Florida/Disney at Easter 2015 - where to go for third week

[HaveToWearHeels]

We have just booked our flights for next year and wanted some advise really. We have two resorts in mind for Disney weeks Caribe Cove and Windsor Hills, if anyone has experience of either please share.
We then have 5 days to go somewhere with a beach, looking at Clearwater/Tampa area but haven't a clue. Would like a resort if possible as DD will be 5, with other stuff close by. Will have a car so travelling not a problem. Any ideas ?

Clearwater is beautiful. I would highly recommend it. If you have a week though, you could do a couple of stops down the gulf coast. The beaches are gorgeous and the sea is warm.

thanks rachy. We only have 5 days. Any ideas where to stay ? Would need to be 2 bedroom and in the heart of it and near the beach.

Have a look at sunset vistas on treasure island. It's just down the coast from Clearwater.
It's lovely. On the beach.
I love it there.

It's also 2 bed. With a proper kitchen and living room.

Are you thinking about hotel or villa for the 5 days at the beach? Not sure of your budget but this hotel was just up from where we stayed and looked absolutely stunning.

St Pete's beach and Clearwater are lovely - really nice boat excursions to nearby islands and dolphin watching in the ocean.

That does look lovely Freckled haven't looked at the price but as they want to add $25 a day to use the resort and $10 a day to park I thin it might be out of out price range.

ihatethecold that looks nice is there much around you ? Has to be 2 beds, DH will not sleep in the same room as DD as she is a figgit (so is he though!)

I used to live in Florida, and go back fairly frequently. My favourite part of Florida is the Gulf Coast. If you're looking for a villa, you may find it tricky finding some available on short term lets: lots of the villas require a minimum of 30 nights. However, there are some out there, I usually look on Homeaway.com. Clearwater is beautiful, and only 90 mins from Orlando. I'd also recommend Anna Maria Idland - I know they definitely have lots of ST lets, and they're all very close to the beach.

I've not stayed in Caribe Cove, but have stayed in Windsor Hills a few times, and would definitely go back. The quality of the houses is good, the clubhouse is well maintained, and you're v close to WDW main gate. You're also on the right side of Orlando for getting to the Gulf.

St. John's pass is 5 mins walk away for eating, supermarket is nearby.
They have trips out to an island that's unoccupied that has wildlife living on it.
We went on a dolphin trip there and we had loads of dolphins in the wake of the boat.
It was amazing.
Clearwater is lovely too but I think slightly more expensive.
Accomodation is more.

I think if I went again I would go to Sarasota. Just to see somewhere different.
You won't go wrong anywhere down that coast, it is just beautiful.

Thanks Ladies a lot to think about. Clearwater does seem rather pricey and I was struggling to find two beds in our budget.
I am doing a little more research into Sunset Vistas ihatethecold looks great. Who do you book through ?

carrie74 Gonna have a look at Anna Maria. What you have said is exactly what I have found, long term lets or very small properties. Good to know Windsor Hills is good, recommended by a friend but good to get another opinion.

I research the price through different websites like BA etc, then get virgin to pricematch.
We saved £500 doing that last year.
We flew with BA and used virgin for accomodation.
Booking with virgin gets you the better rooms. Ours was over the beach. Our bedroom patio doors looked out over the sea.
Let me know if you need any help.

Thanks, we have just booked our flights through virgin so I may be able to tack it on to that.

I didn't realise they had been released already.
Did it cost you a small fortune?

We booked a fly drive so could do 12 months in advance, for just flights we would have had to wait another months. For three weeks its was £3300 for the three of us so not too bad . We ran the flights through BA and car hire with Alamo and it was about the same.

That amount of money makes me want to swear!
When we went for the first time in 2011.
It costs 2200 for 4 of us.
I really want to go back but not sure I could afford it!

It's madness isn't it. I went in 1999 and we paid £300 each for our flights even with inflation I don't know how they come up with this extortionate figure.

Captiva Island. Not cheap but one of the nicest places I have ever visited.

Running along the harbour each morning watching the manatees and then grabbing a huge proper American Starbucks wasn't a bad way to start the day.

Fab people, beaches, wildlife.

Oh captive sounds nice, I honestly think that whole coast is pretty amazing.
I don't think I would ever get bored of watching the wild dolphins.

I may have to sell a kidney to go back though.

We are going and have booked captiva so that is great to hear. Does anyone have any tips on miami where to stay ext? We are doing a 3 day citybreak there at the end and am feeling overwhelmed. Also any ideas on a good sporting event to take the kids to? Sorry to hijack thread..

No probs SWS the more info the better

Saws, have a look at Tampa. They have some huge stadiums there.
I would imagine it's baseball or football.

Tampa is a lovely city to explore by the way.