Lake Eola Park is located in the heart of Downtown Orlando. The sidewalk that circles the lake is 0.9 miles in length, making it easy for visitors to keep track of their walking or running distances. Other activities available to park visitors include renting swan-shaped paddle boats, feeding the live swans and other birds inhabiting the park, seeing a concert or a play in the Walt Disney Amphitheater, enjoying the park’s statues and sculptures, grabbing a bite to eat at local restaurants or relaxing amid beautiful flower beds and a spectacular view of Orlando’s skyline.
Jacob Summerlin the “Cattle King of Florida” arrived in 1873 and purchased 200 acres of land in what is now Downtown Orlando. Shortly after the purchase, on the edge of his property there a sink hole formed. Along with the help of a natural aquifer 200 feet below ground and the flooding of storm water, this area became a beautiful lake, known to the public as Sandy Beach.
In 1883 the Summerlin family donated a strip of their land around the lake for public use. Sandy Beach was renamed Lake Eola in memory of Robert Summerlin’s dearly departed sweetheart.
In 1888, Lake Eola was recognized as a City of Orlando public park.
Also referred to as the Band Shell, the Amphitheater has been a staple of Lake Eola Park since 1886. Originally built on the south side of the lake, it has since been torn down and reconstructed at the west side of Lake Eola. The Amphitheater became the Walt Disney Amphitheater in 1989.
The first swans arrived at Lake Eola in 1922. The Lake is now home to various species of swans including: Trumpeter Swans, Black Neck Swans, Whooper Swans, Royal Mute Swans and Australian Black Swans. Supplemental food is accessible to all swans in feeders in the lake as well as on the shore. The swans can be fed lettuce, spinach, and duck pellet food found in the parks.
(Please note: There is plentiful on-street parking with meters around the park area.)
To claim this cache, please e-mail the answers to the following questions to me. Do not post your answers in your log.
1. How many rows of seats (not sections) are there in front of the Amphitheater?
2. What is the last name of the person on the lower right line of the Linton E. Allen Memorial Fountain plaque (to right of Amphitheater).
3. How many cypress trees are in the lake to the right of the Amphitheater?
3. Please post a picture of yourself or your hand with a “thumbs up” with the Lake Eola Fountain in the background.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.