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Sunshine, palm trees, afternoon thunderstorms, and a little lot of Disney magic are all part of the Orlando landscape. Oh, and robots and power racing, too. If that sounds too good to be true, that’s because Orlando has always had a knack for making the impossible look possible. It’s a city where engineers build fantastical worlds (or (space coast) ships that take you there), artists turn imagination into immersive experiences, and an army of behind-the-scenes craftspeople, fabricators, programmers, and technicians make things move, fly, glow, and occasionally defy explanation. But that creative energy isn’t confined to the region’s theme parks and entertainment studios. Across Central Florida, independent makers are building robots, experimenting with electronics, designing elaborate costumes, machining unusual contraptions, and turning garages and workshops into laboratories for creative discovery. And, each November, many of these inventive minds come together at Maker Faire Orlando, where the city’s spirit of experimentation and attention to highly detailed creations takes center stage. Make’s Gilliam Mutti, who will be attending the event this weekend, shared 10 Things She Can’t Wait to See at Maker Faire Orlando to whet your appetite.
Press Start: Retro Gaming Showcase At Maker Faire Orlando
An exhibit you won’t want to miss…but have maybe heard before…bleep, bleep, boop. Few things have the power to transport us back to the future quite like the familiar bleeps, bloops, pixelated sprites, and chunky joysticks of a vintage video game. But retro gaming is having a moment that goes well beyond nostalgia. From the resurgence of original arcade cabinets and CRT displays to Raspberry Pi-powered emulation, FPGA recreations of classic hardware, homebrew games, and lovingly restored vintage computers, an entire generation of makers is finding new ways to keep old-school gaming alive. Some are preserving the machines and software that shaped the industry; others are modifying, remixing, and reimagining them for a new generation. This passion for pixels and circuit boards comes with a hands-on twist at MFO. In this DIY arcade, it’s about seeing what happens when makers get inside the machines, build their own hardware, restore forgotten technology, and create entirely new experiences inspired by gaming’s golden age. As the efforts of MFO makers illustrate, today’s retro gaming movement isn’t just about looking backward. It’s about rediscovering the ingenuity of earlier technology, understanding how it works, and using modern tools to extend its life.
The 2026 lineup gives us some particularly good examples of this crossover between nostalgia and invention. And better, displays the efforts and community spirit of prominent Central Florida makerspaces.
HackArcade, from Tampa Hackerspace, showcases homemade and lovingly restored arcade games and vending machines. The centerpiece of this effort is our home made claw machine. Come play!
PiPlay, run by creator Shea Silverman showcases retro video gaming, Raspberry Pi projects, and homebrew game development explores video gaming through Raspberry Pi, Game Boy Advance, and NES platforms. Even better, PiPlay helps you build your own console.
Retro Computers from Space!!!!!!!, from the Central Florida Retro Computer Club, brings working computers from the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s, and beyond. Playable vintage computers and hardware from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, including classic 8-bit systems like the TRS-80, VIC-20, Atari 400, Commodore 64, Apple II, and 6502/Z80-based homebrew machines. Chat directly with hobbyists, collectors, and builders who restore and create these systems or catch the talk on finding your maker community featuring retro computing with Mark Kounalis (Main Stage, Saturday from 11:30 am – 12:15 pm with others from the MakerFX Makerspace crew).
Raise your hand if you have ever played jai-alai? Jai-Alai Heroes takes a distinctly Florida approach to retro-inspired gaming with an original arcade-exclusive sports game. developed by Astro Crow that delivers fast-paced, retro-style action inspired by the lightning-fast sport of jai-alai. Styled with vibrant 80s/90s pixel art and inspired by arcade classics like NBA Jam and Windjammers, the game features head-to-head competitive play where players control cartoon pelotaris hurling balls against a wall at breakneck speeds.
Invaders from Planet Makey! It’s just what it sounds like…part carnival game, part color-matching challenge, and part interactive engineering experiment—all wrapped up in a frantic mission to save the cows. That Maker Group has come up with an ingenious conceit: The Makeys have invaded the farm, and they’re making off with the cows! It’s up to you to stop them with the Color Cannon, an interactive air-powered launcher filled with lights, sounds, and colorful chaos. The experience comes alive with illuminated cannon effects, sound feedback, and environmental lighting that react to every shot. Behind the scenes, a custom ball recovery and retrieval system keeps the action moving so players can jump right back in.
MCParks: Building the Magic
Orlando is famous for theme parks: What happens when you take that same ambition and recreate it one pixelated block at a time? That’s the idea behind MCParks, an ambitious project that has spent more than 13 years recreating some of the world’s most popular parks inside Minecraft. Working at true 1:1 scale, the team combines satellite imagery, architectural blueprints, photographs, video, custom software, and 3D models to reproduce everything from iconic park landmarks to working rides and elaborate shows.
Cosplay Makes Everyone Happy
Cosplay has become one of the most colorful and inventive parts of Maker Faire Orlando, reflecting a city where theme-park spectacle, entertainment production, pop culture, and hands-on craftsmanship naturally collide. What might begin as a favorite character brought to life can quickly become an exercise in advanced fabrication, combining 3D printing, foam sculpting, electronics, sewing, metalwork, and elaborate prop construction. The Faire’s cosplay community has featured everything from the Florida 501st Legion and its screen-inspired Star Wars costumes to the Daleks of Florida, Orlando Ghostbusters, and increasingly ambitious independent creators. This year’s lineup continues that tradition with projects like The Fallout Xperience, an immersive Wasteland environment built around handmade props and interactive photo opportunities, alongside award-winning giant cosplay builder Matthew Harden of The Cosplay Teacher, the incredible work of Allison Chase, veteran costume designer Robbie Jumonville of RobbieJCosplay, and incredible characters of Darkheart Kreation’s Casey Cross.
“Do good, build cool things, and bring people together.”
When I asked Maker Faire Orlando founder Ian Cole what we should highlight at this year’s event, he said (of course) everything, but expressed particular excitement about the work of Autumn and Tyler. Knowing Ian, this is not merely because The Fallout Experience throws down some superfine cosplay in a travelling immersive experience format — reminiscent of a souped up, interstellar, old timey, post-apocalyptic carnival wagon, but also because they do so with a simple mission: Do good, build cool things, and bring people together through the Fallout universe.The Fallout Xperience is a traveling immersive cosplay exhibit created and directed by Tyler and Autumn, two fans of Fallout and cosplay who turned their passion for world building, props, and community into something much bigger than a convention display. What started as a small collection of handmade props has grown into a full Wasteland themed experience complete with large scale builds, interactive photo areas, and screen inspired details crafted with love, creativity, and a whole lot of super glue.
Robot Ruckus Returns!
Robotics isn’t all about precision engineering, careful programming, and machines performing perfectly choreographed tasks. At Robot Ruckus engineering gets decidedly more aggressive. Combat robots have been part of Maker Faire Orlando since 2013, growing into one of the event’s signature attractions and a major gathering point for the regional combat robotics community. Returning for 2026, more than 100 fighting robots enter the arena, where builders compete in weight classes ranging from one-pound Plastic Ants and Ant Pro bots to three-pound Beetleweights. Spinning weapons, flipping mechanisms, flying armor panels, and plenty of spectacular mechanical destruction as competitors fight their way through qualifying rounds and elimination brackets. Among the Florida teams to watch is Lakeland-based Jupiter Robotics, bringing its award-winning Space Junk and the newly developed Space Junk 2.0, alongside Pluto’s Revenge. Also competing are local builders Midnight Combat Robotics, with its redesigned New Horizons and formidable Pioneer, and student builders from Ruckus Robotics, whose MikuBot and Baker’s Dozen demonstrate that combat robotics is as much about inspiring the next generation of engineers as it is about winning fights.
Make A Tiny Car! Tiny Cars Go Fast! So Fun!
That just about explains what its all about…oh and your car-project-speedracer can only cost $500 or less.
Young Makers Are The Heart Of Maker Faire
Makers are what makes a Maker Faire, Orlando as much as any other. Yet, for Maker Faire producers and for the entire enterprise the work of young makers holds special importance because making is about learning, about trying and sometimes succeeding and sometimes trying again, and about inspiring others to find joy in learning. Here are a few Young Makers who will be sharing their work in Orlando this weekend and hopefully at many more Maker Faires to come.
*  Read First, Play Later — Max Johnson | Maker Faire Orlando
*  Colin’s Soap-a-Rama | Maker Faire OrlandoÂ
*Â Â Rock Springs Critters | Maker Faire Orlando
*Â Â The plus side of things | Maker Faire Orlando
*Â Â TherianLoveDesign – Anthropomorphic Cosplay | Maker Faire Orlando
Fidn everything you need to know before you go – ATTEND – and check out more about what’s happening – THINGS TO SEE AND DO!
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