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Orlando’s arts, architec- ture, and outdoors Arts and culture aficionados will find plenty to amuse them outside the epicenter of the theme parks. After a star-studded 2014-15 inau- gural season, the $429 million Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing

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The Dr. Phillips Center for the Peforming Arts is a recent addition to Orlando’s thriving arts scene.

VISITORS WILLING TO LOOK BEHIND THE SHADOW OF THE MOUSE EARS and take a step out of the Fastpass line will find the greater Orlando area a surprisingly cosmopolitan city with activities suited to every age and interest, whether you’re into Mickey and the gang or not.

Arts continues to draw high-caliber performances from around the globe to its state-of-the-art acoustic hall, amplified theater, and smaller multipurpose theater. Thus far, the theater’s acts have include Elvis Costello, Idina Menzel, and David Sedaris, along with the Orlando

Philharmonic Orchestra, the Or- lando Ballet, Shen Yun Performing Arts, and Tony Award-winning re- vivals of Anything Goes and Pippin. Orlando is not new to the arts,

however. The greater Orlando area has a thriving museum scene. In some cases, the museum build- ing alone is worth a visit. Guests touring the impressive Orange County Regional History Center can explore 12,000 years of Central Florida interactive exhibits with a free audio guide in the majestically restored five-story 1927 Orange County Courthouse. Also worth a visit, the Orlando

Museum of Art celebrated its 90th birthday in 2014 and hosts the broadest collection in the Southeast of African art and art from the an- cient Americas. Cited by Newsweek as one of the best museums in the

PHOTOS: ABOVE, COURTESY VISIT ORLANDO; PREVIOUS SPREAD, DAVID ROARK/WALT DISNEY WORLD