The 7 most informative and fun factory tours in Florida
From delicious chocolates to amazing robots, companies across the Sunshine State offer unforgettable behind-the-scenes factory tours.
Have you ever felt curious about how things are made? For example, how that delicious chocolate-covered strawberry or that bubbly, sparkling wine found its way to your table? Do you wonder how theme park attractions are made? How about an aromatic Cuban cigar? If so, wonder no more, because now you can take a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of your favorite items.
From delicious chocolates to mechanical toys, these top companies from around Florida are opening up their doors to allow individuals and families to peek at what happens behind the finished product. These factories offer tours, live demonstrations, and, in some cases, even delicious complimentary samples of their wares. So if you’re looking for a different type of escape, and want to learn some fascinating facts while you’re at it, here are seven of the most fun factory tours in the Sunshine State.
Please remember to always call or contact the business before to check their availability.
1. Hoffman’s Chocolates
Who doesn’t like chocolate? Literally no one! And everyone loves the rich confections made from the seed of Theobroma cacao, or cocoa bean. So here’s your opportunity to indulge your inner Willy Wonka and visit Hoffman’s Chocolates in Greenacres, just 20 minutes from West Palm Beach.
The factory opened its original location in 1975. At the time, it was a small chocolate shop in Lake Worth. Forty years later, it creates award-winning handmade confections using the finest and freshest ingredients from around the world. Visitors can take a free guided tour to watch the entire chocolate-making process—mixing and cooking the ingredients, measuring and cutting the pieces—from the large glass windows overlooking the work floor.
Though you won’t want the tour to end, the best part comes when you finish, because you’ll get to enjoy a delicious chocolate sample and have a chance to browse over 70 varieties of confections to take home.
2. Sally Dark Rides
For over 45 years, Sally Dark Rides in Jacksonville has been offering an out-of-this-world experience like no other for children 7 years and older and for sci-fi lovers of all ages. That’s because this magical place happens to be the oldest and largest designer and maker of animatronic entertainment in the world.
Founded in 1977 by high school friends John Fox and John Rob Holland, the company serves amusement parks, museums, and retail clients worldwide, so chances are you’ve seen their work in movies, TV commercials, and other attractions.
During the tour, you’ll be fascinated by a behind-the-scenes look at how the Dark Ride’s team creates amazing creatures, from animatronic animals to museum-quality dinosaurs. They even make replicas of historical figures. In fact, its animated figure of President Lyndon B. Johnson was so amazing, that it’s now displayed in the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas.
As a bonus, you’ll also learn about character, design, sets, scenery, and special effects. So what are you waiting for? Visit their website and call or email to book your free tour!
3. Tabanero Cigars
They say that outside of Cuba, the world’s finest cigars are made in a tabaquería in historic Ybor City, Tampa, known as the cigar capital of the world. But what inspired Cuban-born entrepreneur Yanco Macedo to found Tabanero Cigars in the heart of Florida? “I remembered those fields from my youth and the beautiful way the artisans made the cigars,” says Macedo. “The vision of Tabanero Cigars was born. It is my American dream arising from my Cuban heritage.”
When you visit this one-of-a-kind factory, created to resemble old Havana, you will experience handmade cigars created by Cuban-born artisans. You will also learn the step-by-step process of manufacturing the famous cigars as you watch the nimble-fingered “tabaco rollers” at work, and learn how to cut, punch, light, and set off the hand-made cigars the correct way. More than a factory tour, this is a fun cultural experience and a look into a unique art form.
4. Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards
When most people think of wines, the wineries that usually come up are Asti, Napa, or La Rioja. Truth be told, few think of Florida—but don’t count out the Sunshine State just yet!
Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards in Clermont offers the perfect day trip for wine lovers and connoisseurs with a complimentary tour, allowing visitors a unique behind-the-scenes look at the production of its fine wines.
After learning how the Florida grapes grow, and how they bottle and label their wine creations, visitors can stroll through the lush vineyards where the juicy grapes are grown and harvested.
But Lakeridge saves the best for last when you taste some of its award-winning wine varieties, ranging from dry to sweet to sparkling. So raise your glass and say “Cheers!”
5. Sweet Petes Candy
When ‘Sweet Pete’ Behringer was eleven years old, his mother opened a family chocolate business. He loved the experience so much that in 2010, he branched out and opened Sweet Petes Candy, his own very colorful candy shop in a historic Florida home that brings to mind visions of Oompa Loompas.
Each delicious candy is lovingly handcrafted at the 23,000 square feet, three-story whimsically decorated ‘candy mansion’ in Downtown Jacksonville, one of the largest candy shops in the United States. In addition to a line of handcrafted chocolates, the sweet factory offers over a thousand—you read it right!—different types of candies.
Lovers of everything sweet can visit for an instructive, interactive, and above all FUN factory tour, take hands-on candy-making classes, and enjoy parties at what candy lovers call “the Sweetest Destination on Earth!”
6. Florida’s Natural Growers Grove House Visitor Center
Maybe most people don’t associate the Sunshine State with cigars or fine wines. But say the words “orange juice,” and the word Florida immediately comes to mind! That’s because the orange is the official state fruit, orange juice is the official state beverage, and the orange blossom is the official state flower. What’s more: Since 1949, when visitors stop at one of the Official Florida Welcome Centers on the way into the state, they’re greeted with a free glass of Florida orange juice.
To see how Florida’s Natural brand juices are squeezed, Florida’s Natural Growers Grove House Visitor Center is the place to go. Located in Lake Wales and surrounded by beautiful orange groves, visitors can take a tour to learn all about the citrus industry as they wander through the exhibits and learn about the area’s history, horticulture, packaging, and the weather that impacts the Florida area.
There’s a theater presentation that offers a virtual tour from grove to glass, but visitors can also spend time outdoors for a self-guided tour through the beautiful and aromatic orange groves around the property.
7. Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour
In the best tradition of closing with a bang, here’s a tour that unlocks the history of the Magic Kingdom park to let visitors look behind the scenes and uncover the hidden secrets, little-known facts, trivia, and other exciting tidbits about the park.
Described as “an in-depth, 5-hour look at the most iconic theme park at Walt Disney World Resort,” Disney’s Keys to the Kingdom Tour includes a delicious lunch and a visit to the Utilidor, the gargantuan tunnel that allows cast members and deliveries to be transported underground, below the unknowing guests’ feet as they wait in line for their favorite attractions. However, guests must be 16 or older and have a valid photo I.D.
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