Florida with older teens - where to go?..

[tokentotty]

Am looking for some guidance/recommendations for where to spend some time in Florida this summer. We’ve got A-levels and GCSE’s being sat this year, as well as a 50th, 18th and Silver wedding celebrations, so we’ve decided to have a ‘splurge’ holiday with our 3 teenagers, 18, 16 & 14.

We’re going to Disney & Universal for the very first time and looking for some sort of week’s holiday after the madness of doing the parks. We have absolutely no clue whether we should look at the Keys, or St Pete’s (different places suggested by friends as examples), or anywhere else. A nice balance of things the kids would enjoy such as maybe water park, water sports, places to visit/see, and relaxation.

Any great experiences people would recommend?

Many thanks

If you post on the DIBB website (can google it) - it’s a message board for Uk based Florida theme park junkies - you might get some better responses

Are you going for 3 weeks? As you’ll need 2 weeks for the parks alone to give a mix of park days and rest days. Clearwater is good for a break from the parks - has water sports, boat trips (sea screamer is fab), beach, restaurants, an aquarium and a shopping mall close by. Another option could be to do a cruise for the 3rd week - plenty of options from Florida (we went from port Canaveral). We also done 3 weeks in Orlando though and had more relaxed park days with a mix of pool days/afternoons and included other parks such as sea world and Busch gardens (good for teens as lots of big rides)

Yes, looking to do 3 weeks so we can have a bit of breathing space doing the parks, and then on to something else

I would spend some days in and around the St Petersburg and Clearwater areas near Tampa.

Tamps is the city in which Busch Gardens is located and is very good for teens and adults in terms of thrill rides. It’s also home to their wildlife park which is very well maintained (Cheetah run is worth watching).

For this age, Miami is cool with art deco buildings, shops and Venice beach is great for people watching at the outdoor gym, skaters etc. The Space Kennedy Centre is also worth a visit.

We liked Anna Maria island for relaxing and you can visit alligator/swamp places, see manatees and giant rays nearby. The Keys are a bit tacky. There are the big water parks which are great but pricey (can’t remember exactly where but think they’re in Orlando - Typhoon Lagoon and another one). A Florida holiday takes a lot of planning!

Clearwater is lovely. But it will be at least 4 years before I return. Apart from all the political strife that may or may not concern you, be aware how expensive America is. I was really taken aback on our last visit.

There are facebook pages for Uk visitors to disney etc and you can get a lot of tips and advice there.

There are also you-tubers who do tutorials that might help/be fun

Will you have a car? Everglades National park, airboats, kayak rentals in Crystal Springs to see manatees, see the space centre. Florida is a lot nicer once you get away from the theme parks and big cities.

St Pete’s is lovely! Manatees and beautiful art etc

Miami is a lot of fun - expensive but go if you can. Great beaches, lots to do, little hanava etc

Keys are lovely and the drive iconic. Stop in a waterside motel on the way. Not tacky but it is mostly fishing related if that’s your thing or not. Could be too much driving. Key West is expensive to stay and might be very busy at that time of year.

Would second the DIBB forum if you haven’t come across it - absolutely everything you need to know about Florida, Disney and Universal on there.

So Ana Maria Island sounds interesting, will have a look at that as well as the Tampa area. On the other hand, I’d love to see the Everglades, but then I think we may end up driving around and resort hopping more than I think we want to.

You’e not wrong about this taking serious planning! Really feeling it all a bit overwhelming as haven’t a clue, having never been on this sort of holiday before, and just don’t want to get it wrong.

Everglades you can do in a day. It’s enough to do a boat trip as there isn’t a lot more there!

Yes, a spreadsheet is very handy. We had around 3 weeks but had a driving holiday. We spent a few days in Miami and the Keys then travelled up the west coast to Anna Maria island (beautiful seashells there too)and places around there to relax and do the Everglades (about a week). Then to Orlando to do the Disney and Universal Parks and a water park - that bit was about a week, stayed in a Disney hotel for easier access to the parks and the Hard Rock hotel for Universal. Then on to the space Kennedy centre and back down the East side. It was a great holiday and there was so much left to do still. We went in October so the weather was perfect, warm and not too humid and not crowded in the parks.

It was one of the most expensive trips we’ve ever had though and that was 13 years ago but glad we splurged then.

Yes, now this sounds like exactly what we’d do if we didn’t have the kids with us! I feel that trying to fit everything available in is just too much, and we’ll come back frazzled! Trawling round the web, I’ve seen someone mentioning surfing for beginners which might be a lovely way to spend a week and wondered if anyone had tried anything like it?

I’m not sure that the Everglades is the place to go in the summer - too hot, too rainy and too many mosquitoes - and I doubt there will be any manatees in the springs at that time of year.

I’d second the recommendation to go onto the DIBB boards for all your Florida needs.

Not sure it’s a very surfy coastline - some waves at Miami but mostly pretty gentle?

Where are you staying? I’d do 2 weeks staying in the Disney bubble, as you will have 14 day tickets. Dip in and out of the parks, spend a couple of days at the water park (either Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach will be open, not both). Do rope drop, afternoons at the hotel pool, then back to a different park in the evening until close. Resort-hopping is fun, try lots of snacks, and eat at Disney Springs. Do a day trip to Kennedy Space Centre. Get tickets for the soccer or baseball. So much to do!

Book a couple of nights at a Universal hotel for the express passes. They are valid on the days you check in and check out so for 2 night stay you can have 3 full park days. And the water park there is great fun too.
Best bit about going with teens is their stamina! And if you stay on site they can go roaming on their own too.

So this is what we’re doing exactly. Booking the Beach Hotel at Disney for 7 days, and then moving to one of the Universal’s for those included fast passes. Most of my time has been on those Disney Facebook groups learning about LL passes and rope dropping, but I need to get our third ‘phase’ destination worked out now really

When I went as an older teen, the standout thing that I did, was getting a trip in a bi-plane, really great experience. I second St Petes and enjoyed a Miami trip.

St Pete's is nice. This past October we did a look of Fort Myers/Naples/Keys via Everglades and Miami.

We love Miami. Great shopping, late night eating, latin vibe, art deco architecture.

The Keys are great, but this time we found Key West to be extremely tacky bordering on unpleasant. Only saved by Fort Zachary Taylor beach and fort. Marathon on the other hand made for a nice stay.

That said, we went just before the election, and won't return while it's red.

Beach Club, fabulous!

Can't beat kayaking or tubing on the Crystal River - it's less than 1 hour north of Orlando - you'll find it easily on Google

Going to look that up now!!

Cruise out of Port Canaveral or Miami, there will likely be some 3-7 day options

Sorry if this a left field tip. The heat in the middle part of the day is so hot. When we went at Easter after a couple of days we started to head to the parks to arrive at 4pm. You still have 6 hours of quality time before they close and the it’s collet and the ride queues are so much lower so you see more.

we spent the hot part of the day at the pool or water parks