57.

Monster (2003)

Charlize Theron won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. One of the film's best known scenes, where Wuornos and Selby Wall dance to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" at a roller disco, was filmed at Semoran Skateway in Casselberry.

There is also a scene in where the couple ride a ferris wheel, shot at Fun World in Sanford. The courtroom scenes were filmed at the Seminole County Courthouse, also in Sanford. The Last Resort, the biker bar in Port Orange where the real life Wuornos was arrested in 1991, was also a filming location for the movie. Its owner, Al Bulling, made a brief appearance in the film as a bartender.

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006)

The Blue Collar Comedy Tour stand-up, a longtime Florida resident, had his first scripted feature filmed entirely in Orlando, including scenes filmed in Lake Eola, Sanford and the Orange County Courthouse, as well as a number of Orlando area restaurants including Yae Sushi in Winter Park. Though the movie's filming sparked an economic boost in the Metro Orlando area, it was universally panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office.

If you want to include a movie night in your Orlando movie tour, click here to read my article on Orlando area movie theaters.