Florida - Orlando and where else?

[ListObsessed]

We're planning a trip to Florida in March. There will will be me, my husband, our two children aged 7 and 4, my sister and my parents. We want to spend a week in Orlando going to theme parks. Where would you recommend for our second week? Clearwater, Florida Keys, any other ideas?

If you don't mind another flight have you thought about Mexico. We did it this year combined with florida it was amazing. X

We absolutely loved Clearwater Beach so much, that we went again.

I've done Clearwater beach after Orlando. That was really lovely.

Also been to treasure island (further down the gulf coast) and stayed right on the beach in an apartment.
Amazing!
This year we are doing the Florida keys after Orlando. Staying at a resort in a villa on Duck key.

We went to captiva island it was lovely, manatees right outside our room, dolphins swimming past etc

Personally I'd stay in Orlando for the whole two weeks. There is so much to do and see that a week isn't possibly enough time (unless you've been before of course).
When I was a kid my parents took me to Florida. We had a week in Orlando and then drove down to Clearwater beach for the second week. As beautiful and lovely as it was we ended up only spending two days in Clearwater and driving back to Orlando for the remainder of the holiday.
We're off to Orlando in August with the DC's (first time for them and 20+ years since I've been) We're going for three weeks and I still don't think we'll have time to do it all properly.

Miami and the Keys.

I agree that you could easily spend two weeks in Orlando. Which parks do you want to visit? I doubt you'll want to do them day after day, so taking days off from visiting theme parks in order to do other stuff (Kennedy Space Centre, water parks, museums, boat trips, etc), will kee you all sane! We managed five days of back-to-back theme park visiting and after that we couldn't take any more days of shuffling crowds and queuing. We'll be going back to Orlando next year for another week-long trip to do some of the stuff we didn't do the first time.

But if you're sure that one week will be enough then yes, Clearwater Beach is nice (but there's not a whole lot to do there - it's just a beach really). Personally, I'd either hit Miami and the Keys, or I'd go to one of the beautiful islands like Captiva, Sanibel, etc.

FYI: we managed to hit the four Disney parks only with just five days - so Magic Kingdom (2 days) and Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios (one day each).

If you also want to visit the two Universal parks (which many FL veterans say are the best ones), then you'll need another 2-4 days, plus there are the water parks, which everyone raves about (there are 2 Disney ones - Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, plus Aquatica), then there are yet more parks and experiences on top of that. When you factor all those things in, plus the other stuff I mentioned above, you start to see how rich the area is and how short one or two weeks is.

My friends and I are planning an Orlando trip and we're gonna go for 2 weeks, and spend most of the time in Orlando. Universal has just opened a new water park and Disney have added a few more rides. There's also Busch Gardens in Tampa. It depends if you've been before, as well as what you want to see and do. Are you staying on disney property?

Sarasota.

We do Anna Maria Island, but we go for 3 weeks ish.
I agree there is loads to do in Orlando so if you are only going once, stay there.
Tickets are pricey so make the most of them- for example we are going next year and just doing Disney and Kennedy Space. We are there for 11 nights so 10 days. I don't like doing too much though so find a morning in each park and afternoon by the pool is a more relaxing holiday.
We will go again in 2020 and the plan was to do just Universal parks and Discovery Cove but Star Wars land may mean we have to do Disney too!
Anna Maria is beautiful and a 2 hour drive from Orlando.

Caveat: I went as a child/teenager which was very long ago now, but we loved Sanibel island. Also went to Captiva and loved the manatees etc but remember the biting bugs were really annoying!

Anna Maria island.

NASA

We've spent three weeks in Orlando and not done everything... it's amazing.

Magic kingdom
Animal kingdom
Hollywood studios
Epcot
Blizzard beach
Typhoon lagoon
Universal studios
Islands of adventure
Volcano bay
Gatorland
Legoland
Seaworld (some people avoid!)
Discovery Cove (ditto)
Busch Gardens
Mini golf
Airboat tour
Clearwater
Sea screamer & marine aquarium
K Space Cenre
Outlets

The list goes on and on and you definitely can't do everything in one day at any of the parks.

Clearwater is great. There is loads in the area. We are doing 2 weeks in Orlando, then a week in Clearwater next year. Activities already planned include kayaking through the mangroves in Sarasota (about an hour away), boat ride to see dolphins, plus hanging out round the beach later into the evening which we never get to do when we do a day trip from Orlando. Agree with pps that plenty in Orlando for 2 weeks, but even that wouldn't cover it all and a week chilling would be great too. Enjoy!

Anna Maria island, such a beautiful and relaxing place. Much preferred it too St. Pete's

We did 9 days in Orlando, then 5 in Naples. Naples was lovely. Beautiful beach, really laid back vibe. Much needed after Orlando!