American Ghost Adventures

American Ghost Adventures takes a more investigative approach to the ghost tour format, departing from the lobby of the Lakeside Inn and leading small groups through some of Mount Dora’s older buildings with the kind of equipment paranormal investigators use on television, including EMF meters and other devices meant to detect changes in the environment. Founder Ting Rappa built the company around the idea that a ghost tour should be more than a guide reciting stories on a sidewalk. Guests here go inside buildings rather than just hearing about them from outside, and the format leans into active investigation over passive storytelling.

The Lakeside Inn itself, dating back to the 1880s, is one of the central stops, and its long history as a hotel gives guides plenty to work with, from documented past guests to the kinds of stories that accumulate around any building that has operated continuously for more than a century. From there, the tour moves through other historic points in downtown Mount Dora, mixing local history with the paranormal angle that gives the company its name.

Tour times are flexible, with the company noting that groups can request custom start times rather than being locked into a single fixed schedule, which makes it easier to fit into an evening that might also include dinner downtown. Default start times tend to run around 7:00 or 8:00 PM depending on the season and how early it gets dark, an important variable in Florida given how much daylight hours shift between summer and winter.

Because the tour goes inside buildings and uses investigative equipment, it tends to appeal to visitors who already have an interest in paranormal investigation as a hobby, not just casual tourists looking for a spooky story to pass the time. Guides explain how the equipment works and what readings might indicate, giving the tour an educational angle alongside the entertainment value. Group sizes are generally kept manageable so that everyone gets a chance to use or observe the equipment rather than watching from the back of a crowd.

Mount Dora’s downtown has more than its share of old buildings with long histories, and American Ghost Adventures has carved out a niche by treating that history as material for active investigation rather than just narration. For visitors who have taken a standard walking ghost tour elsewhere and want something with more hands-on engagement, this is a distinct option based right at the town’s most recognizable historic hotel.