Best of ORL 2025: Fun & Leisure Winner Spotlights
Take a closer look at this year's first place winners in the fun and leisure categories.
A peek into Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C, which is currently undergoing upgrades. By Roberto Gonzalez.
NEW CATEGORY
Winner: Airport | Orlando International Airport (MCO)
There’s so much to love about MCO, and our readers agree. With its streamlined layout, beautiful design and proliferation of great restaurants (always important), it allows for incredible ease of use, given that MCO is the State of Florida’s busiest airport and the 7th busiest in the nation, according to the City of Orlando.
MCO welcomed nearly 58 million passengers across its three terminals last year. It is the only U.S. airport to provide high-speed intercity passenger rail service adjacent to a terminal, connecting Orlando to several cities along the east coast of Florida through its multimodal rail platform. It also has an on-site hotel, 10 rental car agencies, several aircraft maintenance facilities and more than 170 food, beverage and retail locations, and is quickly growing.
Take for example, Terminal C, which was built in 2022 and has recently seen the addition of local and Florida-based restaurants such as Sunshine Diner by Chef Art Smith, The Ravenous Pig and Orange County Brewers. And the visual appeal has gotten a stunning new update with floor-to-ceiling media screens that showcase displays of Florida landscapes, a welcome to the areas which you’re about to embark upon.
MCO’s 44 airline carriers offer nonstop service to more than 160 destinations, and new destinations are constantly being added to its route map. Currently, MCO offers the 9th largest domestic route network and the 12th largest international route network of all U.S. airports.
A youth theater production from Central Florida Community Arts. ©McKenzie Lakey Studios
Winner: Performing Arts Group | Central Florida Community Arts
Central Florida Community Arts’ mission is to serve and build the community through the arts. It looks to make the arts accessible to everyone and to foster a vibrant, inclusive future, doing so in three ways: through connecting, serving and performing.
Connecting is all about building relationships. CFC Arts works to build a creative family that celebrates their natural abilities and allows people to use their talents in singing, dancing, playing instruments, exploring new art forms and performing together.
CFC Arts serves the community in several ways, from partnering with nonprofits to perform at their fundraisers or gathering groups for service projects.
Through performing, CFC Arts feels that every stage should be accessible to every member of their community. They provide opportunities for members of its choir, orchestra and youth programs to showcase their talents through community performances.
Currently, CFC Arts runs a Community Choir (open to anyone 18+), a Symphony Orchestra (open to anyone 16+) and a Big Band (no age requirements), all of which are non-auditioned. Also, there are theater programs for youth, programs for exceptional learners and neurodivergent performers and programs for older adults.
“Get Well Soon” an art installation by artist JEFRË on the exterior of AdventHealth’s Innovation Tower parking garage. Photo by Roberto Gonzalez.
NEW CATEGORY
Winner: Public Art | JEFRË (Installation of AdventHealth Innovation Tower Parking Garage)
Jefre Figueras Manuel, otherwise known as JEFRË, is a Filipino American artist based in Orlando. Formerly a landscape architect, JEFRË is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, and moved to Orlando to pursue a career in public art. His instantly recognizable pieces are among the most iconic in The City Beautiful.
In 2024, AdventHealth installed one of JEFRË’s most celebrated pieces yet, on its Innovation Tower parking garage. The piece honors the hope, positivity and gratitude at the heart of healthcare; aluminum pieces represent a series of folded notes of prayers, well wishes and words of encouragement and inspiration to patients and healthcare professionals. It can be seen from Interstate 4.
“This artwork is simply a gift of words of gratitude to the healthcare community and words of hope and strength to the patients and families,” said JEFRË in a press release. “It embodies the spirit of compassion and resilience that defines our healthcare community.”
AdventHealth previously partnered with JEFRË on his debut solo show at the Orlando Museum of Art and two large sculptures on the Advent-
Health Winter Park campus. The main gateway sculpture is a 20-foot diameter halo made of mirror stainless steel engraved with the Bible verse from Jeremiah 29:11. A second sculpture features stacked “ER” letters to serve as a visual cue to the hospital’s emergency department.
This isn’t the first time JEFRË’s worked on an Orlando parking garage: he designed the artwork on Lake Nona’s garages, combining the themes of its high-tech village, medical city with the languages and forms that represent it. His “Disco Dog” stands outside one of those garage
Enzian is Central Florida’s only alternative theater that offers screenings of independent, foreign and classic films. It offers an indoor screening room and the outdoor Eden Bar. ©ENZIAN
Winner: Movie Theater | Enzian
Enzian is Central Florida’s only alternative theater that offers screenings of independent, foreign and classic films. Its mission is to entertain, inspire, educate and connect the community through film, and is a member-supported, non-profit organization.
A recent month in the life of Enzian included Wes Anderson’s newest release, screenings from Enzian’s “Reel Pride,” showcase, “Twilight: Breaking Dawn—The Ultimate Finale” double-bill and “The Wolf House,” an animated foreign feature.
The “Twilight” screening was part of Enzian’s Cult Classic lineup, which brings back classic movies in 35mm. “The Wolf House” was part of Freaky Fridays, which delves into the world of genre films. Enzian offers nearly two dozen such special series.
It’s also home to the Eden Bar, nestled among a canopy of 400-year-old live oak trees. The original design of the bar’s backdrop is from an illustration by Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton, inspired by Lake Maitland and Dog Island. It debuted as part of the 2008 Florida Film Festival.
The Florida Film Festival takes place at Enzian every April and features 10 days of 160-plus films and events. It is an Oscar-qualifying festival in all three shorts categories: Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Documentary Short Subject.
Founded by Tina Tiedtke and the Tiedtke family in 1985, Enzian began as a repertory house offering six to 12 classic films each week plus the occasional live show (musician Philip Glass was one of the most notable bookings on Enzian’s stage). By 1989, Enzian had refocused and moved into the then-risky field of showing first-run independent features. Enzian was alone in the community in booking such films, but its transformation was a success. With strong support from regional film-lovers, Enzian now often reports the highest grosses in Florida for many art-house release
Winner: Live Music | Will’s Pub
Will’s Pub is one of the most popular dive bars in Orlando and plays a variety of music from country to indie to jazz. It also hosts CD release parties and other special events, such as an annual Purple Reign party and open stage drag. On a monthly basis, it consistently offers one of the longest event calendars in Orlando.
Will’s Pub has been a Mills 50 staple since 1995. It is part of the venue’s “Will’s Complex” that offers drinks, live music, local art and a high-spirited hangout every night of the week. The complex also consists of Lil’ Indies, a cocktail lounge, and Dirty Laundry, a metal trashy tiki patio.
While most events are confined to a specific area of the complex, one that takes over it entirely is Will’s’ night market, which bring in dozens of vendors and are always pet-friendly; in fact, many benefit local shelters. If you’re in town during of these markets, they’re a don’t-miss.
Here’s something to consult on any visit to Will’s: the Liquor Vault, full of rare and exclusive liquors. Use one to wow friends at your next party or bestow as a gift upon the hard to buy for.
