Looking for Central Florida advice - Disney & beach trip planning

[RightStuff]

So, we have our trip coming up in a few weeks and wanted to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

Here's what we ended up planning:

Hotel: We ended up finding a VRBO at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek on the timeshare side of the resort, so we are staying there for the entire time instead of going to the coast for a few days then staying in Orlando. It was hard to not stay there for the price (3 bedroom/2 bath for approx $200/night).

Tickets: We found Disney Hopper passes thru a work discount program and got 5 days for the price of 3. The water parks were not included, but we have a pretty big pool setup at the hotel (5 pools, slides, lazy rivers) so we'll be fine with that.

Plans: We fly in on a Friday and leave the following Sat. At this point we are planning on hitting the Gulf coast (maybe St. Petes or Siesta Key) on Sat. after we arrive and Kennedy Space Center on Sun. We're kind of leaving these days open so this might change depending on the weather, traffic, etc. We then saved the Disney parks for Mon-Fri. Fast passes and dining reservations are setup for these days, we didn't go crazy with those so we will go with the flow a bit.

We are all pretty excited for the trip, so thanks again for the info from the Florida 'experts' here.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

So, we have our trip coming up in a few weeks and wanted to thank everyone for their feedback and suggestions.

Here's what we ended up planning:

Hotel: We ended up finding a VRBO at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek on the timeshare side of the resort, so we are staying there for the entire time instead of going to the coast for a few days then staying in Orlando. It was hard to not stay there for the price (3 bedroom/2 bath for approx $200/night).

Tickets: We found Disney Hopper passes thru a work discount program and got 5 days for the price of 3. The water parks were not included, but we have a pretty big pool setup at the hotel (5 pools, slides, lazy rivers) so we'll be fine with that.

Plans: We fly in on a Friday and leave the following Sat. At this point we are planning on hitting the Gulf coast (maybe St. Petes or Siesta Key) on Sat. after we arrive and Kennedy Space Center on Sun. We're kind of leaving these days open so this might change depending on the weather, traffic, etc. We then saved the Disney parks for Mon-Fri. Fast passes and dining reservations are setup for these days, we didn't go crazy with those so we will go with the flow a bit.

We are all pretty excited for the trip, so thanks again for the info from the Florida 'experts' here.

You're coming at a great time! The temps will be cooler (for us Floridians but you'll still be gasping for AC) and the lines won't be too bad.

 

[RightStuff]

Hopefully that works out for us weather/crowd-wise.

Yeah, there is a bit of difference between FL and MN today.

 

[john94si]

I lived in Chaska a few years back.. yes it is ALWAYS different for temps for sure.

 

[luckie_529]

The west coast has the best sunsets. If you were thinking of a beach day. Clearwater beach has a great beach and interstate 4 is not a bad drive. Your kids would enjoy the aquarium where dolphins tail was filmed.

 

[Bennie]

You're coming at a great time! The temps will be cooler (for us Floridians but you'll still be gasping for AC) and the lines won't be too bad.

Couldn't agree more! We're at Universal today and with our fast passes we haven't waited for more than 10 min in a line.

Still friggin hot though. Currently hiding back in the hotel room till the heat subsides

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Currently hiding back in the hotel room till the heat subsides

That'll start in mid November!

 

[Britboater]

I love November in Florida .

 

[fireflymedic]

I know I'm late but wanted to say lego land is great for little kids. As I recall all m of the rides have lap belts so little kids can ride them. Not just the bar that comes down. And you have to stay in the onsite hotel they have pits full of legos for the kids to play with. But man is it loud when the kids just kick or shuffle the blocks.

It's really kid friendly they even have a spot on floor in front of elevator that makes fart noises and a lego man on wall asks if it was you. Elevator floor has some kind of blue guu under plexiglass that if you move your feet it will leave foot prints and they pipe in dance music. I had to drag my kids away from the hotel to go to the park. They were around 7 & 8 at the time

 

[Bennie]

Thank you very much for that. They were still building it when we went there last.

Our boy (only one kid) is now fascinated with Universal and their larger rides.

Btw- just rode the Mako (new ride at Sea World) and it's pretty awesome.

 

[zipper]

St.pete and Clearwater are closest on the gulf side or take the bee-line east to Coco Beach or New Smyrna Beach. You used to be able to drive on Daytona and New Smyrna beaches, do not know now because of turtle nesting sites.

 

[RightStuff]

Based on the suggestions above people have mentions the following places on the golf coast.

• Clearwater
• Siesta Key
• St. Pete

Which would be the best for weather, things to do, scenery, restaurants, driving distance from Orlando, etc.? I would like to avoid the tourist trap sorts of places.

 

[Mystic1906]

@RightStuff Not sure if you made the trip yet (sorry but just seeing this post). Those three places are not that far apart driving wise but for things to do and restaurants hit up downtown St. Pete and for beach scenery try Clearwater. You can't go wrong with either choice. For swimming or relaxing on the beach I would definitely go to the Clearwater area (Ana Maria Island). I'm in Orlando and I take the family over there at least a couple times a year because it's the closest thing to where we come from (the Cayman Islands) in terms of clear, nice water.

This time of year while there will be some activity on the weekends the weekdays will be a lot less tourists over there so enjoy.

 

[RightStuff]

@RightStuff Not sure if you made the trip yet (sorry but just seeing this post). Those three places are not that far apart driving wise but for things to do and restaurants hit up downtown St. Pete and for beach scenery try Clearwater. You can't go wrong with either choice. For swimming or relaxing on the beach I would definitely go to the Clearwater area (Ana Maria Island). I'm in Orlando and I take the family over there at least a couple times a year because it's the closest thing to where we come from (the Cayman Islands) in terms of clear, nice water.

This time of year while there will be some activity on the weekends the weekdays will be a lot less tourists over there so enjoy.

Thanks for the reply, we just got back yesterday from the trip, but we ended up at Clearwater on the 24th (week ago Sat.). Beautiful beach, not very crowded, even saw a couple Yamaha's fly by just offshore which made me really jealous! After spending quite a few hours just hanging at the beach, we drove down the shore to see some sights and then headed back inland at Treasure Island and to the resort we were staying at near Disney. I would have really liked to stay an extra day and go farther south like a bunch recommended, but it just didn't work out this trip. All day out there I was thinking how cool it would be to have your own boat in that area to hit some of those islands and other beaches that aren't reachable by car. Very jealous of you guys down there!

Overall the trip was really good, but was it ever hot this last week! Felt amazing coming home to 70s and much, much less humidity. If anyone else needs some Disney advice hit me up, I feel like an expert coming off this trip with all the planning that went into it.

 

[Shuck Water]

@RightStuff I'm heading out to Disney this Thursday. Hopefully hurricane Mathew swings east. We're going to do Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. How crowded was the park?

 

[LBFloats]

This is late too, but thought it would be helpful for anyone planning in the future. We have annual passes and go at least once every month or two from Tampa Bay... for an extended Disney stay on property we would go for the moderate resorts like Port Orleans and opt for the dining plan if you can afford it... we eat really well and save a boatload of money doing it... it strikes a nice value and in our opinion is worth the premium over the budget resorts (like the Allstars) and isn't ridiculous like the super premiums. All Disney properties are pretty well maintained and you can go from one to another as a guest and use their restaurants and amenities. With the dining plan you can go eat at the Polynesian for the show or Wilderness Lodge (both of which are great for the fam). The only downside with staying at a Disney resort is you pay a premium for the name and you'all find some of the rooms are dated or plain for the price.

If you don't want to stay in a Disney resort check out a timeshare at Wyndham Bonnet Creek on EBAY, they are really nice and have a ton of amenities, shuttles to the parks and are the only non-Disney timeshares on Disney Property. An added bonus is they are right across the highway from Disney Springs which is nice as well. They have full kitchens so you can eat in and save a ton of money there with the kids and the pools are excellent.

Beach wise we are obviously partial to Tampa Bay which has some of the best beaches in the world (according to Dr Beach) and plenty of amenities for the family. Kennedy Space Center and the beaches around it are worth a visit too, and Atlantic Beaches for the most part have great sugar sand and are a good place to try surfing.

Parkwise I would make sure you get the app to pre-plan your fast passes. As parents of a toddler and infant Epcot has become our go too in the summer months because the lines are mostly quick and many air conditioned, crowds seem lighter and dining is outstanding. Plus, most of the rides are kid friendly. Fast passes are a must for the Frozen ride which sports some of the worst wait times in Disney but if you have a daughter may be unavoidable otherwise (get ready to have that darn soundtrack stuck in your head).

Legoland is good for younger kids although it's remote from the Orlando attractions and lacks a great deal of shading and cool space of many Florida parks. Legos are great but the park would be the first to get crossed off my list if I had to budget and instead I would make a week of Disney and take the kids to the Lego store in Disney Springs(they won't know the difference right...? Lol). Universal has great rides for older kids but Disney magic is a real thing and it's hard to top for any family with kids 8th grade and below.

 

[RightStuff]

@RightStuff I'm heading out to Disney this Thursday. Hopefully hurricane Mathew swings east. We're going to do Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. How crowded was the park?

It was hit/miss for us. We did a good amount of planning fast passes, but also didn't over-do it. We did miss out on a few rides because of the heat and not wanting to wait in long lines in the heat. For instance I never could get a 7 dwarfs FP, and the wait was never under 45mins (and that was right at park open), so we just decided to pass on it and focus on the other rides. On the other hand we were able to do Space Mtn and others back to back without a wait, I think in all we never waited more than 40 mins for a ride (Toy Story), but that was the second time riding, it was worth it.

Overall I would say they were not crowded, but come Friday of our trip Magic Kingdom was pretty busy. We did Animal Kingdom on a Wed morning and it wasn't busy when we arrived, but by 11a it was pretty busy. Generally to avoid lines we booked FPs late morning and early afternoon. Hit the most popular rides right away (think Everest, 7 dwarfs), then use your FPs to fill in time between mid day.

The Disney app saved us a number of times, so like @LBFloats said, get it and use it, it's really awesome to see live/real-time wait times as well as what is close by (bathrooms, restaurants, rides, characters, etc). Good luck!

 

[Julian]

Anyone who goes to the Magic Kingdom - if you see a tall guy (6' 9') hanging around the Country Bear Jamboree....walk up to him and say "Hi Al, Julian says Hi". He floats around the park depending on where he wants to work. He's extended family and has worked there over 25 years. If you go on the log ride, the falls are named after him "Fussell Falls".

 

[LBFloats]

Anyone who goes to the Magic Kingdom - if you see a tall guy (6' 9') hanging around the Country Bear Jamboree....walk up to him and say "Hi Al, Julian says Hi". He floats around the park depending on where he wants to work. He's extended family and has worked there over 25 years. If you go on the log ride, the falls are named after him "Fussell Falls".

We might be making an impromptu visit out there tomm with the kids, if we do I'll keep an eye out... sounds like he'd be hard to miss! lol

 

[Julian]

We might be making an impromptu visit out there tomm with the kids, if we do I'll keep an eye out... sounds like he'd be hard to miss! lol

Yeah he is hard to miss. He's 6'9', and his brothers are 6'10", 6'8' and shorty is 6'7" (or something like that....LOL)