Tourist Attraction

Why the museum functions as a destination-scale visitor attraction for Orange County.

2.96M

Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford metro population, 2025

U.S. Census Bureau

37,700

Residents added between 2024 and 2025

U.S. Census Bureau

250,000

Approved opening year annual visits

Planning projection

100,000

Projected Orange County resident visits

Planning projection

100,000

Projected overnight visitor visits

Planning projection

$5.65M

Projected opening year museum operating revenue

Planning projection

Supporting sections

Why Does Central Florida Need a Standalone Children’s Museum?A metropolitan region of nearly three million residents — and one of the world’s best known family tourism destinations — still operates without a standalone, destination-scale children’s museum. The supplemental document frames this as a missing category of civic and cultural infrastructure rather than simply another attraction, and describes a museum designed to serve tourists and residents at the same time.How Does the Museum Compare with Established Children’s Museums Nationally?Children’s museums across the United States show that highly interactive institutions generate significant annual visitation across a wide range of facility sizes. Comparable institutions in the approximately 30,000 to 67,000 square foot range serve roughly 250,000 to 500,000+ people annually, which is the basis for the museum’s 250,000 opening / 300,000 mature attendance projection.What Will Families Experience at the I AM Children’s Museum?The museum is designed as a self-directed journey where each child chooses their own path through creativity, connection, exploration, and play. The visit begins inside a restored historic home and opens into the Tree of Possibilities, the campus’s central gathering place and orientation point connecting every major experience.How Will the Museum Strengthen the Orange County Visitor Experience?The document summarizes the tourism planning priorities that shape the visitor experience — from resort and hotel partnerships and convention group experiences to multilingual services, accessibility, weather resiliency, itinerary integration, and repeat visitation. Each priority will continue to be evaluated as the project advances.

This is part of this portal — the full supplemental resource document lives here in the portal.

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