Thinking of going to Florida....advice please

[cardy]

We (dh, dd 7.5 and dd 5) are thinking of going to Florida in May. I have looked at a couple of brochures but feel a bit overwhelmed with information.

Ideally we would like a week in Orlando and a week on the Gulf coast. So my questions are:

Where would you stay in Orlando? Can you recommend a resort or hotel (I think dds would prefer this to a villa so there are things going on and other children to play with).

Any suggestion as to where to go on the Gulf coast? thinking of Clearwater or Napels. Again accommodation recommedations welcome?

Finally - package holiday or independent bookings?

Thanks!

The gulf coast is lovely. We have done a 2 centre FLorida holiday for thelast two years.

The first year, after the Orlando week we stayed in Naples. It's quite a long way down (about a 3 hour drive) but such a lovely place. Beautiful beaches and not very far from the everglades which is fun for a day out. When we went there we flew back from Miami which is about an hour and a half drive away (so no where near as far to go than if you had to drive back up to Orlando or Tampa.)

The second year we went to a place called Bradenton (just above Sarasota)which was also lovely and not very far to drive from Orlando ( we actually managed to get a park in on our transfer day) The beaches on nearby Anna Maria Island were just amazing and it's not that far from Tampa so you can Visit Busch gardens in the second week. We also flew back from Tampa this year which is a was very convenient as only 40 miles from Bradenton.

We used a travel agent to sort the accomodation (we stayed in villas)and cars but we did the flights and the park tickets. The villas were with a company called "All of America" and the first year we flew Virgin and the second BA (not alot in it really both good)Car rental was with Dollar.

If this is your fist time, I would personally say do Orlando as there is so much to do there and a week isn't really enough. We have been twice with our children and even 2 weeks wasn't enough for us.

Loads of info on here www.thedibb.co.uk

I'm in Florida now!!! Husband is watching college football on TV while dds sleeping so mumsnetting.
We've spent a week in Sanibel ( 3 hour drive from Orlando ) which was FANTASTIC! Great beaches, lots of cycle paths, food great. We booked at the West Wind Inn through Virgin which was fab - not flash but well established and lots of nice touches.Totally relaxing week , dds collected shells and spotted dolphins from beach before breakfast.
Only trouble is that now we're in Orlando, a week isn't nearly long enough to do the parks. We're doing Disney and Seaworld and dds are knackered. We're staying in the Marriott Springhill Suites in Lake Buena Vista - great pool and accommodation is fine. Only 10 mins drive from the parks.
I LOVE FLORIDA!!! Don't want to go home ( did I mention it's been 75 degrees for the whole holiday.....) Won't be so smug Sunday morning when land at Gatwick but hey ho...

I would agree that a week isn't long enough to see all the parks but personally after one week I had had enough of theme parks and was ready for a rest. I could not do two weeks of parks only- it's not exactly a relaxing holiday!

We had planned to go twice though so all the things we didn't get to do the first year we did the next year and also on the second year we revisited the places we had particularly liked the first time.

Thanks for advice. To be honest Orland isn't really my idea of a holiday and but dh has talked me into giving it a try, I do think dds with love it though. I therefore think I couldn't do more than a week - the gulf coast is 'my' holiday (although sure dds will love that too). We may consider going for 17 days altogether.

I had considered a villa however thought dds would like other children around. Any thoughts?

It's seems through the reseach I have done so far that the holiday will cost about £4,000 - flights, accommodation, car and tickets and another thread suggests about $100 per day spending.

Would you therefore say the holiday is going to cost £5,500 total?

stramash - we are staying at the Fairfield Suites in August - glad to hear it is fine and enjoy the rest of your hols

Cardy - I'm a bit about the cost. The price of the tickets alone is . It is not the type of holiday we are used to and although everyone says we'll love it, I'm not sure.

I would definitely stay in a villa.

It's much more relaxing, and you have the option of cooking at home if you want to. It's just a home from home.

My kids love swimming, so we have always stayed in one with a pool right outside.

Cardy - we've just got back from Florida and we had a week in Orlando and a week near Clearwater at the Marriott Suites right on the gulf coast. I can highly recommend this holiday for this holiday - we've done it several times. I find Orlando overwhelming after a week and you'll all enjoy the rest on the beach. The Gulf coast is fantastic. We found the Marriott suites excellent - quite big with a lounge area for the kids bed (large pull out double sofa bed - fine for ours) and a king size in bedroom. Balcony directly overlooking the beach/sea. The dolphins swam past every morning. The hotel has a great pool also, playground and a fab kids club. We loved it. We did spend around £5k - food being relatively cheap once there- but flights were with Virgin and at Xmas so more expensive than normal.

HTH

Saffy - do you mean it'll be more expensive?

I did a random qoute on-line with Virgin bearing in mind I didn't know anything about accommodation etc. The total was £4800 traveling in 23 May for 14 nights.

Thanks for suggestions for accomodation on Gulf Coast - I'll take a look. Have you booked independently or through a package.

I am very reassured about how many people love it. It wouldn't be my instant choice for a holiday....maybe i'll be a convert!

we've been 3 times - Anna Maria Island is perfect for kids; IMO Naples is more for adults - so many golf courses and shopping malls, long distances/traffic queues to get anywhere as well - Clearwater/St Petersburg or Anna Maria would make much more sense if you are driving from Orlando. Miami airport is very stressful!! Tampa is much more laid back with kids - however the Everglades are worth a trip if you are prepared to drive that far. My advice would be to rent a villa privately (tons available on the internet) as you get tons of space compared to a condo on the beach at the same price.

So, what I am thinking so far is hotel/resort in Orlando (probably on be there to sleep) for 7 nights, then villa in Clearwater for 7 nights. Anybody stayed at the Bueno Vista resort?

Would love to go to the Everglades and the Keys but get the feeling this is all too much to in 14 days as the distances are too far?

Still not sure whether this would be best done through a package or independently?

Hi Cardy,

You are going to have such a fab time.

I always though people who go back to the same place for holidays were a bit strange but after visiting Florida its the only place I can think of going on holiday to, not necessarily to do the Disney thing again as plenty of other things to do.
We went to Florida for the first time in Sept/Oct 08 and stayed in a villa in Kissimmee for 17 days. I would definitely recommend joining www.thedibb.co.uk I got loads of great ideas from this site, it made me sit down and really think about what I wanted out of my holiday. We even had an itinerary !!.

I would definitely do the theme parks first as they will leave you shattered, then you can look forward to a lovely relaxing week at the beach.

We did theme parks first week, then drove down th Fort Lauderdale, visited The everglades did airboat ride, stopped at Naples on the way back to Kissimee which was a very beautiful beach. It was an awful lot to pack in and not as chilled as we'd normally like.

Could you do something like fly into Orlando do the parks, drive to villa at beach, then visit Everglades and if time Keys then fly home from Miami?

I would consider this for next time. I booked all ours independantly and the whole trip cost £6000 !!(2 adults 1 dd 7yrs) for everything flights, car hire, insurance, villa, park tickets- Disney and Universal, Mickeys not so scary Halloween party, Arabian nights horse Dinner show, hotel at Fort Lauderdale, food, gas and
spending money. We didn't scrimp on anything had exactly what we wanted, when we wanted.

It really helped me to plan before I went and I never normally do this, but it really worked for us and made it our best holiday ever. Loads of planning tools and advice on the Dibb to help you.

Good luck and have a great trip
xx

Wow Skanky you packed it all in. Did you visit all those places as daytrips or stay over in places? For the past couple of years Dds have enjoyed staying where there are other children. Would you recommend villa over apts?

Thanks for website tip.

We loved our villa, as we could really chill out after a hard day in the parks. Also a big plus was being able to have a swim whenever we liked. Its a bit of a tricky one though as you probably won't be spending much time in whatever accommodation you choose.

We drove from Kissimee to Fort Lauderdale and stayed 1 night in a hotel. Then did the Everglades/airboat thing the next day. We then drove to Naples and chilled on the beach for a few hours before dh drove us all the way back to our villa in Kissimmee. It was exhausting but definitely worth it but would probably stay for longer at the beach next time. So would do Disney for a few days stay in a hotel, then get a villa at the beach and do day trips from there.

That's pretty much what we are thinking. Disney for a week in a hotel as we won't be there much - just to sleep. Then ideally some type of self-catering accommodation (shared pool is fine) along the Guld coast.

Recommendations for accommodation welcome!

We spent Christmas and New year in Florida visiting the Disney Parks etc. I was soooooo pleased that we chose to stay in a villa. I think it was much more relaxing than a hotel and it was lovely some days to just come back to the pool after a full on day at the parks, mess around to cool down, shower and get into pjs and eat plain pasta with veggies rather than the fussy restaurant food. We stayed at Kissimmee (www.plumfloridavillas.com) and the drive to the Disney Parks/Sea world etc was easy and only about 10/15 mins.

Been looking at some villas on-line, they seem very reasonable, about £500 per week, can this be right?

Do you think that a flight with a charter airline, say Thompsons, would be massively different than Virgin?

I would take a close look at both carriers as they may have different baggage allowances etc.

Thompson's aircraft will fly into Sanford which is an hour or so east of Orlando. The additional travel time to get to and from the airport is a consideration.

Only Virgin and BA fly direct into Orlando.

Virgin Flights are around £2100 for the four of us....as expected I guess.

Hi I would recommend the DIBB website, its a website for Florida/Orlando fanatics with fantastic advice and lots of tips most of the members go almost every year or more and travel with kids so are very up to date on all there info. They very friendly.

I know you said you'd prefer a hotel as opposed to a villa, but at the moment you can actually rent a 4 bed villa with a private pool in lovely residential area (childrens play area nearby etc) for LESS than the price of 2 hotel rooms in somewhere like a holiday inn or similar.

Look at www.loyaltyusa.com It is managed by an english lady who manages around 50 houses in lovely residential areas all less than 4 miles to Disney. Some have special offers from $95 per night so well worth a look

Have looked at the dibb website, very useful. Still condiering villa v apt. At the mo looking at villa in Orlando and apt in Clearwater. Anybody know how long it takes to drive from Orlando to Everglades?

depends really if you go the Florida turnpike (boring motorway type toll road) or whether you go the scenic route, ie down the coast road.
Anything from around 3 to 5 hours depending on stops (and also where you are in Orlando)

We booked flights from Manchester to Miami on Friday 23rd Jan on www.Expedia.co.uk (stopping at Philadelphia)then onto Miami. This has cost £1516.00 for 2 adults 2 children aged 15 and 11. You need to look daily as bargain flights 'pop up' now and again. This is for 3 weeks (2 weeks at Easter 2009 and the following week. We went to Florida last year and paid £1350 for flights in Easter for 2 weeks. Again with a stop at Philadelphia) approx 3 hours. We LOVE america.

Also, We stayed Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive about 6 years ago with some friends of ours. It was lovely then. It was great to be able to sit outside and have a drink by the pool in the evening as most hotels have bars indoors. You can also walk to restaurants nearby rather than using the car. We have mostly stayed at Villa's though when on our own as we enjoy the freedom, space and playing golf! Again, www.holiday-rentals.com is a great website and we have paid anything from £400 to £700 per week for a villa with a pool. Sarasota is beautiful and worth a visit and also Honeymoon Island at Clearwater. As mentioned by others - Naples and whilst there definately the Everglades. In fact there is so much to see you will definately want to go back.